Rate my ~900 PC!

[ProDigit10]

I would like to have many peoples opinions about an upcoming system I want to buy.
I don't do overclocking, want it to be low power consumption pc, with occasional DX11 gaming on a single 1080p monitor.

Most of the time I want it to be a terminal to the internet, HTPC, and general office pc (that's why the low power).
Below are the parts to build the case I selected (since I already have a 1080p monitor and mouse and keyboard).
I also have external HD's, so no need for much storage save for OS and an occasional game (~24GB)

The last numbers behind the object are avg price.

Would it fit together, or not?
Good setup?


Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard 125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W 220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Power:
Thermaltake TR2 Series TR-450P 450W ATX 12V V2.3 & EPS 12V 2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC 70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153138

Case:
HEC 6K28BB8F Black 0.8mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 35
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121003

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

OS SSD:
Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW080G310 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC (SSD) - OEM 160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167049

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM 95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Graphics:
GIGABYTE GV-R685D5-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353



Total $$: 930

**Edit: Mobo has gone up $25 since last week**

 

[jmsellars1]

Personally i would get a better PSU like a ~500W Corsair or XFX. Other than that it looks great.

 

[jackspeed]

there's no hard drive other than the ssd drive can you live with 80 GB of storage and I would suggest a mid tower case. If you are Not going to overclock You dont need a z68 mobo you also could save $10 and not get the k version or get a 2400
for a case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 60

 

[Guest]

Swap that SSD for a 1TB HD. You need a bigger power supply, 500-600W, and if you plan on overclocking your parts you might want 650-750W

 

[ProDigit10]

Like said, I don't need large space. I have several external harddrives to put data on.
I'm very organized, and doubt I need more than 24 GB, unless I install a game on the SSD that is really large.
As for the power supply, yes, it's a tight one. I chose on purpose a bronze certified one, because a 550W regular power supply would cost me about as much, and would consume more electricity when being on standby.
It might be a little too tight though; I would literally have 36W spare from the 80% treshold, meaning I'd be using 72% of the power supply's max rated power, or 10% below the 80% bronze certified treshold...
It should be sufficient, but could be borderline when all devices boot up at the same time...

I also prefer as small as possible. In fact, if I could get this PC in a HTPC cube sized box, smaller than the one I have, I would have (That is, if there are no thermal issues).

About the motherboard, you are right!
I might want a motherboard that only overclocks the CPU, since the GPU is AMD anyway, which means it's not overclocked via the BIOS. I generally don't overclock, but if I need to to play a DX11 game, I will (albeit a very small overclock, I'm not aiming for overclocking records, just enough to give the FPS a boost when games are a bit laggy).

Is it possible to use the Intel graphics chip, and disable the graphics card, unless I want to play a game? Is there software for that on the market?
(Like completely shut down the AMD GPU, until I fire up a game)..?
The intel graphics chipset would be good enough for general browsing, and viewing most of my 720p movies on my 720p TV.

 

[ps3hacker12]

Like said, I don't need large space. I have several external harddrives to put data on.
I'm very organized, and doubt I need more than 24 GB, unless I install a game on the SSD that is really large.
As for the power supply, yes, it's a tight one. I chose on purpose a bronze certified one, because a 550W regular power supply would cost me about as much, and would consume more electricity when being on standby.
It might be a little too tight though; I would literally have 36W spare from the 80% treshold, meaning I'd be using 72% of the power supply's max rated power, or 10% below the 80% bronze certified treshold...
It should be sufficient, but could be borderline when all devices boot up at the same time...

you could get this great PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048

 

[ProDigit10]

you could get this great PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048

Thank you! Seems very affordable!

 

[ProDigit10]

Upon review, it seems I only have the choice between H67, which does not support CPU overclocking; P67, which does not support an integrated GPU; or Z68 which does both CPU and GPU.

I'm not an overclocker, but perhaps would want the freedom to squeeze out an extra few Mhz on the CPU, when needed, and will want the integrated GPU to do the job of most activities save for Gaming...

 

[ps3hacker12]

Upon review, it seems I only have the choice between H67, which does not support CPU overclocking; P67, which does not support an integrated GPU; or Z68 which does both CPU and GPU.

