Small, quiet i7-860 build for audio/video work for $1000

[mschubb]

The only rig I’ve built before was a simple Pentium Shuttle XPC, so would appreciate some advice.

Need affordable system to handle moderate video editing, voice recording, photoshop, etc. Dual monitors. No gaming. No plan to overclock. Small and quiet a priority.

Trying to keep within $1000 budget. Already decided on i7 860 as best bang for the buck for the media work. Need Nvidia card w/ 1GB and enough CUDA cores to use the mercury engine in Adobe CS5. (Cheapest option looks like a passively cooled GT240.)

Big question for me is what's the smallest case & power supply that would will be a good fit for these components and still be quiet and cool?

Here’s what I have so far:

CASE: ? ? ?

POWER SUPPLY: ? ? ?

PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7-860 — $279
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115214

VIDEO CARD: ASUS ENGT240 Silent/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 240 1GB — $104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121369

(Newegg also has a similarly spec’d Zotac video card for about $92)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814500138

MOTHERBOARD: Newegg offers three choices for Micro ATX Socket 1156 boards w/ USB 3.0 and Firewire. Any thoughts about these?

GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 Micro ATX Intel — $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128429

GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard — $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128430

ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA Micro ATX Intel Motherboard — $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131625

RAM: 8GB, but don’t really understand the many RAM choices. How’s this:
2 x CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) – $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145260

Other details:

HARD DRIVE: Would love a SSD, but out of budget. Have an unused Western Digital 250GB. Might mirror with a used seagate 250GB.

DVD: PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer SATA Model PX-880SA-26 LightScribe — $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827249051

Windows: 7 Pro 64 – $140

These parts already come to $920 -- without case and power supply.

Any suggestions? What small tower or other quiet case should I consider? Motherboard? RAM? What else?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

[Tenoq]

Hmm... $80 left for a quality case, quiet PSU & a CPU cooler? You're going to struggle!

There's plenty of PSUs to select from the recommended list (my personal preference is still with Seasonic). For a cost effective cooler, the HDT-S1283 is quite good - even better with an upgraded fan.

Silverstone have a number of mATX cases to consider... have you considered ITX? SG05/06 can be configured in a relatively quiet fashion if you're keen?

Also your old HDDs will be a noise problem for you. The older they get the noisier they get! Not to mention they're quite slow compared to modern drives, and I think that would be a real waste when you've specced some serious processing power into the rest of the system.

How does a $1200 budget sound?

[joetekubi]

Just built a system with a Silverstone PS. Wow. very quiet, heavy, quality built.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817256061

Your old drives are ok for audio, but way small for video.
Course, you could always build the main rig, and upgrade the HDs later.

-joe

[mschubb]

Thanks for your comments. I think I do have to push my budget up a bit...
although newegg and costco have several prebuilt options for less. (but not w/ the video card I want.)

Love the idea of a mini-ITX case, but wonder about the heat... have you seen any builds that small w/ a quad core i7?

Yes my drives are small. Expecting larger video projects could live on external drives. Haven't seen one yet, but it seems like a USB 3 drive should be super fast.

Like the power supply you recommended. Do you think I could even go lower than 500w?

[ilovejedd]

Love the idea of a mini-ITX case, but wonder about the heat... have you seen any builds that small w/ a quad core i7?

I've got a Gigabyte H55N-USB3 and i7-860 slated to go inside a Silverstone SG05B whenever I find the time to build it. Planning on using the Scythe Shuriken Rev B. Hopefully, it's small enough not to block the PCIe x16 slot. If you think you might need to internal peripherals or perhaps extra hard drives, though, just go for mATX.

Like the power supply you recommended. Do you think I could even go lower than 500w?

Sure. I'm currently running a Core i7-860 and GTS 250 on an Antec EA-380D. The i7-860, I'll even be stuffing inside the Sugo with just the stock 300W PSU, albeit, I'll be foregoing the GTS 250 for a GT 240 (GDDR5).

[MikeC]

A coolermaster Elite 341 mATX tower case (or similar) would work well -- it's $40 at Newegg and takes ATX12V PSUs, which makes it easy. Way cheaper, cooler and easier to deal with than mini-ITX. I like how the front bottom is wide open so you can easily suspend HDDs.

Any of several cost-effective 120mm fan tower HS would work well in this case. Check our recommended list. Ditto cheaper PSUs from Seasonic, Corsair, Antec...

[mschubb]

Thanks. That case looks good.

Not planning to overclock, so I assume the stock CPU cooler would keep it cool. But will a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus be a lot quieter? (It's $22 at provantage... does it need a different fan?)

[MikeC]

Thanks. That case looks good.

Not planning to overclock, so I assume the stock CPU cooler would keep it cool. But will a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus be a lot quieter? (It's $22 at provantage... does it need a different fan?)

