Seeking guidance for powerfull build without gaming

[zozo21]

It's been a while that I've been in need of a desktop. I was surviving with a yoga but now I need more and I'm at a lost with all those "new" parts. I'd like to order before or a the black friday.

Here are my needs :
-Display port and 4k multi monitor support
-Lots of power for lightroom(20%), .Net(75%) and some Premiere(5%)
-Small form factor or at least, not a 30+ pound behemot
-as quiet as possible
-and of course, best bang for my bucks knowing all the above!


I thought about adding a gfx card because I wasen't sure a Display Port would be available without.

Here's the build I'm coming up with so far at roughly 1200$Can without monitors. I'd like to stay around that range. Most part will come from either ncix.ca or directcanada.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/VfY8zy
CPU : Intel Core i7-4790
MOBO : Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150
RAM : Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600
Internal HD : Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Video Card : Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB
Case : Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower
PSU : Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified
Optical : Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
OS : Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit
Wifi : TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
does a wifi+bluetooth exist ?

monitors : Dell UP2414Q 60Hz 23.8" Monitor X1 @ 4k + Dell P2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor @1080p X 1or2

Only 2 Items are set in stone : The UP2414Q and a Sandisk Extreme.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mfenn]

When you say the Sandisk Extreme is set in stone, why is that? Have you already purchased it? I ask because $161 isn't an especially good price for a ~$256GB SSD when the Corsair MX100 is $116.

As for the rest, it's pretty reasonable, except that I would change a few items:

- RAM: $175 is a bit high for 16GB of DDR3 1600. You can pick up this A-DATA DDR3 1600 kit for $160.
- GPU: $140 is too much to be spending on an R7 260X. The much more powerful GTX 750 Ti will run you about $153.

 

[OlyAR15]

Don't see any issues. The only recommendation I would make would be to look at the Silverstone TJ08-e case. I built a computer for a neighbour using one of these cases, and I was quite impressed. Compact, quiet, very good build quality.

 

[richaron]

*Snip*
- GPU: $140 is too much to be spending on an R7 260X. The much more powerful GTX 750 Ti will run you about $153.

This is just plain wrong: The 750Ti has some advantages (hence the higher price). Being "much more powerful" is not one of them.

Performance is almost identical, although 750Ti will be better for power/noise (probably only noticeable with heavy GPU use). If I was building a workstation-type computer I would go with the 260X because of industry's trend towards compute; an area where one of these cards can be "much more powerful".

 

[zozo21]

So far it seems I'm on the right track ! I was really at a lost.

@mfenn I've been using sandisk extreme sd cards for the past 10 years without a single problem and intend to try with this ssd because it's labeled as powerfull yet stable, just like the whole brand.

I'll look into the case and ram. How's the airflow inside and outside of the Silverstone ? what about the stability of that RAM ?

I would just need to buy an airport, Psu and DVI cable a DVI on top of that?

 

[Essence_of_War]

@mfenn I've been using sandisk extreme sd cards for the past 10 years without a single problem and intend to try with this ssd because it's labeled as powerfull yet stable, just like the whole brand.

I'm leery of making too much comparison between SD cards and SSDs based solely on the retail name branding. There's no question that the extreme pro is a great SSD, the question is how much additional performance it is giving you for the additional cost. It could make sense if you're hammering it with a super write-heavy workload, but most non-professional photo/video editors don't really do that. You can almost get 512GB of MX100 for the same price.

Also, the Fractal case you've picked out is fairly large for an mATX case, is that sufficiently small-form-factor for you? I think all of your components would fit into something even smaller like, say, the Corsair 250D or the Lian-Li Q08B

 

[escrow4]

You could swap in a 5820K and X99M Fatality from Asrock instead of Devils Canyon, those extra cores will come in handy, with a 16GB DDR4 G-Skill 2133MHz kit. Will blow out the budget though.

 

[Yuriman]

4790K is higher clocked than 4790, probably a better choice.

 

[Cerb]

I thought about adding a gfx card because I wasen't sure a Display Port would be available without.

It is, but it limits your motherboard selection greatly, and DP can still be kind of buggy. It annoys the crap out of me that big vendors can implement DP in cost-constrained PCs, but not white box (business desktops almost all have 1-2 DP ports, which are passively convertible to DVI or HDMI). For 4K, I say make sure you have HDMI as an option, too.

Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

OK, but worth another $50?

Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/zotac-video-card-zt7070720m
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-112150440g

Same outputs. Were it me, I'd get the Zotac.

Case : Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 MicroATX Mini Tower
PSU : Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified

Good, but questionable in terms of noise, and size. The Arc Mini is a little too open, and not that small. Check out the Bitfenix Phenom MicroATX. With a quietish PSU, aftermarket cooler, and no HDD, it should work well, and be fairly small. Might need replacement of case fans, depending, but that can be decided after fiddling with fan controls. Being almost closed, except for the top mesh panel, and bottom, it do well to keep in most high-pitched and electronics-born noises. The top vent has enough added plastic bits it will still help some, too.