I'm not an overclocker, but perhaps would want the freedom to squeeze out an extra few Mhz on the CPU, when needed, and will want the integrated GPU to do the job of most activities save for Gaming...

this might also be a case you would want to consider:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

the case in your first post only comes with a rear 80mm fan and this NZXT case only comes with 1 120mm fan but it has spaces for up to 6 fans.

theres this too with a front fan and a rear fan:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156243

 

[ProDigit10]

Thank you for the suggestion, but I prefer smaller better.
In fact the case I have now (mini) is just too large to fit in my desks printer bay.
If I could get a tower with only 1 x 5" drive bay, I'd probably prefer that one!

 

[ps3hacker12]

Thank you for the suggestion, but I prefer smaller better.
In fact the case I have now (mini) is just too large to fit in my desks printer bay.
If I could get a tower with only 1 x 5" drive bay, I'd probably prefer that one!

you could look into mini-ITX builds (or like mine a Micro-ATX build).

 

[ProDigit10]

My fear would be that those boards/cases for these boards may be too small for a Radeon 6850 card; or that the computer will be too small to get all the heat of the CPU and GPU out of the case...

The system I have above is a micro ATX, but perhaps I can look into mini-ITX builds if they exist for Core i5 processors and if graphics cards can fit in. They usually also come with smaller space for power supplies... I think I'll be hitting the thermal limit with mini ITX. Most of those machines come with a 300W powersupply built in, good for corei5 without added graphics card...

 

[ps3hacker12]

My fear would be that those boards/cases for these boards may be too small for a Radeon 6850 card; or that the computer will be too small to get all the heat of the CPU and GPU out of the case...

The system I have above is a micro ATX, but perhaps I can look into mini-ITX builds if they exist for Core i5 processors and if graphics cards can fit in. They usually also come with smaller space for power supplies... I think I'll be hitting the thermal limit with mini ITX. Most of those machines come with a 300W powersupply built in, good for corei5 without added graphics card...

just get a good Mini-ITX case and they are there for second gen i-series processors, like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112265

or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163149

 

[ps3hacker12]

SSD is a great thing to own and a 80GB is the minimum I would get because you can atleast have win7 hp 64bit os + 3 games with atleast 20gb left of free space.

If you don't already have something like the Samsung Spinpoint f3 1TB I would get one of those hdd to start since they are super fast themselves.

Spend a little more on the SSD and get a Crucial M4 128gb when you can afford it, fastest reliable ssd atm.

NM.

 

[ProDigit10]

just get a good Mini-ITX case and they are there for second gen i-series processors, like these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112265

or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163149

Now those look like very nice cases, that would fit in my computer desk's printerbay/shelf!
I'm particularly interested in the first one, which can host a Blueray / DVD combo drive!
The price of the case is rather high, but that's a price I'd be willing to pay, for the size advantage of this device!
Too bad the case does not come with a power supply.

I have very little experience building a mini ITX system.
Most of my stuff will come from Newegg; so I buy and will have to trust everything will fit... And one of the things I'm worrying about is if a dual slot Radeon 6850 would fit.
Seeing the size of the case, I'd probably opt for a card that uses 1 slot to blow out the air (like a hairdryer), instead of the ones that circulate the air inside the case.

Just changing to this form factor makes the setup a few twenties of bucks more expensive. It's not only the case that changes, but mobo and powersupply as well.

Talking about power supply, the first case seems to have 120mm fan exhaust at the center on top. What would happen if I would fit a PSU with a 140mm fan underneath?
Also I've seen some PSU's are sold for ~$65 for 500-600W, which I think is ok. But newegg also sells many that are sold in the $20-30's! I have serious doubts these PSU's can be of good quality, what do you think?

There are also a lot of PSU's with 'out of center' ceiling/top fans. they would probably not fit well in this case... All small details and cosmetics that will probably affect performance... (eg if fan is out of alignment with the fan exhaust holes in the case, it may cause worse airflow, heat buildup, and additional noise. The noise is probably a most unwanted artifact).

I'm still investigating the possibility of the small case, and so far the price has risen to ~$990 for all components.