Hi everyone,
I'm going to be moving a wall mounted foldable desk like this one. I want a small form factor tower that will fit in that shallow space when the desk is folded up.
Silent would be great, quiet would be good enough. My current CPU fan (Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus) is too loud for my liking at 700 RPM.
This would be my only computer, so I want to buy something powerful enough that I dont curse it on a daily basis. I do mostly office work and browsing, but being a good HTPC and be able to play old game such as Europa Universalis 3 and Company of heroes would be a plus.
I've been browsing this 6-month thread and I'm curious what would be my options today. Here is the 6 months old build:
M350
i3-2110T
Dynatron T459 fan
Intel DQ77KB or GIGABYTE GA-H61N-USB3 or ASRock H77M-ITX
1x SSD
8Gb Ram (2x sticks)
Thanks!
S.
Silent, small form (M350 ?) build. Mac mini alternative
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HellDiverUK
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:56 am
Re: Silent, small form (M350 ?) build. Mac mini alternative
I've got a similar case - the Morex 557B. It's the same case with a different facia. It's the only computer at my parent's house, so does internet stuff, YouTube, etc, and with the two big drives in it also does CCTV recording.
It's got the DH61AG board, boots off a 32GB Crucial M4 mSATA, has 2x2GB DIMMs, a 65W Pentium G620 with an Asaka low profile heatsink. There's also two 1TB 2.5" drives in there, and cooling is by a Scythe Mini-Kaze fan. All runs off a 90W Dell laptop PSU.
Even with the 65W G620, in normal use the CPU fan is either stopped, or barely moving at 200rpm. I've never had it get to the point where the computer is louder than the buzzing from the monitor (19" Dell TFT). The Mini-Kaze is pretty much silent - it doesn't move much air, but it's enough to stop the wifi card freaking out after a few days.
If I were you, I'd skip the 2100T, and go for the i3-3225 as it has the HD4000 graphics. Its 55W, which is well within the cooling capabilities of the case.
It's got the DH61AG board, boots off a 32GB Crucial M4 mSATA, has 2x2GB DIMMs, a 65W Pentium G620 with an Asaka low profile heatsink. There's also two 1TB 2.5" drives in there, and cooling is by a Scythe Mini-Kaze fan. All runs off a 90W Dell laptop PSU.
Even with the 65W G620, in normal use the CPU fan is either stopped, or barely moving at 200rpm. I've never had it get to the point where the computer is louder than the buzzing from the monitor (19" Dell TFT). The Mini-Kaze is pretty much silent - it doesn't move much air, but it's enough to stop the wifi card freaking out after a few days.
If I were you, I'd skip the 2100T, and go for the i3-3225 as it has the HD4000 graphics. Its 55W, which is well within the cooling capabilities of the case.
Re: Silent, small form (M350 ?) build. Mac mini alternative
Case,
If you are looking into the M350, i would also suggest to consider Antec 110, its a small iTX case that imo gives more flexibility into what componnets and i like more the layout, it also comes with its own brick PSU included. Has a vesa mount so for sure you wil be able to mount it to the wall or behind your monitor. The case also allow for twin 2.5 hdds on the bottom of the case, so in case you want a cheaper smaller ssd + mechanical hdd is possible. Here is a nice time laps video for you to see into what you getting into building on it, Antec ISK 110 Mini ITX Build.
CPU,
I see you are considering i3-2110T, i own a 2100T and been great, but if you want to save some, Intel Celeron G540 or Intel Pentium G860 are pretty good alternatives. I agree with HellDiverUK, if you want more power just go with Intel Core i3-3225 for the HD4000, specially since you want to some light gaming, might work out better, i feel the kozuti can hanle i3 fine, also the downclocking of Sandy/Ivy bridge is very similar even between T and none T models, so at the end you will have very similar idle consumption and temps, the restriction on the T is their top cpu clocks, which i dont think would be an issue.
SSD,
My pick would be Crucial M4 for a cheap and realiable ssd, and if you are looking into high end Samsung 840pro. Worth mentioning that Crucial is releasing their new ssd, M500 in a month or two.
