Introduction:
It's been, again, 4 years since my last build and it feel an intense craving to once more compose a new electric love. I can't resist, I must build . So here goes.

As always it must be a reasonably priced rig, dead-quiet (which my last one wasn't the least bit) and low on wattage usage while able to play games like Skyrim, Fallout, CoD4 and the likes. I think low idle watt usage could be good as well.

I'm willing to spend the extra ca$h when I feel a component is worth the money in terms of reliability and performance, but I try to keep the total of my budget no higher than, say, 725 EUR (1000 USD).

Why this topic:
Like last time, I'd like to hear your opinions, the money spend is a considerable amount and therefore I'd like to check my build before I purchase the components.

And this topic could be an inspiration to others. Searching components is a tedious job not taken lightly by me. It took me a great deal of time to get where I am now. So hopefully my findings and the discussion here are interesting for others as well.

Usage of the new rig:
The usual actually, so in order of importance and most time spend:
Gaming (CoD4), Solidworks, Photoshop, Illustrator and a bit of internet and watching HD rips. No video encoding or other fancy computing stuff.

Well, onto the fun part:

Current pick of the components:
CASE: Silverstone TJ08B-E
PSU: Seasonic X-560 80+ Gold
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus IV GENE-Z
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/8G (2x8 = 19 Gb total)
GPU: To be decided...
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2
CPU/CASE FAN: Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 BW, 120mm
SSD: Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2 128GB
HDD: To be postponed until the prices drop.

Costs: € 725.
Unfortunately, I still want to add a GPU and HDD. I will not remain inside my budget.

Thoughts per components:
CASE: Silverstone TJ08B-E - I love the look of it, and it is mATX. Nice to try that out again.
PSU: Seasonic X-560 80+ Gold - Five years of warranty, energy efficient (quiet) and I'm blinded by it's pure beauty.
MOBO:Asus ROG Maximus IV GENE-Z - overkill overkill overkill - but the only board I could find which has a USB 3.0 header on board. For resale value, I could overclock this monsterboard with a second hand I5 2500k after five years. But don't know if that's a smart choice. Never resold any of my PC's btw.
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 - Cheap and beats my AMD pick (AMD X4 Athlon 640).
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/8G (2x8 = 19 Gb total) - cheap, low profile and did I mention cheap? Goes well with my Photoshop and Illustrator work.
GPU: To be decided... - don't have a clue yet.
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 - tough decision. There are so many heatsinks out there. Don't know if I should buy a reasonably priced HS or spend the extra cash to have some room for a secondhand i5 2500k in, say, two years.
CPU/CASE FAN: Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 BW, 120mm - still have one gathering dust.
SSD: Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2 128GB - It's time for me to step into the SSD-train. The M4 is the one of the most reliable SSD's out there.
HDD: To be postponed until the prices drop. - way too expensive to invest in a Ecogreen 2Tb Samsung drive. I let this one slide and put in a 250 Gb I have in my old rig.

I still need to invest time into deciding what kind of GPU I want to throw into this rig. Tips are welcome. I have at the moment a 7900 GS (four years old) and playing CoD4 at a reasonable graphic quality.

If you guys seen anything out of the ordinary and/or have suggestions, I'm happy to read them!

Some comments:

Case: a good case. But it suffers quite a lot from HD vibration so you may have to find some home made solution for this.

Mobo: it seems odd that you can't find another mobo with an internal USB 3.0 port. But a quick search shows that the P8P67-M and M-pro doesn't have this. How sad.

CPU: Don't any of your software utilize four cores? Otherwise, the 2100 seems like a good bet.

SSD: Very good choice.

Noctua: Seems way overpriced, and the fan has a 3-pin header. The included resistors have you drawbacks. They may not make the fan quiet enough, and the fan won't ramp up according to CPU load. ASUS boards have good control of PWM-fans, so perhaps you should consider a heatsink with a PWM-fan. The Sandy Bridge CPU doesn't dissipate much heat either, so a budget heatsink with a good fan will easily do. Scythe Mugen 3, perhaps (these fans can even go as low as 200-300 rpm = dead silent). Thermalright HR-02 Macho. Even a CM Hyper 212+ with a Scythe PWM will do.

GPU: I have good experiences with a massive heatsink that's supposed to cool the GPU silently, and then strapping on a VERY low rpm fan with zip-ties. It might be a bit more expensive, and occupy some of the expansion slots, but virtually silent & very good temps. Aftermarket coolers, or great stock coolers are also good alternatives.

Otherwise, great picks.

CoD can utilize 4 cores and fps scales linearly with clock rate.

What resolution do want to game at and at what quality level? That'll determine how much CPU and GPU power you'd need. That said, you can probably gimp by and get a playable set up with the i3.

I'm guessing you want to save $100 now and go with the i3. ok.

Make sure your proposed mobo supports Ivy Bridge CPUs. A year from now, you'll be drooling over the quad core Ivy Bridge CPU and not a used 2500K. I think the compliant full ATX Asus mobo's say "gen 3" for compliance. Look on their website to make sure.

