Building a very quiet PC

[brikis98]

Following the guide:

1. Usage/Requirements:

* Number 1 priority is that the PC is QUIET
* Will be running lots of programs concurrently
* Some math modeling
* Some gaming
* Movies
* Linux dual boot, VmWare Workstation
* General browsing/productivity, including programming

2. Budget: ~$1200
3. Country: US
4. Brand preference: None
5. Reusable parts: DVD-RW, mouse, keyboard, monitor. on-board sound is fine.
6. Other threads: Yup, most of the parts I've already picked (see below) come from reading other threads. However, I need some more advice.
7. Overclocking: Yup, will be OCing the CPU with air cooling.

8. The system so far

(All prices are approximate)

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R : $160
Core 2 Quad Q6600: $275
Theramlright Ultra-120 Extreme: $60
OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800: $25
Antec P182: $100
Corsair HX520: $105
Sparkle Passive 8800gt: $280
Seagate 7200.10 320GB: $80

Total: $1085

9. Questions

* What's a solid/stable Intel P35 mobo that can OC well? I've read the Gigabyte is a good OCer but are there better choices?
* I definitely want a Core 2 Duo or Quad CPU, but which is the best bang-for-the-buck?
* What RAM should I go with? DDR2 800, 1066, or DDR3 of some flavor?
* Will the p182 fit all the components, specifically the vid card + HSF?
* Any recommendations for a quiet HD?

 

[goobernoodles]

Good choice on the case. I just ordered the p182 yesterday.

Upgrade the fans. Get 120mm Panaflo's/Yate Loon/Nexus etc... Consider getting a fan controller if you get a higher RPM fan.

You might want to suspend your HDD if you want some serious silence.

I'd say more, but everything you need is here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/

 

[MegaVovaN]

I never built a silent PC (cuz I am hearing impaired, my PC is a JET!), but you can get a passive cooling (giant heatsink...I think it's called Accelero) for your video card if you think that stock fan is loud.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
I never built a silent PC (cuz I am hearing impaired, my PC is a JET!), but you can get a passive cooling (giant heatsink...I think it's called Accelero) for your video card if you think that stock fan is loud.

actually, i just updated the video card to the Sparkle 8800gt, which has passive cooling.

 

[brikis98]

updated the PSU to a corsair hx520, which is (i think) is also made by seasonic, but is cheaper and gets better reviews. updated the ram to ddr2 800 as that seems to be the best bang-for-the-buck now.

 

[Blain]

Are you building a "silent" or "quiet" PC?

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Blain
Are you building a "silent" or "quiet" PC?

i think quiet would be good enough, as aiming for totally silent is probably overkill. namely, i don't want it to ever be particularly loud and i don't want to hear it at all from more than a few feet away.


--> Changed the post title from silent to very quiet.

 

[AVP]

That sparkle does not look passive. It appears to have the reference cooling design that most of them have. Either way get a cheaper 8800gt and an accelero s1 and attach a quiet 120mm fan to it.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: Blain
Are you building a "silent" or "quiet" PC?

i think quiet would be good enough, as aiming for totally silent is probably overkill. namely, i don't want it to ever be particularly loud and i don't want to hear it at all from more than a few feet away.

Seagate HD - :thumbsdown:
Samsung HD - :thumbsup:

 

[Hulk]

I have that Seagate drive and although I like it the Western Digital is much quieter. I also have a very quiet system and generally the loudest thing in the system is that damn Seagate drive!

 

[0roo0roo]

silentpcreview.com

 

[Doclife]

I would replace the following:

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128067


Same price as the GA-P35C-DS3R but has better cooler for the north bridge and VRM. In addition, it has 8 USB ports on I/O back plate and Firewire ports.


MEMORY: Transcend 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $86

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820208353


Memory prices are at their lowest at this point in time. Get 4GB now so you don't have to pay a lot more later on for upgrade when DDR2 price will surely be much higher than where they are now.


