Quiet All-Purpose Rig < $750

D

dj2014

n00b
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Aug 20, 2013
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Hi all, yet another build thread - looking to build an all-purpose rig that's as quiet and small as possible for about $750

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All purpose video/PS/Excel/Light Gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
About $750 for everything, but willing to flex +150 or so if it's really worth it

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Charlottesville, Virginia, US

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc.
CPU, MOBO, RAM, HD/SDD, PSU, Cooler, Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply.
Only my monitor - Dell U2713HM

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
27" 2560X1440

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support?
USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Nothing specific

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
64 bit Windows 7 Pro

Thanks for your help! I'd prefer a mini-itx system but it's not a requirement. Just looking for something that's quiet, stable, reliable and can handle D3 @ 2560x1440 with everything maxed - hopefully not too hard! Amazon/Newegg Preferred.
 
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All right then, MC is a no go.

Now would you say that you do a ton of photoshop work?
 
By all purpose video, i mean 1080p anime, netflix and Hulu. I don't do any editing.

I photoshop/lightroom for about 10 hours a week.

I'd like to go with a radeon 7950 and an i5 4670k. Would really appreciate some recs on a nice mobo/psu/case that will allow me to operate quietly. Budget up to about $800 now excluding an SSD.

Thanks!
 
dj2014 said:
I'd like to go with a radeon 7950 and an i5 4670k. Would really appreciate some recs on a nice mobo/psu/case that will allow me to operate quietly. Budget up to about $800 now excluding an SSD.
Click to expand...
Since you're not overclocking nor live within a short driving distance of Microcenter, little to no reason for you to go with the Core i5 4670K.

$190 - Intel Core i5-4570 CPU
$88 - MSI H87M-G43 Intel H87 mATX Motherboard
$60 - Corsair CMV8GX3M1A1600C11 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$210 - MSI R7950-3GD5/OC BERadeon HD 7950 3GB PCI-E Video Card
$63 - Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$80 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU
$28 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $719 shipped

As for cases, I recommend the following quiet cases:
$85 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$90 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$95 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$100 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
 
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Fair warning, that 7950 heatsink isnt know for its quietness.
 
chibe said:
Fair warning, that 7950 heatsink isnt know for its quietness.
Click to expand...

Can you recommend me a different one then? Up to $260 or so. I could also go with a GTX 660 ti or 760. Looking at the MSI Twin Frozr.

Thanks!
 
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dj2014 said:
Can you recommend me a different one then? Up to $260 or so. I could also go with a GTX 660 ti or 760. Looking at the MSI Twin Frozr.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

That's a good choice, you can get it cheapest on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R7950-TWIN-FROZR-3GD5/dp/B007NG3WR2

Fairly quiet too:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_7950_Twin_Frozr_III/25.html

Alternative option: Asus GTX 660 Ti with DirectCU II:

http://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Over...=1377221172&sr=1-10&keywords=asus+directcu+ii

These things are legendary for being quiet:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Ti_Direct_Cu_II/27.html
 
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Thanks for the recs. Earlier this morning Newegg previously showed the MSI as $244 + a $20 rebate but in my cart it was $320 - I'm lucky I caught it!

Ended up going with this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

Hopefully it was a good buy!

Final build:

$70: Fractal Design R4 (Newegg $20 off)
$367: MSI Z87-G45/Intel 4670K Combo ($28 off) - I wanted the "sound blaster audio"
$61: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (Newegg $11 off)
$200: Sapphire Radeon HD7950 (Newegg $20 rebate)
$80: Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU
$28: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$44: Pioneer Bluray Drive
$85: 2GB Seagate Barracuda
$164: Samsung 840 250GB

Total: $1099

Thanks again
 
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dj2014 said:
Thanks for the recs. Earlier this morning Newegg previously showed the MSI as $244 + a $20 rebate but in my cart it was $320 - I'm lucky I caught it!

Ended up going with this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026

Hopefully it was a good buy!
Click to expand...

It's a good buy as long as your luck isn't bad: Sapphire customer support isn't that good and the warranty is one year less than the warranties from Gigabyte, MSI, or Asus.
 
How high do you think I can push the Sapphire with the Seasonic and without making the fans blow incredibly loudly?
 
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