Low power performance balance

[msknight]

Hey guys,

 

I watched Linus' ramble about not reviewing lower end gear, and the, "spend a little bit more," mantra, but for someone like me, it's not all about raw power. There are other sweet spots to find!

 

Problem at home is that in the summer, hot processors just chuck out so much heat; then power got expensive in the UK and I thought, stuff this. Overlockers helped me put together a reasonable low power rig for not much cash.

 

The aim was to create something that can play modded minecraft at about 300 GBP and the rig was reasonable. - http://msknight.com/index.php?page=156

 

Well, you know how it goes. We moded minecraft a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little bit more, and I was drooling over other people's shaders ... and I know I can't have everything but ...

 

So ... how about that same thing now ... 300 GBP, wanting to keep it low power, so low heat and still keep performance, now that tech is getting better. (m/b, processor, ram and graphics) Whadda ya reckon? I wouldn't mind blowing a little more than 300, I just want to keep the power and heat down ... ie. I don't want to fry my bacon and eggs while playing a game ... and I want to hear the game sounds rather than the whuh... whuh... whuh... of some cooling system or other.

[AlwaysFSX]

Do you actually know how powerful something has to be to pump some serious heat in to your room? All you're going for is a cheap build, not something low power.

[msknight]

Thanks for your observation. Any heat generation, where there is insufficient cooling will result in a rise in temperature.

[AlwaysFSX]

Thanks for your observation. Any heat generation, where there is insufficient cooling will result in a rise in temperature.

Actually that's the opposite of what happens. Sufficient cooling transfers the heat from the components to the air. Not the other way around. If you trap heat within the components the ambient temperature doesn't rise as much.

[AlwaysFSX]

350 GBP PC that can play minecraft on not crap settings and mods. No it is not a furnace either..

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3240 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£43.44 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£15.33 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£59.94 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£50.87 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.54 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  (£86.41 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£19.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: be quiet! 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£32.39 @ Aria PC)
Total: £341.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-24 13:15 GMT+0000

[msknight]

So ... what solution are you suggesting?

[MeepLikesToBuildPc's]

350 GBP PC that can play minecraft on not crap settings and mods. No it is not a furnace either..

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3240 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£43.44 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£15.33 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£59.94 @ Aria PC)

Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£50.87 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.54 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  (£86.41 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£19.97 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: be quiet! 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£32.39 @ Aria PC)

Total: £341.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-24 13:15 GMT+0000

@msknight

[AlwaysFSX]

So ... what solution are you suggesting?

Buy something worth buying or don't buy anything at all. You only start really getting to have components effect the ambient temperature once you're around i5/r9 270/gtx 960 levels in performance for parts. Other than that, don't skimp out of things because "oh heat."

[msknight]

OK - thanks for the suggestion. Just seen it on refresh.  I'll check it out.

[AlwaysFSX]

@AlwaysFSX - you missed the "low power consumption" part of it, but if you're not helping ...

You used both points. Heat is moot. This thing doesn't even draw 300W which isn't a lot.

[msknight]

@alwaysfx - Sorry - I missed your post with the specs. Caught eveyrthing on refresh.  Many thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciated.

[AlwaysFSX]

@alwaysfx - Sorry - I missed your post with the specs. Caught eveyrthing on refresh.  Many thanks for the suggestion. Much appreciated.

I ran my system with a slower card and minecraft ran great. Gets the thumbs up from me in that regard.

[Johannes_Lazor]

350 GBP PC that can play minecraft on not crap settings and mods. No it is not a furnace either..

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3240 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor  (£43.44 @ Aria PC)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£15.33 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97M-HD3 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£59.94 @ Aria PC)

Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  (£50.87 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£33.54 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card  (£86.41 @ Scan.co.uk)

Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£19.97 @ Scan.co.uk)

Power Supply: be quiet! 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£32.39 @ Aria PC)

Total: £341.89

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-24 13:15 GMT+0000

A 750ti would also be a good choice, It has a even lower TDP than the R7 260x and have pretty similar performance.

[AlwaysFSX]

A 750ti would also be a good choice there, It has a even lower TDP than the R7 260x and have pretty similar performance.

Yeah but the 750 Ti costs like 30 Pounds more and contends more with a 265 (trades blows evenly) than a 260x.

[msknight]

@ - thanks, I'll give that a lok in to as well.