oh no not another build advice thread

indough

I thought I should probably get some alternative views on the new build, I didn't use the other system for build advice as I already have a fair idea about most of the parts I plan on going for. I'll probably be ordering end of January/beginning February

What I have:
Shuttle SX79R5 Board
Dell U2713HM

What I plan on adding:
Bitfenix Prodigy Black
Seasonic Platinum Series Fanless 520W
Intel 3930K
Corsair Hydro Series H100i (Top Intake)
32GB-Kit Patriot Viper3 Intel Extreme Masters, 1600MHZ, CL 9-9-9-24
256GB Crucial M4 mSATA
WD Caviar Black 4TB SATA 6Gb/s (possibly x2 eventually but not for now)
BitFenix Spectre PRO 230mm Black (Front Intake)
Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition (Rear Exhaust)

Now the areas I need a bit of advice on are these:
i) Is it a mistake to go mSATA for the boot drive? I'm doing it mainly to use up as little space as possible
ii) Do I have a good air intake/outake configuration, and are they decent enough fans? (i won't go with noctua for aesthetic reasons)
iii) Does anyone know of a decent enough cheap gpu to tide me by until the 700 series is released?* Something that will drive the monitor at its full res for mostly desktop and some older games
iv) Could I get a better/cheaper psu that would do the job? I will probably be going for near the top level of 700 series when it's released so I need something that will be future-proof for that. I was looking at the new, modular CX series but I find it hard to put faith into a PSU so low in price, although they would fit the case with no problems, so that's a plus
v) Is the RAM any good and does it even make a difference between brands?
vi) whether or not there are any compatibility problems

As always, thanks in advance for any help and suggestions and apologies for any mistakes in my post



*need nvidia for cuda

Lu Tze

I think EVGA you can get an nvidia graphics card now and trade it in against the new 700 series. i may be wrong but i think it was Serephucus who got one, so if he doesnt post in here might be worth dropping a pm

Serephucus

I hate your guts? :P

Everything looks pretty good to be honest. You'll end up with a slight positive pressure inside the case which is great (especially with how small and possibly cluttered it will get) for reducing dust build up.

I'm not sure how a fanless PSU would work in the Prodigy, what with the main ventilation for the unit being blocked by the motherboard (where it would otherwise have plenty of room to rise and eventually exhaust in an mATX/ATX case) I'm not saying don't get it - If I could, I would - I'm just not sure what the temperatures would be like, or if it would even make a difference.

About the GPU, I don't know what your budget is, but maybe something like this 9800 GT?

Tea_Bag

typed up a huge detailed reply and it just vanished when i pressed AltGr + 4. FFS!

ok summary from what i remember:

mSata is SATA2. waste of primary SSD imo.

replace H100 stock fans. i suggest gentle typhoons, maybe 1450rpm. also use as exhaust instead of intake.

forget AF140 and spekter pro's. go with GT 1150rpm front and back. youre literally just cooling the mobo and ram. theyre built for 100C+, so as long as you have a slight hint of air flow, they wont break 50C.

make sure someone else has your PSU in a prodigy. its the only way to guarantee compatibility. nothing longer than 160mm will work, and modular makes it even more complicated.

also, i hate you. its nothing personal.

indough

haha thanks for the replies.

is msata definitely limited to sata 2 speeds? i wasnt sure but the manual for the board states:

'SX79R5 features two Mini PCI Express expansion slots:
1) half size, supports PCIe 2.0 and USB 2.0, e.g. for WLAN cards
2) full size, supports PCIe 2.0, SATA 3G and USB 2.0
e.g. for Mini SATA (mSATA) flash memory cards (see 5)'

also on the crucial site the msata drive is titled '256GB Crucial m4 mSATA 6Gb/s SSD'

they seem to use different terminology which is where the confusion begins for me

i had the same reservations about the psu as above, namely what will fit, and will a fanless model just have the hot air rising right up under the board. does the prodigy have the fan grill at the bottom to exhaust straight out of? i dont really know much about psu so i tend to stick with brand loyalty but i wouldnt mind going with a superflower if they make a decent, small model

re: the gpu i wanted to spend under 100 maybe as its just a stopgap really, checking adverts was a good idea

i'll have a look at those fans tonight

thanks again for everyones help

indough

just looked up those fans and i think im sold on them

Serephucus

mPCI-E is not the same thing as mSATA! Be careful with that. Physically they're the same, but electric ally they're different. Looks like the second one there is a combo port so you should be fine.

Note though that the specs say SATA 3G, meaning SATA 3.0Gb/s, meaning SATA 2.

indough

ah nice one, i was confusing sata 3g with sata III, i reckon ill just throw in one of the samsung 2.5" drives in that case