My New "Little" Rig (components Listed) - Any Advice?

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Here's my latest desktop build idea.

Current Computer:
I built it in early 2008 with Wolfdale 3Ghz processor (1156), having two 500Gb hard disks, an ATI Radion 512Mb graphics card and a couple of DVD drives. The tower is an Antec P182 - a huge beast, which I simply don't need.
I run at a resolution of , it's rare a game would run higher than this.



New Computer Use:
I don't play too many games these days and the ones I do play are pretty old so don't require too much processing power.

I don't re-encode videos generally, although I have converted them in the past to different formats. Last time I did that was well over a year ago. The most I do is use mkvtoolnix to delete audio tracks from MKVs.

I have no plans to overclock, hence downsizing to a shuttle PC rather than the huge tower I have now.



Budget:
Around ?800 / $1200.



New Build:

Which will be running Windows 7.

Case / Mobo - Shuttle SZ68R5 (?260)
I haven't upgraded my current PC, nor do I overclock so I'd rather go for something smaller than the huge P182 as it does tend to get in the way.

Processor - Intel i5 3570 (3.4Ghz) (?163)
I've opted for a 1155 socket/processor as I've read the gains of the latest 1150 aren't that much more. Plus, it'll be cheaper and means I can order the parts right away rather than waiting for a 1150 case/mobo to be available.

Cooling - Asetek 545LC 92mm Liquid (~?81 - import charges not known)
I've always used stock coolers as they are fine for my needs, however this has been recommended to me. However the end cost would be about as I doubt they would mark it as a gift. The company also said "[we've] seen people use the 545LC in Shuttle PCs, but can't guarantee its compatibility". I guess I would be okay adding this to a UK computer?
I'd be a bit afraid in case it busts water all over my system.

Ram - Corsair 8Gb 1333Mhz (?64)
I have opted for a case which takes 1333Mhz ram rather than one that would take 1600Mhz. If I wanted the latter, the case/mobo that supports that ram would then be an extra ?47 - would this be worth it?  If so, some 1600Mhz ram is slightly cheaper.

I potentially have some spare Kingston 1333Mhz 4Gb ram so I could just recycle that or would it be better to get 8Gb of new? On a side note to this, I did try going from 4Gb to 8Gb and noticed no difference at all so ended up getting a refund on it.

Hard Disks - Samsung 840 (120Gb) and Samsung 840 (250Gb) (~?300)
There's no particular reason why I've chosen two, but I plan on putting Windows and documents on one, games and programs on the other.
Is it better to have two or should I just get a single bigger SSD?

Storage Bay Adaptor - Kingston Storage Bay Adaptor (?5)
So I can fit two 2.5" SSD's into one of the 3.5" slots in the PC. If I got one big SSD then I wouldn't need this.
The official adaptor has dropped price to just ?8, but if I can save a few quid here and there I'll be happier.




Graphics cards:

I chose these as my forerunners. Still not sure if I'd really need one or not so I may add it later but I don't mind spending the ~?40 to take a bit of pressure from the processor.

Asus nVidia GeForce GT620 (?39)

EVGA nVidia GeForce 620 (?46)

As I said before, I currently have an ATI Radion 512Mb card which runs everything I have needed it to with ease so anything above that would be an upgrade anyway.
But am I just burning money that I don't actually need to?


The questions are:

1) Is 1600Mhz ram really worth the extra ?56 (taking into account the lower cost of the 1600 ram, but higher cost of the case)?

2) Is it six of one and half a dozen of the other on whether I include a graphics card?

3) Two smaller or one larger SSD?


What do you think?

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

1) If you are not overclocking, 1600 does not do anything for you. Get 1333.

 

2) Unsure

 

3) I'd get one bigger, myself.

