I'm building a small PC, Must be quite as possible, and pretty fast. DVI socket on GPU for my DVI monitor, and HDMI to plug into my Sony Bravia for blue ray playback. I will be running windows 7.

The friendly guys pointed me in this direction for my Build

1 x Silverstone Sugo SG06B Mini ITX Case - Black (with 300 W PSU) £93.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £82.99
1 x Asus P8H61-I Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99
1 x Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £95
1 x OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £19.98

The GPU listed comes in a fanless model too! however not sure if the extra space that the heatsink takes if it will fit this mini ITX case listed.

How quite is the ITX case listed? can you guys point me in the right direction for a case that is pretty sound proof etc?

I need my new pc to be to this spec (ish) but also be quite as possible with a budget of 500 pounds.

What do you guys think?

[Edit by admin: I'm sure you meant Quiet in the subject line, not Quite.]

The GT430 is a very low end gpu, mostly used in HTPC, but today Sandy Bridge CPUs are more than capable of playing HD movies, not sure if you have any other use... but if are not gaming but want better gpu than what the intel i3 2100 has (HD2000), get the i3 2105 (HD3000).

Whats PSU you going for?

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I was just going to use the PSU that comes with the case.

ormaybe up[grade to a silent one maybe? I dunno! lol

I won' be gaming on this machine.

For your setup, I'd rather buy a single 4 GB stick to make sure that it is also future proof. You could also buy 2 x 4 GB which would not be the end of the world in terms of money.

Perhaps skip the Geforce 430. Integrated graphics has come a long way, and the ones in Sandy Bridge should be able to play videos in full HD flawlessly though that depends on the format. Consider whether you really need the 430.

You may also consider a replacement heatsink for your CPU. Stock heatsink are usually not quiet enough for silent computing. From the top of my head, you should consider: Scythe Kozuti, Scythe Shuriken, Scythe Samurai ZZ, Arctic Cooling Alpine (there are alot of them and they seem perfectly suited as a quiet replacement for CPU's. Fans from Arctic Cooling are usually very quiet)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article976-page3.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/scythe-kozuti
http://www.silentpcreview.com/silent-spirit-samurai-zz
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article964-page3.html

Since you wont be gaming, drop the GT430 or have any use for nvidia gpu like cuda? , Intel HD2000 is more than enough for basic stuff, including HD movies and flash, this will not only save you £49.99, but also less heat inside the case so all the other components should have slightly better temps and less need to ramp fans up, etc. If you still want a little better iGPU, intel offers the HD3000 in some cpus, like i3 2105 and i3 2125 (and quads like 2500K/2600K), its up to you if you want to invest on it or not, HD2000 is more than enough for HD movies and everyday tasks.

Hello again, thanks for the further replies.

I have a artic cooling heatsink and fan on my current processor and I highly recommend them to anyone. Not sure if it will be compatible on the new CPU I will be getting though.

The reason I wanted a GPU was so that I could have dual monitor support, so have it hooked to my pc monitor and Sony LCD without the hassle of going behind the computer unplugging leads etc.

4gb ram in one stick sounds like a good idea.

I was going to get SSD's but they cost too much at the moment

If you look at the specs of the Intel® Desktop Boards Media Series, then at least the mobo's which start with DH67 are all "Dual Display Capable". This means you can use two of the three video outputs at the same time. See the manuals for the details.

SPCR reviewed one of them: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Intel_DH67BL_Asus_P8H67-M_EVO_H67_Motherboards

There are probably more mobo's that can do this.

To what I have read intel sandy brige igpus support dual monitor, but crosscheck that the mobo supports it and that it has the plugs you are looking (some come with 2x DVI, others with vga, dvi, hdmi, and displayport), I would fisrt try without nvidia gpu the worst it can happen is that doesn't work and you would need to buy one,

Btw ivy bridge is rummored to have triple monitor support.

I'm sitting in front of an H67-based dual-head-igpu system right now (running ubuntu11.04, actually). It's great. The 3D perf isn't exciting, but you knew that already.

Is the motherboard I mentioned better than the one reviewed via SPCR or vice versa?

This gives me headache lol Don't know how you guys learn it all.

I want a fanless GPU though if the onboard one isn't brilliant.

so need to make sure my case is future proof too lol ARGHHH

Ok.

I have tweaked my setup a little.

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor -
Asus P8H67-M EVO Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX)
Nexus Value-430 430W True Power Compact PSU

Reckon this combination will work well?

Wanted a quite psu so went for the nexus

How are you going to connect your dual display? DVI + HDMI?

