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hey all, just wondering if anyone who's a lot smarter than me when it comes to computers could give me some thoughts on this system i was looking at on newegg? I just want to be able to play SC2 on low with a good FPS, just wondering how this system would fare?
also, i was told that you want a dedicated graphics card for gaming, but all the computers i looked at with dedicated cards were out of my price range. is it possible to buy a computer with an integrated card and later put a dedicated in?
i was also looking at a computer at bestbuy, i think it had an ATI Radeon HD 4200?
i don't have a lot of money to spend, or a lot of know how to build my own, so any suggestions are appreciated!
thanks for any feedback!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229209
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5930 Posts
If you need to save space, its a solid build but like any build that takes quiet computing really seriously, its going to take quite a bit of work to get it just right. Silent PC Review priorities reducing noise over reducing temperatures. A lot of the temps will be pretty close to the safe threshold of the hardware so you have to fiddle with the fans a lot to get it "quiet": since basically every fan in the Silverstone SG07 is right next to the exhaust points, changing the fan speed will produce clear changes to the amount of noise it produces.
Its a small form factor build so if you're pretty inexperienced at building computers holy shit its going to be annoying. Building a normal tower is like building Lego while building a ITX system is like playing Jenga; you need to plan it out very carefully beforehand because you've got very little room to work with the minute you've installed the CPU cooler.
If you don't need to save the space, I would seriously get a mATX case at the very least because it gives you more room to play with and better access to larger CPU/GPU coolers that only need a minimum amount of airflow to cool adequately. Not to mention the close proximity of the motherboard and PSU will probably cause the PSU to make quite a bit of noise while gaming.
A friend of mine basically has a silent PC. He's running a i5 750 processor with a fanless Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and a Gigabyte HD5770 Silent Cell (Gigabyte does offer a fairly powerful, completely passive GPU if you didn't know) inside a Antec P180 Mini. He only runs the top 200mm fan and that's enough to cool the CPU enough because its close enough to the fan.
He can achieve some adequate temperatures because he's got access to such massive slabs of metal on his GPU and CPU and any incidental airflow is enough to keep the temperatures down to an acceptable level. Its hard to fit large coolers inside a ITX system because everything is crammed so tightly together.
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Thanks for the long reply.
I don't care if it's loud while I'm playing, but it should be very quiet as long as I don't stress the system and just listen to music.
But I don't even think heat would be a serious problem in my case if I just use a i3-540 processor and either a GTS 450 (I found one that has 2 fans which makes it a little quieter I think) or the HD5770 that you suggested. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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@Mahaa: No errors there. For a build around that price, a Phenom II X4 and GTX 460 768MB are very good options. You might be able to find cheaper 2x2 GB DDR3 RAM than that, but the other prices look good. The old PSU should work, but keep in mind that most of the PSUs Cooler Master sells (except Silent Pro series and maybe a few others?) are pretty bad. I can't find a review for that particular model, but even their newer stuff can't actually output the rated wattage at all, or at least without going out of ATX spec in voltage regulation or ripple. Since you wouldn't be getting near 500W, it will probably be okay, but pushing that PSU is probably risky.
@AnAngryDingo: Integrated HD 42xx graphics struggle to play SC2 smoothly on low settings. Pretty much any modern discrete graphics card, including the HD 5450, should play low smoothly. Granted, the HD 5450 is generally a pretty bad value for gaming, since you can get a significantly more powerful but older card like a HD 4650 for about the same price.
In most cases, you can just toss a graphics card into a prebuilt computer. It just has to have a PCI-E x16 slot. Note that you may have to replace the PSU as well if you get a higher-end card ($100+ as a general idea). Also, the more powerful cards put out more heat, which many cases for prebuilt computers are not intended to handle. But you can usually put anything up to something like a HD 5670 or so without problem without changing anything else.
@distant_voice: Yeah, you don't need a specialty build as long as you only expect it to be quiet at low loads. Probably any CPU with stock cooling would be acceptable for that, though you could get an aftermarket cooler to reduce the noise there. Most quality PSUs are pretty quiet under 40% load or so. Likewise, look up GPU comparisons to figure out which models are quieter than others. silentpcreview has some suggestions for relatively quiet components and cases.
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there are gts 450 versions that are passively cooled. is there any downside to them? naturally I'd prefer one of them.
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passively cooled gpus require much more better airflow in your case, and will increase the ambient temperature in your case.
Essentially if you have a decent case, there's nothing to be concerned about.
