Please help me cut costs on my silent gaming build

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:50 pm

I am looking at creating a quiet yet decent computer. I will be playing games on it and playing hi def video. I already have an antec solo case. This will be going in my bedroom.

Here it is:

Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 = $119.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX = $84.99
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 = $54.99 - $30
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W = $109.99 - $15
GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 = $199 - $20
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 = $54.99
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F = $24.99
BYTECC 18" Serial ATA-150/300 Cable = $2.89

Total including shipping = 668.01 - 75MIR = $593

This started as a little cheap PC, and now its not so cheap (by my standards). I am thinking that the powersupply is overkill but I heard it was really quiet. I was also originally going to get a e5200 and a Radeon HD 4670 w/ aftermarket cooling. That would bring the price down.

Part of the problem is that I have a 1080p LCD, not sure if the 4670 is fast enough for that.

Thanks.

tehcrazybob · Post by **tehcrazybob** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:40 pm

What are you currently using? If you're upgrading from something fairly powerful already, then your spec looks pretty good as it stands, but if you've got ancient hardware right now you'll be blown away by an E5200 and HD4670. Whether a 4670 is fast enough for your monitor depends a great deal on what you want to do with it. For general use and HD video, even a 4670 is overkill. For older games, or for newer games with the settings turned down a bit, you should still be fine. If you want to play brand-new games with most or all the effects turned on, though, you'll want to stick with the more expensive video card. Even then, you could save about $20 by buying a reference-design 512MB card (1GB is almost totally useless) and strapping an Accelero S1 to it.

Whatever you choose for video, you could probably get away with the slower processor. An E5200 isn't appreciably slower than an E7200 anyway, but if you're having performance issues you should have no trouble putting a small overclock on the chip. The Wolfdale chips use so little power that you should still have a pretty easy time of keeping everything quiet. Go that approach and you save another $40.

Buy an Enermax Pro82+ 425-watt power supply, which is even quieter than the Corsair and costs $10 less ($5 more if you expect to follow through with the rebate on the Corsair, but the Enermax is still probably a better choice)

Save yourself another $3 by not buying the SATA cable; your motherboard will come with several.

Worker control · Post by **Worker control** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 5:59 pm

You can also save a bit of money by going with a straight SeaSonic brand S12II. The 430W one is $69 after rebate at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151033
IIUC it is a bit louder than the Enermax, but it's still quiet. And rock solid quality, with a 5 year warranty.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:02 pm

Thanks.

Right now I have an macbook 2.0Ghz core 2 duo with 2 gigs of ram. My work laptop is a lenovo t61p at 2.5Ghz with 4GB of ram.

My last personal PC was a Athlon XP 2500+ with a Radeon 9600 Pro. My macbook will still be my main computer, but this pc will be for gaming, converting DVDs to mp4, etc.

Yeah, it looks like maybe a 5200 would be ok. Another problem with this stuff... I keep changing my mind...

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:36 pm

E7200 -> E5200
HX520 -> VX450

Why the 18" SATA cable? The board comes with two.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:48 pm

Lawrence Lee wrote:E7200 -> E5200
HX520 -> VX450

Why the 18" SATA cable? The board comes with two.

You know what? The description just said "SATA Data Cable" or something. But I checked out the manual, and it doesn't in fact come with 2. Thanks.

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:42 pm

viewtopic.php?t=50716&highlight=

I really suggest avoiding Seagate as much as you can since Seagate 7200.10 is the noisiest HDD on the market. If you absolutely want a noisy Seagate, at least get a improved 7200.11 series. Though improved, Seagate definitely lags behind WD, Hitachi in accoustics respect.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:58 pm

The first questions asked should be:
1) What games do you want to play? (some are cpu intensive, others are gpu intensive)
2) What's the real rez of your monitor?
3) Do you want to play these games at max quality/max resolution/max frame rates or dialed down a bit?

This will determine what cpu and what graphics card will work best...and then the power supply req to feed them.

Note that ATI just announced the base 4870 will sell for $199.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:27 pm

I like first person shooters. So stuff like COD. Nothing like world of war craft or any of those games.

My monitor is runs at 1080p. I am ok with playing not at the highest settings.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:01 am

Sorry to be repetitive, but monitor mfgrs sometimes get cheesy when talking about 1080p....is your native resolution 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1200, or something else?

In any case, it looks like COD is one of those games that is dependant on both the CPU and GPU horsepower for decent frame rates.

GPU: I'd recommend an ATI 4830 or better. You can get a 4830 for $90... you can always add an aftermarket cooler to it to quiet it down.

CPU: Game performance is linear with CPU clock rate and higher L2 cache at the same freq. seems to provide a benefit (though less than clock rate). If using an e5200, be prepared to overclock. Same with an e7200 class.

