Small rig for the girlfriend

dwighet

Lads i want to build something small and tidy for the girlfriend.
She just needs something for her facebook,tv3 player,movies,ect ect. you know...all that girly stuff:rolleyes:

I was thinking along the lines of mATX,On board graphics...Something very simple..

I have a spare monitor and keyboard.

No need for overclocking..Simple simple is what she needs..

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Serephucus

Depending on how much money you want to spend, a G530-type/i3 2100-type, and I'd nearly go mITX, with an Element Q case or something, if you want tidy.

dwighet

Serephucus wrote: »

Depending on how much money you want to spend, a G530-type/i3 2100-type, and I'd nearly go mITX, with an Element Q case or something, if you want tidy.

Im thinking around 450-500e.
I like tidy:cool:

Tij da feen

Item|Price
Thermaltake Element Q, mini-ITX, 200W-Netzteil|€52.62
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€111.23
ASRock B75M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€78.95
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€28.31
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€88.03
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€81.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€460.02

Something like this so?

If more space is needed then you'd be able to fit a Mechanical HDD in the bay and just blu-tac the SSD into the 5.25" bay so long as a DVD drive isn't needed. Or you could get an external and make use of the USB 3.0 ports on the mobo.

Genghiz Cohen

Be our Guinea pig.
Try out the new AMD Trinity chip for us!

Item|Price
AMD A10-5700 mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Tray, FM2|€113.00
ASUS F2A85-M LE, FM2, mATX|€85.00
4GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9|€17.63
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black|€35.04
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€12.09
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€22.99
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB, 16MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5")|€51.51
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€81.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€438.14


If the Trinity does appeal to you, hold off for a little bit, MSI are releasing mITX boards soon.

dwighet

Tij da feen wrote: »

Item|Price
Thermaltake Element Q, mini-ITX, 200W-Netzteil|€52.62
Intel Core i3-3220 Box, LGA1155|€111.23
ASRock B75M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€78.95
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€28.31
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Paper Box|€88.03
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€81.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€460.02

Something like this so?

If more space is needed then you'd be able to fit a Mechanical HDD in the bay and just blu-tac the SSD into the 5.25" bay so long as a DVD drive isn't needed. Or you could get an external and make use of the USB 3.0 ports on the mobo.

I like this build but Thinking to give the new amd cpu a go..
Do they do a mitx board to suit the element Q case?
128 gig memory is plenty for her...
I have windows sorted..the young lad is in college so will tap him:cool:

dwighet

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Be our Guinea pig.
Try out the new AMD Trinity chip for us!

Item|Price
AMD A10-5700 mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Tray, FM2|€113.00
ASUS F2A85-M LE, FM2, mATX|€85.00
4GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9|€17.63
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black|€35.04
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€12.09
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€22.99
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB, 16MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5")|€51.51
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€81.89
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€438.14


If the Trinity does appeal to you, hold off for a little bit, MSI are releasing mITX boards soon.

I like this also but the element q case takes my fancy...

Nokia08

Just an FYI Windows 7 is gone from software4students.ie they are unsure when it will be back into stock.

dwighet

Nokia08 wrote: »

Just an FYI Windows 7 is gone from software4students.ie they are unsure when it will be back into stock.

Oh right...Thanks for the heads up

Genghiz Cohen

dwighet wrote: »

I like this also but the element q case takes my fancy...

It's a lovely looking case but I have a hard time trusting bundled power supplies.
I'll have a look around for problems and such.

As I said MSI are releasing mITX FM2 boards soon, so if you can wait, the Q case and a Trinity CPU is a viable option.

EDIT: People with that case sometimes complain about the noise of the PSU and poor airflow, leading to high temps. Also that it's not a nice as the pictures make it out to be, which is a damn shame because it looks great.

marco_polo

A good bit dearer and would also require a seperate PSU purchase but the BitFenix Prodigy has gotten some really good reviews.

Style wise it is possibly a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it, but if I had the cash for a mITX build I think that is what it would be going in

dwighet

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

It's a lovely looking case but I have a hard time trusting bundled power supplies.
I'll have a look around for problems and such.

As I said MSI are releasing mITX FM2 boards soon, so if you can wait, the Q case and a Trinity CPU is a viable option.

EDIT: People with that case sometimes complain about the noise of the PSU and poor airflow, leading to high temps. Also that it's not a nice as the pictures make it out to be, which is a damn shame because it looks great.

I wont be ordering until the end of the month so will see how the mITX board goes...If its on the shelf when im ready i will go the amd route..if not the trusty i3 will be the finest..

Thanks for your help.

dwighet

marco_polo wrote: »

A good bit dearer and would also require a seperate PSU purchase but the BitFenix Prodigy has gotten some really good reviews.

Style wise it is possibly a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it, but if I had the cash for a mITX build I think that is what it would be going in

Thats nice also...

Bazzo

Nokia08 wrote: »

Just an FYI Windows 7 is gone from software4students.ie they are unsure when it will be back into stock.

