Final Build : Silent PC Build HD-Plex H5 - HTPC / General PC

[petrev]

Hi,

Just ordered an HD-PLEX H5 v2 Fanless Case

First question is about Motherboard choice.

EDIT

Final Build

CPU : i5 5675C
Asus Z97-A/USB3.1
Samsung 950 Pro M.2 500GB
Corsair Vengence 1866MHz
LG GS40N DVD/RW
KingWin 2.5+3.5 Drive Bay



MBD : ASRock Z97 Extreme6 (or Asus Z97-A/USB3.1)

SSD : Samsung 850 Pro 500GB (or Samsung 950 Pro 500GB?)

MEM : Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz ( ~same price as 1600)

USB : Add 3.1 PCIe Card (? or : M.2 X4 PCIe Card for Asus option + ?M.2 SSD)

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OLD Questions :

Asus vs ASRock ?

ATX
eg. Asus Z170 Pro Gaming vs ASRock Z170 EXTREME4+

or mITX
eg. Asus PRO GAMING Z170I Mini ITX vs ASRock Z170 Skylake Gaming-ITX/ac WiFi

CPU ?
i5 6600 or 6600K
Question about optional power saving using underclocking + Overclocking to add power if needed using K version
posted below.

Memory ?
When would 16GB be much better than 8GB
Looking at DDR4 - Kingston Fury Black 2666
Is it worth getting 3000MHz memory - Costs quite a bit more ?

SSD ?
850 EVO vs M2 951 or 950Pro ?

Still looking at the other bits I need to make the full list . . .

No Graphics card in current build theory - Using onboard graphics to save power and heat.
Option to add later if desired/needed.

P

[Mucka]

whats your budget?

[peterb]

You might want to look at some of the gigabyte Mobos. I've used a couple recently and been quite impressed by the physical layout and manufacturing quality.

[abaxas]

There are no higher send silent gaming PCs. Unless you mean is - quiet pcs what get more noisy as they get older!

Also, unless it's changed a 750ti is the fastest car you can get fanless and not all CPUs can be used with the current crop of fanless heatsinks.

Not sure you'd be buying a z170 for a low end i5/i3 and a 750ti.

[MrJim]

I'd take a look at the features of each board & see which is most useful to you. I wouldn't have though a Z170 board would be useful to you though, as I doubt you'll be overclocking? Which processor have you got in mind?

[petrev]

whats your budget?

Currently about £450 over the case cost

[petrev]

You might want to look at some of the gigabyte Mobos. I've used a couple recently and been quite impressed by the physical layout and manufacturing quality.

Thanks - Just had a look at the Gigabyte mobos and only the highest end seem to have Displayport outputs.

I am/was trying to manage with just the onboard GPU at least to start with but my old Hazro 27 needs Dual DVI and that is not provided by the chipset/CPU it seems.
I can get a Displayport to Dual DVI converter and that would save cost and having a graphics card sitting mostly idle but using power and generating heat waiting to be used for the monitor.

Mostly I use a big TV for HTPC and general stuff and only use the monitor for more delicate 3D and photo or drawing progs.

[petrev]

I'd take a look at the features of each board & see which is most useful to you. I wouldn't have though a Z170 board would be useful to you though, as I doubt you'll be overclocking? Which processor have you got in mind?

Hi,

For some reason the Z170 boards are the only ones specifically recommended by the HD-Plex Case makers website.
I am looking at an i5 6600 or a 6600K.

I am just starting to research this build after about 5 years from my last PC build - I want to spec this one to last hopefully as long before I need to upgrade again.

Trying to work out what to do as mostly need a small amount of power and look to be as frugal as possible (electricity wise) most of the time, then have plenty on tap if needed.

If one under clocks a Chip does the Turbo stop being available ? Some reviews say overclocking a 6600K means the built in power saving/boost stuff is disabled ? but I can't work out what happens exactly in all cases ?

Looking at ideas of running 6600K underclocked for power saving then being able to slightly overclock if needed. Not sure if this would provide similar power saving as say a standard 6600 or a 6600T ?

The HD-PLex case data spec. says 95W TDP for the CPU.

[petrev]

There are no higher send silent gaming PCs. Unless you mean is - quiet pcs what get more noisy as they get older!

Also, unless it's changed a 750ti is the fastest car you can get fanless and not all CPUs can be used with the current crop of fanless heatsinks.

