Building SFF PC for general use: help to stay cheap and efficient

Frraksurred

2[H]4U
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Jul 25, 2008
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I know we get a hundred of these, sorry. Still want some help if anyone's interested. I've got my bigazz gaming system downstairs, now I want something basic to stick in my master bedroom.

Here is what I've come up with so far: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qBBvm8

This will be a basic PC that will be hooked up to a 4k TV. It will not be used for gaming, but most likely web browsing and perhaps some lite HTPC duties (maybe).

Two requirements, it needs to do 4k @ 60hz, and it needs to be small form factor in a low profile case that is no more than 5 1/4" high. Quiet would be nice, but not a huge priority. Cheap and efficient however would be greatly appreciated. If I could get the price tag of this thing down to $600 -ish & under 190 watts, I would be giddy.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to help

EDIT: Updated parts list, dropped $130 from price
 
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A few comments/suggestions!
  1. You should always buy memory in pairs, otherwise it doesn't run in dual channel mode. The performance penalty isn't massive or anything, but it's not typically any more expensive to get the memory in pairs so you might as well. Really the only reason not to is if you plan on upgrading to 16 GB "soon" and don't want to "waste" 2x4GB sticks by having to toss them out later since the board only has 2 slots. My opinion would be to just decide on either 8, in which case you get 2x4, or 16 in which case you get 2x8, and be done with it for a while :)
  2. I know you said quiet is a bonus and not a requirement, but you have picked a GPU that does not have an idle-off fan setting. In other words, the fan bottoms out at 30% speed rather than turning off at low temperatures. If you specifically want a 1050 Ti, get one by MSI or Gigabyte and it'll turn off the fans when the temp is below 60C. Since you're not gaming though, you can easily save a bit by aiming for the regular GTX 1050 or RX 460 2GB cards, again keeping an eye out for ones that support fans that turn off when idle. My HTPC runs on a regular 1050 and I game on it fairly regularly and it's fine for most things at 1080p even.
  3. I don't know what criteria you used to select your motherboard, but there are options to save money there as well. With no gaming/overclocking, something like the ASRock H110M-ITX/ac should perform identically to the one you've chosen.
 
  1. Initially I had 16gb of ram selected, but backed off to 2x4gb to save some money. This computer will rarely get used for anything other than Web browsing. A browser based game is the most demanding thing it would face, but it will be at 4k so I didn't want to compromise too much.
  2. Good tip on the MSI card. I had looked at one, but not with that criteria in mind. Thanks.
  3. I looked at a couple 110 mobs, but not seriously. I'll check out the Asrock, thanks again.
 
Sounds good. You have 1x8 GB in your parts list right now, is why I mentioned the RAM.

And not 100% of the MSI cards support the idle fan thing, but if you look the card up on the MSI site they should advertise it if it's a feature of that particular card. I think their RX 460 cards don't turn off at idle, but some others do. The Gigabyte cards seem to have the feature slightly more universally, but again it should be advertised if it's supported.

Good luck! And neat case- I like the visual aesthetic.

If you save money getting the cheaper GPU and motherboard, I'd put it into a bigger/better SSD like the 275 GB MX300 by Crucial, or a 250 GB EVO 850 or something.
 
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