Silent gaming/photo editing PC (mATX) under €800

lietus

Honorable
Feb 5, 2014
6
0
10,510
Hi,

I'm building new desktop after long time with laptop and was reserching for a while now.
Requirements for this build:

  • ■ Silent.
    ■ Overclocking is not priority
    ■ Preferably smallish (mATX) case (will sit on desk)
    ■ Would well play modern games
    ■ Have rather good performance for lag-free photo editing (Lightroom/Photoshop)
    ■ USB3 for external HDDs
    ■ PC would be connected to nearby monitor and TV in other room
Country: Lithuania (Europe)
This what I came up with:

PC ~€800 + Monitor ~€170. Would like to shave price a bit if possible.
Note - this would be ~700$ for PC in USA prices

CPU: i5-4440 (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz) €167
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC, 2GB DDR5 (256 Bit) €228
MB: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H, B85, DualDDR3-1600, SATA3, HDMI, GBLAN, mATX €62
RAM: DDR3 Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9 1.5V (low profile for possible aftermarket cpu cooler) €76
SSD: SSD Samsung 840 Evo Basic 120GB SATA3, 540/410MBs €82
HDD: WD Blue 3.5'' 1TB SATA3 7200RPM 64MB €52
PSU: Seasonic M12II-620 620W 80 Plus Bronze (modular) €81
CASE: Cooler Master Silencio 352 Black €48

MONITOR: AOC D2367PH 23" (3D, integrated speakers as backup sound source) €170


This would later be upgraded to 16GB/32GB RAM if needed and with faster i7 CPU after year or two.
I'd liked to have AMD CPU, however, AM3+ mATX boards that are accessable for me are rather crap.

Does this setup make sense, is there room for improvement price-wise?
Thanks!





 
Solution
Are default CPU coolers very noisy compared to aftermarket one when not overclocking? Or could this be later upgrade?

Sure you can upgrade cpu cooler later.

Strange that ZotaC GeForce GTX 760 is more expensive than GigaByte locally. Does ZotaC 760 have any advantages over GigaByte 760?
Zotac do have 2+3 year warranty.

I also see that Intel Xeon E3-1230v3 is similar in performance to 4440, but has more threads, is that main advantage?

Xeon 1230V3 is same cpu as the 4770 but no iGPU and it do have HT + 8 treads. So it is like i7 for a price i5
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+v3+%40+3.30GHz

Where are you ordering parts?

You can save on mobo. Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H is cheap option with...
If you plan upgtade in a year or two nuy now xeon 1230V2 and then you do not need upgrade cpu.

Rosewill cappstone is better psu. 550w is enough.

So I think better build is something like this.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.30 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($122.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($152.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card ($265.66 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1013.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-05 04:40 EST-0500)

And Id look silverstone case. Fractal ARC is awesome mATX case.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcaarcminir2blw

Here is couple good cpu coolers to make your build more silent.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermalright-cpu-cooler-macho120
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/phanteks-cpu-cooler-phtc12dxbk
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu12s

 
Unfortunately I live in Europe so AxlFone build would cost way more than my budget. Low prices and international shipping at Newegg or SuperBiiz are not available for me...

For referance, suggested PC build alone would cost about 1500$ from local e-shop.. So I guess I'm looking at 700$ PC build by USA prices
 
That is really over my budget (cart shows 900€ without case and shipping for me).
Ideally I would want to go about 700€ if possible, but 800€ is really top for me.

Are default CPU coolers very noisy compared to aftermarket one when not overclocking? Or could this be later upgrade?
Strange that ZotaC GeForce GTX 760 is more expensive than GigaByte locally. Does ZotaC 760 have any advantages over GigaByte 760?
I also see that Intel Xeon E3-1230v3 is similar in performance to 4440, but has more threads, is that main advantage?
 
Are default CPU coolers very noisy compared to aftermarket one when not overclocking? Or could this be later upgrade?

Sure you can upgrade cpu cooler later.

Strange that ZotaC GeForce GTX 760 is more expensive than GigaByte locally. Does ZotaC 760 have any advantages over GigaByte 760?
Zotac do have 2+3 year warranty.

I also see that Intel Xeon E3-1230v3 is similar in performance to 4440, but has more threads, is that main advantage?

Xeon 1230V3 is same cpu as the 4770 but no iGPU and it do have HT + 8 treads. So it is like i7 for a price i5
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+v3+%40+3.30GHz

Where are you ordering parts?

You can save on mobo. Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H is cheap option with non OC use.
 
Solution
http://www.skytech.lt/ ussually have pretty good deals here. I dont know if its worth the hassle of ordering parts ouside LT (shipping, warranty, time), never done for such big order though.

I also figured Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H would be best option.
Xeon 1230V3 seems pretty good, its only 20€ more expensive in skytech. Though its then overbudget, but maybe worth in a long run..
 
So I think I'll go with this (changed CPU to XEON if it will be available):

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 OC 2GB DDR5 (256 Bit), HDMI, DP, DVI, BOX
https://www.skytech.lt/gvn760oc2gd-gigabyte-geforce-gtx-760-2gb-ddr5-256-bit-hdmi-dvi-box-p-153419.html
788.00Lt

Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA3 Evo Basic, 540/410MBs, 7mm
https://www.skytech.lt/mz7te120bw-ssd-samsung-840-evo-basic-120gb-sata3-540410mbs-7mm-p-156750.html
284.00Lt

PC casing without PSU Cooler Master Silencio 352 Black
https://www.skytech.lt/sil352mkkn1-korpusas-psu-cooler-master-silencio-352-juodas-p-155917.html
166.00Lt

The inner disk WD Blue 1TB 3.5'' SATA3 7200RPM 64MB
https://www.skytech.lt/wd10ezex-vidinis-diskas-blue-1tb-sata3-7200rpm-64mb-p-125133.html
182.00Lt

DDR3 Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9 1.5V
http://www.skytech.lt/bls2cp4g3d1609ds1s00ceu-ddr3-crucial-ballistix-8gb-2x4gb-1600mhz-cl9-15v-p-108585.html
256.00Lt

Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H, B85, DualDDR3-1600, SATA3, HDMI, GBLAN, ATX
https://www.skytech.lt/gab85md3h-gigabyte-gab85md3h-b85-dualddr31600-sata3-hdmi-gblan-matx-p-150273.html
215.00Lt

PSU Seasonic M12II-620 620W 80 Plus Bronze retail
https://www.skytech.lt/m12ii620-psu-seasonic-m12ii620-620w-plus-bronze-retail-p-71701.html
280.00Lt

Intel Xeon E3-1230V3 3.3 GHz 8MB Cache LGA1150 Boxed
https://www.skytech.lt/bx80646e31230v3-intel-xeon-e31230v3-33ghz-lga1150-8mb-cache-boxed-p-150540.html
778.00Lt


PC Total 2,961 LTL = 857 EUR (LTL rate is fixed at 3.45:1 EUR)

+ Monitor

D2367PH AOC 23 "LED monitor Wide/16: 9/1920: 1080/250cd/m2/5ms/H-178, V-178/50M: 1/VGA, HDMI, Vesa / D-Sub, Tilt / Speakers / Black Silver
https://www.skytech.lt/d2367ph-aoc-d2367ph-led-monitor-wide16919201080250cdm25msh178v17850m1vga-hdmi-ve-p-143712.html
590.00Lt

Grand Total 3550 LTL = 1028 EUR

Would this build perform well?:)