Make sure your RAM is on the Mobo's qualified vendor list.

Otherwise, it looks like a fine build.

I love my Noctua heatsink, very high quality and lots of accessories but I got it bundled with a 2500K for $250.
For your build and with that case it is not a good choice. My asus p8p67 can control the heatsink fan using 4-pin pwm only and I'm pretty sure it is the same for that board. That means that you will need to buy a pwm fan for the heatsink and will be left with 2 lovely and expensive 3pin fans which you don't have much need for since your intake is 200cm. I did a build in this case using a gelid tranquillo and it turned out very nice, it is a relatively low cost heatsink with a good pwm fan. Scythes and Thermalrights are also well recommended.

Everything else looks good, what level graphics card are you thinking?

HDD vibration is indeed a concern. For the moment new HDD are ridiculously price, so I might as well go for the SSD. Eventually a HDD will be added to this build, I'm sure a home-made solution will prevent any vibrations bugging me.



Photoshop I believe. No other programs, not sure though.



I could opt for the 64 Gb version, but perhaps that is just a bit too little with no data HDD.



Okay, I didn't know that. Thank you and PMcG for the info on the pin configuration. Will be looking into the suggested heatsinks.



Which heatsink would that be? I'm interested.


.

I have a Dell 2209WA operating on 1680x1050 resolution. Not sure if the Asus Maximus will support the Ivy Bridge CPU's.

The 2x4 Gb version of the RAM is supported by ASUS. I assume it is the same for the 2x8 Gb sticks.

Yeah, I've been told the Noctua and de 2100 is a silly pick as the 2100 is non-oc-able. I'm not planning on overclocking, but I do plan on replacing the 2100 with a second-hand CPU in two years, say a 2500K chip, when they become available on Ebay and such.

Graphics card level no idea. I haven't found a site where they focus on power consumption, noise and of course the graphic display power. I find all of those three points equally important.

CoD 4 has a lot of versions/releases. Here's a gpu benchmark for (Modern Warfare 3 at max quality and 1680x1050. Looks like you can get reasonable average fps with a midrange card. I'd go for a GTX 560 or HD 6850 class card to ensure 60fps min rates at max quality or if you plan to upgrade your monitor resolution. For good quality pop down into the 550Ti / HD6770.

power use: all of these cards idle in the 10W range. For load - maybe you'd see system power of 120W on the low end and 220W on the high end.

Pick a card and we can suggest a low noise version.

Update of the components list:

CASE: Silverstone TJ08B-E
PSU: be quiet! Straight Power E9 400W
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus IV GENE-Z
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/8G (1x8 = removed one)
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
SSD: Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2 128GB

I've changed the PSU and CPU cooler. Removed one stick of RAM (now 8 Gb total) and added a videocard.

Tried looking for a different MOBO, but couldn't find a motherboard with a USB 3.0 header for my front panel of my case. Thinking of swapping the MOBO with a MSI H67 board, but the chipset limits me in future upgrades and some moderate OC-ing.

The PSU is a German brand, quite know in Germany and The Netherlands. Newegg had them, but never sold many units nore got really well known in the US. Anyways, it has 5 year warranty, is Gold certified (not sure if it really means something). It's half the price of the Seasonic. So I hope it is worth the risk to buy a none-reviewed PSU. Will see.

The GPU chosen is the Sapphire HD 6770. Not really delved into the GPU mountain of information, benchmarks and reviews. I'm following suggestions from you guys, and people on Newegg are happy with it.

I'm still doubting if I should get the Noctua CPU cooler, since I might buy a secondhand i5 or i7 when they become available in the future.

Happy to hear your feedback.


Owh, and € 704.

I'm not that fond of the AC Freezer Pro. At least the original version didn't do well when SPCR reviewed it, at least not when the fan ran at low speeds:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article285-page6.html

I know, new PWM fan, but I would use just a little more money to say, buy a cheap CM Hyper 212+ combined with a good PWM fan. That combo will cost you 26 + 13 USD (Scythe PWM) = 39 USD. Or if you're willing to use more money, Scythe Mugen 3 (comes with great fan). The AC Freezer PRO are not meant for low airflow, and its thermal performance is most likely way behind the mentioned options.

No reviews on the PSU that I could find. They claim:
13.7dB(A) at 20% load
13.8dB(A) at 50% load
14.6dB(A) at 100% load

RAM: Your memory controller is dual channel. If you only populate 1 stick of RAM, you will take a serious performance hit.

GPU: I've been happy with the 5770 - and the 6770 is mostly just a 5770 with different output ports. If you want to tune for low noise, I don't think the baseline Sapphire card is the best. There are a couple of passive 6770s, including Gigabyte and ASUS. In your small case, you might need some airflow over the gpu cooler. Hard to know until you try it. Also, MSI Twin Frozr II is well rated.

I've added the extra RAM module back. I've also changed the PSU to a Seasonic S12II 430W (it's cheaper then the Be Quiet! PSU). I've also changed back to the Noctua, due to Kuzzia comment. I know, overkill (like the mobo), but I like to have some room for future upgrades and I can cool the i3 2100 perhaps without any fan. I'm now around € 780, ex shipping costs. I'm fine with that.

