Small PC build

OTP · 05-11-2012 8:22pm #1

After years of making my PCs out of recycled office machines I want to build one using new components. It will be used as a home machine mainly for music management, photo scanning and editing. I want a small unit that will look well on a desk. This is what I have come up with so far:

Item|Price
Shuttle XPC SH61R4|€176.39
16GB-Kit Corsair ValueSelect PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€58.65
Sony Optiarc AD-7280S-0B schwarz|€21.23
Ultron UHR-225 Basic SSD / HDD Einbaurahmen|€3.23
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Basic|€87.56
Hitachi DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 1TB, 32MB, SATA II, 8,9cm (3,5")|€62.06
Intel Core i5-3470 Tray, LGA1155|€167.61
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€595.72

Would there be much of an advantage having a system that fully supports SATA 600?
Is a 128GB SSD sufficient for running programs as I plan to use the 1TB HDD for storage?
I assume the i5 “Box” will not be necessary as the case has a built in cooling system.

Would the onboard graphics be sufficient? I plan on keeping my current 1280x1024 screen (Belnea 1905) and haven’t given much thought to a graphics card.

Any recommendations about fitting a laptop wireless card to a Mini PCIe slot?

1. What is your budget? [€650ish]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Photo scanning & editing/Internet]

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [No]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1280x1024] [No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Wireless Card.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No]

8. How can you pay? [N/A]

9. When are you purchasing? [This month]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [N/A]

Is there anything else I’m missing?

Thanks in advance.
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Tij da feen · 05-11-2012 10:05pm

Sata 600 is very beneficial to an SSD, I would recommend getting a board which will support it. Also that motherboard won't support that processor as it's Ivy Bridge and that mobo will only support Sandy out of the box. It might support Ivy with a BIOS update but you will need a loan of a Sandy Bridge to do that.

Maybe something like this would suit you better?

Item|Price
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL9|€34.04
Lian Li PC-Q11B Mini-ITX Tower-Cube - black, ohne Netzteil|€82.54
Samsung SH-222BB schwarz|€17.75
ASRock B75M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€79.81
Intel Core i5-3450 Box, LGA1155|€170.40
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER BQT S6-SYS-UA-300W 80plus bulk|€30.70
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 3 6GB/s|€65.92
Samsung SSD 830 128GB SATA 6GB's Basic|€87.56
ASUS PCE-N15|€22.90
LogiLink SATA 0.3m Kabel mit Sicherungslasche|€0.72
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€611.33

I opted for 8GB of RAM here as I doubt you will need 16GB.

Also you don't really need an adapter for the SSD, do go for one if you want but there's no moving parts in an SSD so you can secure it in anyway you want.

OTP · 05-11-2012 11:54pm

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. I'm afraid that I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to telling my bridges apart. I like the minimalist case that you suggested and the rest of the setup looks fine to me though I do have a couple of questions.

Looking at the motherboard, the spec says 1 x SATA-600, 3 x SATA-300, 1 x eSATA-300. Does this mean that the HDD would only run at 300 as the SSD would be using the 600 port?

If so, would there be a be a board that would allow both to run at 600?

ShadowHearth · 06-11-2012 12:00am

Don't worry about hdd. They won't have any benefit at all as any normal hdd is not saturating 6gb/s bandwidth.
All you need is just a mobo with sata 3 support. Though all modern ivy mobos have that support as default. Ssd's are the only items that benefit from sata3 these days.

OTP · 06-11-2012 10:10pm

Thanks for the suggestions and the clarification. Looks like I'll be building myself an early Christmas present.

OTP · 15-11-2012 11:18pm

Small PC build

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