Growltiger
Bronze Level Poster
Case
PCS Hush! Silent Mini-ITX Case + 80W PSU
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Processor i5-3470T (2.9GHz) 3MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-I DELUXE: Mini-ITX, LG1155, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 2500
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Processor Cooling
LOW PROFILE INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
External Hard Drive
WD 4TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0040HBK (£156)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Price: £855.00 including VAT and delivery.
I need a small silent (or near-silent) machine. It is not for gaming, but it may be used for some photo editing. Rather a lot of questions as I have not come across small computers like this before.
Questions.
1. Does this seem sensible? Any suggestions for improvement?
2. Can this system take more than 8GB memory, or is that the limit? (Not a major concern, but I would like to know.)
3. Presumably there are two fans, one on the processor and one in the power supply? How noisy are they - it can't be truly silent with fans?
4. Which way up can the case go? Does it need to lie down or can it stand up? What about the DVD drive if vertical?
5. I've used an SSD but never used a hybrid drive. What are they like? Do you notice the difference compared to a normal drive?
6. Can the box take a second drive? In fact can it take anything more at all? Any spare PCI slots?
7. What are the connectors for the monitor? I have a good but old monitor with only the ancient 15 pin connector (DSUB?). Could that be used with it? Or will I need a monitor that works with a DVI cable?
8. Is that power supply really only 80W? My i7 desktop takes 850W!
9. Is this machine really like a laptop minus screen and keyboard and battery?
10. Is a system like this not upgradeable like a standard desktop is - i.e. one would never put in a new motherboard/memory/CPU or larger disk?
Thanks.
PCS Hush! Silent Mini-ITX Case + 80W PSU
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Processor i5-3470T (2.9GHz) 3MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-I DELUXE: Mini-ITX, LG1155, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 2500
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
4x BLURAY ROM, 8x DVD ±R/±RW & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE
Processor Cooling
LOW PROFILE INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 8 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
External Hard Drive
WD 4TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0040HBK (£156)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Price: £855.00 including VAT and delivery.
I need a small silent (or near-silent) machine. It is not for gaming, but it may be used for some photo editing. Rather a lot of questions as I have not come across small computers like this before.
Questions.
1. Does this seem sensible? Any suggestions for improvement?
2. Can this system take more than 8GB memory, or is that the limit? (Not a major concern, but I would like to know.)
3. Presumably there are two fans, one on the processor and one in the power supply? How noisy are they - it can't be truly silent with fans?
4. Which way up can the case go? Does it need to lie down or can it stand up? What about the DVD drive if vertical?
5. I've used an SSD but never used a hybrid drive. What are they like? Do you notice the difference compared to a normal drive?
6. Can the box take a second drive? In fact can it take anything more at all? Any spare PCI slots?
7. What are the connectors for the monitor? I have a good but old monitor with only the ancient 15 pin connector (DSUB?). Could that be used with it? Or will I need a monitor that works with a DVI cable?
8. Is that power supply really only 80W? My i7 desktop takes 850W!
9. Is this machine really like a laptop minus screen and keyboard and battery?
10. Is a system like this not upgradeable like a standard desktop is - i.e. one would never put in a new motherboard/memory/CPU or larger disk?
Thanks.
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