The CX430 is a nice budget PSU, but noise varies quite a bit by sample of fan, if nothing else, and the fan is a weak point for it anyway. At moderate cost, the Corsair RM series are good, due to being semi-passive, decent quality, and not costing a mint, but of course, there are better than those for more money, and so down the rabbit hole goes...

With a tiny case, like the Phenom Micro ATX, a Node, or such, a modular PSU would make it easier to work with, as you will not need all the cables.

When looking at cases and PSUs, consider that you're looking at around 150-70W peak DC power draw, and I'm even padding that a little bit, to cover rather inefficient motherboards. A small case can have very good efficiency, in terms of cooling effectiveness v. noise, with cables tucked out of the way, and the right fans (and, the included ones might be enough).

does a wifi+bluetooth exist ?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HF8K0O6/?tag=pcpapi-20

 

[OlyAR15]

I'll look into the case and ram. How's the airflow inside and outside of the Silverstone ?

Very good. It has a 180mm front fan, and it's pretty quiet. Nothing wrong with the mini ARC case, but it isn't the smallest of mATX cases. Of course it gives you a lot of room inside for extra long video cards, but that would be irrelevant in your case.

 

[Cerb]

How's the airflow inside and outside of the Silverstone ?

I missed this, before.

The TJ08-e's airflow is among the best you will find around its size. The trouble with it is getting it super quiet under idle conditions, because very few fans can stay running very slowly. The AP181, and Phobya's silent model, can, by some reports, but they might need some work. I was not able, when I tired, to get either running much under 400 RPM, and just the swoosh of the blades against the grill and filter were nearly up to a whisper level. The TJ08-e's single case fan, however, can cool rather powerful systems without itself needing to get remotely loud.

IMO, for that use, with low power, the PS07 is better, and is what I used for my main rig, but they don't include AP121s with the case, so replacement fans might be in order to keep it really quiet under load (or maybe not, with so little power use). With indirect air intakes, and 120mm fans (lots of choices that run to low RPMs), it's much easier to make uber-quiet at idle, or for low power systems, but the maximum air pressure potential is much lower.

But, while both are compact for being able to comfortably cool overclocked dual video card rigs, much less easier to cool systems, yet still stuff cables out of the way, and even have built in mechanical cooler and video card supports (both are among my favorite cases), you can go yet smaller, and I don't think doing so would require any significant compromises, if you want SFF.

 

[zozo21]

based on your input, I made several adjustments. It now look like this :

Microsoft Windows 8.1 64Bit English DVD OEM*
Intel Core I7 4790K Unlocked Quad Core Ht 4GHZ/4.4GHZ Processor LGA1150 Haswell 8MB Cache Retail
Gigabyte H97N-WIFI mITX LGA1150 H97
Corsair Obsidian 250D mITX Black Gaming
Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 OC 1072MHZ 3GB 5.0GHZ
Corsair RM550 Silence ATX 12V V2.31 80 Plus Gold Modular
SanDisk Extreme Pro 2.5in SSD 240GB SSD
Corsair Vengeance Heatspreader CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 16GB 2X8G

I'd rather have a bigger gpu for ponctual raw power while keeping the whole system quiet without overclocking. The idea to get a modular psu was genius! Also really liked the 250D. I moved to 550w because of the bigger gpu.

 

[Yuriman]

$20 more buys you a 4790K which is clocked a whopping 400mhz higher, even if you don't intend to overclock it.

 

[zozo21]

you're absolutely right! I totally missed the "optionnal" part of the K. Yummy a static 10% boost for 30$

 

[Cerb]

I think the R9 280 is going to be both a waste of a GPU, and ruin any attempts at going quiet. It will offer Lightroom very little, and Premier a bit, but not all that much in practice in either case. Even the plain GTX 750 might be more than you'll need, but it's hard to argue against, given that Adobe CC gets better at using GPUs over time, loves Kepler and Maxell, the power use is low, and that every price point down from a 750 drops performance severely. Also, that HDMI, running at 4k, on HD 4600, is limited to 24Hz, just one more reason for a video card of some kind, w/o onboard DP.

 

[Cerb]

The Zotac GTX 750 is at least double U.S. prices, and others are unobtanium. The Sapphire "R7 250" really isn't, so may be lacking in good 4K support (also something I'm not sure of with the GT 6xx cards, though most lack DP to start with). Absolute craziness.

 

[mfenn]

This is just plain wrong: The 750Ti has some advantages (hence the higher price). Being "much more powerful" is not one of them.

Performance is almost identical, although 750Ti will be better for power/noise (probably only noticeable with heavy GPU use). If I was building a workstation-type computer I would go with the 260X because of industry's trend towards compute; an area where one of these cards can be "much more powerful".

Sorry, you are right. I was thinking of the R7 250X for some reason. Chalk it up to being on PST instead of EST.