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thanks for the reply, i have 2 more questions
First, would this HD work also? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334293
Second, i'm planning on getting this tomorrow, is there anything else that i should be getting, like cables or other things like that
Also, that power supply is in my current comp and is running just fine atm, using a AMD Phenom 9500 Quadcore ~2.2Ghz, 4gb RAM, 8800GT. 2 HDs. Do you think the power usage of this build will be about the same
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As a rough estimate, maybe the new build would use 80W more at peak load? You're way under listed capacity now and would still have a decent margin with the new parts, even at peak load. Barracuda 7200.12 1TB is decent and should have no problems.
I'd consider getting RAM from newegg though. For $30 less (free shipping), you can get even better 2x2 GB DDR3 RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
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get the newegg gskill for a better deal, they run at 8-8-8-24 1600mhz, are the same price as ocz and you dont have to deal with rebate shit
i might be going to micro center tmrw for the same cpu/mobo deal it looks sweet
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Hong Kong1555 Posts
I have a Lancool Dragonlord K62, and currently it's kinda annoying how loud the fans are.
Temps are quite low though, typical CPU temps are about 7 over ambient. (i5 750, CM Hyper 212 +)
Any ideas?
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Is there a downside to getting an overclocked GPU? Does it "burn out" or something? I've no experience with overclocking anything or working with anything that came overclocked. Wondering if I should get the overclocked GTX 460 or the regular one.
Also, do you guys think I should wait for cyber monday or should I buy my parts today (price-wise)? Also, I'm kind of bummed out to see http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067 sold out so things getting sold out is something else I should consider.
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For this build (except with the GTX 460), any other cases are good? Some people in this thread talking about the computer being quite and such. Would this computer be "quiet"? Anything I should consider here?
Also, do I need to buy fans to put in the case? Or does it come with fans? (I'm clueless)
Edit: Ah I see that cooler master haf does come with two "120" inch fans or something. Should I get additional ones?
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On November 28 2010 23:41 maxchgr wrote:Is there a downside to getting an overclocked GPU? Does it "burn out" or something? I've no experience with overclocking anything or working with anything that came overclocked. Wondering if I should get the overclocked GTX 460 or the regular one. Also, do you guys think I should wait for cyber monday or should I buy my parts today (price-wise)? Also, I'm kind of bummed out to see http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067 sold out so things getting sold out is something else I should consider.
OC'ed anything will generally produce more heat, if you dont want to overclock it yourself than buy the factory version. Usually manufacturer"s OC'ed GPU are clocked at very stable rates, while manually you could probably push for more... In the end you're just paying more for them to do what software or some tweaking can achieve.
edit: And Im pretty sure the 760 Lynnfield is sold out at newegg. Ordered mine 4 days ago, still havent gotten it. Should just drive to newegg's warehouse and pick it up since its just across the river from my county. D: If that is even possible.
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If you want a quiet PC, then try to get a solid case that doesnt have many openings. Such as for additional case fans, mesh/dust filters and etc. Though you're essentially trading in noise for cooling, but if can sort of counter-balance that by getting a larger case and better cable management.
Lets say if you're running CPU/Case/GPU fans @ 100% during peak load, the PC is bound to make a lot of noise. So learn how to adjust your fan speeds just enough to keep temperatures relatively cool and stable.
The HAF912(High Air Flow 912) comes with TWO 120mm fans, one for exhaust and the other for in-taking cooler air. And judging from the video and reviews, its pretty large for a Mid Tower. It technically has enough openings for FOUR more 120mm fans.
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Ya I should have bought that. I'm looking for the i5 760 somewhere else but can't find a discount like newegg had.
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Hong Kong1555 Posts
On November 28 2010 23:41 maxchgr wrote:Is there a downside to getting an overclocked GPU? Does it "burn out" or something? I've no experience with overclocking anything or working with anything that came overclocked. Wondering if I should get the overclocked GTX 460 or the regular one. Also, do you guys think I should wait for cyber monday or should I buy my parts today (price-wise)? Also, I'm kind of bummed out to see http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067 sold out so things getting sold out is something else I should consider.
Specifically for the GTX 460, you will be hard pressed to find a reference specced version, most of the vendors sell the overclocked version just because at reference specs it still has so much headroom.
I'd recommend the Gigabyte 1GB version, it's MILDLY (almost barely) overclocked, comes with a custom cooler, and cost the same as a reference version, basically, just go by price.
However, all the above advice is SPECIFIC to the GTX 460 only, because it really is a special case.
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