As the title says, semi-passive 12l build with a discreet GPU, a living room HTPC-server combo, the idea is to have it on for 24/7 with Plex or Media Portal server (or both), MySQL, Apache and similar stuff running in the background and completely silent, and sometimes to be able to run Plex or Media Portal or Kodi client to watch movies or TV shows (local and streams) and play some games on medium settings with some silent cooling if needed.
So without further ado, quick list of all the components that I think should do the job:
- Motherboard: Asus Z170i, or H170i if ever available with DDR4
- CPU: Skylake i3-6320 or i5-6x00T
- CPU cooler: NoFan CR-80EH
- GPU: Asus Strix GTX 750 Ti
- PSU: Silverstone SX500-LG
- Case: Sharkoon CA-I
- Case fan: Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 12
- RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2x4GB 2400MHz CL16 1.2V
- SSD: Crucial MX200 500GB M.2
The most important parts of this build are the case and the CPU cooler:
Sharkoon CA-I case has 105mm of CPU cooler clearance if used with ATX PSU, I am going to use SFX-L PSU what should give me at least 11mm of additional clearance totaling at around 116mm, just enough to fit an 113mm tall NoFan CR-80EH, if still not enough I will try to make a custom bracket to position PSU closer to the side giving up to 127mm of total clearance.
Also CR-80EH cooler has diameter of 155mm and as Asus Z170i CPU socked is not centered so I will not have 25mm for the top fan, that is why I am going for 15mm thick Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex, also I might leave the top empty and mount the fan on the bottom of the case to pull cold air from the outside, but I think GPU will obstruct the airflow, unless I put there a bigger fan but 25mm thick fan will not fit (source), so I neet one up to 20mm but I can not find any good 180x20mm 4-pin fans except for Silverstone FW181 which I do not like at all, any suggestions?
If it gets really hot in there I might cut a hole in the front panel for a 140mm intake fan, but again will get obstructed by the GPU as it will leave only 10mm of clearance because Asus Strix GTX 750 Ti is 196mm long and Sharkoon CA-I is 213mm in length and can fit cards up to 207mm, so if cutting a hole I need a shorter GPU or mount the fan on the outside what would ruin the looks of the case. Or I need a bigger case, like Jonsbo U2, which is a bit narrower but much higher, gives plenty of room for CPU cooler (up to 175mm) but the PSU is positioned over the CPU cooler and all the heat with go directly into the PSU potentially forcing the fan to spin.
About the CPU, I can not decide between i3-63x0(T) and i5-6x00T, I want it to be cheap, but not sluggish, I do not think that I need Turbo mode, but I need high multitasking capabilities, I also do not understand the benefit of Trusted Execution, but if I am not mistaken Hyper-Threading is no where close to having dedicated physical cores. It kind of bugs me to pay extra 50$ only for two additional physical cores and still get lower frequencies, is it worth it? Shouldn't i3-6320 outperform the i5-6600T on most games? Also if I stick with i3, should I take 47W version or 35W version? Are extra 0.5GHz worth the extra heat, would I feel any difference?
And a few more questions:
• Should I get the 4GB Strix 750 Ti version, is it worth the extra 40$?
• Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex has 4 pin connector so it has PWM, is it possible to turn it off using Asus FanXpert?
• And finaly, what do You guys think, am I out of my mind, or is it possible?