New Quiet budget build for step-dad.

[mcveigh]

1. Mostly web surfing and email. Playing online poker and some light photo editing (picassa and photoshop) just for family photos.

2. Budget: Not sure, my step-dad is very frugal I'll say $600
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA

4. Probably going to go AMD for the bang for the buck. Would like to talk him into a SSD

5. Reusing only his monitor (19in LCD) the old PC is going to be mom's sewing PC.

6. Yes I have searched and read. I'm currently thinking a AMD 785G mobo with an dual or quad core PhenomII.

7. I will overclock.

8. standard resolutions

9. around Christmas time.

He currently is running a box I built which is a P4- 2.4C/1GB ram/36Gb raptor running Win2K. He also has a 500GB storage drive for my mom's sewing designs, but as this will now be her computer for sewing he doesn't need much capacity.

He was wants something fast and snappy. I want it to be quiet as well.

I'm totally willing to overclock, I'm not sure which CPU & mobo combo will be best for it.
I think integrated graphics will be fine.

Also to keep costs low I'm not sure about the case/PSU. maybe the NSK3480??

any input is appreciated.

 

[mcveigh]

OK anybody have feed back on this?

case: NSK 4480 II--- $70
PSU: included in case
mobo: GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H ---- $95
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 ---$102
ram: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600--- $94
HD : Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BD/40GB 2.5" 40GB SATA II ---$130
SNV125-S2BD/40GB (kingston 40gb SSD) is this the new intel based one?
dvd-burner: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer SATA Model iHAS424-98-Retail ---$34
OS: Win 7 home premium 64bit ---$105

External drive for backups: GF1000EU16 Fantom 1TB ---$ 90

OK these prices are rounded.
[size=+1]the total without shipping form newegg was $726.93 [/size]

I'm really open for another case. I'd love one with a removable motherboard tray.

also is there any better Ram to get? I will be overclocking it.

 

[theevilsharpie]

You want something quiet, and it'll only be used for light computing tasks, but you intend to overclock it?

Huh?

 

[Ayah]

You want something quiet, and it'll only be used for light computing tasks, but you intend to overclock it?

Huh?

It's quite possible to be quiet and overclocked. It's a bit tricky to do it on air, but way too easy to do it on water.

You'll want to slap a very supertower on it. Like a Scythe Mugen 2 and probably go with Scythe Gentle Typhoons for airflow, undervolted if you need them even more quiet than stock.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I fail to see the purpose of overclocking a processor that's already ridiculously overpowered for its task, particularly when doing so requires disabling the power management features of the processor.

 

[mcveigh]

Yes
I'm not going to go insane overclocking it. but my 64 X2 5000+ at 2.6GHz easily can do 3Ghz. but my HTPC case sucks for cooling (60mm fans). I figure if I can give some extra speed for free I'll do it.

and depending on how good the retail cooler works and how quiet it is I'll put something better on it.

 

[Winterpool]

This does seem a tad quixotic. As Sharpie remarked, it may be counterproductive to overclock a machine that you want to be quiet. But there are quieter fans, liquid cooling, etc. But a number of questions pose themselves:

Why overclock at all? Your stepfather is going to play poker, edit photos, and the usual online activities. Any modern cpu, even an Atom, can do this.

Is the SSD for performance? Silence? Geek-prowess?

Why do you want the computer to be quiet? Does your stepfather require low volumes? I notice you're a sleep technician -- is that something to do with it?

I have the black NSK4480 case. It's a good moderate-price Antec case, and fairly compact. It doesn't have the beefiest power supply, but if you're sticking with integrated graphics, you should be fine.

If your stepfather intends to keep this computer a while, a quadcore Phenom might 'futureproof' it slightly better than a high-speed dualcore, but it may not matter much either way given his typical usage.

Edited: any enthusiast understands the 'more performance for zero marginal cost' appeal of overclocking, but your stepdad doesn't need the speed. Meanwhile, overclocking may degrade the lifespan of the chip. If you're going to overclock a little just for kicks, sure go ahead, but I wouldn't base the system round that desire. More important, I wouldn't run the system overclocked for everyday usage, given that the user won't actually use any of the additional horsepower (ie after you've had your fun, return the settings to stock speeds for everyday use).

 

[AnonymouseUser]

You are trying to buy way too much power for the use it will get. Get this combo for $201 (free shipping!) and just tell your stepdad it's overclocked. You'll have enough money left over for a quality (quiet) cpu cooler, and an SSD, if you really must. Throw in a DVD burner and OS and call it done.

 

[fffblackmage]

You are trying to buy way too much power for the use it will get. Get this combo for $201 (free shipping!) and just tell your stepdad it's overclocked. You'll have enough money left over for a quality (quiet) cpu cooler, and an SSD, if you really must. Throw in a DVD burner and OS and call it done.

