mikew
02-02-2010, 07:43 PM
It's time for our every-5-or-6-years new computer, and this time I'm thinking to build it myself. You all make it sound easy :-)
No gaming, but some image editing and coding, and (since we have no TV) we watch our DVDs on it. Mostly I want a solid, cool-running, quiet box, one that will age gracefully. With that in mind, and after reading many, many articles and reviews, I've come up with this bill of materials. What do you think?
PSU: Nexus Value 430
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P
CPU: Intel i5 750
RAM: 4GB of G.SKILL DDR3 1333
Graphics card: HIS H465PS1GH Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI-E
Hard Drive(s): WD Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB
Optical Drive(s): LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R
Operating System: Win7 Home Prem.
The i5 feels like today's sweet spot, and the GA board has some great reviews. The PSU is recommended by the Silent PC site.
Should I plan on an aftermarket CPU cooler? If so, either the Thermaltake CLP0554 SpinQ VT, or Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 seem to be well thought of.
The GPU was a puzzle. I'd like to keep it low-power and cool, and with no gaming requirement, fanless seemed like the way to go. Not many reviews on that HIS choice, though.
If I stick on one of those heatsinks, does that push it into a Full Tower box? Neither size or aesthetics matter much -- it's just going in a corner -- but if a Mid Tower is adequate, I don't see any reason to go bigger.
Oh, and a sound card -- Soundblaster, I suppose. We already have the speakers.
Thanks for any advice!
Mike
No gaming, but some image editing and coding, and (since we have no TV) we watch our DVDs on it. Mostly I want a solid, cool-running, quiet box, one that will age gracefully. With that in mind, and after reading many, many articles and reviews, I've come up with this bill of materials. What do you think?
PSU: Nexus Value 430
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P
CPU: Intel i5 750
RAM: 4GB of G.SKILL DDR3 1333
Graphics card: HIS H465PS1GH Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI-E
Hard Drive(s): WD Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB
Optical Drive(s): LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R
Operating System: Win7 Home Prem.
The i5 feels like today's sweet spot, and the GA board has some great reviews. The PSU is recommended by the Silent PC site.
Should I plan on an aftermarket CPU cooler? If so, either the Thermaltake CLP0554 SpinQ VT, or Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 seem to be well thought of.
The GPU was a puzzle. I'd like to keep it low-power and cool, and with no gaming requirement, fanless seemed like the way to go. Not many reviews on that HIS choice, though.
If I stick on one of those heatsinks, does that push it into a Full Tower box? Neither size or aesthetics matter much -- it's just going in a corner -- but if a Mid Tower is adequate, I don't see any reason to go bigger.
Oh, and a sound card -- Soundblaster, I suppose. We already have the speakers.
Thanks for any advice!
Mike