Mini-tower PC

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kronegker

n00b
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Jul 10, 2012
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Hello everyone. I came for advice on this website two years ago and I was blown away. The computer that I built thanks to your help is working just fine and I'm still very satisfied. I now have an office at work and I would like to have a smaller computer there, mostly for statistical programming. Again, I'm quite a noob when in comes to buying computer parts so your advice is greatly appreciated!

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly statistical programming (90%) and 10% web browsing.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$450 before taxes and shipping.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Chicago, IL USA.

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.
Motherboard, CPU, DVD drive, PSU, SSD, RAM (hopefully 16 gb). No peripherals needed.


5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Fractal Design Node 304 FD-CA-NODE-304-BL Mini-ITX case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=6o5WvjFbEeOgziLm3LDi0Q0_aPyj3_OMP_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16811352027&cm_sp=

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
I currently have a 24", 1920x1080, but I would like to get another monitor in the future (not included in the budget).

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I hope to get all the parts ordered by the end of next week 10/18. However, I also don't mind holding out if there's a impending big sale (not counting Black Friday).

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support?
USB 3.0. Can support dual monitors. I also would like the option that the motherboard is GPU-compatible if I decide to get add a GPU in the future.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7. It's 64bit.

Thanks again for your time and patience. I don't mind paying slightly less (or more) as long as it can handle statistical programming (Matlab, Stata, Fortran) with ease. Please feel free to list a few alternatives for each part.
 
Don't go with Carl224's recommendation. It's not suitable for your needs. I'll be back later tonight with a more suitable build list.

Also, for a mITX setup, I would highly recommend modular PSU. So that CX430 is out.
 
$115 - Intel Core i3-3220 CPU
$105 - Asus P8H77-I INtel H77 mITX Motherboard
$70 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$90 - Samsung 840 120GB SSD
$53 - Corsair CX430M 430W PSU
----
Total: $433 shipped.

I've recommended an Intel setup instead of an AMD setup due to two reasons:
1) For compatability with your old rig
2) Significantly higher single threaded performance than an AMD setup. Combine with the HT feature, it should be faster than the A8-660K with the applications you've mentioned.

16GB of RAM is unfortunately not within your budget. With that said, I would just spend the extra money for 16GB of RAM anyway since RAM prices have increased quite a bit over the past year. Nor does it appear that it'll be go back down anytime soon. If you do go for 16GB of RAM, I recommend this RAM instead:
$137 - Crucial BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S00 Ballistix Sport 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

I also left out the DVD burner since that case can't fit one. You can install Windows 7 from a USB drive anyway.
 
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Thank you very much! I think I will definitely go for 16gb of ram. Also can you explain why a modular psu is recommended? I dont know the reason why and would like to learn. Thank you!
 
kronegker said:
Thank you very much! I think I will definitely go for 16gb of ram. Also can you explain why a modular psu is recommended? I dont know the reason why and would like to learn. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Not much space in that case for a regular PSU. Hence why a modular PSU would be recommended: Less cables.
 
Thanks! I forgot to mention that I also need wifi. I believe the Asus P8H77-I Intel H77 mITX Motherboard does not have wifi capability. Do you recommend any other motherboard (anything around the price of $150 or less) that has wifi?

What do you think about this mobo? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130673

Or the ASUS P8Z77-I http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131840

I think I have everything ready except the mobo. Thank you!

Edit: Or does the Asus P8H77-I Intel come with a wireless dongle? Also I rather have a good mobo with a wireless dongle than a bad mobo with built-in wifi!
 
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