I would like to build an i5 750 for dragon dictation and as a bookshelf media center. I either want to find a board with onboard graphics (difficult bc most assume clarksdale) or find a cheap passive graphics card.

Will the antec isk-300 case work for this or is it too small where it would overheat? Should I move up to a sugo sg 05/06?

Would a picopsu work?

Are there perhaps small mini atx options to consider? I was looking at either a p55 or h55 mini itx board.

Thanks!

honestly, do you really need an i5 for this task? you could save a lot of money and make your life a whole lot easier if you go with a socket 775 platform..

something like this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

it's got onboard graphics with DVI and HDMI outputs. You could pickup a nice C2D processor to pop in there, and it's going to be more than powerful enough for your purposes.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115037

Yes, I use this processor. And the reson I reccomend it if you go with the Zotac board is it's much lower power than an i5 750. You really don't need 4 cores for a media system..by shoving it all in a small case like the antec isk-300, you're asking for trouble if your components put out too much heat.


Now, if you REALLY have your heart set on the i5 750, I wouldn't go any smaller than a mATX board in a mATX case. For this, I personally like this case a lot:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129054

Very suitable for a bookshelf, and won't cause your CPU to burn up.

A Core i3-530 is a less expensive, lower power alternative to the Core 2 Duo E8400. Not to mention being faster than the E8400 in a lot of tasks except for those particularly cache/latency sensitive.

I agree but the issue is the dragon naturally speaking is very cache intensive. The 8mb cache on the 750 makes a HUGE difference. What is the best core2 duo options with 6mb or 8mb cache? I agree that might be a good alternative.

looks like e8400 is only $150.

What abuot the ZOTAC LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Mini-ITX Motherboard NF610I-K-E for $50?

Is the zotac gf9300 worth ~$80 more if i don't care about graphics?

edit:
how small of a case can i put a zotac itx and e8400 in? could i even do a m350 case?

If you don't need the graphics, then the GeForce 7050 is fine. And yeah, I think you should be able to get it working just fine inside the Mini-Box M350.

should i just use stock heatsink/cooler or is there a low profile cooler recommended for an e8400?

This ought to answer your question perfectly:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article959-page4.html

Scroll down about halfway till you see the Zotac GEFORCE 9300 board
Then read.

IMO, i would stick with the stock heatsink that came with the e8400. I had it in my system for a little while and it really wasnt overly loud.

Now, if you cram it in that tiny case...maybe it might be a little louder, but I dont remember any tonality so it's not obtrusive at all. In terms of L2 cache to power ratio though, I'm not sure any other processor beats the e8400 in the socket 775 category.

Thanks for the very helpful link. The knowbrainer forum (dragon naturally) talked me into going with an i5 750 for dictation performance. I think I will go with the DFI LanParty MI P55-T36 since it has raid over an h55 board.
What case can I get by with?
Is the antec isk-300 too small for proper cooling?
I would prefer something smaller than the sugo sg 05/06 but I will go with that if i have to.

I also will need a cheap passive vid card.

I like the sugo case a lot for this actually. You guessed it..the Antec will be WAY too small for this application...don't even try. Your CPU fan would be spinnign so fast it would sound like a siren IMO.

The Sugo case offers you something the antec doesnt....room. The only thing I'm 'scared' about when it comes to the sugo is that 300W power supply powering your i5. I mean..it's enough to do the job, but if you're talking about RAID configurations.....IDK.

Just found another helpful link..

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article968-page1.html

Reading that confirmed my suspisions that even this case will have a hard time cooling an i5. Look at the temps on the CPU during tests..and that was with a lower power CPU.

To be honest..if you want this thing to be quiet, you're going to have to go with a mATX form factor case (or even motherboard!).

If you value the portability more than shear quietness...than I would step down the CPU to something more manageable for this case or the Antec.

Thanks for all the links. I found a cheap i5 750 so I decided to go with:
i5 750
gigabyte h55n-usb3 board
sugo sg06 case

Can someone please recommend a cheap video card to go with this? I don't game so silent and low heat is what I am after. Also, does anyone have heatsink/fan suggestions?

Passive Radeon HD5450. Big caveat with the mobo, the CPU socket is very close to the PCI Express slot. I think someone mentioned being able to use a Scythe Shuriken in there (barely). The Scythe Big Shuriken blocks the PCIe slot, as I would think many other quiet aftermarket coolers.