OTHER NOTES:

1). Intel CPU are running relatively cool; thus, there is really no need to buy an aftermarket cooler if you just want to hit 3Ghz ( the sweetspot for performance/power consumption). Most Intel CPU will hit 3GHz quite easily, you have to be really lucky to find one that hit 3.2Ghz or higher. Besides, there is no real difference between running 3Ghz and 3.2Ghz except that power consumption will be higher; thus generate more heat causing the fan to spin faster and resulting in higher noise. The Intel stock cooler is quiet even under load.

2). The on-board sound chip of the Gigabyte motherboard is superb; thus, you will not need to buy an add on sound card. Buy a nice set of speaker (Klipsch promedia 2.1) and listen to the on-board sound and you'll be surprised.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Doclife
I would replace the following:

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128067


Same price as the GA-P35C-DS3R but has better cooler for the north bridge and VRM. In addition, it has 8 USB ports on I/O back plate and Firewire ports.

I picked the GA-P35C-DS3R because, along with the GA-P35-DQ6 it had one of the highest overclocking potentials as tested on tomshardware. Does the DS3P have similar OCing performance?

Originally posted by: Doclife
MEMORY: Transcend 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $86

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820208353


Memory prices are at their lowest at this point in time. Get 4GB now so you don't have to pay a lot more later on for upgrade when DDR2 price will surely be much higher than where they are now.

I'll def. consider it, but 4GB might be overkill...

Originally posted by: Doclife
OTHER NOTES:

1). Intel CPU are running relatively cool; thus, there is really no need to buy an aftermarket cooler if you just want to hit 3Ghz ( the sweetspot for performance/power consumption). Most Intel CPU will hit 3GHz quite easily, you have to be really lucky to find one that hit 3.2Ghz or higher. Besides, there is no real difference between running 3Ghz and 3.2Ghz except that power consumption will be higher; thus generate more heat causing the fan to spin faster and resulting in higher noise. The Intel stock cooler is quiet even under load.

the big aftermarket cooler will allow the fan to run on very low speeds, even with a good OC. hell, with a heatsink as big as the ultra-120, i might be able to get away with just using the case fans and not have a fan on the heatsink at all.

 

[Doclife]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: Doclife
I would replace the following:

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128067


Same price as the GA-P35C-DS3R but has better cooler for the north bridge and VRM. In addition, it has 8 USB ports on I/O back plate and Firewire ports.

I picked the GA-P35C-DS3R because, along with the GA-P35-DQ6 it had one of the highest overclocking potentials as tested on tomshardware. Does the DS3P have similar OCing performance?

Originally posted by: Doclife
MEMORY: Transcend 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $86

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820208353


Memory prices are at their lowest at this point in time. Get 4GB now so you don't have to pay a lot more later on for upgrade when DDR2 price will surely be much higher than where they are now.

I'll def. consider it, but 4GB might be overkill...

Originally posted by: Doclife
OTHER NOTES:

1). Intel CPU are running relatively cool; thus, there is really no need to buy an aftermarket cooler if you just want to hit 3Ghz ( the sweetspot for performance/power consumption). Most Intel CPU will hit 3GHz quite easily, you have to be really lucky to find one that hit 3.2Ghz or higher. Besides, there is no real difference between running 3Ghz and 3.2Ghz except that power consumption will be higher; thus generate more heat causing the fan to spin faster and resulting in higher noise. The Intel stock cooler is quiet even under load.

the big aftermarket cooler will allow the fan to run on very low speeds, even with a good OC. hell, with a heatsink as big as the ultra-120, i might be able to get away with just using the case fans and not have a fan on the heatsink at all.

The DS3P should have similar overclocking potential. I'm using the cheaper P35-DS3R rev 2.0 and have no problem reaching 3Ghz.

It never hurts to have more memory. How wrong Bill Gates was when he said that he sees no need for more than 640MB system memory, back in the day.

Overclocking the Intel CPU beyond 3Ghz is a hit/miss affair. Some CPU just would not operate properly above 3GHz no matter how much more voltage applied or bigger cooler used. I have the big Ninja cooler but ended up using stock cooler because my CPU would not go higher than 3GHz no matter what I use. I suggest you try to overclock the CPU with stock cooler first then buy an after market cooler after you determine that you're not CPU limited.

