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Sub $500 non gaming build

IHateMyJob2004

IHateMyJob2004

Lifer
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Tinkering with software development type stuff. Might try to make a BB10 App. The BB10 emulator (uses VMWare) is a HUGE resource hog but supports multiple threads


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
$500 max. The lower the better. $300 would be stellar but I know that is not realistic. UPDATE: let's go $700


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA


4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Want an Intel i5.
Do not care about 3D performance.
Thinking of getting this i5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687
Not caring about 3D graphics, shoudl I consider this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
will reuse 1920x1200 LCD


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
default speeds


8. What resolution will you be using?
1920x1200
UPDATE: DUAL

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
BLACK FRIDAY/CYBER MONDAY PURCHASES


NOTE:
I would prefer to make this as silent as is reasonably possible
Thinking about getting this motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

I thought OS was in the list? Anyway, I have a developers license for MSDN so I hope to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 along with maybe a Linux distro. So cost for this stuff is $0.

I want a wired laser mouse and cheap keyboard. recomendations on that would be appreciated.

Shooting for a 1TB+ drive and a 1.5TB backup drive.
 
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He had a "any good Black Friday deals" thread. This is specific to one computer.

Cheapest decent i5? $185 3470 @Amazon. Unless you're near a Micro Center.

You found the right mobo with free RAM.

For the other parts, probably the usual suspects:

PSU: Corsair 430CX, $17AR 😱

Not sure about a case. This Fractal Design looks overpriced right now.

Not sure about HDDs either. There's a $70 2TB 7200RPM drive on Newegg, but it might be unreliable.

Edit: I add up what I listed and it comes to $452, before KB/mouse.
 
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mfenn said:
The 3570K and Gigabyte board are good choices (3570K because it's the same price as the 3570). Ken's build is quite good, here it is in concise form with the upgraded CPU:

i5 3570K $200 AP
Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V + G.Skill DDR3 1600 8GB combo $70
Seagate 2TB drive x2 $140
CX430 $17 AR
Fractal Design Core 1000 $40
Logitech K120 $16
Gigabyte mouse $20 - Logitech MX clone
Total: $503
Click to expand...

To make a silent PC, wouldn't I want a 140mm fan? The one thing I would spend an extra few bucks on is a case/fan combo that should be quieter. I'd also spring a few bucks for a quieter cooling fan for the processor. The PC is goingin my bedroom where my wife may be sleeping so I need to be concerned with this. Are there any particalr lines of hard drive to look at or avoid in terms of noise?
 
120mm and 140mm can both be quiet at the right RPM. In my experience, 120mm fans are quieter at any given RPM but 140mm fans move the same amount of air at a slightly lower RPM, and in my experience their lower tone noise characteristic is more bearable.

$500 is not a very good budget for silent PC, but quiet is doable. Mfenn's build is very nice. Let's go over the components one by one:

Stock CPU fan - can be a bit noisy at load but at idle it should be quiet enough. Replace later only if necessary; if so I'd recommend a downdraft cooler that also cools the motherboard, such as Cooler Master GeminII M4 which runs at an inaudible 500RPM at idle.

Hard disks - 5400/5900rpm drives are quieter than 7200rpm, but it shouldn't make any difference at night when the drives are idling

PSU - since it is installed on the top, the fan is facing the inside of the case which should result in lower PSU fan noise than in a case where the PSU is installed on the bottom. In any case, power supplies are typically very quiet at low loads, only silence freaks like myself need an expensive semi-passive PSU (who am I fooling... ;P)

Case - the stock 1200rpm fan is the most noisy component in the system. To fix this, downvolt the fan to 7V (~700RPM) with a voltage adapter cable: http://www.amazon.com/Phobya-Adapter.../dp/B00943Q4C2. Airflow should still be sufficient given that your PSU is exhausting air.
 
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lehtv said:
120mm and 140mm can both be quiet at the right RPM. In my experience, 120mm fans are quieter at any given RPM but 140mm fans move the same amount of air at a slightly lower RPM, and in my experience their lower tone noise characteristic is more bearable.