Here are a couple of links so you can make an informed decision.
COD 5 performance vs CPU at PC Games Hardware
detailed cpu vs fps graph
X-bit Labs 4830 vs other GPUs in COD4, (CPU @ 3GHz)

PSU - the 520W corsair is overkill as your system will probably draw <200W. 430W class will meet your needs and the PSU fan will never ramp up. Seasonic or even the antec earthwatts 430 are good choices and cheap.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:29 am

I have a Samsung T260 HD = 25.5 inch 1920 x 1200. So not 1080p, but more.

You think that card will have enough horse power to power that? I am fine at playing it lower resolution, although thats going to look kind of ugly.

Those graphs make me think upgrading to the e8400 might be a better idea, and then maybe downgrade the graphics card to either a non regular 4850 and deal with the noise for now or go down to a 4830?

Post by **CA_Steve** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:25 pm

Sorry - had a bad link above for x-bit labs...now corrected. It shows the performance you can expect with a 3GHz Core 2 processor at varying resolutions with AA and AF on for a couple of different video cards. I'd expect COD5 will be slower and also reducing AA and AF will increase framerates. <shrugs> It's the usual tradeoff of $'s vs framerate vs resolution/quality. If you are strapped for cash, get the $90 4830 now and play the game at 16x10. Adjust AA and AF as needed to keep framerates up. By a better card a year or more down the road. Or, spend another $100 and get a 4870 now.

Core 2 Duo CPUs are known for easy overclocking at stock voltages....if money is tight, get the 5200 or 7300 and OC a bit to get it up to 3GHz.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:16 pm

Yeah.... This is so hard because money isn't tight, I just feel guilty turning this cheap little pc into not so cheap pc. haha

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:57 pm

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA = $164.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX = $84.99
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 = $54.99 - $30
SeaSonic S12 II SS-430GB 430W = $93.99 - $25
ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB = $159.99 - $30
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB = $54.99
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F = $24.99
ARCTIC COOLING Accelero S1 VGA Cooler = $25.99

Including Shipping = $685.33 - $85 = 600.33

So not exactly cheaper, but its def better I think... haha

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:35 pm

The more I read about installing an AC S1 on a 4850... the more I just want to spend the extra money on the gigabyte.

tehcrazybob · Post by **tehcrazybob** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:36 pm

mackworth wrote:The more I read about installing an AC S1 on a 4850... the more I just want to spend the extra money on the gigabyte.

Why? Buying an installing an S1 saves you $15, but that's not really why it's being suggested so much. The real benefit is that the S1 is significantly better than the Gigabyte passive solution. It's got a much larger radiating surface, which means it can do the job with less airflow. Installation isn't particularly difficult, either; if you feel up to the task of building a computer, the VGA cooler shouldn't give you too much trouble.

autoboy · Post by **autoboy** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:39 pm

I'm ok with running my 4850 without any additional cooling. Yeah, it spins up while gaming but at idle it isn't that loud. Mine is mostly gaming and I have another computer for other stuff, like you with the mac so you might just try to stick with stock. Since you are new here, your meaning of quiet is probably not as extreme as many of us here.

I have a very similar system as yours except for the CPU which is a Q6600 at 3ghz. I simply bumped the bus up to 1333 mhz and it works great. No voltage change and speedstep works great. I play COD5 at 1920 full settings no issues.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:56 am

mackworth wrote:Yeah.... This is so hard because money isn't tight, I just feel guilty turning this cheap little pc into not so cheap pc. haha

I guess my perspective is from the other side of the equation - I'm amazed how far prices have fallen to provide this much performance for so little $'s. The same performance point 6 months ago would have cost $900 and maybe $1200 a year or more ago.

mackworth · Post by **mackworth** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:09 am

tehcrazybob wrote:
mackworth wrote:The more I read about installing an AC S1 on a 4850... the more I just want to spend the extra money on the gigabyte.
Why? Buying an installing an S1 saves you $15, but that's not really why it's being suggested so much. The real benefit is that the S1 is significantly better than the Gigabyte passive solution. It's got a much larger radiating surface, which means it can do the job with less airflow. Installation isn't particularly difficult, either; if you feel up to the task of building a computer, the VGA cooler shouldn't give you too much trouble.

Did you one on the 4850, seems like I need to get some extra heatsinks for the voltage regulators and that it doesn't quite fit perfectly. I guess I need to figure out if the 10 dollar (10 for heatsinks, 30 for S1, 130 for card versus 180 for the gigabyte) is worth the effort. But I understand what you are saying about needing less airflow.

hybrid2d4x4 · Post by **hybrid2d4x4** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:15 pm

The VRM heatsinks that come with the S1 will fit ok, as long as you align their fins to be exactly parallel to the S1's. They should suffice on a 4850, and they're not the best but good enough on my 1gb 4870 (I like to keep my temps down). The DDR5 is what was running dangerously hot in my case, so that's something to keep in mind in case you get another urge to up the specs...

Please help me cut costs on my silent gaming build

Please help me cut costs on my silent gaming build

Cheaper PSU options