a new computer - i'd like it quiet

[merk]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of replacing my system. Its starting to slow down and has some odd glitches, and the vid card just cant really keep up with the latest games:

current system is:

P2.6ghz
asus p4p800 delux mobo
1gb 400mhz ram
ATI 9700 pro

I'll be keeping the hard drives from the current system ... unless whatever mobo i get wont support PATA. And maybe the power supply (its from pc power and cooling i think).

I do not want to spend top dollar for the uber system. I want something that can play most games at the higher detail settings at say 1280x1024 and 30fps

And i really want something thats quiet. I dont need it to be utterly silent ... a small hum is ok. But this current machine sounds like a vacuum cleaner when it gets a little warm.

I dont think i want to spend the money for water cooling, at least not right now.

I havent decided on a mobo yet. But i'm leaning towards an athlon cpu. For sound i'll either pick up an audigy card or just use the onboard mobo sound. I like decent sound but i'm not a sound nut and dont have any fancy speaker setup.

Any of you guys have suggestions? I'm trying to spend less then $1000.

thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[cubby1223]

The stock Athlon coolers are near silent, have a 3700+ on the stock cooler and I can't hear anything. Here's some other parts to consider:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103013

 

[stevty2889]

You could get a 7800GS AGP card, and keep the rest of your components. The video card is the primary limiter in games, and a 2.6ghz P4 should be able to keep up fine. Some games may like 2gb of ram as well.

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
You could get a 7800GS AGP card, and keep the rest of your components. The video card is the primary limiter in games, and a 2.6ghz P4 should be able to keep up fine. Some games may like 2gb of ram as well.

also replace the stock heatsinks/fans for quieter ones.

 

[Operandi]

Spending some time in the SPCR forums would be good place to learn, but I've built several uber quiet systems so I'll give you some pointers.

1. Choose a motherboard with passive chipset cooling. Not only are active solutions loud they tend to fail.

2. Choose a graphics card that is passive, or plan to replace whatever active HS/F there is with a low noise alternative (Zalman).

2. Choose a high quality efficient PSU, Forton-Source is a good choice, Seasonic is even better.

3. Use high quality, low to medium speed case fans. Anything that approaches 2000RPM is loud in my opinion. I normally aim for 1000-1500RPM depending on fan size.

4. Use dynamic fan controls to slow your fans down at idle. Many motherboards have good control built into the BIOS. For tighter control from within windows you can use SpeedFan.

 

[Crescent13]

I reccomend just keeping what you have and getting a 7800GS and 2GB of ram.

 

[merk]

so you guys think it would be worth spending the money on a new vid card (and possibly some ram) instead of buying a whole new system?

I have to admit i havent been paying too much attention as to whats available for agp cards. I just sorta assumed anything decent today would be for PCI-E.

But if enough of you think a simple vid card upgrade will keep my system decent, then i'll go with that.

The 7800gs seems to have gotten good reviews on newegg. Will i need to replace my power supply as well if i get this vid card? The current power supply i have is:
24Pin, Fortron 460W FSP460-60PFN (PFC) ATX

thanks to everyone for the advice.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

for a quiet cool system upgrade to something similar to... asus a8n-sli premium (heatpipe cooler), 3800+ X2, Passive 7600gs as shown on AT home page. 2gb of corsair value ram and a case with 2 x 120mm fans, if the stock fans on the case are still too loud spend $20 and get 2 x 120mm yate loon fans and run them at stock speeds, psu depends on what gpu and cpu u get, for 7600gs i'd get something like the enermax 400watt libery or FSP 400 watt model. something along those lines would get you a pretty powerful VERY quiet pc. for an additional $40 get a scythe ninja and run it passive.

 

[Finns14]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2756


Do people read the front pages anymore?

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: merk
so you guys think it would be worth spending the money on a new vid card (and possibly some ram) instead of buying a whole new system?

