MATX Mini PC Potential Build, Help, Thoughts & Comments, Pleeeaasseee

[P2W]

Hi, im putting together a PC for a friend. Its not being used as a media centre, but I like keeping PCs smallish.

The idea is a pc with adequate power for normal home tasks that should last and stay upto date for about 3 years.

The CPU has been chosen with the idea its fine for now and in 3 years it can be easily and cheaply upgraded on the board i have picked (which also offers great upgrade options due to its modern chipset).

Heres a list of what im thinking of, any thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated:

All stock has been picked from Ebuyer and the codes featured are Ebuyer product quickfind codes, except the mobo which is now out of stock there and is likely to be ordered from Scan instead,

135583 EV Black MATX Cube Case, No PSU - 12cm Blue LED Fan
129422 Extra Value Black 500W PSU - With 12cm Blue LED Fan
132268 Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2 iG33 Socket 775 onboard video mATX Motherboard
127248 Intel E2160 775 Pentium Dual Core 2x1.8Ghz 800FSB Retail Boxed Processor
129954 Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory
130454 Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache
132282 LiteOn DH-20A3H 20x DVD?RW-RAM DL Lightscribe IDE Int Black

Since theres going to be no gaming involved, I might stick with the onboard GFX (theres plenty of RAM and a good chipset) or just fit a basic card.

Sincethe CPU is retail boxed im assuming it includes a "stock" heatsink/fan unit?

As far as I can think, that should do the job nicely. Total price with delivery = £251 (excluding GFX card).

Any thoughts?

[staffsMike]

Hi, im putting together a PC for a friend. Its not being used as a media centre, but I like keeping PCs smallish.

129422 Extra Value Black 500W PSU - With 12cm Blue LED Fan

Any thoughts?

if you value the friendship get a proper psu.

Antec NSK 3480 Micro ATX Case - 380W Earth Watts PSU

or just the psu
Antec EarthWatts 380W PSU

the cpu comes with a fan yeah.

[Webby]

I will say it before Hexy gets here... You will need to include an OS so windows ~£50 unless you/they already own a full retail copy or you are planning on using Linux.

On to the spec you will be unlikely to update anything on that board in 3 years in all likely hood memory will have moved on past DDR2 and Intel will no longer be using the same socket. But don't let that put you off.

I would personally use a better PSU, a cheap PSU is no saving in the long run as when they blow they tend to take other things with them as well. Corsair VX450 would be more than adequate for your needs (£48 on eBuyer) or the Antec Earthwatts 430w (£40 again eBuyer).

If your not planning on overclocking at all then these could be options as well

Antec NSK1380 Black/Silver MATX Cube Case - With 350W PSU - Ebuyer

or
Antec NSK3480 MATX Micro Tower - With 380W EarthWatts PSU ATX12V 2.2 USB/FireWire/Audio - Ebuyer

[P2W]

[QUOTE=staffsMike;1317933]if you value the friendship get a proper psu.

LMAO, fair comment, Your not the first to point out about the PSU.

If im honest, while I know other PSUs are better. Its a shame because the one I listed above matches the case absolutely perfectly (cosmetically)(black with blue LED) but alas, I think I best go for reliability & performance over fancy looks inside.

[staffsMike]

If your not planning on overclocking at all then these could be options as well

Antec NSK1380 Black/Silver MATX Cube Case - With 350W PSU - Ebuyer

or
Antec NSK3480 MATX Micro Tower - With 380W EarthWatts PSU ATX12V 2.2 USB/FireWire/Audio - Ebuyer

thief

[Webby]

thief

I went away mid reply... no replies when I started

And I included a Cube case as an option

[P2W]

Hi Webby, thanks for the response. Il have a look into the links in the morning (the Ebuyer site is not coming up for me atm)

With regards upgrading the CPU, I should have explained. I meant il fit an E2160 now cause it will do the job and is cheap and then in three years, if needed can simply swap it for a higher end skt 775 CPU which by then will be a fraction of the price they are now (eg a Q6000 series etc).

Likewise, RAM, you never know what they mgt need in 3 years time, but 2gb will do for now easily and if needed the board will go upto 8gb. In the same way SDRAM is still available, DDR2 wont be a problem to come by.

