build for work

[Pob255]

Just a quick idiot double check

This is a pc that's hooked up to a projector, built into a podium hence the reason for the shuttle, it had a laptop however with the shift to wide screen means that a laptop now takes up more space and blocks off the controls.
My idea is to put the shuttle on the shelf under the top of the podium and mount a 15" touch screen on to the podium. (mainly because touch screen is the only type of 15" you can get now)

Prices from Misco, ex vat (rounded up), will have Window 7 Pro 64bit and office 2010.

Shuttle SH67H3 bare bones £234
i3 2120 £88 or i5 2400 £125
Crucial DDR3 1333mhz 2x2gb £16
LiteOn DVDr/w £12
Crucial M4 SSD SATA3 128gb £125 or 64gb £71

15" touchscreen iiyama T1531SR £250
Peerless Paramount tilt mount £16

Mouse & keyboard not an issue, we've got plenty in stock atm (Logitech, cherry & MS)

I'm undecided on i3 vs i5
or if 64gb SSD will be enough
Misco's only other SSD is the Kingston V200, no idea how it compares to the M4?
Maybe add in a gpu? the onboard should be ok for power point and the odd video @1024x768 (limit of the projectors)

The monitor might be an issue, I cannot findout the exact depth of it (ie without stand)
Any other suggestions? it's rather limited for space.

Am I missing anything blindingly obvious?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would get a Pentium dual core,and a passively cooled decode card for video playback. It might be worth looking at SH61R4 too. OTH,it does use a cheaper 250W PSU which might be noisier.

[Pob255]

Possible, the laptop that's been doing the work and has just died was a toshiba satellite pro a200
C2D T7300, 965GM and 2gb ddr2 ram (so X3100 IGP and 2.0ghz cpu)

Video playback will just be the odd youtube, mpeg or someone drops a dvd in, nothing HD, the projectors only do 1024x786.
Overall speed isn't the issue in coping with the load, more a question of making it as snappy and responsive as possible.

I'm thinking the i5 is massive overkill and have ruled it out.
Also a bit limited to misco atm and they's not got much in the shuttle range http://www.misco.co.uk/Search/Keyword/shuttle H67 or G41, I could go to the G41 and stick a Pentium Dual Core E5700 in it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would get an H61 based Shuttle and a Pentium dual core or even the latest Celery(which is not bad at all). I suspect a passively cooled HD6450 should suffice for video decode - the HD2000 IGP in the CPU might even been fine TBH!

Edit!!

Misco is your preferred supplier??

The advantage of going for a newer platform is that it keeps your options open.

This is the CPU:

http://www.misco.co.uk/product/Q4439...1155-Processor

A G620 will be a bit faster:

http://www.misco.co.uk/product/Q3214...1155-Processor

I don't think it will make much difference TBH.

[Pob255]

Just hit a slight issue.

I contacted Misco and yes they can get us the SH61R4 and at a good price
However it's only SATA 3Gbit/s not Sata 6Gbit/s how much is that going to effect the M4 ssd?
But at the same time it has 2 dvi ports, where as the SH67H3 has dvi and hdmi
This unit will need dual connections, the monitor is d-sub or dvi and projector is d-sub only.

a pci-e graphics card would probably solve any issues but which card . . .
as much as I'd love to slip something meaty onto the order . . .
Sapphire 6570 1GB Ultimate (ie passive) £53 or drop down to a 6450 at £26 ?

EDIT the SH67H3 also has a Mini-PCIE socket not sure what if any use it is. I could put a mini-pcie mlc ssd in there but they are slow.
edit2: wireless can be fitted via the miniPCI-e but as this is going to be wired (network connection is already there) it's no use

At over £100 cheaper the SH61R4 is my front runner, my only real worry is the lack of sata 6Gbit/s (oh and going with the i3 and 64gb ssd yes the g620 is cheaper but it's slower £30 slower probably not however it's a jump I'd prefer to make)

[scaryjim]

What about a nettop and an external DVD drive? You can get some E350 / E450 based ones that should do the job now...?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Just hit a slight issue.

I contacted Misco and yes they can get us the SH61R4 and at a good price
However it's only SATA 3Gbit/s not Sata 6Gbit/s how much is that going to effect the M4 ssd?
But at the same time it has 2 dvi ports, where as the SH67H3 has dvi and hdmi
This unit will need dual connections, the monitor is d-sub or dvi and projector is d-sub only.

a pci-e graphics card would probably solve any issues but which card . . .
as much as I'd love to slip something meaty onto the order . . .
Sapphire 6570 1GB Ultimate (ie passive) £53 or drop down to a 6450 at £26 ?

EDIT the SH67H3 also has a Mini-PCIE socket not sure what if any use it is. I could put a mini-pcie mlc ssd in there but they are slow.
edit2: wireless can be fitted via the miniPCI-e but as this is going to be wired (network connection is already there) it's no use

At over £100 cheaper the SH61R4 is my front runner, my only real worry is the lack of sata 6Gbit/s (oh and going with the i3 and 64gb ssd yes the g620 is cheaper but it's slower £30 slower probably not however it's a jump I'd prefer to make)

The HD6570 is the better HTPC card although I suspect for video playback and HD6450 should be fine.