[jakem1]

Have you considered an SSD for your OS and applications and a HDD for your data?  It might work out cheaper and you'd still see the performance benefits of the SSD.  If you're not interested in that though I would just go with a single 500GB Samsung 840 and partition it as necessary.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Sorry, I forgot to put I'll be adding one of the 500GB drives from my current computer to the new build.  So I'd have:

 

128GB SSD - OS and Documents

250GB SSD - Games / Programs

500GB HDD - Storage to Archive

 

Possibly some programs will go on the 500GB HDD, but I may get the 250GB SSD only and do as you say, stick all the programs on that, use a 500GB HDD for "My Documents" and possibly one or two large programs.

 

Then again, as suggested I could get one large SSD (500GB).

 

Would games run better on the SSD or would I be fine to put them on the hard drive too?  If the latter, then I could save again as I'd get the 250GB SSD only and be done with it.

 

Also noticed the two hard drives listed above would be about ?200, not ?300 :P

[the evn show]

Removed

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Man, that's a great post.

 

I will have to work out how much I am actually using across the two 500GB disks I have now.  I guess there is no reason to separate anything, although it does mean I can find program folders a lot easier rather than having them mixed in the OS folder.  However I can still create partitions and have it split that way but on the same physical SSD, which would probably be the 500GB, plus I bet there are some games I could get rid of as I simply don't play them any more.

 

I could be fine with just the 250GB drive though as the main bulk of the programs are temporary files which when finished downloading are moved anyway, so I could stick this on the old HDD, which would mean I don't need the whole 500GB.  Hmm.

 

As for the ram, I guess as it won't really speed anything up, I could recycle the old 4GB and see how that goes, same with a graphics card.  If things are a bit slow or whatever I can always pick one up at a later date.

 

Means the build will be down from ?820 odd to about ?740 (Y).

[Sir Topham Hatt]

I'm taking the plunge and getting the stuff today.

 

Turns out my usage of space is currently:

 

54/75 GB - OS

66/195 GB - My Docs / Photos / Music

111/195 GB - Games (of which 12GB is just storage of other things leaving 72GB in games I want)

140/195 GB - Programs (of which 113GB is temporary downloads, leaving 27GB of actual programs)

42/117 GB - Temporary storage (of photos to sort and other things)

60/153 GB - Stuff waiting to be archived or transferred.

 

So with a big of jigging about, I might be fine with just the 250GB SSD as I could put the last two and temporary downloads on the hard disk leaving everything else on the SSD.

Although knowing my fickle snobbish ways, I will probably end up clicking for the 500GB SSD anyway and not eating out this month.

 

Will also still have the OS on one partition, games on another, programs on another as it's so much easier to navigate to what I want - I rarely touch the OS folder these days!

[Kami-]

<snip>

Cooling - Asetek 545LC 92mm Liquid (~?81 - import charges not known)

<snip>

The questions are:

1) Is 1600Mhz ram really worth the extra ?56 (taking into account the lower cost of the 1600 ram, but higher cost of the case)?

2) Is it six of one and half a dozen of the other on whether I include a graphics card?

3) Two smaller or one larger SSD?

What do you think?

Firstly, I wouldn't order that liquid closed loop cooler from the USA, if you're in the UK - the customs fees are ridiculous then they throw on VAT - you can buy one in the UK for less.

 

1) Overclocking? If no then don't bother

2) Pretty much what evn show said (only I didn't put in the research time he did into specs)

3) Id usually go for the larger ones as they offer better performance

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Hmm.

Well I've had a look around on a few UK sites but didn't see any 92mm closed loop coolers so I may not have much choice :/

 

It always ends me back at their eBay page.  Unless one of the American people here would like to make a few bucks?

[tsupersonic]

I thought Wolfdale was based on socket 775 and not 1156.

 

In any case:

1) Like others have said, it will really make no difference in real world performance between 1333 or 1600. Buy whatever is cheaper.

2) Best to just not buy one initially. See if your games and needs are fine with the integrated GPU. If it's lacking, then upgrade to a dedicated graphics card.

3) Larger SSD but not too large. I'd go with a 128 or 256 GB, and put everything else on the HDD.