Remember the dual core i3 that come with HD3000 end with 5, like the i3 2105 or i3 2125, not suggesting you go with either, but since you change your cpu i3 2120, this would be identical to i3 2100 just 200mhz more on the cpu clocks, both come with the HD2000, which should be enough for HD movies and probably dual display, but this you should crosscheck, specially the mobo.

Seems like a good built. The ASUS has a very good fan controller, using ASUS Ai Suite --> FanXpert. It can control both CPU pwm-fan and its 3 pin fan.

If your Arctic Cooling heatsink (which model by the way?) supports the LGA 1156 from the first generation Core i-series, then you shoud be fine. 1156 and 1155 should support the same heatsinks.

Hello, the cpu i have now is socket 775, bet my artic cooling wont fit onto the new cpu im planning to buy huh

You need a heatsink for "Socket 1155" or "Socket 1156". Sometimes adapter kits are available from heatsink manufacturers.

I think I will just order a new heatsink, they don't cost too much.

Do I install windows 7 as 32bit or 64bit? I'm kinda new to this.

Also would 450 watt psu power this ok?

Should be enough, but here be careful in terms of how quiet you want your system to be, there are some noisy PSU out there, go with brands like Seasonic X series, Corsair AX series, Enermax 87+, Kingwin Striker and platinum, all of this are very good PSU, expensive but to me its one of the things i try never to skip on. If you are not using a dedicated GPU you can even go for a picoPSU, the i3 + intel mobo shouldnt consume above 60W at load, if you go picoPSU route, get a mobo that has the 24pin not next to the memory.

It really depends on what you want it for, but 32bit OS are getting fase out cause their limitations they have, so my suggestion is to go for 64bit.

Here its up to you, there are cheap coolers out there like Coolermaster 212+ that you can get around $20, to high end cpu coolers like Noctua NH-D14 or Thermalright Silver Arrow that cost above $80. Since your going with small case maybe something like Cooler Master GeminII, would fit (crosscheck the mobo and case).

is this the pico thing you was reffering to?

and why not have it near memory ports?

There is a lot of models to chose from, i personally use a Premium picoPSU-150-XT/12.5A 150W AC-DC 20 pin (you can check my sig for the complete build), but the max draw of my build is 50W (this is under prime95), an i3 2120 probably will consume slightly more than i3 2100T on load, on my HTPCMI build you can see i3 2120 it doesnt even reach 73W and this is with a dedicated gpu at idle, so my guess is the i3 2120 would be around 60W , for this i would recommend something like Premium picoPSU-90/6.6A 80W AC-DC, it should be even more efficient than mine and its totally fanless.

The picoPSU (depending on the model) have caps on the front of it, sometimes it will touch the memory... weather or not it will create conflicts idk, but i personally prefer not to be touching, i wouldn't want one afecting the other regardless. Here is a picture for you to understand what im saying,



There are lots of mobos that have it separated here some examples, im sure there are more but this is just for you to see, its up to you to see if has the features you need/like,

Intel BOXDH61DLB3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Intel BOXDQ67EPB3 LGA 1155 Intel Q67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
BIOSTAR TH61 ITX LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Asrock H67M-ITX/HT LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
ASUS P8H67-I DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Hi.

Thanks again!

I will have a look through those motherboards.

You can get fanless PSU that sit up in the same place as normal PSU's sit so just having a look at those too

There appears to be a IDE slot between the memory and power slot, so I might be ok. Will give the Pico a try I reckon

What motherboard you talking about?

this one

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =MB-452-AS

I'll be running 2 hard drives and dvd drive too

Trying to go for a fanless build here if i can but not sure about nice stylish mini case, other than that i have sourced all my parts

Ohh, i though you were going mini ITX not micro ATX, but yea that mobo should work since it has an extra space between the memory and the psu connector.

I wouldnt run a totally fanless build on an i3, you will need at least one case fan to cool everything. The Lian Li Q11 is a case to look into, its a Mini ITX case with only one 140mm fan to cool everything, has space for 2x 3.5 hdds on the bottom tray and has 1x 5.25 slot on top for your optical, if you go the route of a picoPSU you could use a big tower cooler fanless (sort of speak) as you will use a the case fan for cooling the CPU also, ending with only 1 fan for the complete setup. Check this thread so you get an idea of the case, mATX mobo in Lian Li Q11 mini-ITX build, in this build he used a none standard micro atx motherboard. Even if you dont go with picoPSU, the Q11 can still fit a standard ATX PSU, and if you want a fanless look into Seasonic X-400FL Fanless

Just ordered motherboard and RAM

If im building a micro atx will everything fit in the mini atx case?

Hmmm micro cases look bigger than mini