Not sure you'd be buying a z170 for a low end i5/i3 and a 750ti.

Hi,

The HD-Plex case gives a 95W max TDP for the CPU and the same 95W TDP for the GPU.

The case has 8 heatpipes to each sde for passive cooling to the case-side fins. There are no fans in the case.

Silent fanless power supply is either small AC-DC plus DC-DC converters internally or an external AC-DC with internal DC-DC. Or the system supports external ATX power supplies which can be (expensive) a proprietary linear fanless design up to 300W or any ATX power supply, though that would no doubt involve a fan again.

The 750Ti is well within spec and I have looked at it as an option for the provision of my Dual DVI needs but feel that at least for now a converter from Displayport to Dual DVI would be better for the current occasional use.

[petrev]

Added CPU, memory and SSD thoughts to Post 1


CPU ?
i5 6600 or 6600K
Question about optional power saving using underclocking + Overclocking to add power if needed using K version
posted below(/above).

Memory ?
When would 16GB be much better than 8GB
Looking at DDR4 - Kingston Fury Black 2666
Is it worth getting 3000MHz memory - Costs quite a bit more ?

SSD ?
850 EVO vs M2 951 or 950Pro ?

Still looking at the other bits I need to make the full list . . .

No Graphics card in current build theory - Using onboard graphics to save power and heat.
Option to add later if desired/needed.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Why don't you get a Core i3 6100?? It has the same IGP and a lower TDP.

[petrev]

Why don't you get a Core i3 6100?? It has the same IGP and a lower TDP.

Hi,

My current desktop is a Core Q6600 from way back but it is still about as fast as an i3 apparently. So my idea is to combine my HTPC and desktop in one and hopefully get another 5 years before I want to upgrade again.

There has just been a spanner thrown into the works as I have just seen that my favoured 8.1 won't be fully supported, if at all on occasions, if as I had thought I use a Skylake. MS are basically forcing all Skylakes to update to 10.
While I like 10 in many ways I prefer 8.1

:(

[petrev]

Hi,

After much deliberation I am now looking to an i5-5675C and a Z97 motherboard - Probably an Asus Z97-A/USB3.1 (or an Asrock Z97 Extreme4 no 3.1 but M2 x4)

This is purely because of MS's decision not to support 8.1+Skylake going forward . . . Luck I procrastinated a bit more than usual !

Or maybe you think it is not a problem to stay on 8.1 with no longterm support for Skylake and only Critical Security updates (if they don't compromise other features of 8.1 on previous gen chips etc. ? or something like that ??)

P.

[scaryjim]

... My current desktop is a Core Q6600 from way back but it is still about as fast as an i3 apparently ...

Slightly irrelevant given your change of heart, but:

Anandtech bench of Q6600 v i3 2100: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=289

There are a few tests where it's close, and some where the i3 has a significant advantage. A Q6600 win is rare indeed (Excel 2007 Monte Carlo loves Core 2, apparently ). But that's against the entry level i3 from 3 generations ago. A higher-spec i3 from the latest generation is going to trounce a stock Q6600.

[petrev]

Slightly irrelevant given your change of heart, but:

Anandtech bench of Q6600 v i3 2100: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=289

There are a few tests where it's close, and some where the i3 has a significant advantage. A Q6600 win is rare indeed (Excel 2007 Monte Carlo loves Core 2, apparently ). But that's against the entry level i3 from 3 generations ago. A higher-spec i3 from the latest generation is going to trounce a stock Q6600.

Hi jim,

Thanks for the comparisons.

I think it was 3 tests that the Q6600 just beats the i3 slow poke !

Yes the old i3 is an improvement but the even older Q6600 isn't doing to badly considering it's age and much slower clock rate (more cores to help make up)

Going to look at some more comparisons on that site, thanks for the link.

P.

[petrev]

Hi,

Using your link to anandtech.com comparisons benchmark tool (thanks again - hadn't found that comparison site before and it is very interesting).

Core 2 Q6600 vs i5 5675 only manages 2 comparison tests, but very interesting.

Cinebench R10 - Single Threaded

Q 6600 = 2278
i5 5675 = 7400

3.25x faster

Cinebench R10 -Multi Threaded

Q 6600 = 9681
i5 5675 = 26306

2.72x faster

Reasonable upgrade ?

P.

(and I see from the pretty green links that my Q-6600 is now worth maybe £10 !!!)