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SFF Workstation Build

E

Ender

Aged-Cheeze
Joined
Mar 9, 2000
Messages
777
I will start with the answers to the obligatory questions to give some background...

1) I plan on using this machine as a "workstation", hosting multiple Virtual Machines, Converting/Editing Video, Photoshop, Remote Desktop access for when I travel, downloading, listening to music when home, basically it will be on 24/7/365 and needs to be STABLE.
2) I'd like to keep the price low, ideally under $1000 US.
3) Northeast, US
4) Please see below for the parts I have picked out so far.
5) Only part I will be re-using is the hard drive for which I have a collection to select from. Waiting for SSD prices to come down / new models to come out.
6) I don't plan on overclocking, shouldn't be necessary?
7) I have a 20" Dell Monitor that I plan on re-using
8) I plan on buying the parts in the next 2 weeks and building as soon as possible.
9) The motherboard requirements are support for turning this box into a HTPC (play 1080P content) later on down the road. I will probably add a TV Tuner / dedicated video card with good TV-out (HDMI), good sound options / capability. For the time being it needs to have VGA or DVI out to support my current monitor and ideally HDMI so that I can avoid buying a card later.

Its important that this box runs cool and stable as it gets hot in the summer 80-85 room temperature. The one obvious thing missing from below is the CPU as I'm waiting for the new 2.83Ghz "Q9550s" with 12MB cache, TDP of 65W to come out.

Any suggestions, tips, concerns?

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From what I understand the G45 chipset is not that good for a HTPC. You might be better off with a 9300/9400 board (9300 from XFX or ASUS, 9400 from Gigabyte). If you don't plan on overclocking and noise is an issue, for get about the Zalman and get the NT06 from Silvertone (or even that new Thermalright AXP) or stick with Intel stock.
 
Ok, I have looked at the 3 motherboards you identified above. I think I'll stay away from the XFX as the reviews on newegg are not the best. I do not plan on overclocking as I don't think I will really need to. Stability is what I am after and I think that the processor I plan on getting should provide enough juice to get the tasks that I want done in an efficient manner.

Looking between the ASUS and the GIGABYTE, the only difference appears to be in terms of the onboard audio. What exactly is the difference between the Realtek ALC889A & the Realtek ALC1200? Is one better than the other?

Noise IS an issue, I do not want this box to sound like a rocket ship. I will be mounting it under my desk in my office and as I tend to work from home whenever possible and am on the phone a lot, I dont want it to sound like I'm in a data center to other people on the phone.

The NT06 looks good. The Thermalright AXP, are you referring to the AXP 140? I like the NT06 because from what I have read, it allows you to mount the fan above or below the fins which would give me some flexibility and space. Heat is a concern as I stated above, I expect this machine to be on during some 80-85 degree ambient temperatures in the summer. Also, when it eventually moves into its HTPC role, its going to be in a cabinet which wont help.

If I wanted to experiment with running it passive for the time being, or configure it for optimal cooling, should I change the power supply selection? I'm not sure if the model I picked has a fan on the bottom. Ideally I would want the PSU to suck up the heat from the CPU heatsink and blow it out the back...
 
Ender said:
Looking between the ASUS and the GIGABYTE, the only difference appears to be in terms of the onboard audio. What exactly is the difference between the Realtek ALC889A & the Realtek ALC1200? Is one better than the other?

Noise IS an issue, I do not want this box to sound like a rocket ship. I will be mounting it under my desk in my office and as I tend to work from home whenever possible and am on the phone a lot, I dont want it to sound like I'm in a data center to other people on the phone.

The NT06 looks good. The Thermalright AXP, are you referring to the AXP 140? I like the NT06 because from what I have read, it allows you to mount the fan above or below the fins which would give me some flexibility and space. Heat is a concern as I stated above, I expect this machine to be on during some 80-85 degree ambient temperatures in the summer. Also, when it eventually moves into its HTPC role, its going to be in a cabinet which wont help.

If I wanted to experiment with running it passive for the time being, or configure it for optimal cooling, should I change the power supply selection? I'm not sure if the model I picked has a fan on the bottom. Ideally I would want the PSU to suck up the heat from the CPU heatsink and blow it out the back...
Click to expand...

The Asus is a 9300 and the Gigbyte a 9400 which implies a difference in hardware decoding of HD I believe. Not sure if that's relevant to you. Also AFAIK the Gigabyte has Firewire but not the Asus. Maybe that's important to you.

Noise-wise, go and check out silentpcreview.com (they also test the Asus 9300) and you will see they are not too keen on the Zalman cooler. That 8700 might not be like a datacenter but it sure seems noisy. Maybe there is a Fanmate that will allow to reduce the speed enough to make it quiet but I don't really know.

If you don't have a dedicated graphics card, The noisiest component will obviously be the case fans and that's easy to replace after you have setup everything and you're not satisfied (Nexus fans are the reference) and after that the PSU. Now that's where it gets tricky: you must try and evaluate how quiet you want your box and choose accordingly. That's why I indicated silentpcreview.com. Be aware that these people are maniacs about noise so what is not acceptable to them might be to you.

If you don't plan on OCing I'm sure the NT06 will be enough. Remember that airflow will be important in such a small box.
 
At this point I'm leaning towards the Gigabyte based on reading the reviews online and looking at the benchmarks. I think the only areas of concern are the heat generated by the north bridge and the location of the SATA connections.

Does anyone have this board and care to comment on its actual hotness? Is it worth replacing the stock heatsink with something more powerful with active cooling?

I'm not as worried about the SATA connections as I will not be using a video card at the moment and if I ever do, I'm sure it wont be a full size one.

I looked at silentpcreview and I think I'm going with the NT06. Is there anything additional I need to know / purchase to obtain optimal airflow? Right now my concern is finding a power supply ~400W with a bottom mounted fan to help with the overall cooling of the case.
 
Surely if you have a decent airflow in your case, the Northbridge shouldn't be a problem. It starts really becoming an issue when you overclock and need to apply more voltage to it. On stock settings I doubt it will become a problem. Maybe you can even undervolt the NB. I know it's possible with Intel chipsets on Gigabyte boards, but I have no experience with nVidia chipsets. Even then, you shouldn't worry too much about it.

As for the PSU, look at Corsair's offerings: they have just released a new 450HX (modular). I have no idea if this is within your budget. They also have a 400CX and a 450VX but they aren't modular. Check also Antec and Enermax's offerings.
Check also this:
Anandtech's 300 to 450W PSU test bench.
 
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