According to the e-mail they sent me they won't be getting it back in stock full stop.

glynf

dwighet,

Give a look a the FT03 mini in silver, IMO the nicest SFF case I have seen by a long shot.

dwighet

glynf wrote: »

dwighet,

Give a look a the FT03 mini in silver, IMO the nicest SFF case I have seen by a long shot.

Very nice..
I gotta carefull...This is for the girlfriend...It could end up nicer than mine:(

glynf

Doubt it, unless you wedge a pair of 7970's into the FT03

did you get the second sorted?

dwighet

glynf wrote: »

Doubt it, unless you wedge a pair of 7970's into the FT03

did you get the second sorted?

No mate...Its toast..

Will get another once herself is kitted out..

glynf

Sry to hear

chickendinner

I will give it a go

dwighet

chickendinner wrote: »

I will give it a go

sry dude...Its gone to a better place

Andy!!

Why not just get her a mac mini? That **** gonna get you laaaaaaaid son! ;P

U_Fig

If you get the element q..the stock psu fan is like a helicopter you'll prob end up having to replace it..or have the neighbours complain about the tv volume level.. IMO I'd get a cooler master advanced 120.. It's a slight bit bigger but takes an ATX psu so more options for a quiet one..

I'm posting this after replacing the psu on my element q

dwighet

Andy!! wrote: »

Why not just get her a mac mini? That **** gonna get you laaaaaaaid son! ;P

Whats a Mac? Is it some sort of burger?

Its just a matter of pointing to the bed room and clicking my fingers:cool:

Genghiz Cohen

dwighet wrote: »

Its just a matter of pointing to the bed room and clicking my fingers:cool:

It's actually 1 finger simple!

dwighet

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

It's actually 1 finger simple!

nice one:D

pwurple

facebook,tv3 player,movies

Save yourself some dosh. Don't need a PC for that. iPad.

dwighet

pwurple wrote: »

Save yourself some dosh. Don't need a PC for that. iPad.

Shes not into gadgets..Nor am I..
But thanks for the suggestion.

imitation

I know its sacrilege to speak such things in the building forum, but what about a laptop ? you lose out on performance, but they seem to work out a bit cheaper and you can always blame the laptop maker, where as if you build it the blame lies at your door ! Also it can be carted around the house which can be handy.

I like the look of some of the AMD llano ones for cheap machines that aren't completely crippled

Andy!!

Don't knock it till you tried it, I am mainly a windows user, but my mac air is great for the stuff your gf needs it for. A mac mini would do just as good a job.

dwighet

imitation wrote: »

I know its sacrilege to speak such things in the building forum, but what about a laptop ? you lose out on performance, but they seem to work out a bit cheaper and you can always blame the laptop maker, where as if you build it the blame lies at your door ! Also it can be carted around the house which can be handy.

I like the look of some of the AMD llano ones for cheap machines that aren't completely crippled

I had a good serious think of getting her a laptop..
But The monitors are to small and it gets too messy once the speaker cables and hdmi cable for the big screen and so on are connected for the friday night piss up and you tube sing song..

In all fairness I was very close to getting one.

pwurple

dwighet wrote: »

Shes not into gadgets..Nor am I..
But thanks for the suggestion.

My mistake, I thought you sounded like you were building a big gadget.

Fluffy88

The budget for this build is in around the €500 mark if I'm not mistaken.
The iPad 3 cost €600 so you'd have to buy an old one to get it within budget and there isn't a hope in hell you could get any other Apple products that fit within the budget so I don't think dwighet will be forking out for an Mac mini or what ever they are called.

I won't go Mac bashing but why bother suggest a Mac when it's not within budget?

Monotype

I'd echo what a few of the others said above, get a decent power supply anyway. I think the Celeron G540 would be plenty of processing power. It's actually deceptively powerful for its celeron name and great value.

Of course, the Trinity APU would be even better when the release the ITX boards.

marco_polo

Could we even get forego the Windows tax here and throw on a installation of Mint?, might be a possibility if this is just or web, movies, music (and of course no windows only software is required).

You could always go back to get windows later on if she absolutely hates it.

Genghiz Cohen

marco_polo wrote: »

Could we even get forego the Windows tax here and throw on a installation of Mint?, might be a possibility if this is just or web, movies, music (and of course no windows only software is required).

You could always go back to get windows later on if she absolutely hates it.

That's a great idea, no idea what Mint is but I stuck my dad on Ubuntu 11.11 and he had no problems.
(Well except Google Earth not playing nice with his 11" screen)

Monotype

Mint is much nicer than fugly-buntu.

marco_polo

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

That's a great idea, no idea what Mint is but I stuck my dad on Ubuntu 11.11 and he had no problems.
(Well except Google Earth not playing nice with his 11" screen)

They are fairly similar, Mint is basically an Ubuntu spin off but probably even more newbie friendly than Ubuntu as it come with a load of proprietary codecs pre-installed (DVDs, flash etc), and is just better looking all round.

