Allrounder mini-ITX

S

studio9

New Member
Hello,
This is my first time building a computer myself.

I need an allrounder - mostly for office and design works (Photoshop) - with some graphics capabilities but no gaming machine - playing a game in a year with high settings and 30-40 fps should be fine tough I also am after some graphics capabilities because I sometimes do some 3D modelling (only playing around at the moment :) ).

The CPU should be in the mid range - 4 cores.

So I have got this build-composition:

Case: SilverStone Fortress FT03-Mini

PSU: SilverStone Strider Series 450W SFX12V

Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WIFI, Z77

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220V2

GPU: HIS Radeon HD 7750 iSilence 5

RAM: TeamGroup Elite DIMM Kit 16GB

HDD: Western Digital Red 3000GB

SSD: Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 512GB

DVD-Burner: SilverStone SST-SOD02 Slim Slot-in

I still need something to cool the cpu. Something passive.

And is there a better and more quiet PSU? Fanless or external?

Will the case fan be enough to cool everything? Maybe I could replace it with an elooper or silentwings fan for more silence?

Can I add a HD-Silencer for the HDD to be more quiet?
 
Last edited:
Dont get the Xeon. 4 cores is useless with that GPU for gaming, and the xeon is a bad choice for a 4 core cpu anyways. Get a i3 and a better GPU. In the end, you will be happier with a slighly louder WD Black then the WD Red.
 
PCunicorn said:
Dont get the Xeon. 4 cores is useless with that GPU for gaming, and the xeon is a bad choice for a 4 core cpu anyways. Get a i3 and a better GPU. In the end, you will be happier with a slighly louder WD Black then the WD Red.
Click to expand...
I suspose you totally missed the 3d modeling part, right? The one he chose is not good, as a few $$ more and you get a 3570k for more performance. However, for the same amount more (maybe a few more, not sure) he can get a IPU lacking 3770 and get even more performance he will love in 3d modeling. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286

WD reds are meant solely for RAID arrays. If you are running just 1, then go blue or black. Or for that matter a Seagate would be good too.

GPU could be better, and get a Nvidia at that. GTX650(ti/ti boost) to model with. You will welcome teh help.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Maybe I could use a Seagate Constellation CS 3000GB which has 25-26 dB.

I have a Western Digital, SATA-II 3.0Gb/s, 5400 RPM, 750 GB and had no speed problems yet - tough I had to deactivate the energy saving function of it because I had lags on every first access.

I want my the pc to be more silent than a highend gaming machine. It is used for office and design work mostly (Photoshop) and music production. Only sometimes I do a little gaming, 3d modelling, video converting/editing...

So I can use a Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 instead, check :)

Is there a GTX 650 Ti with passive cooling?

What do you say about cooling of this sytsem as the case is so small.

I would like to use only passive cooling tough I cannot find a passive PSU for that case. Or maybe an external PSU?

There is a fan on the case bottom, do you think it is enough to cool all the passive stuff?
 
You are seriously overstating the noise issue here. Stock intel cooling is quite silent at full speed. noise wise, you are better off with an SSD than a HDD, as any HDD will vibrate from the disk turning. The closest to a 650ti that is passive would be http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187197, but that is going to break your budget most likely. Otherwise, you can likely get away with a dual fan setup and run them at extremely low RPM and maintain near to silence.

Small case is always less airflow than a large space.

NO. YOu will need lots of high CFM fans to cool all of your passive components, which negates your noise issue anyway.
 
Why is there a passive HIS Radeon HD 7750 iSilence 5 and passive cpu coolers then? Or do they only work in normal size cases?

If I need fans on cpu and gpu, can I at least get the overall system be below 20 dB or even below 15 dB?

When I don't listen to music, there is absolutely silence in my room and I don't want to hear the computer fans then...

My current notebook has about 32 dB to 40 dB (says some review) and I can't stand the fan noise.
 
Last edited:
I don't need a highend gaming machine. I play very few games, but when I do I'd like it to work fine on the pc. Easy game capabilites are fine.
 
Nothing wrong with the Xeon. Brilliant chip for the price, will game just fine and certainly makes sense to get one it he's using a discrete card. Also,
I need an allrounder - mostly for office and design works (Photoshop) - with some graphics capabilities but no gaming machine - playing a game in a year with high settings and 30-40 fps should be fine
Click to expand...

I haven't dealt with small form factor builds, but passive cooing is fine if you can keep the case temps down. You'll still need fans to push the air through the case, though, and arrange the airflow so that the air over the heatsinks actually moves. How to do that for small builds I don't know... regardless, you'll need some damn good fans if you want to keep it cool and quiet at the same time.
 
Does somone know how the DVD-Drive works in the Zalman ZM-T2 case?
Does it need a sepcial DVD-drive or will there be a cable connected to the drive from the case button to open?
 
Last edited:
hackapelite said:
Nothing wrong with the Xeon. Brilliant chip for the price, will game just fine and certainly makes sense to get one it he's using a discrete card. Also,


I haven't dealt with small form factor builds, but passive cooing is fine if you can keep the case temps down. You'll still need fans to push the air through the case, though, and arrange the airflow so that the air over the heatsinks actually moves. How to do that for small builds I don't know... regardless, you'll need some damn good fans if you want to keep it cool and quiet at the same time.
Click to expand...

Playing a game in a year on high. That cant be done with any GPU. A 7770 is recommended at least in my book. And I doubt the xeon will handle games very well. Maybe some xeons but i seriously doubt that one.
 
PCunicorn said:
Playing a game in a year on high. That cant be done with any GPU. A 7770 is recommended at least in my book. And I doubt the xeon will handle games very well. Maybe some xeons but i seriously doubt that one.
Click to expand...
Honestly, why do you think it's not good for gaming? Are you just reiterating some garbage you've read on the internet? The Xeons are essentially identical to i7 chips, they're not in any way worse when compared with similarly clocked desktop counterparts - and the 1220V2 is clocked at 3.1GHz which is plenty for games.

Does somone know how the DVD-Drive works in this case?
-> Zalman ZM-T2
Does it need a sepcial DVD-drive or will there be a cable connected to the drive from the case button to open?
Click to expand...
You'll need to get a slim drive for that case, IDK if that drive is slim but it should tell you on the product page wherever you're buying it from. The cables for normal and slim SATA drives are identical, so you don't need to worry about those.
 
Not always true. there are 4 core no HT versions of the Xeon, which makes for a bad deal when you compare to a 3570k which is less than $10 more. However teh price difference to a HT enables version is about the same.

And also not always true. There are slim drives out there than have a miro power cable on them. Easy to get an adapter though, some even come with adapters.
 
Not always true. there are 4 core no HT versions of the Xeon, which makes for a bad deal when you compare to a 3570k which is less than $10 more. However teh price difference to a HT enables version is about the same.
Click to expand...
Ah crap yea, OP's choice is still fine though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top