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Bulding your own PC

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  • #31
    Originally posted by Sparko View Post
    There just soooo many choices between the cpu, graphics, and motherboards. Makes it hard to know what to get.

    I do want something that is fairly low wattage and quiet (not requiring a huge cpu or graphics fan) since this pc sits in my living room. But powerful enough to decode/encode HD video.
    If you don't mind it being loud when encoding video, I'd get an i5, in that case and skip the GPU. If you want it -really- quiet all the time, maybe water cool the i5 or get an i7 and limit the encoding software to only two cores. Never tried the latter to see how it affects noise, though.
    "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

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    • #32
      I'm not super excited about more cores until I see that the high loading situations with software I am running first will need more cores. Secondly, I would like to see that the cores are all being used at high capacity. I haven't tended to see good core usage when I needed it.

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      • #33
        Originally posted by Sam View Post
        If you don't mind it being loud when encoding video, I'd get an i5, in that case and skip the GPU. If you want it -really- quiet all the time, maybe water cool the i5 or get an i7 and limit the encoding software to only two cores. Never tried the latter to see how it affects noise, though.
        ever trusted water cooling. Always afraid it will leak and short everything out, or make a huge mess.

        Most of the time the computer will be used as a file server, and recording and displaying HDTV. I have a silicon dust hdhomerun external TV tuner, and use microsofts mediacenter to record from that. But I also occasionally do some video editing and ripping, and transcoding. So I could put up with the noise occasionally as long as it runs quiet most of the time when file serving or playing back and recording TV.

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        • #34
          In fact, the cpu and everything I have now does most of the job OK, and it is just a Pentium D I think with dual cores. It just really bogs down when I am doing video encoding and transcoding. So I guess almost anything would be an improvement and would do the job better than what I have now.

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          • #35
            Originally posted by Chrawnus View Post
            Nowadays building your own computer is about as hard as assembling lego IMO, as long as you're sufficiently careful with how you handle the parts. It's really gotten much easier than how it was back in the old days.
            With the humidity in Texas near the Gulf Coast, we almost NEVER have to worry about static discharge ruining our parts. Mold and mildew? That's another story.
            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
              With the humidity in Texas near the Gulf Coast, we almost NEVER have to worry about static discharge ruining our parts. Mold and mildew? That's another story.
              yeah I never really had any problem with static either. I think the parts are a bit more hardy than people think.

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              • #37
                Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                ever trusted water cooling. Always afraid it will leak and short everything out, or make a huge mess.

                Most of the time the computer will be used as a file server, and recording and displaying HDTV. I have a silicon dust hdhomerun external TV tuner, and use microsofts mediacenter to record from that. But I also occasionally do some video editing and ripping, and transcoding. So I could put up with the noise occasionally as long as it runs quiet most of the time when file serving or playing back and recording TV.
                Probably an i5 with an after-market air-cooled heatsink will suit fine, in that case. I've had good luck with big Zalman coolers.
                "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

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                • #38
                  Originally posted by Sam View Post
                  Probably an i5 with an after-market air-cooled heatsink will suit fine, in that case. I've had good luck with big Zalman coolers.
                  Looks like the one I have on my pc now. its a bit loud though.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                    Looks like the one I have on my pc now. its a bit loud though.
                    I've used software from the mainboard to set the fan speed manually; so long as there's a good airflow, the auto setting often ramps the fan up quite a bit past the necessary level. You can try capping the fan speed at 50% or 75% and watch the CPU temp while encoding/transcoding to make sure it's staying in good temp range.

                    Pentium D's, if I remember correctly, run hot so that might affect fan noise even with a 120mm behemoth.
                    "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

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                    • #40
                      Originally posted by Sam View Post
                      Probably an i5 with an after-market air-cooled heatsink will suit fine, in that case. I've had good luck with big Zalman coolers.
                      I have this cooler. It's effective, relatively quiet (near as I can tell), and pretty cheap.
                      Last edited by Zymologist; 02-24-2015, 02:42 PM.
                      I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                        Subscribing - though it's been quite a while since I built my own computers.

                        There was a time I was building 2 or 3 a week for resale! That was when there was a BIG difference between building your own and buying "off the shelf".
                        Nerd.
                        "Kahahaha! Let's get lunatic!"-Add LP
                        "And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility"-Samuel Taylor Coleridge
                        Oh ye of little fiber. Do you not know what I've done for you? You will obey. ~Cerealman for Prez.

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                        • #42
                          Originally posted by Cerealman View Post
                          Nerd.
                          You, sir, are fart oo kind!
                          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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                          • #43
                            This is the cooler I have on mine. Arctic Freezer pro:

                            http://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Freezer...ster+pentium+D

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                            • #44
                              OK after reading a bit, I think I like this mobo:

                              http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813132127

                              ASUS Z97 Deluxe. supports 4KHD, 3 monitors, has wifi and LAN, USB3, Surround sound, and a ton of other features. about $300.

                              It is socket LGA1150 and says it supports the latest intel cpus and should support the next gen (5) cpus, although I have read that the 5th gen intel cpus will use socket 1151. I won't have enough cash to do the upgrade till probably this fall, so by then I might have found a newer mobo/cpu combination. Or this one might end up getting cheaper.

                              I will get a 4 core processor with built in graphics, around 3 to 4ghz.

                              Probably get at least 4 GB memory.

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