$500 is not a very good budget for silent PC, but quiet is doable. Mfenn's build is very nice. Let's go over the components one by one:

Stock CPU fan - can be a bit noisy at load but at idle it should be quiet enough. Replace later only if necessary; if so I'd recommend a downdraft cooler that also cools the motherboard, such as Cooler Master GeminII M4 which runs at an inaudible 500RPM at idle.

Hard disks - 5400/5900rpm drives are quieter than 7200rpm, but it shouldn't make any difference at night when the drives are idling

PSU - since it is installed on the top, the fan is facing the inside of the case which should result in lower PSU fan noise than in a case where the PSU is installed on the bottom. In any case, power supplies are typically very quiet at low loads, only silence freaks like myself need an expensive semi-passive PSU (who am I fooling... ;P)

Case - the stock 1200rpm fan is the most noisy component in the system. To fix this, downvolt the fan to 7V (~700RPM) with a voltage adapter cable: http://www.amazon.com/Phobya-Adapter.../dp/B00943Q4C2. Airflow should still be sufficient given that your PSU is exhausting air.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Great points!
 
lehtv,

Good post! Definitely do that 7 volt trick. Then fix things if they exist like the CPU fan.

I'll see if a lower RPM hard drive is available that I like.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
I need a 802.11 card. Any recommendations?

This:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166011

Web site doesn't say it has Windows 8 support. I need something that supports Windows 8 just in case I try it out. No Windows 8:
http://www.rosewill.com/products/1582/ProductDetail_Download.htm
Click to expand...

Should be OK, pretty much anything with Windows 7 drivers will work with Windows 8, even if you have to tell it to use the 7 drivers. However, I don't think I would buy a PCI card today, the PCIe version that Raincity linked is better.
 
Never ordered. Itching to order stuff soon so Incan have it next week.

I think I'd go i5 on this and dual monitors of 1920x1200. Any advice on driving dual monitors?

Expecting to get a $1000 bonus soon so the money will be there. No intention of spending that much though.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
Never ordered. Itching to order stuff soon so Incan have it next week.

I think I'd go i5 on this and dual monitors of 1920x1200. Any advice on driving dual monitors?

Expecting to get a $1000 bonus soon so the money will be there. No intention of spending that much though.
Click to expand...

i5 3570 $200 AP
ASRock B75M $65
G.Skill DDR3 1600 8GB $38
WD Blue 1TB drive x2 $140
CX430 $36 AR
NZXT Source 220 $40
Logitech K120 $16
Gigabyte mouse $20 - Logitech MX clone
Total: $555

Less storage than the previous build, but that's the whim of the market.
 
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What's the difference between WD red green and blue drives?

What about system memory? I would pay more for faster memory even if that means paying a little more for a motherboard.
 
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WD Blue are 7200RPM. WD Green are 5400 RPM but less expensive per gigabyte. In terms of quality they're just as good, they're just slower. It's not a good idea to get a green drive unless you're installing the operating system on an SSD or a different 7200 RPM drive.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
Never ordered. Itching to order stuff soon so Incan have it next week.

I think I'd go i5 on this and dual monitors of 1920x1200. Any advice on driving dual monitors?

Expecting to get a $1000 bonus soon so the money will be there. No intention of spending that much though.
Click to expand...

The HD4000 graphics on the I5 3570K will drive dual monitors at that resolution just fine. You can even game on it if you drag out the really old games.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
What's the difference between WD red green and blue drives?
Click to expand...

Black = 7200 RPM, tuned for performance in desktops
Red = 7200 RPM, tuned for RAID operation in a NAS
Blue = 7200 RPM, tuned for low noise, longevity
Green = 5400 RPM, tuned for bulk capacity

IHateMyJob2004 said:
What about system memory? I would pay more for faster memory even if that means paying a little more for a motherboard.
Click to expand...

Sorry, for some reason I had it in my head that you had already purchased memory. Probably getting threads mixed up. DDR3 1600 (or even 1333) is fine because Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge don't really benefit from more, especially if you're not going to be stressing the IGP..
 
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