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Thread: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

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    Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Guys,

    So basically, I use my PC very frequently, but for mostly low level tasks; Ripping FLAC, encoding MP3 and generally dicking around on the 'net. Add in some light gaming (Football Manager, Civilisation and occasions CS:S) and you just about have it. However, I cant stand waiting little seconds for simple tasks and my PC is on 24/7 for torrents. So I want this build to be very responsive, without the need for ultra high end power, but also quiet and as energy efficient as possible. Also, smaller is better.

    I have been holding off building my new rig for months, just waiting for the AMD Bulldozer to be released. I know it is next month, but was just hoping you guys could take a look at the spec I have picked out to:

    a) Rate / Critique
    b) Advise on if I should wait for BD! Is it going to be worth it for my usage / price point?

    This, along with an ATI Radeon 4800 GPU, is my build.


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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    The case only takes mini-ITX motherboards.

    I have been using the following one for the last few months:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...d-mini-itx-vga

    This motherboard is slightly cheaper:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...-raid-mitx-vga

    This PSU is better:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/520w-...x-scan-exclusi

    OTH,this PSU is much cheaper and is quite short:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...ssfire-fan-atx

    It is not a modular PSU though.

    What HD4800 series graphics card do you have BTW??

    Another thing. I would not run torrents off an SSD. The Crucial ones seem capable of handling very large amounts of data but I would still use a normal hard disk for torrents.

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Thanks for the feedback CAT-THE-FIFTH. It always seems to be you who responds first lol!

    Very good point on the board! The trouble I have now is that I need at least 2 PCIe slots (1xGPU / 1xWifi) so that in mind, how does this one rate?

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zotac...fi-usb-30-hdmi

    Thanks for the tips on the PSU too. I am defo going modular so that discounts the second tip. The reason I went for the one I picked is that it has the 2nd fan which I thought might improve air flow, since the PSU blocks half the front fan!?

    My GPU is a Gigabyte 512MB HD 4850. It's a full size card but I think it will fit?!

    Do you have any advice on how Bulldozer would rate for my needs and budget?

    [edit] Also, I should have mentioned, I will be throwing in my existing 1TB WD HDD for data storage / torrents.
    Last edited by phurbs; 25-08-2011 at 09:00 PM. Reason: added info

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    I would get something like the following USB wireless adaptor:
    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edima...reless-adaptor

    It has a removable high gain antenna which means it should be able to accept larger antennas too.

    The PSUs I mentioned should work fine as the fan forces the hot air through the back grill of the PSU.

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Fair enough. Any reason why you would go for the USB + Non-Wifi 'board option? Are Zotac a bit on the crappy side? Is on-board wireless a bit rubbish?

    I would want 300mbs, so something like this . . .

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/edima...-n-usb-adapter

    Also, forgive me if this is stupid, but there doesn't appear to be any rear grills on the PSU you mentioned?

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?



    1. buy an am3+ mobo and components.
    2. when BD comes out do a switcheroo.

    i i went for something i would get in your shoes, rather than something that 100% fitted your specifics. but its a mATX mobo with a suitable case, a 128GB SSD. 8GB RAM (1600 because it was the same price as the corsair 1333, but i suggest spending the extra and going from 1866 from the off, BD will like you for it).

    Modular PSU, DVD drive with the labelflash thing ( ), but most importantly its an AM3+ mobo and your good to go with a bulldozer when they are released.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Thanks for the input Madduck, but I am set on a MiniITX case tbh. Also, although I see your point, I dont want to have to go buy a BD chip later down the line and throw £55 away :/

    Anyway, I have been doing some research, and have found this PSU.

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-...2v-quiet-fan-a

    It looks to be a smallish form factor, which I am hoping will improve air flow through the case somewhat?

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Quote Originally Posted by phurbs View Post
    Thanks for the input Madduck, but I am set on a MiniITX case tbh. Also, although I see your point, I dont want to have to go buy a BD chip later down the line and throw £55 away :/
    you sell the CPU on, you dont leave it hanging around. I did it when i went 939 - AM2, and AM2+ to AM3, sold it for a tenner under purchase price.


    Quote Originally Posted by phurbs View Post
    Anyway, I have been doing some research, and have found this PSU.

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-...2v-quiet-fan-a
    It looks to be a smallish form factor, which I am hoping will improve air flow through the case somewhat?
    id take a 20mm larger fan over a 10mm shorter anyday.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
    Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit
    Vodka

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Yeah, I would sell it on, I just wouldn't be very confident of getting a decent price after BD has come out. Another anti-AM3+ point is the lack of decent mini-itx boards available though :/

    Re: PSU - Good point, I am just a little concerned about airflow through the case . . .

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    I would stick with Crucial M4 128GB though. When it comes to incompressible data like video ,music and images it tends to be faster than the SF2281 drives which use asynchronous NAND like the OCZ Agility 3. A Corsair Force 3 uses such a combination and is slower for such data:

    http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=30998&page=4

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    CAT: Yeah, I am sticking with the Crucial. I have been scared away from the cheaper Sandforce SSDs thanks to all the BSOD horror stories :/

    Anyway, more PSU questions! How would you guys rate getting a SFX PSU? Such as:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...-quiet-fan-sfx

    It would improve airflow considerably as well as making more room for everything to fit?!

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    now /that/ is a dinky ATX psu.

    are you definetly going for the Lian Li case from above? if yes ill assess.

    edit: oop, change the OCZ SSD to a Corsair Force 3 and save £10 (to spend on 1866 mem) http://www.ebuyer.com/268693-corsair...ssd-f120gb3-bk

    might actually go for one of those myself, only 12GB free on the X25M
    Last edited by MadduckUK; 25-08-2011 at 11:47 PM.
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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Cheers Madduck and yes, I am defo going with the Lian-Li case.

    I am gonna hold of purchasing for about a month or so to assess the BD stuff, but I am concerned that there is a definite lack of mATX AM3+ boards about when BD is due in about 4 weeks!

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Quote Originally Posted by phurbs View Post
    CAT: Yeah, I am sticking with the Crucial. I have been scared away from the cheaper Sandforce SSDs thanks to all the BSOD horror stories :/

    Anyway, more PSU questions! How would you guys rate getting a SFX PSU? Such as:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...-quiet-fan-sfx

    It would improve airflow considerably as well as making more room for everything to fit?!
    AFAIK,the PSU is the same as used in the 450W version of the SG05.

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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    makes sense, although the SG05 cannot physically fit anything bigger, and the lian li can, and with the PSU providing the exhaust id be tempted to go for something with a bigger, lower RPM while not under load PSU, the case supports it, its not like you are forcing it in, and it will mean a quieter case at idle and more heat extraction under load.

    the onl reason id go for the tiny psu is if it enabled a bigger CPU hs&f to be used, but i think it would still encroach there so wouldnt give any benefit. probably a "standard" size psu with the biggest fan you can find will be best.
    Last edited by MadduckUK; 26-08-2011 at 12:21 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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    Re: Help!? Sub £550 Pre Bulldozer spec. Should I wait for BD?

    Madduck: I see what you are getting at there. Getting a bigger, slower fan will move more air through the PSU out of the case, making better cooling depsite the more restricted airflow?!

    In that case, how about mounting the PSU so the fan is directly over the CPU and then using a passive HS? Something like:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/titan...l-and-amd-cpus

    Would this be sufficient cooling for the i3? Would it reduce the noise by removing the need for a HS Fan?

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