home office build

[colin2]

The old desktop (viewtopic.php?t=54639) finally died, plus I've been feeling the need for more speed & capacity lately. Hopefully this will last another seven years:

Parts to re-use:
ANTEC NSK3480 case and misc. fans
HITACHI Travelstar 5K500.B 500GB (additional storage)
Pioneer DVR-216DBK
Sparkle PC 700003 GeForce GT 640 2 GB 128-Bit Dragon Cyclone Graphics Card SX640S2048LKDI (for three monitors -- not a great card, but a stopgap)

New:
GIGABYTE GA-H170M-D3H
Intel Core i5-6500 6MB Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1151 65W
Noctua NH-D15S cooler (It doesn't look like I can re-use the old Thermalright HR-01)
SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 256GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V5P256BW (boot drive)
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB)
be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 10 500W ATX 12V 80 Plus Gold
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit - OEM

No gaming, but large documents, databases, OCR, graphics software and whatnot. This is a little more wattage than my previous builds.

All suggestions and critiques welcome!

[quest_for_silence]

Noctua NH-D15S cooler (It doesn't look like I can re-use the old Thermalright HR-01)

http://www.thermalright.com/html/produc ... e_btk.html

BTW, the D15S is rather more large than the HR01, so it's more difficult to work with it inside a cramped 3480 (I have a C14 inside it), and it won't probably give you any good/better performance with that ~40W 6500.

be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 10 500W ATX 12V 80 Plus Gold

Likely it won't fit inside the 3480 (with the DVD), check twice.

[colin2]

Thanks much, Luca,

I appreciate the heads-up on the PSU. Maybe: Antec EarthWatts Platinum Series EA-550 Platinum 550W, whose 5.5" depth is the same as the old one.

I'll try the Thermalright bracket. I hadn't figured out until just now that all the 115X family is identical for cooler-installing purposes.

[quest_for_silence]

I appreciate the heads-up on the PSU. Maybe: Antec EarthWatts Platinum Series EA-550 Platinum 550W, whose 5.5" depth is the same as the old one.

The EA-550 Platinum is a mediocre unit with a mediocre fan, I'd avoid.

In my experience, given the space costraints the best option noise wise is the one you had: a new Antec EarthWatts 380D Bronze with a swapped fan, preferably driven by an external fan controller (I also use the R8 with its ULNA adaptor, the only real alternative being the venerable Nexus, sadly impossible to find in Europe). Obviously, nowadays it's a bit of a looser efficiency wise (but nothing decisive IMHO).

Other proven, viable options look like two SFX units, both semi passive: the Silverstone ST-30SF (V1.0, avoid the V2.0/SX-30SF) 300W 80Plus Bronze, and the Corsair SF600 600W 80Plus Gold; the first one is usually rather cheap and with an high temp rating, the other one is rather expensive (it also need the optional ATX plate) but one of the most advanced units available (the 450W version has a more limited fanless range). BTW, given the short cables, check twice if you may needs extensions.

Second best is probably the Seasonic G-360: solid unit, a tad noisier, a tad more efficient than the 380 with the swapped fan.

There are other 140mm units in the market, but either noise wise or quality wise they're not exactly on par with the quoted PSUs: I'm thinking to the Cooler Master G450M/G550M 80Plus Bronze, to the Cooler Master V450S/V550S Semi Modular 80Plus Gold (EOL), to the Cooler Master V550 Fully Modular 80Plus Gold and eventually to the Corsair CS-450M/CS-550M 80 Plus Gold.

The "recent" SilverStone Strider Platinum ST55F-PT 550W might also be an option, but the Silverstone fan controller on that series often turn out to be rather aggressive when internal temp rises: I have not high temp data on it, so YMMV (moreover it's a mediocre performing and rather expensive unit).