Memory,
If you go with Antec 110 + Kozuti, just be sure to get standard size memory or low profile avoid tall heatsinks, there is very good reviews lately of Samsung 30nm memory, and its low profile, but very hard to get since its been hype so much, but in case you can find it, should be same price all memory is right now, Samsung Electronics Extreme Low Voltage 30nm UDIMM 8 Dual Channel Kit DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM MV-3V4G3D/US, but there are lots of options out there, just check for the mobo you are buying to see compatibility.
Mobo,
Personally i like intel, not a lot of extra, but its very efficient and stable, this would be my pick Intel BOXDH77DF LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboardk, it has a very similar layout than the photos below, this is important as some iTX mobos have the CPU in a different location, that might or not allow the use of the Antec 110. If you go for another motherboard, just check that the CPU is right next to the PCIe, and not opposite.
CPU Cooler,
If you go with the Antec 110, the only fan you will use is the CPU cooler, so i would suggest to invest into an aftermarket cooler like Scythe Kozuti. Its been reviewed by SPCR, Scythe Kozuti Low Profile CPU Heatsink
Im planning a similar build for HTPC for my brother, so i have searched some and found a video that might interst you to see the size, Windows 8 boot and reboot, he also uses a kozuti, so i asked him if he had some photos, he was kind enought to share some, imo worht a look for you to see how the setup will play out.
If you are looking into the M350, i would also suggest to consider Antec 110, its a small iTX case that imo gives more flexibility into what componnets and i like more the layout, it also comes with its own brick PSU included. Has a vesa mount so for sure you wil be able to mount it to the wall or behind your monitor. The case also allow for twin 2.5 hdds on the bottom of the case, so in case you want a cheaper smaller ssd + mechanical hdd is possible. Here is a nice time laps video for you to see into what you getting into building on it, Antec ISK 110 Mini ITX Build.
CPU,
I see you are considering i3-2110T, i own a 2100T and been great, but if you want to save some, Intel Celeron G540 or Intel Pentium G860 are pretty good alternatives. I agree with HellDiverUK, if you want more power just go with Intel Core i3-3225 for the HD4000, specially since you want to some light gaming, might work out better, i feel the kozuti can hanle i3 fine, also the downclocking of Sandy/Ivy bridge is very similar even between T and none T models, so at the end you will have very similar idle consumption and temps, the restriction on the T is their top cpu clocks, which i dont think would be an issue.
SSD,
My pick would be Crucial M4 for a cheap and realiable ssd, and if you are looking into high end Samsung 840pro. Worth mentioning that Crucial is releasing their new ssd, M500 in a month or two.
Memory,
If you go with Antec 110 + Kozuti, just be sure to get standard size memory or low profile avoid tall heatsinks, there is very good reviews lately of Samsung 30nm memory, and its low profile, but very hard to get since its been hype so much, but in case you can find it, should be same price all memory is right now, Samsung Electronics Extreme Low Voltage 30nm UDIMM 8 Dual Channel Kit DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM MV-3V4G3D/US, but there are lots of options out there, just check for the mobo you are buying to see compatibility.
Mobo,
Personally i like intel, not a lot of extra, but its very efficient and stable, this would be my pick Intel BOXDH77DF LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboardk, it has a very similar layout than the photos below, this is important as some iTX mobos have the CPU in a different location, that might or not allow the use of the Antec 110. If you go for another motherboard, just check that the CPU is right next to the PCIe, and not opposite.
CPU Cooler,
If you go with the Antec 110, the only fan you will use is the CPU cooler, so i would suggest to invest into an aftermarket cooler like Scythe Kozuti. Its been reviewed by SPCR, Scythe Kozuti Low Profile CPU Heatsink
Im planning a similar build for HTPC for my brother, so i have searched some and found a video that might interst you to see the size, Windows 8 boot and reboot, he also uses a kozuti, so i asked him if he had some photos, he was kind enought to share some, imo worht a look for you to see how the setup will play out.