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budget SFF system

C

cd_rom

n00b
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
36
My PSU life came to an abrupt end 2 days ago makes me realize that it's desirable to have another system. Only this one will be use for programming only as I spend a lot of time writing program for assignments and for fun. This build will orient toward CPU speed.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Programming mainly and web browsing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
£400
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
UK
4) 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.
Case, CPU, Mobo, RAM, HD.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
Nope
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I got 2x23inch 1920 x 1080 spare and I want to use them both.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In a week or so.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
None in particular as it's only for programming, having faster CPU is desirable for compiling large projects and lot of files.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Will be using Linux 64 bits.


I'm thinking:
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair DDR3 XMS3 Classic, PC3-10666 (1333)
AMD Phenom II X4 955
Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3, AMD 880G
500W PSU, Coolermaster Silent Pro M RS-500-AMBA-D3
----
Total: £248
Idk about case yet, but these are available on site: Lian Li PC-Q07B (£45) or Silverstone SG05B Mini-ITX but with 300W PSU (£84)... I want to keep the overall cost as low as possible. So if the Q07B can house these components, I will get it.

Already have a spare AMD 4850 graphic card. I can re-use it to make use of dual screen.

Any thoughts?

If you list the parts that I may need to change then I will look for best price on the web.

Ops, I forgot HD, I will go for a 500GB Samsung spin point if it's still the best bang for the buck? I think it's about £40.
 
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Well the two cases you mentioned won't fit that mobo since it's a mATX mobo. You need a mITX mobo for a mITX case. So did you want a mITX setup or a mATX setup?

RAM wise, don't go for a 2x2GB set. Stick with either a single 4GB stick or a 2x4GB set. Going with a 2x2GB setup will limit you to 12GB of RAM later on whereas a single 4GB stick or 2x4GB set will allow you to get 16GB of RAM. If you do go with a mITX setup, many mITX mobos only have two RAM slots so going with a 2x2GB set will limit you to 4GB of RAM.

Are you doing a lot of multi-threaded programming or just single threaded?

As for the hard drive, how much is this hard drive for you?:
$65 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
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The hard drive can be had for £50. But I really want to spend around £30 for a hard drive as it's more than enough for programming and storing stuff. Plus I also have an external hard drive.

My bad about the motherboard, I was looking other people's mini rigs without realizing the motherboard is mITX. In this case, I want a mITX setup without compromising CPU speed i.e. slower CPU. I'm taking your advice on getting 2x4Gig sticks!

I'm doing mostly single-threaded app at the moment. I probably will dip my feet at multi-threaded programming at some point like next year or so. I got a feeling that you might suggest a dual core CPU will be fine for some reason! And I do feel like having a faster dual core than quad core might just be good enough for my purpose.

My main rig which I use for everything (including games) with the dead PSU atm is:
AMD 1055T over-clocked to 3.7Ghz
4Gig of Ram listed above.
AMD6950HD 2Gig.
XFX 750W BE modular PSU *dead*
Motherboard ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3

Seeing that RMA the PSU will take at least 2 weeks and suddenly I have no PC to do programming on beside this old laptop. I thought it might be wise to spec up a mITX rig just for programming in case my main rig goes down again and again.

More over, I got an old AMD 4850HD graphic card laying around. I thought I can hook it up to this mITX system to use dual screen (23inch) . So I just really wanted a cheap mITX rig with decent CPU speed.

If I go with Intel, what spec you would go with?
 
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cd_rom said:
The hard drive can be had for £50. But I really want to spend around £30 for a hard drive as it's more than enough for programming and storing stuff. Plus I also have an external hard drive.
Click to expand...

Well that Hitachi drive is pretty much of the fastest consumer grade drives out now. I highly recommend it over the Samsung drive you talked about earlier.

cd_rom said:
If I go with Intel, what spec you would go with?
Click to expand...
How much does this setup cost over there?:

Core i5 2400
BIOSTAR TH61 ITX Intel H61 mITX Motherbaord
2x4GB DDR3 1333 RAM rated at 1.5V
Hitachi drive mentioned above
SG05B Case
 
Danny Bui said:
How much does this setup cost over there?:

Core i5 2400 - 150
BIOSTAR TH61 ITX Intel H61 mITX Motherbaord - 66
2x4GB DDR3 1333 RAM rated at 1.5V - 39
Hitachi drive mentioned above - 50
SG05B Case - 84 (including 300W 80Plus PSU)
Click to expand...

Total comes to £389

But the motherboard is not listed on Scan website, where I tend to order stuff all together in occasion like this!

They have Asus P8H61-I, H61 Chipset, Socket 1155 for £61 though, what you think of that board?
 
how about this + the hard drive you mentioned?
6264898572_dd6b290fb4_z.jpg
 
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