Way quieter -- even with the stock fan, when undervolted. You can just use the mobo fan controller first. See our recent stock Intel HSF review.

[SilentStorm]

That dvd burner looks overpriced, a comparable OEM samsung is only 20 bucks (you might need an extra couple mounting screws and a sata cable, if your case/mobo are stingy w/ those).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151216

[protellect]

I do network administration for a small business that creates websites, so I can feel ya. Everyone that uses creative suite has a very similar spec hardware, either a 27" imac i5, or a custom built PC from me, with an i5. Sometimes an i7 if they do video. I always use Corsair power supplies, gskill ram, ASUS motherboards, and antec cases [pretty much always the solo]. I think you're gonna have some problems doing all that in such a small space, while trying to keep the budget low. Not to mention heat may become an issue in a smaller case. But I have a few suggestions for you:

1. Save 25$ and get a bit different card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814162043

2. Get cheaper RAM, gskill is a great brand, I've built about 20 workstations for work, and use those every time.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231275

3. Case? If you really have to keep it small, take a look at the Silverstone SG02

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811163112

If you're willing to go a bit bigger, go for the Antec 300. You will thank yourself for having a bit of extra room to work with, it comes with mediocre fans, but you will think they are quiet if its your first silent PC.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129042

4. Power supply? To me its a no brainer, Corsair HX400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139008&

5. If you have a microcenter near you, you can pick up that processor for $229.

Otherwise, consider the i7-750...
ttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Ite ... 6819115215

Saves you about $80, and really it's not any slower. I don't think you will use the hyper threading in CS5. All of the designers I work with use either an iMac with the i5-750, or a custom built PC with an i5-750, and they are spectacular to work on, awesome single threaded, awesome dual thread, awesome multi-thread.

6. Save a bit of cash going with a good ASUS motherboard at 99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131623

Though I admit, I always use the ATX P7P55D. I'm 20/20 from the egg for them for them working out of the box. Same with RAM/PSU

7. Agree, with other posters, save 20-30$ on another good DVD burner. I've been buying ASUS ones lately, but have bought Samsungs in the past.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151216

So:
Case: 75
Power supply : 50
RAM: 200
CPU : 280 [or 230+tax if you have MS]
Motherboard: 100
DVD Burner : 20
Graphics: 75
Win7 Pro : 140
HDD: Recycle?

Which tucks you in at $950 before shipping/tax/rebates.

Add in a 500GB WD Black, and you're right at $1k.

I'm also surprised you haven't mentioned a third party CPU heatsink yet,

I'd look at the Coolermaster HX3 for 30$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835103064

[danimal]

Trying to keep within $1000 budget. Already decided on i7 860 as best bang for the buck for the media work. Need Nvidia card w/ 1GB and enough CUDA cores to use the mercury engine in Adobe CS5. (Cheapest option looks like a passively cooled GT240.)

since you'll no doubt be editing avchd(h.264), most editing software will eat up all of the hyperthreading you can throw at it... without gpu-assisted decoding, avchd editing with pro apps these days still relies on the cpu... consider an overclocked i7-930.

be sure and do your homework on the video card:

"First, GPU acceleration only applies to a limited set of NVIDIA graphics cards, including the Quadro FX 3800 (about $800 street price), Quadro FX 4800 ( about $1,600 street), Quadro FX 5800 (about $3,000 street), and GeForce GTX 285 (about $400). I used the FX 4800 in my test computer. Note that performance will vary with the card and that the GTX 285 will deliver much less functionality than any of the Quadro cards."
http://www.eventdv.net/Articles/News/Fe ... -66511.htm

[IDvsEGO]

coolermaster 212+ is a good CPU cooler for the money, get one. I have one and am pretty happy with it. Cheaper dvdrom is a good money saver. cheaper ram is good suggestion too. frys and mcirocenter do CPU/mobo combos that can stretch your dollar as well. I am a corsair PSU fanboy until I get one that convinces me otherwise.

[mschubb]

Thanks for a lot of great advice and leads.

Last questions for me are mostly brand issues. Specs/prices are similar:


Motherboard: Gigabyte versus Asus -- also is there any meaningful difference between H55 and H57??
(Need mATX / 1156 / USB 3.0 / Firewire.)

GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128429

GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128430

ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131625


Video card: Asus versus Zotac

ASUS GeForce GT 240 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121369

Zotac --
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814500138

Thanks!

[mschubb]

Oops -- one more question: Thermal Grease. Do I need the high-priced spread or will the cheap stuff do?

[ilovejedd]

Motherboard: Gigabyte versus Asus -- also is there any meaningful difference between H55 and H57??

Either brand is decent, although I do have a preference for Gigabyte. As for H55 vs H57 - RAID. The goop, even the cheap stuff will do and a lot of cooler manufacturers include it in their package.