Skype/Office/Chrome Build

[Dhekhanur]

Hi LTT,

I'm building a mini-itx in the Lian Li PC-Q34A case as an office/chrome pc with as much as possible future-proofing. Currently I'm undecided between a G4400 and i3-6100 (or rather their KBL-versions or maybe zen if/when as this is not being built until Q1 2017).

 

The parts were chosen not only for their performance but also value, noise and weight. The PSU is sfx because the build may be later moved into a case where sfx is needed and the sf series is the only sfx psus worth buying and it will probably öast forever. Price includes the sfx to atx converter.

 

The only part chosen for aesthetics was the case fan. I mean really noctua? say no to shit brown and puke tan.

 

Please note: I don't live in germany I just used their pcp site. Prices are from a national store and shipping is free (aka included in price).

 

For refence the G4400 is 65€.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€129.00)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (€39.90)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€79.00)
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (€49.00)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€189.00)
Case: Lian-Li PC-Q34A Mini ITX Tower Case  (€104.90)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€120.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM  120mm Fan  (€24.90)
Total: €735.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-12 04:07 CET+0100

Edited November 12, 2016 by Dhekhanur
Apparently typing on a phond while half asleep leads to typos. Who knew right?

[Megah3rtz]

I'd recommend the version of the motherboard you selected with onboard wifi if its only 5-10 euro more. 

[Megah3rtz]

for future proof, definitely the i3-6100 over the g4400. 2 cores and 4 threads for the i3 rather than 2 threads 2 cores for the 4400

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

Chrome book? Iv been considering getting one for lower power consumption for office related tasks, id like to know why you aren't getting one.

 

I don't think the Noctua 2000rpm industrial fans are silent, prove me wrong and I will buy one.

 

Does that i3 come with a stock cooler? Do you need more than the stock cooler for an office build? The intel cooler doesn't really need replacing at stock clock speed until the fan dies. If you're going for pure silence you could prob do better with a passive heatsink, or at least a cooler with a vertical mounted fan on the opposite side of heatsink from the case fan. This is what I'm thinking:

Also with this setup you wouldn't notice the poo colours of a cheaper, more silent Noctua fan

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Jorgen297 said:

this is better

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€195.69 @ Mindfactory) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (€21.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€53.18 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (€39.59 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€154.20 @ Mindfactory) 
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Mini Video Card  (€160.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: Thermaltake Versa H22 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€33.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (€48.89 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM  120mm Fan  (€24.99 @ Aquatuning) 
Total: €733.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-12 04:32 CET+0100

 

Change i5 to i3; save 65~

Use stock CPU cooler save 21.99

Drop 1050 use intigrated GPU; save 160

 

total savings: 246~

 

If you want the Gold certified PSU you can get that and save money.

What are you doing exactly with this computer? If just Skype, Word, and Chrome, why not just buy an old dell or other office computer on ebay? 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Jorgen297 said:

lol how are you gonna game on an igpu anyways

I don't see him saying he wants to game on this. 

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

4 minutes ago, Jorgen297 said:

lol how are you gonna game on an igpu anyways

he said its for Skype and office

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Jorgen297 said:

still best to throw in a GPU tbh you never know when you get hype for a game

I think it'd be best to not be tempted to use this for gaming. 

If I were to get a PC for word and skype only, I'd buy an old core 2, Optiplex or equivilent from eBay. 

You can buy them by the pallet at times for roughly 100 USD. 

[Dhekhanur]

wait how do I uncheck this?

 

@fpo, @SCHISCHKA, @JORGEN297, @Megah3rtz Thanks for the input.

 

Yes. Ideally I'd just get an used Optiplex or equivalent however as this computer is being built for my mother and despite numerous requests to buy one she insists on a new pc "because it's so small,  weighs so little and takes up no room."

 

Gaming won't happen as my mother basically uses skype for chat and video calls office for word processing spreadsheets and mail and as a web browser. With that in mind I briefly thought about going i5 (but sanity called what a terrible killjoy) and settled for the i3 with as stated in OP the possible downgrade to g4400 which i keep as an i3

 

Next cooler. Yeah for the lulz i thought about going NH-D15 (as both case and board support it afaik but not really worth it from a money standpoint) . Probably going to end up with the NH-U12S. As for the industrial fan I was under the impression that you could set a maximum rpm either in the bios or with a program so keeping them in line with the regular NF-F12 but maybe I can get an LTT Edition NF-F12 on cheap side.

 

As for the PSU I chose SFX rather than atx as this build is not for myself but for my mother and some of the cases she liked were SFX-only and if she'd like to change to a chassis without atx support I'd have to get this psu anyway.

 

So in conclusion: Would I build it for myself? No. But in her specific use case I think this build makes sense as she'll use it for like 6-7 years and compared to the laptops she used to buy ("because our 25kg Mid-Towers from Antec were way too heavy and impossible to move") it's closer to a third of the price. (No her use case did not warrant a laptop). Thank [insert deity of choice] I've managed to convince her otherwise.

 

So updated build:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  (€129.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (€59.90)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€79.00)
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (€49.00)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€189.00)
Case: Lian-Li PC-Q34A Mini ITX Tower Case[/url]  (€104.90)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (€120.00)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 PWM 71.7 CFM  120mm Fan  (€24.90)
Total: €755.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-12 16:04 CET+0100