 

[toughwimp11]

i have the same case and the same PSU and my system is very quite and i have a CPU fan thats probably louder as well as a non-passive gpu, so you should have NO problems with sound

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Doclife
It never hurts to have more memory. How wrong Bill Gates was when he said that he sees no need for more than 640MB system memory, back in the day.

actually, the quote is 640K of memory (not 640mb)... but according to this and this gates might never have said it in the first place

 

[imported_Baloo]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
I never built a silent PC (cuz I am hearing impaired, my PC is a JET!), but you can get a passive cooling (giant heatsink...I think it's called Accelero) for your video card if you think that stock fan is loud.

actually, i just updated the video card to the Sparkle 8800gt, which has passive cooling.

The car dyou link to has a fan, means active cooling.

 

[lilbabimac]

Thought it was worth mentioning that the IP35 Pro is $150 AR with free shippping on newegg right now.

Also, you can get the 520hx at buy.com for $87.24 shipped AR and AGCO - $97.24 shipped without GCO. There's also a 5% coupon floating around.

5% coupon

 

[Sheninat0r]

Consider getting a Scythe Ninja instead of the U-120, and duct it to your exhaust fan. Ninjas are superior to Ultra-120s when run passive like this, and doing this will reduce another source of noise in your system. The quietest hard drive is probably the Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB drive, unless you want to look into 2.5" laptop drives. For even more quiet, suspend your drives or stuff them in a Scythe Quiet Drive or NoVibes cage.

Noctua makes the quietest fans with the best airflow, so look into those if you can. They cost about $20 each though, but are really incredible for the noise/airflow ratio. The NF-S12 is designed with case fan use in mind, and has very little pressure and deals horribly with restrictive intakes and heatsink fins. The NF-P12 is designed with static pressure in mind, so if you do go with an active CPU cooler then this is the recommended fan. If $20 per is too rich for your blood, Yate Loon makes cheap $3 fans which are also excellently quiet. The D12SL-12 is the low speed model, and should really be the only one you consider. Scythe Slipstream fans are in between the Yate Loons and Noctuas price and performance wise, and come in almost every RPM ever, from 500 to 1900. Nexus fans are rebranded Yate Loons with a higher price tag. All four of these fans are excellent for quiet use, and are recommended at SPCR.

As above, get the cheapest 8800GT/3870 you can find and slap on an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 or a Thermalright HR-03GT.

The Corsair HX520 and HX620 power supplies are known for being quiet, as are most Seasonic-branded units. The VX450 and VX550 are good too, but non-modular and I think not Seasonic-made. Check my facts there, I'm not sure. If it's still too loud, you can do a fan-swap. I would recommend the Nexus Real Silent 80mm fan or the Noctua NF-P12.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Sheninat0r
Consider getting a Scythe Ninja instead of the U-120, and duct it to your exhaust fan. Ninjas are superior to Ultra-120s when run passive like this, and doing this will reduce another source of noise in your system. The quietest hard drive is probably the Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB drive, unless you want to look into 2.5" laptop drives. For even more quiet, suspend your drives or stuff them in a Scythe Quiet Drive or NoVibes cage.

Noctua makes the quietest fans with the best airflow, so look into those if you can. They cost about $20 each though, but are really incredible for the noise/airflow ratio. The NF-S12 is designed with case fan use in mind, and has very little pressure and deals horribly with restrictive intakes and heatsink fins. The NF-P12 is designed with static pressure in mind, so if you do go with an active CPU cooler then this is the recommended fan. If $20 per is too rich for your blood, Yate Loon makes cheap $3 fans which are also excellently quiet. The D12SL-12 is the low speed model, and should really be the only one you consider. Scythe Slipstream fans are in between the Yate Loons and Noctuas price and performance wise, and come in almost every RPM ever, from 500 to 1900. Nexus fans are rebranded Yate Loons with a higher price tag. All four of these fans are excellent for quiet use, and are recommended at SPCR.

As above, get the cheapest 8800GT/3870 you can find and slap on an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 or a Thermalright HR-03GT.

