Frys Electronics-recommended quiet build

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
GreenThumb
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:15 pm

Frys Electronics-recommended quiet build

Post by GreenThumb » Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:25 pm

I've needed to upgrade for 2 years, but wanted to wait until USB3 and Thunderbolt became available on the motherboard.

I thought I would put the system together (which I loved to do around the Windows 3 / Pentium years...) but now, skills are rusty and I really want someone who does this every day to put it together. Fry's in Austin, Texas will assemble it for $90. With price matching they now have w/ Amazon and NewEgg, that seems like a great deal if they do a good job. I'd like to order this weekend.


System Requirements:
- some video editing (I have 1 big video project I'd love to complete with chunks of video saved to ~ 80 DVD-RAMs)
- a lot of image manipulation of the family photos
- some CAD
- mostly work, which means 2 24" IPS monitors, 1 portrait, 1 landscape, with system running Office apps and financial apps


System so far is described below after talking with Fry's Electronics person.

Am I about to make any big mistakes? I'm most uncertain about the video card. (details at bottom)

Frys part #
===== 6579153 NZXT H2 Classic Silent Mid Tower Chassis White, $98.99

I would go for the Fractal Design R4. However, the top external 3.5" drive dock on the NZXT H2 would make my quarterly backups to my safe deposit box SO much simpler and faster. These are taking me 2 days to do now over USB2 speeds.

NewEgg reviews seem to indicate the latest version of this case overcomes the early criticisms


===== 7217003 Asus P8Z77-V Pro TB Intel Z77 1155 Thunderbolt Motherboard, $239.99

===== 7028341 Intel Core i7 3770 Boxed 3.4GHz 3rd Generation Processor Formerly Known as Ivy Bridge, $314.99
Processor Number i7-3770
Socket: 1155



===== 7333384 Patriot DDR3 16GB 1866MHz Dual Memory (2x8GB) Viper 3 Series Black, $69.99


===== 6933617 NZXT HALE82 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply 750WATT, $114.99

(?? why did they not recommend the

NZXT HALE90 80+ Gold 750W Power Supply with Modular Cable $128.99
http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/power_ ... ale90_750w
Mfr: NZXT Model: PS-NT-HALE90-750-S
FRYS.com #6539223 UPC: 895562002704

since HALE82 is discontinued... I will probably change that)

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/to ... Calculator
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5277/nzxt ... 50w-750w/5



===== 7133922 ASUS AMD7770 2GB DDR5 video card, $169.99



subtotal: $1,008.94




--------- From reading SPCR for ~ 2 hours, am considering adding:

CPU Cooler:
-- Zalman CNPS10X Quiet
Frys # 6105499, $59.90

Mfr: ZALMAN Model: CNPS10X QUIET
FRYS.com #6105499 UPC: 823884201024

CNPS10X Quiet
CPU Cooler with Low Noise High Capacity 120mm Fan for low noise maximized cooling performance.

COMPATIBLE CPUS
Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme, Pentium Dual Core, Core i7, Core i5, Sempron, Athlon, Athlon 64, Athlon FX, Athlon 64 FX, Opteron, Dual-Core Opteron, Phenom, Athlon X2, Athlon 64 X2, Phenom II, Athlon II


---------- Still need to add to cart:

1) SSD


2) ~ 4 hard drives 2TB or 3TB?

ultimately this system needs to have ~ 12tb

1.5 TB of that is work data that I use frequently and backup to the safe deposit box quarterly

The rest is media.


3) DVD burner decision / debate

do I get an internal DVD burner or not?
I wouldn't use it much
I have an external USB3 blu-ray burner that I use with a Thinkpad X1 Carbon
blu-ray would probably be the eventual target of my video project
however, I could just use that external one vs an internal one
but that's kludgey...
and I have a million data DVD-ROMs and my DVD-RAMS from my video project
and an internal DVD burner could be use to create windows system image backups
so I should at least have an internal DVD burner of some type
but if I have an internal DVD burner I might as well get a bluray burner

4) How to get a built-in SD-XC card reader with this system

maybe this one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820176023
Cons: DOES NOT PLAY WELL WITH ETRON 168 USB 3.0 CONTROLLER chip.
Pros: Fast, fast fast. Comes with an adapter to hook directly to the MB if you have the slot.

Cons: Didn't work at first. The usb port did, but no card slots showed up. The company web page is worthless, half of the links are dead. Finally I unplugged it from the MB, rebooted, and plugged it back in. Voila - all are recognized
Cons: The price is very high compared to other readers. But, this reader actually works while other readers I tested did not.

Cons: Just one. The 20-pin adapter would not fit on my ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN/3 Mobo because it was too thick and one of the RAM module clips prevented it from seating. Luckily I was able to use my USB 3.0/20-pin adapter cable that came with my Corsair 650D case and all works well! If you don't have a narrow 20-pin adapter, and you have an ASUS P8Z68-V Mobo then you may be out of luck. Atec tech support told me they will soon release a PCI3 card with USB 3.0 ports for those who do not have a 20-pin header and I guess this would be another fix (at additional cost)


-------- Biggest uncertainty - which video card

Fry's recommended

7133922 ASUS AMD7770 2GB DDR5 video card, $169.99
Model: HD7770-2GD5
HD7770-DC-1GD5-V2 (he said it has 2 DVI ports)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7770/
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_ ... 770DC1GD5/

"DirectCU utilizes direct-contact GPU heatpipes for 20% cooler and significantly quieter performance than reference."

"AMD Eyefinity™ technology extends your viewing landscape across multiple monitors."

"New PCIe 3.0 delivers double the bandwidth per lane of PCIe 2.0 for faster GPU–CPU communication."

It's not on SPCRs reviewed list

CA_Steve
Moderator
Posts: 7650
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:36 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Frys Electronics-recommended quiet build

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:23 am

Hi and welcome to SPCR. Here's a couple of comments and suggestions:

Case: The revised H2 has better airflow than the original. It's a decent $100 case. If you like the Fractal R4, you could always get a $20 hot swappable SATA drive bay to fit in a 5 1/4 bay.
CPU: check
CPU cooler: Take a look at the more recent SPCR cooler reviews. There's better $60 coolers. Scythe Mugen 3 Rev B for $50, is one.
Mobo: The Asus P8Z77 V series is nice. Do you need the features of the Pro TB or can you go with one with less features and save $'s and a few watts of power?
RAM: 2x 8GB, check. Step away from the tall heatspreaders. They add no value and may interfere with your CPU cooler.
Video card: If you don't game, you don't need a gaming card. Check to see if your photo/video s/w uses the GPU for accelerating tasks. The HD4000 on the CPU might be good enough. If not, even the GTX 650/HD 7750 would be good enough. I'd get the Nvidia as you have two monitors, and AMD doesn't downclock their memory when 2 monitors are used (~10W more idle power).
HDD: Take a look at the WD RED drives.
SSD: 128GB Samsung 840 Pro is very fast. Should be big enough for your OS/Apps/swap disk.
PSU: Stressed power total: CPU 77W TDP, Mobo ~30W, GPU (if 7770) 80W TDP, 4 WD Red ~20W, misc ~20W = <230W. Actual use is probably closer 150W. I wouldn't bother with a bronze rated PSU. Boy, Fry's PSU selection is crap. The FSP Aurum Gold 400W might work.

GreenThumb
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:15 pm

Re: Frys Electronics-recommended quiet build

Post by GreenThumb » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:59 am

Thanks so much CA_Steve!

Post Reply