Another SFF Help Wanted Thread

[Decimus]

Alright guys I know you do way too many of these but hopefully this one is short and sweet and interesting. Questions answered below but a brief synopsis of what I am doing is that I am working on my Christmas present to me . Building a custom case that will "hopefully" disguise having an HTPC in our living room. It will be done almost completely out of hardwoods(Walnut and Maple) so heat is definitely a big concern. Low power, low heat, and suggestions on good quality, low noise fans.

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming, Photoshop (or other intensive programs). Will be used as an HTPC for movies, streaming, and light gaming/LAN gaming (Think League of Legends, Age3, maybe SupCom2 etc...)

2. Will you be overclocking? No

3. What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included in this budget? Is your budget flexible? Is cost a driving factor in component selection? I am trying to do this pretty cheap and for the rest of the parts needed hoping to get away with less than $300. This is just for the above parts all costs for building the case are different from this

4. Where do you live? Do you have any big B&M (brick and mortar) computer chains nearby (e.g. Microcenter, Fry's, etc)? No not really. Nearest Fry's is almost 4 hours away so no savings would be worth the drive

5. What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need. I need a modular PSU, GPU, SSD and recommended low power, noise fans

Edit: On the SSD I am fairly certain I will go either a Samsung 830 128gb or a Intel 330. Just basically going to snag the next one that comes on sale so most of questions are on the PSU, GPU and any recommended fans.


6. If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. For reused parts, list brands, model #s, and, if applicable, firmware revisions. I already have
CPU - G620 Link
Mobo - ECS H61H2 Link
Ram -Samsung DDR3 4GB Link

7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc. Which is more important, size of the system or having the particular feature? Make sure you indicate *required* vs. *wanted* for each feature you list. Skip since I have. Down the road I will get a USB3.0 card

8. What resolution output do you need? 1080p, 720p, DVD quality, etc for HTPC or list Vertical/horizontal resolution for non-HTPC SFF rigs. Do you need multiple monitor output? Will be mainly using the 55" 1080P Samsung LCD/LED but for LAN it will be on 1600x1200 or 1920x1200

9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space? Think entertainment center shelves, closet space, rackmount, etc. The smaller the better I suppose. I am making a custom case for this build so I have fudge room but still smaller is better.

10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? What tools do you have (Screwdrivers/Leatherman, Drill, Dremel, Metal snips, Soldering Iron, Bending Brake, CNC/Welding machines/Plasma cutter, etc...)? Well as stated above I am making a custom case. I have access to welding equipment both steel and aluminum, dremel, bending tools, plasma cuter, etc...

11. How important is the noise/silence of this system? As quiet and cool(less power) that is possible.

12. How mobile does this system need to be? I will work this out with case. Hopefully will be able to post up pics in a couple months. . . If it doesn't end up sucking ass

13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? Will be using legit copy of Win8 Pro

14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Well already have some parts ordered. I would like to have the rest ordered in the next month or so.

 

[WiSK]

SSD: The Samsung 830 is a fine choice. Or the Crucial M4, which I have and can recommend.

GPU: Sapphire do a half-height 7750 for about $115 if you're interested in making your case slimmer or less tall. But even if you don't want a low profile card, then look at 7750s because at around $105 that's the best price/performance at the moment. It also doesn't need a PCIe cable.

PSU: Do you want fully modular with ATX cable as well? Or just want semi-modular to be able to remove molex/pci cabling? If fully modular then Silverstone make very nice modular PSUs which are easy to repin if you want to customise your cable lengths. There's the ST45SF-G which is SFX size, or the ST55F-G which is standard ATX mounting, but only 140mm long and much quieter than the SFX model. They are $100 and $120 respectively. If you don't mind semi modular the Rosewell Capstone 450-M has good efficiency, good performance and decent price at $75.

Oh, and fans. If you really want quiet quality fans then there are really only a couple outstanding. I'm presuming you want PWM fans, but these manufacturers also make voltage-regulated versions.
- Noctua NF-P12 PWM Quiet Computer Cooling Fan
- Noiseblocker NB-eLoop B12-PS
- you could also look at Scythe Gentle Typhoons but they are more designed with high static pressure for water-cooling radiators.

 

[Zap]

With such a low budget, modular PSUs are a luxury item. If you don't go for too much wattage, then you won't have too many extra cables. Here are some "out of the box" PSU ideas.

Seasonic 350W $44 shipped
This is an "SFX" sized PSU with 26A on the +12v and is 80Plus. AFAIK there are no "professional" reviews of this unit using load testers.

Seasonic 350W $67 shipped
This is a "TFX" sized PSU with 29A on the +12v and is 80Plus Gold. It got a good review.

Seasonic 300W $44 shipped
This is a "TFX" sized PSU with 21A on the +12v and is 80Plus Bronze. It got a good review, and another good review.

Seasonic 250W $46 shipped
This is listed as a 1U as well as "Flex ATX." It has 18A on the +12v and is 80Plus Bronze. It isn't listed as Bronze at SuperBiiz because they listed the older version. I have purchased one from them and it is indeed the newer Bronze version. It got a good review.

The 250W PSU should be good for your system with a Radeon 7750. The 300W PSU should be good for a Radeon 7770.

The 350W unit with 29A can probably power a GTX 660 Ti.

I've personally run the 26A unit with a GTX 260, though the fan ramped up quite a bit, so I'd probably recommend something a bit lower in power draw.