Hexus Monthly Build Guide October 2011

[Willzzz]

The £15 windows upgrade won't apply to home builders afaik.

[Dareos]

priced the components up last night for a new build, just using a few websites and the calc on windows, missed out the RAM as i picked up the Corsair Vengeance 8GB pack i pm'ed you about Cat, came in about £900 with an Nvidia 670. TBH im probably going overboard on the graphics card, and doesnt include a monitor either.

Its mainly cases right now, this will be in my bedroom so really dont want anything too glowy and showy, and definitely want quiet, any thoughts on the best of the bunch from your list?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

priced the components up last night for a new build, just using a few websites and the calc on windows, missed out the RAM as i picked up the Corsair Vengeance 8GB pack i pm'ed you about Cat, came in about £900 with an Nvidia 670. TBH im probably going overboard on the graphics card, and doesnt include a monitor either.

Its mainly cases right now, this will be in my bedroom so really dont want anything too glowy and showy, and definitely want quiet, any thoughts on the best of the bunch from your list?

From what I am hearing of the GTX660 it should be be a reasonable percentage of the GTX670 performance at a lower price.

If you want a decent case with understated looks,the Fractal R3 is quite a good choice. I used one in a build a while back:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...ml#post2214293

It is not very cheap:

http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=fractal+r3

However,it does have sound proofing.

The Zalman Z9 is also not OTT IMHO:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zalma...e-case-w-o-psu

You are looking at a maximum graphics card length of 11.4" for both cases though.

[Dareos]

hmm, what kind of length are we talking for 670/660?

was looking at this http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-g...58mhz-cores-13
cant see sizes written anyplace

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think the GTX680 is around 10" long.

[Noxvayl]

Its mainly cases right now, this will be in my bedroom so really dont want anything too glowy and showy, and definitely want quiet, any thoughts on the best of the bunch from your list?

I bought the Corsair 550D last month and love it. I recommend it.

The 550D has good sound reduction installed, low noise fans fitted by default with the option to add lots more to improve airflow(I recommend getting 2x 140mm fans for the top); the only fan positions not able to accommodate 140mm fans is the 2 at the front of the case, I wouldn't change them anyway. The case has great cable routing and easy to remove side panels. The front door can be opened which ever way you prefer or even just left off completely. PSU mount area is fitted with foam to absorb vibrations. The top hard drive cage can be removed for better airflow and support for graphics cards longer than 30cm.

The case is great to work with, silent in operation (thanks to my fan controller to turn off my noisy fans when not needed) and has a nice simple look. Well worth £110 in my opinion.

[Dareos]

certainly looks and sounds the part Noxvayl, but £110 (£118 on Scan) is a big chunk of the budget, was hoping to spend around 70 to 80 max.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

certainly looks and sounds the part Noxvayl, but £110 (£118 on Scan) is a big chunk of the budget, was hoping to spend around 70 to 80 max.

I could barely hear the AMD 125W TDP stock cooler when it was in the Fractal R3 and it is not quiet.

The Gigabyte card is 10.75" long:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...oc-review.html

[Dareos]

creating a new thread as i dont want to hijack this one with my own build, think this one is more for general discussion of current bits and pieces rather than exact builds

[Noxvayl]

certainly looks and sounds the part Noxvayl, but £110 (£118 on Scan) is a big chunk of the budget, was hoping to spend around 70 to 80 max.

Damn, price has gone up since I bought it

If it is out of your price range then the other case I would recommend is this: Coolermaster Silencio RC-550

My previous case was a Coolermaster CM690 and my experience with it gives me enough confidence to recommend their cases. I think the Fractal Design CAT recommends the the Coolermaster I have linked to are probably the best choices in your price range. You could also browse this list of silent cases> http://www.silentpcreview.com/section9.html I used that site when looking for my case.

[Pob255]

Cat I'd like to put forward the huntkey jumper 80+ gold psu forward for the basic general purpose & HTPC http://www.ebuyer.com/267860-huntkey...ed-jumper-300g
you're not going to be powering any major graphics cards off it, but for a low end card/onboard graphics and non-overclocked system it'll be plenty.
gold rated efficiency and a £37 price tag makes this a good buy IMO, a quid cheaper than the corsair cx430w

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Cat I'd like to put forward the huntkey jumper 80+ gold psu forward for the basic general purpose & HTPC http://www.ebuyer.com/267860-huntkey...ed-jumper-300g
you're not going to be powering any major graphics cards off it, but for a low end card/onboard graphics and non-overclocked system it'll be plenty.
gold rated efficiency and a £37 price tag makes this a good buy IMO, a quid cheaper than the corsair cx430w

I heard it is a bit noisey but for the more basic build 300W is probably fine. I suspect cards like an HD7750 would be OK too.

[Dareos]

Silly question i suppose, but I take it that the coolers mentioned in that guide work with the ivy bridge chip bud? Cant see there being any difference as its the board and top plate of the chip it sits on, but best check.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Silly question i suppose, but I take it that the coolers mentioned in that guide work with the ivy bridge chip bud? Cant see there being any difference as its the board and top plate of the chip it sits on, but best check.

Yep!! There are better ones for around £40,but I am trying to keep the builds to budget.

[Dareos]

well, i hit £907 without a monitor or cooler bud, but then i splashed on the 670.

im a sucker