New small mATX/mini-ITX tower/desktop.

[Valis]

1. Either with full height PCI/PCI-E slot/slots, or low profile. 5.5 inch / 3.8 inch LP
2. Very little power consumption (PSU ca under 160-220w)
3. Very very quiet, SSD, fanless GFX (if included), maybe mobile CPU.

Thinking AMD Llano/Trinity, Intel i3/i5. Maybe a Radeon HD 66xx or 76xx. (optional)

Any ideas? I'm considering:

http://www.in-win.com.tw/products_pccase_series.php?cat_id=1&series_id=44

or

http://www.in-win.com.tw/products_pccase_series.php?cat_id=1&series_id=42

Can't be too bulky.

If Trinity is 65 - 100W, 180w PSU will be enough, but has to be silent stuff.

 

[Zap]

What do you need the slot for? If it is just for graphics and you say graphics is "optional" then don't bother with it. What would you need graphics for? Ivy Bridge supports triple monitors (motherboard willing) and has enough performance for anything short of gaming - heck it can even play less demanding games such as WoW, LoL, D3, SC2 as long as you aren't running super high resolution and are willing to run on low/medium settings.

If you don't need the graphics, then you've just reduced your power requirements, reduced noise levels and reduced heat output.

Mobile CPUs are tough to get for desktop use. Mostly you will find "industrial" ITX motherboards at a high cost. It is mostly a moot issue these days as CPU manufacturers are now selling "low wattage" CPUs that fit in normal desktop sockets.

The In-Win PSUs are not going to be very quiet.

Any need for an optical drive?

Here's one possible configuration:

Antec ISK 110 VESA case with 110W power supply (enough for anything that can physically fit in case, uses included power brick so entire system fanless except for CPU fan)
ASRock Z77E-ITX motherboard (latest chipset)
desktop RAM of choice (I would recommend something 1.5v or less, with LOW PROFILE heatspreaders/sinks or none at all, DDR3-1333 or 1600)
SSD of choice (nice SATA 6G model, largest capacity you can afford)
low wattage CPU of choice
65W quad core Ivy Bridge
65W quad core Sandy Bridge
35W dual core Sandy Bridge

Unless it turns out too noisy (try it first!) use the stock cooler and set the BIOS fan profile to the most quiet.

 

[greenhawk]

knowing the task will help greatly.

Two starting contenters in the quiet setup.

http://www.asus.com.au/Motherboards/AMD_CPU_on_Board/E35M1I_DELUXE/

and

http://www.asus.com.au/Motherboards/AMD_CPU_on_Board/E45M1M_PRO/

both fanless, AMD, integrated graphics, CPU on board units. One is mITX and the other is mATX.

just need a case to suit if going small / quiet. With a SSD the only fan can be the one in the power supply (and some models I have noticed have the fan disabled under light load (500W units, power draw under about 100W / 20 degree c temp has the fan off). Can not remember the one currently, but then a 500W unit to power sub 100W loads seems overkill to be basically fanless). True fanless power suppliers are around but cost a lot.

 

[sunilx]

If you don't need "True USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s" (who *really* does?) then

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131732

is both tiny and affordable alternative to the Deluxe version.

 

[Valis]

Ok, just a quick update then. No gaming, at least not now. Mostly web, e-mails, youtube, streamed vids and TV. Just normal stuff. The slot is for possible GPU-upgrades, can't hurt right?

Optical drive? Umm, not really. USB would fix that.

 

[thedarkwolf]

If you don't need "True USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s" (who *really* does?) then

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131732

is both tiny and affordable alternative to the Deluxe version.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131697
Only $100 after rebate and has the extras. I'm tempted to pick one of these up if only they silverlight/netflix would get their hardware acceleration working right. I could replace an xbox and a ps3.

 

[Zap]

Ok, just a quick update then. No gaming, at least not now. Mostly web, e-mails, youtube, streamed vids and TV. Just normal stuff. The slot is for possible GPU-upgrades, can't hurt right?

Optical drive? Umm, not really. USB would fix that.

The cases that have an expansion slot also usually have optical drive bays. I'd say just forget about the expansion slot. Nothing you mentioned benefits enough from a GPU.

If you want to save money, go lower end on the motherboard. I would not go as low as Brazos (AMD E-350/E-450) as people have had problems with video acceleration support.

Antec ISK 110 VESA $66+shipping
(compact, quiet, more than sufficient PSU, holds 2x2.5" drives)
H67 chipset ITX mobo $85+shipping
(USB 3.0, SATA 6G)
Intel Pentium G620 $70
(fast enough for everything you need, cheap, lower "real world" wattage than advertised)
8GB DDR3-1333 1.35v $45
120GB SATA 6G SSD $103

 

[Valis]

The cases that have an expansion slot also usually have optical drive bays. I'd say just forget about the expansion slot. Nothing you mentioned benefits enough from a GPU.

If you want to save money, go lower end on the motherboard. I would not go as low as Brazos (AMD E-350/E-450) as people have had problems with video acceleration support.

Right! E-450 or similar in 1.6 - 1.67 Ghz dual core is more for sub 12 inch notebooks etc. This computer is going to be housed in a chassi just so it can have a little more power. Want some for future expansion and demands too. So IMO Intel IB/SB i3/i5 with the lowest TDP or AMD Llano/Trinity is the way to go. If I go i3/i5 I was kinda hoping it would have the possibility to add a PCI-E card.

This computer is main for my dad, as he use a PIII-1000Mhz 512MB RAM Win XP machine today.