Would be a nice combo for the price... has more than enough speed for playing poker and whatnot. But i just don;t like that case. But if the dad doesn't mind....

 

[engiNURD]

A pre-built dell deal or refurb from dell outlet for $350-$450 would be ideal, complete with OS and monitor. Typical specs are E5300/E7500, 2-4GB ram, 160-320GB HDD, X4500HD, 18-22" LCD, home premium, etc.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Would be a nice combo for the price... has more than enough speed for playing poker and whatnot. But i just don;t like that case. But if the dad doesn't mind....

Yeah, the case is a bit much, but a little spray paint on that front bezel will go a long way....

 

[mcveigh]

Would be a nice combo for the price... has more than enough speed for playing poker and whatnot. But i just don;t like that case. But if the dad doesn't mind....

it's a good deal but i'd have to gouge my eyes out to use that case

This system will be in use probably at least 5 years. I'm willing to drop down to a non phenom chip, but the price difference is only like $30 less to get an X2 250 (3.0GHZ).

Does anyone have any comments on the ram or DVD burner?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

The case is pretty bad, but you could always sell it on Craigslist and go with something different.

Here's another combo, 2.5GHz quad core Phenom (not Phenom II), 790GX motherboard, and HD 4350 for $173 (plus tax) shipped.

If you have a Fry's near you, grab a Corsair Hydro H-50 cooler for $56 for a quiet CPU cooler.

EDIT >> AMD Phenom II X2 550 deal, 3.1GHz, same mobo and HD 4350 as above, $180 shipped.

 

[M0RPH]

Dell Vostro slim tower / dual core E5300 / 3gb ram / 250gb hd / W7 Home Prem / Samsung 2494SW 24in LCD

$486 shipped

 

[Paperlantern]

There has been plenty of good combos mentioned here so I will refrain, however i will echo the sentiment of not bothering to overclock. This will be a light duty box at most and there just is no need for the extra wear on the cpu for literally no gain. Its like putting a turbo kit on a 85 year old lady's car. Just no point.

 

[Zap]

Does anyone have any comments on the ram or DVD burner?

For DVD burner, Lite On would be my last choice (Samsung or LG my first choices, closely followed by Sony/Optiarc and Pioneer).

Your RAM choice is severely overkill.

Seriously mcveigh, you keep saying that you're building the system for your dad, but you keep deciding on parts (and overclocking) as if the system is for yourself.

Back to your build...

Anything you get will be worlds faster than the old P4. Even current hard drives will be much faster than the old 36GB Raptor (except for access times). Here's a proposed build list:

Antec NSK3480 case/power $90
Phenom II x3 CPU $110
random AMD 785G chipset mobo $85
random 4GB RAM kit $80
Samsung 1TB 7200RPM "F3" hard drive $85 (short stroke it FTW! Or, 40GB Kingston SSD)
random DVDRW $30
Windows $110

Set the case fan to low, make sure power management features are enabled in BIOS, enable Smart Fan in BIOS. Done.

 

[mcveigh]

For DVD burner, Lite On would be my last choice (Samsung or LG my first choices, closely followed by Sony/Optiarc and Pioneer).

Your RAM choice is severely overkill.

Seriously mcveigh, you keep saying that you're building the system for your dad, but you keep deciding on parts (and overclocking) as if the system is for yourself.

Back to your build...

Anything you get will be worlds faster than the old P4. Even current hard drives will be much faster than the old 36GB Raptor (except for access times). Here's a proposed build list:

Antec NSK3480 case/power $90
Phenom II x3 CPU $110
random AMD 785G chipset mobo $85
random 4GB RAM kit $80
Samsung 1TB 7200RPM "F3" hard drive $85 (short stroke it FTW! Or, 40GB Kingston SSD)
random DVDRW $30
Windows $110

OK Isn't this pretty much the same thing I posted?

3 core chip instead on 2, smaller case. but all in all about the same?

He wants it fast, believe it or not I have actually talked him down from a powerful graphics card he thought he needed and and he even wanted " a good sound card" for some junky desktop stereo speakers.

I think the most bang for his buck that he will notice will be the SSD drive. I'm thinking real world day to day improvements in performance.

 

[heyheybooboo]

My Phenom 550BE turned out pretty good.

I've got the AM2+ version of the Gigabyte 785g. It unlocked to a quad, undervolted -.125, idles 804MHz at 0.832v and 25c.


At load - 1.184v and 48c with the NB at 2411MHz. Total system power draw was 126w. I'm using an old Opty copper heatpipe cooler with a 4-pin fan and OCZ Freeze.


From time to time coming out of 'sleep' it will throw a blue screen at the -.125 undervolt --- I haven't had the problem with a -.1v undervolt but my system 'leaps' to 0.848 at idle and 1.2v at load - 129w total system power draw. AMD specs the minimum voltage at 0.875 so I imagine I've found the bottom.