Hello All, I have not self-built before. I'll be honest, I was tempted to buy another pre-built unit such as the newer Acer Revo or even an early Intel Mac Mini, but if I was to go for the former, there are no used units around ATM, so depreciation would be a disincentive. Budget: I'm now contemplating whether I would be able to source a used mITX board, case and components quiet cheaply and assemble them into a system of comparable quality. Although, a budget is not set in stone, an objective of mine is therefore to minimise depreciation, rather than buying the latest tech, which would increase exposure to this. Main uses of intended build: 24/7 PVR Parts required: Initially looking to source the case, but I'm keen to establish at this stage whether the above can be made to run cool and quietly in any generic Taiwanese case, or whether the right case is in fact crucial to this. Previous build information (list details of parts): N/A as no donor parts/building from scratch. Monitor resolution: <720p Interfaces will ideally be useable on a TFT television via VGA or HDMI. 'HD Ready', though media will most probably be SD due to network constraints, etc. Storage requirements: Sufficient for a good few hours SD video. Will you be overclocking: no Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers): mITX I understand my interest is at an earlier stage than most; but would appreciate the benefit of your experience. Many thanks for any thoughts.
Hi Stuart and welcome to the forum. Let me start off with a few questions! What is your storage requirement? how many HDDs or how many GB of data? What sort of case are you looking for and how much you want to spend on a case? Size of the case?
If you are really wanting 0db, then SSD is your only choice. I also spotted this case on overclockers recently: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-001-IM There are a few heatpipe cooler cases like it. Personally, I would aim for a sandy bridge CPU like the G540, as they will run passively quite happily and any H61 board that you like the look of.
Fact. Just remember that passively cooled stuff is a) more expensive, in general, than fan cooled, and b) requires adequate ventilation or passing air to vent the heat from the (usually) large heatsinks.
been thinking about this some more and about the only part of any self build pc that won't depreciate so much is the case if you ask me. Pick a good quality case that you love the look of and you will be able to just swap the parts inside without having to buy new - when it comes time to update. There's no dodging the tech parts going out of date or depreciating in value unfortunately.
Very true. I have a Silverstone LC17 that I have had for about 6 years now, I hate to think how many systems (and £) have been swapped inside it.
0db is impossible 27 is the limit of human hearing Case is critical to a low noise machine, sound proofing helps alot as does near silent fans. All of this can be built for a cost. Just depends if your willing to pay it. Corsair h60i on low is silent but costs £70 2 decent silent fans is another £30 Decent size ssd is another £100 That's a small list. You need to search reviews for a quality low noise case buying cheap generic rubbish won't help. You also need a silent psu and there's only really 1 manufacture for mitx ( pico psu) which adds more cash to a ever expanding budget in the quest of silience. Personally I just brought second hand Mac mini its silent enough and easy to hide. Plus its a hell of alot cheaper than DIY is at this level. ( once I added in pvr card + ssd I'd spent just under £250) had windows copy's spare already. The DIY build I looked at would of cost close to £500.
Many thanks for all your interest and support. Storage Requirements: I can only estimate, but if I understand correctly, 320gb is required for around 150 hrs of SD video and assume that my network will only carry one SD stream and I transfer recordings to NAS/burn to DVD every 24hrs, I would estimate 24gb. I would double that if I found the network could carry two streams, or wished to transfer recordings less regularly. Either, way I understand I would need to add up to 16gb for the O/S, plus space for drivers and updates. Ideally the case would be mounted on the rear of either my television or my monitor, so mITX. The first thing I am looking to do is establish what level of case would support this build without overheating or generating substantial noise. Tarka Dahl: Good to know about the passive Sandy bridge CPU's. I will certainly consider a SSD as my storage requirements should be within those realms. I have had some noisy HDD's in the past, although i was under the impression some were quieter nowadays, eg. in laptops. Jing-sea: Regarding ventilation. Would mounting the build on a bracket behind a television/monitor have an adverse effect on this? Halfinched: Thank you for your thoughts. I wonder if my choice of mITX would limit that upgrade potential somewhat. That said, i'm inclined to think the same, as the scarcity of such cases on the used market would make them more useful to others, as would fewer developments in technology vs. the tech parts. Rollo: You have certainly answered my initial question. Thankfully I didn't snap up a cheapo case prior to reading. Sounds as though I should revise my brief to 27db! Encouraged by your success with the Mac Mini. I didn't foresee this as being my ultimate rig, just a solid "investment" with some residual value as and when my needs change. For comparison purposes can Windows be said to run "native" on an intel-based Mac?
Ok as already suggested you should get an SSD. Samsung 830 128/256gb (while it is in stock) will do nicely with plenty of space for your needs. Case: A few examples for mini itx http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-001-IM&groupid=2362&catid=2279&subcat= http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-528-LL&groupid=2362&catid=2279&subcat= http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-015-SR&groupid=2362&catid=2279&subcat= As Rollo has said that if you want to cool everything passively then it will add to the cost. If you want to mount it behind the TV then I think it will add to the temps. I will recommend to get a lowprofile large heatsink with a 120mm fan for the CPU. The build will be wisper quiet. Also you can go with mac mini as Rollo advised and install Windows on it (you might run into some driver problem but Rollo can shed some light on this as he has some experience?)
There is drivers out for support for the mini in windows. As a media machine it works flawlessly for me.
Thanks for adding the additional links. I must admit cooling is the area I find most daunting and perplexing in terms of building a PC. I shall endeavor to read around the subject. Is there one pr-eminent resource for system build info? I would like to understand: Passive cooling vs. fan cooling, (are these mutually exclusive?), How to calculate the cooling requirements of a given spec, Damage limitation, (does the system builder need to configure thermal sensors?) Just to tie up a few loose ends for now: Tarka Dahl, do I understand correctly that passive cooling = heat-sink + heat pipes only in the context of the Sandy Bridge CPU? Rollo, I apologise if this has been mentioned on a different thread, but I wonder what aspect of your original spec. was to necessitate water cooling, (Corsair h60i), and fans, (as well as a heat-pipe case?); or whether this is a requisite for prolonged daily use, (eg. PVR).