Zap: That G620/H67 ITX combo seems like a reasonable choice, I'll make a note of it. Thanks! There is also a G620/G630T with only 35W TDP vs the 65W TDP on the G260.

 

[Seraphimcaduto]

Just so you know, the antec isk110 case only has a 90W power supply, I know b/c I have one for my mini-itx system. If you don't need a graphics card, I highly recommend this case; I have a llano a8-3820 w/ 8GB of ram and 2 hard drives (1 64GB crucial m4 SSD and 1 WD 250GB laptop drive) and I can easily run skyrim at 1440 x 900 on high/ultra settings. You could look at this case if size is an issue and you want an open slot (you would need a pci riser card however):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811165492

 

[Valis]

Really cool looking case. However, I doubt something with the name iStarUSA would be available here in Scandinavia.

 

[Zap]

If I go i3/i5 I was kinda hoping it would have the possibility to add a PCI-E card.

This computer is main for my dad, as he use a PIII-1000Mhz 512MB RAM Win XP machine today.

Again, why? Now that we know what he is coming from, the basic Intel HD graphics in a Pentium G620 (basically HD 2000 without the QuickSync) is probably several times faster than whatever graphics is in that old rig. Want to upgrade graphics in the future? Get a new CPU with HD 4000 graphics built in.

Zap: That G620/H67 ITX combo seems like a reasonable choice, I'll make a note of it. Thanks! There is also a G620/G630T with only 35W TDP vs the 65W TDP on the G260.

Read this review on low wattage socket 1155 CPUs

Basically, don't bother (unless you are running on a 40W PSU or something ridiculous like that). First thing to know is that Intel rates the TDP based on the "family" of processors. Thus, all normal dual cores will have 65W TDP, whether they are 2.4GHz or 3.4GHz. Second thing to know is that due to power saving features, most of the time (unless doing something that really stresses the CPU) the CPU stays in a low power state which is the same across all these CPUs (1.6GHz).

The review I linked to above shows that through all the benchmarking (50% low load, 50% high load), the normal 65W dual core averaged only around 5W more than the 35W version. However, most desktop systems are usually sitting around idle (web browsing = essentially idle) so in that case there is near zero difference.

 

[Valis]

Again, why? Now that we know what he is coming from, the basic Intel HD graphics in a Pentium G620 (basically HD 2000 without the QuickSync) is probably several times faster than whatever graphics is in that old rig. Want to upgrade graphics in the future? Get a new CPU with HD 4000 graphics built in.

Just because he is coming from a 1990s machine doesn't mean he's going to get the low end of today. That's not what it's about.

 

[Zap]

Just because he is coming from a 1990s machine doesn't mean he's going to get the low end of today. That's not what it's about.

That's fine. My question is what will he be doing that will need a GPU better than integrated?

 

[sunilx]

Further to Zap's recommendation above.

This Foxconn H67S mini-ITX is much less costly than the Asrock, has SATA 6GB/s but no USB 3.0 (again I ask, who *really* needs that?)- $55 shipped on Amazon.

EDIT - Amazon price is up to around $72 as of end May.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O9GIRC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=A369NHCSYVRSYR


Superbiiz has a retail pack Pentium Dual Core G630 for $66 shipped and they usually have a discount coupon running. Last week was 15% discount on anything. Newegg is out of stock on $70 G620 and their retail pack G630 is $75.

https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=G630BOX

 

[philipma1957]

1. Either with full height PCI/PCI-E slot/slots, or low profile. 5.5 inch / 3.8 inch LP
2. Very little power consumption (PSU ca under 160-220w)
3. Very very quiet, SSD, fanless GFX (if included), maybe mobile CPU.

Thinking AMD Llano/Trinity, Intel i3/i5. Maybe a Radeon HD 66xx or 76xx. (optional)

Any ideas? I'm considering:

http://www.in-win.com.tw/products_pccase_series.php?cat_id=1&series_id=44

or

http://www.in-win.com.tw/products_pccase_series.php?cat_id=1&series_id=42

Can't be too bulky.

If Trinity is 65 - 100W, 180w PSU will be enough, but has to be silent stuff.

you are in Norway or Sweden? I do not know what you can buy.

and this is a little bigger.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i00

http://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-560W-...8265444&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...sr=1-1&seller=


http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Ultim...8265555&sr=1-1



http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electr...8265598&sr=1-2 2 or 4 sticks



https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-H77MD3H


I have all of the above with an internal blu ray and this cpu i5 2500t

http://www.provantage.com/intel-cm8062301001910~7ITEP3FE.htm

but I think this cpu is better for you

http://www.provantage.com/intel-bx80623i32120t~7ITEP3JJ.htm


I use quiet case fans it is silent. may be too costly. may be too big ,

but it looks like it would fit your needs for a real long time. maybe till 2020 the fanless gpu hd7750 ultimate is a really nice card. better then the hd6670 I have both.

 

[Seraphimcaduto]

oops, didn't notice your location... the seller ships smaller items to Scandinavia, you might be able to ask them about larger ones. I see that istarusa sells to some U.K. based distributers as well. Normally I wouldn't plug for a company whose product I didn't own myself, but we run their power supplies all over the place where I work and they are one of the few pieces of electronics that DON'T break in the water treatment plant.

http://www.amazon.com/iStarUSA-S-21...f=sr_1_29?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1338403394&sr=1-29

 

[Seraphimcaduto]

btw, I forgot to ask, did you want benchmarks on the llano system that I have? if you give me the benchmarks you want run, i'll post them so you get a good comparison since any benchmarks on the A8-3820 are a pain to find.