Seriously, a Core i3 2100 is not worth it. I have one because I game and process RAW files from my dSLR and its my main PC. For powerpoint and video playback it is OTT IMHO. The only sort of files which might need a more powerful CPU(probably quicker than a Core i3 but TBH it is hard to say) are high bitrate 1080P HD Hi10 encodes(even that is down to lack of GPU acceleration). However,by the time it becomes popular I suspect GPU acceleration will be added. Maybe if you think non GPU accelerated HD file formats will be used,then a more powerful CPU might be a worthwhile consideration.

You save £35 with the G620 and £60 with the G530.

Look at these reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5005/h...buyers-guide/2

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...0_5.html#sect0

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It seems the SH61R4 has a mini-PCIE slot too:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/system...sh61r4/?page=2

[Pob255]

I should mention this will be used for some editing of power-points and video conversion.
Also it's muggins here who gets given stuff to "put onto the laptop for the presentation", which starts in a couple of hours, then spends an hour or two cleaning it up, reformatting and generally getting it into shape.

When you look at the "productivity" benchmarks http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...0_3.html#sect2 http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...40-g440_4.html the i3 is a good chunk better than the G620 which isn't that much better than the c2d E7500

The budget is pretty flexible, so an extra £47 (I'm looking at the 2120) is ok to overspec a bit.

I wouldn't of minded the G850 but misco haven't got that listed, I'll ask them tomorrow.
Overall I want a pc that's going to be fast and responsive (esp after some of our rather baggy network software gets put on it)

My big stumbling block atm is the monitor, heck I'm still well in the vague "as long as it's not a grand" budget, it's adding £250 to the total bringing it to nearly £600. and a touch screen isn't that big of a deal, a basic hard monitor would be better, however it's going to be an issue of space.
The trouble I can for see is that it's a lot of hassle when we could get a high end 13" laptop like the HP ProBook 4330s + 3 year warranty for the same sort of money or a 15" like the Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-2DR + warranty, for under £500
If I can find one a non-touch screen 15" should be under £100, I'll try a couple of our other suppliers and I've got a feeling there are a couple of our old CTX 15" monitors about which might still be working.

Knocking nearly £50 off the total with a G620 is looking more tempting now.

EDIT: why does powe******* get stared out by the filter?
EDIT2:Ahh never mind I've found it
Part of the word is a cashback system, but I'm guessing this is the reason it's banned

you can create a URL link that you can send in an email, embed on your blog, etc., that other people (who don't have accounts) can click to buy a product and you get all the cashback. With this is a direct forwarding link, the user doesn't even know they are going through when they click on it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

EDIT: why does powe******* get stared out by the filter?
EDIT2:Ahh never mind I've found it
Part of the word is a cashback system, but I'm guessing this is the reason it's banned

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How about getting a 15" LCD TV and using that as a monitor??

This could do the job:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/essenti...qqpwl&istBid=t

[Pob255]

Possibly, hard to know without the dimensions without the stand.

[Pob255]

Final build is (numbers rounded)

Shuttle SH61R4 bare bones £127
i3 2120 £88
Crucial DDR3 1333mhz 2x2gb £16
LiteOn DVDr/w £12
Crucial M4 SSD SATA3 64gb £71
Akasa 3.5" to 2.5" adaptor £4
Peerless Paramount monitor Tilt Mount £18

Around £336 (ex VAT)

Monitor can wait atm, £250 for a touch screen is just too much, esp as we don't really require a touch screen.
I forgot to enquire about the availability and cost of a G850 I did talk to the budget holder about a G620 instead, he said the extra was fine.

I've found one 15" screen for £105 from one of our other suppliers, unfortunately the stand is non-detachable, it's designed to fold up for wall mounting which means it sticks out the bottom and the control buttons are built into the stand so taking it apart would be hard.
Two of my suppliers have actually advised me to try ebay

EDIT: I think I can squeeze a 17" on there if it's got a slim bezel, going to wait for the mount to turn up and do some tests.

[Pob255]

Well it built now all bar monitor
the Shuttle SH61R4 is really nice, the internal build quality could be a bit better, some sharp edges and the drive cage thingy was jammed in there good and didn't want to come out, I had to bend a bit of the frame slightly to release it.
Overall though very nice, the system is very quiet with the loudest thing being the DVDr/w by a good way.

I've used an Akasa 2.3" to 3.5" adaptor http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...model=AK-MX010 which is ok however I found a couple of basic design flaws with it.
It's a decent lump of aluminium designed to act as a heatsink for the drives not just as an adaptor, to this extent it's also got a large square or rubbery thermal material stuck to it.
However I hit two issues, one the Crucial M4 has a plastic cast not metal so it's not going to transfer much heat anyway.
But more importantly, Two, the tolerances are too tight, it was just flat impossible for me to slot in the SSD with the thermal pad in there, it would of made good contact if it fit but it didn't, all it did was push the pad off while the metal scratched up the edges of the plastic casing of the drive.
I gave up, peeled off the pad and slotted the ssd in with ease.
So as a heat sink for an ssd this not much cop, the thermal pad might work better with a 2.5" hard drive, I'll be placing the old laptop hard drive into this later so I'll see if it works better.

I might of lost some speed from the M4 only being on sata2 but it's still very fast, boot up time is just under 30seconds

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How is the PSU noise??

[Pob255]

almost non-existent, the cpu/system fan is louder but very quiet.
When I first turn it on I can barely notice it's actually on from the sound.
Must admit I do like the cooler and the way the fan becomes both cooler and case fan.

Oh and I'd like to clarify one point in my last point, the edges are not so much sharp as rough, I didn't actually cut my self on them.