mATX build Advice

[Lucio]

I'm looking to replace my current PC because it's starting to get a bit flakey in terms of reliability and performance is now falling behind in terms of being able to play the latest releases.

My main aims are

a) something quiet so it can be left on overnight in my bedroom
b) something portable as I'd like to start attending a LAN or two
c) Provide approximately 3-4 years lifespan on the gaming curve (same as my current PC has managed)


With that in mind I've come up with the following build

http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/6c...231a5a409a75f5

Main parts are

ThermalTake Armor A30 case
AMD A8 3850 CPU
HD 6770 passively cooled graphics card
Seasonic passively cooled 480w PSU


My thoughts were that the passively cooled card combines with the onboard APU to give competative gaming performance without having an overly loud GPU fan (my current 8800GT on max is stupid)



So any opinions?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would a few more weeks for Bulldozer to be released. If you cannot wait I would be looking at least at a Core i3 2100 and a mini-ITX H67 or Z68 motherboard. A Core i5 2300 probably would be a better choice.

Your current system with the Q6600 at around 3GHZ should be fine with a card like the HD5850 1GB. My HD5850 1GB is relatively quiet at idle.

The HD5000 and HD6000 series graphics cards have quite low idle power consumption.

[Lucio]

I would a few more weeks for Bulldozer to be released. If you cannot wait I would be looking at least at a Core i3 2100 and a mini-ITX H67 or Z68 motherboard. A Core i5 2300 probably would be a better choice.

Your current system with the Q6600 at around 3GHZ should be fine with a card like the HD5850 1GB. My HD5850 1GB is relatively quiet at idle.

The HD5000 and HD6000 series graphics cards have quite low idle power consumption.

Unfortunately it's not an option, the system is becoming unstable, starting to fail to post on occasion (though I have attempted to diagnose the cause). I'd also prefer something that's quiet under load, not just at idle, hence the number of passively cooled components.

[Pob255]

Unless they finally managed to sort out the issues with the Momentus XT Hybrid, namely after a couple of months the performance takes a noise dive, then I'd a void that one, an ssd and a hard drive is a better option.

I'm not sure about that TT case personally I'd look at the Fractal design Arc mini http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fract...-black-w-o-psu
Or the define mini http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fract...e-case-w-o-psu
You'd want to get a couple of extra 120 or 140mm fans for them for optimal cooling, I'd suggest looking at the bitfenix fans for low cost quiet fans

I'd also go to a 6850 gpu, http://www.ebuyer.com/272570-powerco...50-1gbd5-s3dhg not the best of brands but it's passive
I would look at an active cooler then then, there's a whole load of difference between the fan on these compaired to the original 8800gt single slot cooler with it's small blower http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-s...plus-deus-ex-3
Fan might pick up slightly when under heavy load, but idle it'll be near silent.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Unfortunately it's not an option, the system is becoming unstable, starting to fail to post on occasion (though I have attempted to diagnose the cause). I'd also prefer something that's quiet under load, not just at idle, hence the number of passively cooled components.

I would get a 65W Core i5 2400S and an Asus HD6870 1GB DirectCU which has a relatively quiet fan.

The XFX HD6870 twin fan edition is meant to be relatively quiet too.

You really don't want to be passively cooling a decent CPU and graphics card if you want a quiet SFF system. You are on the road to component failure down the line.

[scaryjim]

... My thoughts were that the passively cooled card combines with the onboard APU to give competative gaming performance ...

Assuming you're thinking of Dual Graphics here, they don't. The best discreet card you can use for dual graphics would be a Radeon 6670, and frankly a 6770 on its own would easily beat out a 6670 + A8-3850 in dual graphics. But if you're looking for 3 - 4 years of use out of this rig, don't get a 6770 - it's not much quicker than a 4850, which itself wasn't that far ahead of an 8800GT. A 6850 should be the absolute minimum graphics you're looking at.

As CAT says, trying to passively cool mid-range GPUs in an SFF case is asking for trouble. It's very hard to get sufficient air-flow to keep the in-case temperatures down, which means that rather than cool the graphics card you'll basically just end up heating up everything else. Not a good recipe for a long lived computer.