Looking for New build suggestion

[Connoisseur]

My current system is in my sig. Yes it's several years old but it still plays most games pretty damn well. The case is an Antec 300. While, this system runs really stable and fairly quiet (I have all the fans at the lowest speed settings), i'm looking for a modern system that'll run cooler and quieter with about the same or slightly better performance.

So my question is this: Are there any systems I can build (Case + CPU + GPU + PSU) where I can get similar or more power compared to my current rig but with less noise/no noise and maybe a smaller footprint? Ideally, i'd like:
1) Same or better performance than my curret system in the majority of modern games. Something that can beat the Q9550 + HD4890 combo.
2) SFF or at least smaller than my Antec 300.
3) Extremely quiet fanned or fanless design.
4) Air filter built in (if possible) so I don't have to worry about dust in the system.
5) Also fairly inexpensive would be awesome. 900 or less would be ideal but i'd consider more if it's really worth it.
Of note, I understand that I won't be getting top of the line performance but I'd like a system that can at least match or beat the HD4890 + Q9550 in most games.

In regards to the SFF design, I live in a NYC apartment so i'm trying to minimize my PC footprint as much as possible. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[DSF]

I'm assuming you plan to reuse your current drives? If so it's definitely possible on your budget. Intel's new line of chips is only months away at this point, so that's food for thought, depending on how itchy that upgrade itch is.

What PSU are you currently using? Do you have a valid OS license?

 

[Connoisseur]

I'm assuming you plan to reuse your current drives? If so it's definitely possible on your budget. Intel's new line of chips is only months away at this point, so that's food for thought, depending on how itchy that upgrade itch is.

What PSU are you currently using? Do you have a valid OS license?

I plan on reusing my WD hard drives for apps/storage. They've been pretty rock solid and there's nothing really better for spinning disk storage anyway (I don't want to invest in 10k RPM drives). I wanted to replace my X-25 RAID SSD's with one SSD.

My PSU is an Antec Earthwatts 500 Watt and I have legitimate Win 7 licenses.

 

[Ketchup]

If you want to buy now, and Intel i5 with an nVidia Gefore 660 would do well, and should be fine with your power supply (the Gigabyte 660 says it will work with 450 watts). I made a similar upgrade (from a Q6600) and the new build is a lot quieter than the old system (with proper fan speeds of course) runs a LOT cooler, and is a good bit faster whenever I do anything graphics- or processor-intensive.

I am sure a current AMD card would do you well, but I am not as familiar with those.

 

[Connoisseur]

If you want to buy now, and Intel i5 with an nVidia Gefore 660 would do well, and should be fine with your power supply (the Gigabyte 660 says it will work with 450 watts). I made a similar upgrade (from a Q6600) and the new build is a lot quieter than the old system (with proper fan speeds of course) runs a LOT cooler, and is a good bit faster whenever I do anything graphics- or processor-intensive.

I am sure a current AMD card would do you well, but I am not as familiar with those.

I'm guessing haswell will be another big leap in terms of performance/watt so I can get a much quieter system. Any suggestions on a case? Something that's even smaller than an Antec 300. I just have one 5.25" Blu-Ray drive and I only really need 2-3 internal 3.5" bays.

 

[Raincity]

Plenty of MATX mini tower cases that are smaller than the 300 to chose from. I personally would wait the Fractal Define Mini R-2 to come out this spring.

 

[mfenn]

Can you live without the external 5.25" bay? Most mini-ITX enclosures with that many internal 3.5" bays don't include a 5.25" bay.

 

[Connoisseur]

Can you live without the external 5.25" bay? Most mini-ITX enclosures with that many internal 3.5" bays don't include a 5.25" bay.

It's an LG combo BR/HD-DVD drive. They're rare nowadays and I still have a bunch of HD-DVD's that I got on the cheap that I have yet to rip. It'd be nice to keep it.

 

[Charlie98]

I built my HTPC in a Fractal Define Mini... it's a very well built case. It was about the smallest decent mATX I could find. 2 5.25" bays, but I put my SSD in the bottom one, took the removable 3x 3.5" rack out which left me with the 3x HDD slots I needed. Good airflow, good filtering, very quiet. It's a little pricey, but it was worth the money... and now I'm trying to justify dumping the HAF922 desktop case for a Define Mini.