I have to admit i havent been paying too much attention as to whats available for agp cards. I just sorta assumed anything decent today would be for PCI-E.

But if enough of you think a simple vid card upgrade will keep my system decent, then i'll go with that.

The 7800gs seems to have gotten good reviews on newegg. Will i need to replace my power supply as well if i get this vid card? The current power supply i have is:
24Pin, Fortron 460W FSP460-60PFN (PFC) ATX

thanks to everyone for the advice.

Your power supply will be more than plenty.

 

[McPudd]

Things I've done to be quiet & Cool:

Case: Antec P180
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800
Designed to be cool and quiet and it is. The 3 120mm fans help.

PSU: Enermax Liberty EL620AWT 620W Modular
http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/produ...sCsid=080b20f7b751dd29e280544f2c6caf77
120mm smart fan (only spins a s fast as needed). I can't hear it.

Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
http://www.asus.com.tw/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=744&modelmenu=1
Uses heatpipes and case air flow for cooling the chipsets in lieu of noisy chipset fans.

Video Card: ATI Radeon X1800XT
http://ati.com/products/RadeonX1800/Products.html
Noisy when you first boot the system but then goes silent. Some noise when 3D gaming
but I'm distracted and not usually noticing it.
The card fan dumps the card's heat OUT of the case so less your other fans have to
work to keep the case cool.

HSF: Zalman CNPS9500
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=165&code=005009
Silent at lowest manual fan setting and you can increase the speed as needed.
Stays relatively silent. The fan also assists the air flow through the case.

My old system uses a Lian-Li case which looks nice and is well built but very noisy.
Its in the basement where it can make all the racket it wants.

I built 2 systems that include the above parts. The other is an MCE2005 box that is integrated into my HT system.
Both computers are in the same (living) room so quiet was very important to me too.

This gear is doing the job very well.

Happy trailz,

 

[merk]

I decided to go with something cheap basically. I just ordered it and i'm going to pick it up in a few ... here's what i got:

ASROCK 939DUAL-SATA2
ATHLON 64 3000+ - VENICE
GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH 7600gt

I'm expecting/hoping i'll see a noticeable difference in performance from my current system, and it should still be fairly quiet. The user review on the gigabyte card said it was quiet... i'm hoping he's not just deaf

At some future point maybe i'll upgrade to the 1800 or something. I didnt really want to spend all that much right now. The above parts cost me just under $400. If i got the beefier vid card with the zalman cooling fan it would have been over $600.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

gl with you build even thuogh u didn't really take any of our responces to heart. thanks.
asrock is a motherboard company on a tight budget, therefore they will give u budget parts. therefore the price. u get what u pay for.
good low-mid range build
why would u get teh 7600 now and upgrade to the x1800 later. thats dumb, the x1800 is already an aging card. if i were you i'd save your money and get better quality parts

the onyl improvement i see over your current system is the video card. the processing power is merely the same or worse

 

[Tsaico]

I will be taking your suggestions guys. I wanted to do a similar project, but I like the idea of the silent vid card.

I am trying to get a small form factor, I was thinking of the shuttle's xpc size. Does anyone here know of the decibels that are put out by that thing or comperable... I did find an Asus barebones, but the motherbord in it doesn't take the CPU I want to get.

 

[merk]

well so far i'm pleased with the system for the price i got. Obviously if i spent more i would have seen a bigger performance boost. but i still see a performance gain now. And a few months down the line if i want to i can always put in another cpu or vid card.

The system is virtually silent compared to my last one. There is a very slight hum, which i cant even hear over the sound of my typing, let alone when playing a game or movie etc.

Some games i've seen very noticable gains and some not so noticeable. I suspect the games that rely more on the cpu i wont see much of a difference since the cpu i have now is close to the one i replaced. Maybe at some later point i'll try a dual core cpu.

but for now i've got moderate gains, a system that I can expand with newer cpu's/vid cards, can take SATA and it cost me under $400.

thanks for the suggestions from everyone.