Genghiz Cohen

Built around the Celeron G540. No Windows as Mint looks like a winner.


Item|Price
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€12.09
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€22.99
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB, 16MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5")|€51.51
Intel Celeron G540 Box, LGA1155|€38.49
Gigabyte GA-H61N-D2V, Intel H61, ITX|€48.79
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€14.46
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced, Mini-ITX, ohne Netzteil|€43.57
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€250.89

For an extra tenner you could get the Element Q and maybe swap out the PSU for the SuperFlower, if it's the same size.

dwighet

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Built around the Celeron G540. No Windows as Mint looks like a winner.


Item|Price
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€12.09
Super-Flower SF400Atlas 12CM 400W|€22.99
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB, 16MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5")|€51.51
Intel Celeron G540 Box, LGA1155|€38.49
Gigabyte GA-H61N-D2V, Intel H61, ITX|€48.79
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€14.46
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced, Mini-ITX, ohne Netzteil|€43.57
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€250.89

For an extra tenner you could get the Element Q and maybe swap out the PSU for the SuperFlower, if it's the same size.

Thats a tidyset up...I could even throw in a copy of windows and still be well under budget...

Nice one..I going to take a good look at that.

Monotype

Ah no, don't get that crappy PSU. The hard drive is also an old series. Their "D" series is much faster.

Genghiz Cohen

Monotype wrote: »

Ah no, don't get that crappy PSU. The hard drive is also an old series. Their "D" series is much faster.

Y'all gonna have to recommend a PSU, I saw SuperFlower and thought they were a good brand.

Better HDD? Toshiba DT01ACA Series 500GB, SATA 6Gb/s I know the Sata6 doesn't mean anything to a HDD but that means it's probably newer than the SATA3.

Monotype

"SATA 3" = SATA 6Gbps.

Superflower make good PSUs =/> All Superflower PSUs are good.

The amazon is a good one around the 40ish mark, when it is in stock.

To be honest, I haven't been monitoring Toshiba's progress in the HDD market but I know the new WD Blue is good:
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/7200+RPM/39670/WD+Caviar+Blue+500GB+SATA+3+6Gb+s.article

Actually, it's the same price as their mobile 500GB if you were to buy a very small case.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/7200+RPM/39670/WD+Caviar+Blue+500GB+SATA+3+6Gb+s.article

U_Fig

Be quiet do some good low watt psu's

I build a htpc a few weeks ago..

G540
Asrock b75 itx
Element q
SSD
4GB ram

Had to replace the psu element q psu was way to loud.. Got a be quiet.. I know it's SFX but It comes in ATX too do you could use that one with the cooler master advanced 120

dwighet

Well lads after sitting here at my gaff with Herself and 3-4 jamison and cokes in us:D I let the cat out of the bag and told her I was going to build a pc for her...

So I showed her a list of the cases that I thought were appropriate and her being her picked out the most expensive one..This bad boy and I think it is a good choice..

Thanks to Glynf for the recommendation:cool:

Now because of the price of the case im going to go for the celerion cpu(thanks monotype). so what I need now is a decent board to suit with decent audio and hdmi as well. and a good psu as well..

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..
Cheers lads.. your a good bunch:cool:

Monotype

You could go with the BeQuiet SFX PSU:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-be-quiet-bn133-sfx-micro-atx-psu-with-80mm-quiet-fan-80plus-green

I have the 350W version, I think, and it's quiet but it does seem to suck up a good few watts when the system is supposed to be off... I really need to check this out. It could be the motherboard as I'm suspecting that it's a bit wonky.
Alternatively, you could go with Silverstone all the way and they have two great looking ones on scan, but unfortunately, they're £30 and £40 extra, so you probably wouldn't be bothered with that kind of extra costs.

Judging by the pictures of that case on the silverstone website, you could fit a good sized CPU cooler in there and have a pretty quiet system.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=333

dwighet

Monotype wrote: »

You could go with the BeQuiet SFX PSU:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-be-quiet-bn133-sfx-micro-atx-psu-with-80mm-quiet-fan-80plus-green

I have the 350W version, I think, and it's quiet but it does seem to suck up a good few watts when the system is supposed to be off... I really need to check this out. It could be the motherboard as I'm suspecting that it's a bit wonky.
Alternatively, you could go with Silverstone all the way and they have two great looking ones on scan, but unfortunately, they're £30 and £40 extra, so you probably wouldn't be bothered with that kind of extra costs.

Judging by the pictures of that case on the silverstone website, you could fit a good sized CPU cooler in there and have a pretty quiet system.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=333

I notice with that case that there is a good bit of room for a half decent cooler...will have to have a look around to see whats available for that socket.

Im leaning towards the be quiet psu... should be fine.

U_Fig

for the mobo i'd went for ASRock B75M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX cheap has USB 3 and SATA 3...so if you were to get an SSD it wouldn't be bottle-necked...though it only had one SATA 3 port, but any HDD will not see any benefit from being on SATA 3 as opposed to SATA 2