 

[Connoisseur]

I built my HTPC in a Fractal Define Mini... it's a very well built case. It was about the smallest decent mATX I could find. 2 5.25" bays, but I put my SSD in the bottom one, took the removable 3x 3.5" rack out which left me with the 3x HDD slots I needed. Good airflow, good filtering, very quiet. It's a little pricey, but it was worth the money... and now I'm trying to justify dumping the HAF922 desktop case for a Define Mini.

I like the Mini's design. I might wait for the R-2. I'm sure the HAF922 has great cooling and all but I feel like I outgrew that gaudy design language back in college. I'm all about solid build and minimalist/clean design in most things.

 

[Charlie98]

I like the Mini's design. I might wait for the R-2. I'm sure the HAF922 has great cooling and all but I feel like I outgrew that gaudy design language back in college. I'm all about solid build and minimalist/clean design in most things.

Well, I'm here to tell you the HAF922 has lousy filtering, and dust is one of the main issues I have.

The other case I really liked (but it was too big for my HTPC space) is the Corsair 550D. It's a bit more loot, even, than the Define Mini.

 

[Connoisseur]

Well, I'm here to tell you the HAF922 has lousy filtering, and dust is one of the main issues I have.

The other case I really liked (but it was too big for my HTPC space) is the Corsair 550D. It's a bit more loot, even, than the Define Mini.

That's definitely a much more clean looking PC. Yeah I'm glad my Antec 300 has an air filter on the intake fans. I've had this system for about 3-4 years and the inside is still crazy clean considering the time.

My next build will definitely be a SFF system. Just deciding on which case. I want it as small as possible but still with decent ventilation (so I don't have to have a bunch of loud fans), some sort of noise dampening and maybe room for a regular sized graphics card. Quietness and space are my biggest considerations. Performance is up there but I'm not looking for top of the line.

 

[gammaray]

imho you can't have very quiet performance with very good graphics \ gaming experience. Unless you wanna cool everything with water, and even then, radiators still need fans.

For the video card, go with one that got a fan instead of a blower. (if noise bothers you this much)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Just built a Silverstone SG05 with AsRock Z77E-ITX/3570K. It's nice. Quiet as heck. Dead silent at idle, fairly quiet under load. The included 450w PSU has a fan, but I didn't notice it on when I was testing it prior to assembly - thought my PSU tester was broken. Intel's stock HSF is probably the loudest bit, but it'd be quieter if I let it run hotter. (I set target temp to 50C in the BIOS so the rpms are pretty much maxed all the time under load. I F@H, so it's always under load. My intent is to do a modest OC eventually, but... other stuff to do first.)

Holds a 2-slot GPU, 10" or less. Install the GPU last.

SG05 only has a single 3.5" bay. However, if you mod the shelf a little bit, you can get both of your 2.5" drives on the top shelf where the single 2.5" bay is, and then migrate your 3 600GB drives to a single 2TB mechanism. Optical bay is slim-line... HD-DVD... okay, so this might not be the case for you. (External enclosure? Wouldn't be that bad...)

I put a 6850 in mine, because I had one already and was being cheap. Will probably upgrade to 7850 or whatever 8xxx series replaces it price/performance-wise, as finances permit. The 4890 was a high-end, hot, powerful card. If you really want quiet, you'll need to go midrange. Modern midrange is still better than the 4890, just not by as much.

I went from a Q6600, and am still trying to get everything working right, but the performance increase is pretty epic. Also, The CPU/Motherboard was $290 at Microcenter.

 

[mfenn]

It's an LG combo BR/HD-DVD drive. They're rare nowadays and I still have a bunch of HD-DVD's that I got on the cheap that I have yet to rip. It'd be nice to keep it.

In my mind "SFF" means "mini-ITX or smaller". I don't really see the point of trading an Antec Three Hundred for a Micro ATX case, you're honestly not going to get much space savings that way.

However, when you go for ITX, you basically have to choose between a 5.25" bay for an optical drive and having more than one 3.5" bay. About the only exception that I can think of is the BitFenix Prodigy, but that's not really THAT small.

I think the Prodigy or getting an external enclosure for the ODD is your best bet.