New motherboard/CPU/memory

[Tom5jl]

Hi guys,

I am a new member, and am looking to build a new system to replace an older system that used an Abit IP35 Pro ATX motherboard, Intel Kentsfield Q6600 1st gen CPU, and DDR800 memory. I want to use the same same Antec P182 case and Seasonic SS-520GM 520W ATX12V power supply.

This is not a gaming system, but one that I use to run by legal business. It needs to be really, really quiet, or even fanless. I use one 120mm low speed fan currently. Needs to be rock-solid reliable.

I do need RAID 1 support on the motherboard as well as support for SATA 1 and SATA 2 devices. I require dual monitor support and currently use an HD 4350 card. Hoping to avoid expensive CPU heatsinks, although I have a really good Thermalright sink on top of the Q6600 I can possibly re-use (but I realize that is unlikely and not a big deal if a different sink is needed). I will be running Windows 8 on this system from the start.

Anyway, any suggestions on motherboard/CPU/memory combinations that are cheap/reliable/quiet are greatly appreciated. Overclocking not really needed.

Thanks,
Tom5jl

 

[Cerb]

If you want quiet, you need a big heatsink. No way around that. But, you can make it easier with lower end CPUs.

1. What is your current heatsink, exactly? Some TR heatsinks will have forward compatibility. You could buy a $15-20 mounting kit, instead of a $50-80 heatsink, and re-use it.

2. What, if any, multithreaded or memory-heavy applications do you run?

Edit: here's your motherboard:
ASRock H77M
- Integrated FakeRAID
- USB 3.0 on back and headers (just add a bay device, and you can get semi-front USBs for your P182, when the day comes you want them)
- Socket 775 heatsink mounting support - physical clearances still matter, but if nothing is in the way, your old cooler should work.

With a Core i3-3220 and 8GB Crucial RAM, it comes out to under $240, before the Windows license.

If you want something more snappy, but don't have any CPU-heavy multithreaded applications, the extra cost for a good i5/i7/Xeon is largely wasted.

Depending on your heatsink, you may be able to go without a fan on the CPU heatsink, with a new i3 (105W TDP v. 65W TDP).

 

[Tom5jl]

Cerb,

My heatsink is a Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, and has a Scythe Sflex SFF21D fan.

I'm not running big multithreaded apps - lots of .doc/.pdf preparation, and Microsoft Visio mostly. Some Dragon speech recognition (thats probably the most CPU-intensive app I run).

Thanks Much,
Tom5jl

 

[Cerb]

If you were expected it to cost more 🙂, you could always add a RAID 1 of SSDs. Beyond the generational improvements of the new CPUs, I doubt any other hardware would make more of a difference. Given your business, RAID 1 and backup should be pretty much mandatory, even though good SSDs are many orders of magnitude less likely to die like HDDs.

For what you're doing, an i3 is likely worth it over Pentiums, but anything more would probably be wasted. For your usage, a $100 more i5 would let Dragon use 10% less CPU--wow 🙄. Most everything else is going to be helped more by generational memory controller and cache improvements, than by clock speeds.

That HSF might do without a fan, if you wanted to try it and watch your temps for awhile (it's definitely possible, just that something like a HR-01 would be a shoe-in for fanless cooling, with no case configuration worries). Worst case would be that the S-Flex will do the job fine at the lowest RPM it can (well, actually the worst case will be that the cooler won't fit right on the new mobo, but yours shouldn't be bad about that).

 

[DooKey]

The i3 suggested should just do fine for what you are going to use it for and it's a low TDP processor as well. You really won't be loading it up so heat output will be minimal. The stock HSF set to low might be quiet enough for your purposes.

This 1333 ram (only $20 for 2x2gb) will work well for you since you aren't going to run anything but stock. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231253

 

[DSF]

I take it the older system failed? Otherwise a Q6600 with a TRUE should do everything you're asking it to do, right?

 

[Tom5jl]

I take it the older system failed? Otherwise a Q6600 with a TRUE should do everything you're asking it to do, right?

Sorry, don't understand some the acronyms used above (TRUE, HSF, TDP).

No, the system didn't fail. My install of Windows 7 is acting flaky and I need to rebuild the disk image anyway. I thought I would start with Windows 8 this time.

I'm coming around to thinking the most cost effective upgrade for the system might be Win 8 on SSDs (currently using WD AADS drives) and maybe more RAM - and keep the same motherboard and CPU. I will be giving up faster memory performance, SATA 3, and PCI-E 3 that a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM will provide - but not sure that will make a big difference.

Should there be any problems using SATA 3 SSDs with an older SATA 2 motherboard? I wouldn't think so...

Thanks,
Tom5jl

 

[dave_the_nerd]

No problem at all. SSD would probably be the way to go.

As far as flaky, why not just reinstall Win7? Then at least you dont' have to buy more software too.

 

[DSF]

TRUE = Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme
HSF = Heatsink/Fan
TDP = Thermal Design Power

 

[Tom5jl]

Thanks guys; all VERY helpful! I way well stick with Win 7, especially if Win 8 drivers etc for VPN not available.

Tom5jl

 

[Cerb]

I'm coming around to thinking the most cost effective upgrade for the system might be Win 8 on SSDs (currently using WD AADS drives) and maybe more RAM - and keep the same motherboard and CPU. I will be giving up faster memory performance, SATA 3, and PCI-E 3 that a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM will provide - but not sure that will make a big difference.

Should there be any problems using SATA 3 SSDs with an older SATA 2 motherboard? I wouldn't think so...

Do it. The only problem you'll have with older SATA is that your benchmark scores won't be quite as high as with brand new controllers. You might see a Crystal random read score of only 18MB/s, when a new Intel chipset would get 23MB/s...but, your HDDs might not even be able to get 0.5MB/s 🙂.

For the cost of new a mobo, CPU, RAM, and Windows license, you could almost afford 2 quality 256GB drives[ on sale, which is a common occurrence these days], and could definitely afford 128GB, if you either don't have a lot of data, or are willing to go with HDDs as pure storage.

But...it would not hurt to run memtest86+, and maybe a CPU stress tester or two, just to make sure the hardware isn't at fault, instead of a crufty Windows install (unless your use of 'flaky' does not mean 'unstable').

 

[mfenn]

This is not a gaming system, but one that I use to run by legal business.
...
I will be running Windows 8 on this system from the start.

Really bad idea. You want stability and compatibility, not a whacked-out half-baked interface with next to no support by 3rd party apps. Stick with Windows 7.