I've also looked at your GPU suggestions. The MSI is not available in The Netherlands. The Asus and Gigabyte are. But they are big monsters.

Gigabyte GV-R677SL-1GD dimensions: 10.95 " x 6.77 " x 1.65 " inch or H42mm x L278mm x W172mm
EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5 dimensions: 11.42 " x 6.69 " x 1.97 " Inch or H50mm x L290mm x W170mm

Not sure if they will fit. Max height CPU heatsink according to Silverstone is 160mm.
I wonder if the GPU cards are measured from the PCI card or the attached bracket? Would be silly to buy a GPU which won't fit.

Gigabyte GV-R677SL-1GD

EAH6770 DC SL/2DI/1GD5

>>Would be silly to buy a GPU which won't fit. <<

Aye.

Here some pics of my build with TJ08-E and GTX580, by the looks seems you might have enough room (pure assumption not for a fact), but its best to cross check the specs.



Accoring to newegg product description, the GIGABYTE GV-R677SL-1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card has the following card dimensions, 10.8" x 5.9" x 1.5", so 5.9'' x 2.5416 = 15cm = 150mm should be the height of the card well with in the 160mm limit of the TJ08-E. Now according to Gigabyte website, GV-R677SL-1GD, it has the following dimensions, H42mm x L278mm x W172 mm, so it should not fit, but im not sure those numbers are correct, maybe write to gigabyte to see the full height of the card to be sure.

Another card that its also passive is the PowerColor SCS3 AX6850, not sure if you can passively cool it though, it should be faster but also will get hotter, doesnt seem as high as the other two cards, but it has stuff on the back of the card... that if you see on my photos the fitting of the gpu is tight as it is being on the first pci slot.

I found a video that might help you get the real height of the Gigabyte card, Gigabyte HD 6770 Silent Cell Video Card - Unboxing and Product Overview, if you go around 6:20 you will see him measuring with a basic ruler, he measures 14.5cm (145mm) but he didnt measure from the bottom of the PCIe card which should add maybe 5mm or so, making it more in line with what newegg dimensions of 150mm, so im assuming the 172mm of gigabyte website are from the bottom of the metal bracket that goes below your mobo. With this video i think it will fit.

Cheaper Z68 mobo with internal USB 3 ($130 instead of $170): GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3

I think your CPU cooler is overkill; you could save money by going with a Xigmatek tower ($25 + fan swap).

If rebates are your thing, these have $40 in rebates available as well.

Lol, I was hoping you would reply to this post. I've read your posts on the overclockers.net Silverstone TJ08B-E owners club.



Great find! Thank you very much. I believe the GPU will fit.

Cool find and with onbaord USB 3.0 header.

Reading the reviews of the neweggers, I'm not sure if this board is worth the gamble regarding the quality problems buyers from Newegg have experienced. Would be quite a bit cheaper though. Shame.

It's also a ATX board when yours is a mATX case. Again I'd say don't go with the noctua but a scythe mugen or thermalright true.

I've ordered all the components last weekend:

I pretty much changed back to my original setup, hence with a few changes thanks to you guys:

CASE: Silverstone TJ08B-E
PSU: Seasonic X-560 80+ Gold
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus IV GENE-Z
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/8G (1x8 = removed one)
GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R677SL-1GD
CPU Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Macho
SSD: Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2 128GB

Still looking for a quiet DVD burner and looking at ways of silencing the bijg 200mm fan or replacing it with a quiet option. Will post my build here once all the parts are in.

Remember the thermalright on their compatibility pdf, has the Macho + Gene Z needing an extra bracket or something, idk for sure though, as mine is the none macho version and installed fine.

crap... The Heatsink is on it's way to here.

Write to thermalright, they have answered many questions to me in the past, they probably can ship you whatever you need or at least tell you what you need and where to get it.

Just send out an e-mail to my supplier of the heatsink, plus to three other suppliers whom I think might have that special bracket + I filled in an online contact form on the Thermalright website. Will see. Thanks for the support btw, much appreciated.

In the owners club Skocke was so nice to share the following ( he also mentions your name ):

So, I have this case ordered along with new hardware, including the Maximus Gene-z and the HR-02 Macho. All was going great and I will recieve the final shipments tomorrow including the case and cooler, when i saw Abula commented on the incompatability with the the gene-z anc Macho. Feel stupid for not noticing this myself.

So heres what I have discovered: I contacted thermalright about it and was told I need another retension bracket and to contact my reseller about it. No luck with the resellar so back to thermalright and to keep it short (already too long, sry) the europeen ditributor has the new retension bracket already and the newer shipments of the HR-02 Macho will ship with the new one already, compatible with the Gene-z among others. I recieved great service from thermalright and the distributor and the distributor conacted me shortly after for my adress and will send me the new harware needed.

Conclusion: The HR-02 Macho should fit with the new retension bracket and new batches should come with it as stock.

I should be okay.