[directhex]

considered a shuttle? you can get the same mobo chipset as above, so will have just as much future proofing on things like memory and cpu (i.e. not necessarily much) but it'll be much smaller than a matx system

[P2W]

Hi, I run a Shuttle myself but the two issues are 1) PSU reliability (this might have improved since the skt 478 G series) and 2 price.

The case, mobo and PSU combinaton comes to about £120 (if i go for a truepower PSU) and every part is then standard (i.e MATX as opposed custom (flex?) sized mobo, standard PSU etc).

I dont think there are any Shuttles in that kind of budget that could offer spec of what ive suggested.

I love Shuttles and also would normally be the 1st to reccomend one but for this build decided to play it safe so if ever a part goes wrong it can be easily replaced.

[P2W]

Likewise did look at other SFF barebone options, but none seemed to offer the spec/combination I was after.

While I apprecaite PSUs can vary, i wanted to play it safe as thats the part that has gone on the PC I am building to replace. Most SFF PCs had custom PSUs or spec (and i appreciate it doesnt need hundreds of watts and numbers ar peak etc, but still need something) that didnt convince me they would be comfortable with dual core CPUs.

I thought best not compromise too much so think il go with a 380w Antec PSU from Ebuyer for just £30, it means i lose the pretty and matching looks but gain reliability & a more sensible spec PSU for jsut £13 more, a bargain really.

[HSK]

I have the earthwatts 380 PSU (came with my antec case), decent and has been doing the job.

[DanceswithUnix]

At that price point AMD offers better and cheaper platform. You also get the option of integrated graphics that don't totally suck and crash at the sniff of something more than minesweeper.

[P2W]

Hi, #12 (DanceswithUnix), you getting me nor this thread turned into an Intel vs AMD discussion, Im sure both companies offer different advanatages and dis-advantages, regardless im happy to stick to what I know and build using Intel.

Well my latest update on this system is as below

£30.32 EV Black MATX Cube Case, No PSU - 12cm Blue LED Fan (Ebuyer 135583)
£29.99 Antec EarthWatts 380W 80%+ Efficiency PSU - 80mm Fan (Ebuyer 120375)
£58.39 Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2 iG33 Socket 775 onboard video mATX Motherboard (Scan LN18964)
£44.56 127248 Intel E2160 775 Pentium Dual Core 2x1.8Ghz 800FSB Retail Boxed+Processor (Ebuyer £44.56)
£30.01 Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory (Ebuyer 129954) OR
£28.89 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-5400 (667), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered (Scan LN12200)
£56.99 Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache (Ebuyer 130454)
£17.03 Samsung SH-S202N/BEBN 20x DVD±R, Lightscribe, Black, OEM inc. Nero (Scan LN19998)

Using the more expensive RAM, that means for a funky little cube shaped PC that uses standard parts throughout and can be alter upgraded to 8gb RAM and any current dual/quad core CPU, total is £267.29 including delivery.

Its not needed but I might add a basic, something like £17 gfx card to that too which would still bring it in at less than £285, bargain!

[DanceswithUnix]

Apologies if my comment came over abrasive, I must have been having a bad day.

Both companies do indeed have their good and bad points, I was just trying to point out that IMHO the good point of AMD is in building excellent budget systems, specially if the end user is scared of overclocking (and lots are).

That will be a very capable machine.

As for the graphics card: as someone who spent £14 a 7200GS on the basis it would only ever be plugged into a server and doing 2D, the day I needed it to just play World of Warcraft I regretted not spending the extra tenner and getting something 2 or 3 times the power.

There are some bargains under 30 quid though, specially on the daily offer pages.

[McPhee]

I would have to agree with Dances tbh. You can build a similarly powerful AMD machine for £220 including a semi-decent integrated GPU. What is the extra £60 really buying here?

[staffsMike]

G33's are pretty decent overclockers and given the 800MHz fsb of the CPU and 1333MHz fsb of the board that is a healthy overclock before you are even overclocking the board.

If you aren't overclocking though I would go AMD. £65 for the 5000+ black edition is a very nice deal at the moment. It has an unlocked multiplier and overclocks to 3.2GHz with relative ease.

Strap it so something like the Asus M2A-VM (£35) and you have got a nice little setup. I have these two together and it runs very sweetly