The Corsair HX520 and HX620 power supplies are known for being quiet, as are most Seasonic-branded units. The VX450 and VX550 are good too, but non-modular and I think not Seasonic-made. Check my facts there, I'm not sure. If it's still too loud, you can do a fan-swap. I would recommend the Nexus Real Silent 80mm fan or the Noctua NF-P12.

awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[lilbabimac]

Originally posted by: Sheninat0r
Consider getting a Scythe Ninja instead of the U-120, and duct it to your exhaust fan. Ninjas are superior to Ultra-120s when run passive like this, and doing this will reduce another source of noise in your system. The quietest hard drive is probably the Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB drive, unless you want to look into 2.5" laptop drives. For even more quiet, suspend your drives or stuff them in a Scythe Quiet Drive or NoVibes cage.

Noctua makes the quietest fans with the best airflow, so look into those if you can. They cost about $20 each though, but are really incredible for the noise/airflow ratio. The NF-S12 is designed with case fan use in mind, and has very little pressure and deals horribly with restrictive intakes and heatsink fins. The NF-P12 is designed with static pressure in mind, so if you do go with an active CPU cooler then this is the recommended fan. If $20 per is too rich for your blood, Yate Loon makes cheap $3 fans which are also excellently quiet. The D12SL-12 is the low speed model, and should really be the only one you consider. Scythe Slipstream fans are in between the Yate Loons and Noctuas price and performance wise, and come in almost every RPM ever, from 500 to 1900. Nexus fans are rebranded Yate Loons with a higher price tag. All four of these fans are excellent for quiet use, and are recommended at SPCR.

As above, get the cheapest 8800GT/3870 you can find and slap on an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 or a Thermalright HR-03GT.

The Corsair HX520 and HX620 power supplies are known for being quiet, as are most Seasonic-branded units. The VX450 and VX550 are good too, but non-modular and I think not Seasonic-made. Check my facts there, I'm not sure. If it's still too loud, you can do a fan-swap. I would recommend the Nexus Real Silent 80mm fan or the Noctua NF-P12.

Got any temp charts for your claims on the Ninja vs U-120? Not doubting you, just wanna see how much more "superior" doing what you said will be temp wise.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Aim away from the ultra 120 extreme unless you like to lap, a lot. The tuniq tower is the next best performer and can be very quiet with a simple fan replacement.

The case is a good choice, not my first but, a good case.

If you do get an actively cooled GPU I'd reccomend the Zalman ZNF-100 for converting it to passive. It's going to need decent airflow on an 8800 but, it's a great performer.

Samsung hard drives are goign to be a lot quieter but, from a distace if they're mounted properly there will be minimal difference.

 

[Blain]

Except for EXTREME CPU OCing, I like HS/fans that blow down on the CPU socket.
They provide air flow that washes across the other MB components that need cooling too.
The tower type HS may suck the heat up off the CPU, but do little for the surrounding components.

Zalman makes good heatsinks that blow down.
Thermalright has very good quality heatsinks that blow down.
I guess even ThermalTake can get you there also.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Blain

Except for EXTREME CPU OCing, I like HS/fans that blow down on the CPU socket.
They provide air flow that washes across the other MB components that need cooling too.
The tower type HS may suck the heat up off the CPU, but do little for the surrounding components.

Zalman makes good heatsinks that blow down.
Thermalright has very good quality heatsinks that blow down.
I guess even ThermalTake can get you there also.

A very good point. I'm actually still using my old xp-120 with GREAT results. My board, dfi nf4 ultra-d, is notorious for high pwm temps but, with my xp120 even running 1.5v cpu and as much as 3.1vram pwm runs abou the same idle as my cpu and it actually loads a little lower.

 

[Blain]

When reviewers are testing the latest and greatest in CPU heatsinks, they mainly focus on CPU temps alone. Some will toss in some case temperatures.
Not very many reviews address design of the HS and what impact it has on other components.

Since a PC is more than just a processor alone, it makes me wonder why other cooling issues are left out when reviews are written.
Hmm... I wonder... $$$? :roll: