my new rig...

[Toadster]

my goal: build a high-power, quiet gaming system that doesn't exceed case/CPU temps...

Case: Antec Sonata w/380W PS
Proc: Pentium4 3.4
MB: Intel 915GUX (Socket-T)
CPU Cooler: Zalman 7000B-CU w/ ZM-CS1 775 adapter
HD: Hitachi Deskstar 250GB
Video: 128MB DDR3 Aopen 6600GT
RAM: Balistics DDR2 (4000) 1GB
NEC2500A 8x-DVD Burner (carryover from another system)

am i missing anything? or does anyone have suggestions?

at this point, i have everything except the CPU cooler

 

[CheesePoofs]

It would have been better if you'd gotten an athlon 64, since they are much cooler than prescotts, but since you have a prescott, there's not much you can do.

That cooler should cool the cpu fine, and i've heard its nearly silent on its lowest setting.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

don't get a hitachi deskstar . I work at datadoctors and we see almost as many failed deskstars as we do maxtor drives.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, an LGA775 Prescott should run cooler than a socket-478 Prescott.

I'm still investigating the possibility that choices of motherboards also make a difference in cooling. We have two types of mobos here: ASUS and Intel. Somehow, with the same type of CPUs and heatsinks, the Intels seem to run a tad warmer. But this could all be my "imagination".

As to the Hitachi, firsthand experience in a lab setting where troubled drives stream in is not something to be discounted. On the other hand, the 7K250 drives of various sizes got a "9" out of "10" last year in Maximum PC. This was after the great IBM DeskStar 75 GXP disaster, the RMA return statistics, lawsuits and everything that followed, including the sell-off of the IBM drive division to Hitachi. That one bad design destroyed IBM's reputation. They had put five platters in the 75 GXP, and the drives failed. Others reported lesser problems with the 60 GXP, but we have three of those which have been running without failure since 2002.

Some of the small computer repair shops spread the word about IBM, and discontinued selling ANY IBM drives. If you brought up the GXP models in conversation, a proprietor would invariably say "IBM . . . ees sheet drive . . . sheet!! We don' sell IBM no more . . !!"

Nevertheless, the 7K250's were well-rated. I have a couple, and other friends have a couple each. Nobody's complained.

For performance and knowing that size limitations exist with the top of the line, I'd pick Western Digital Raptors. To trade off some performance against price, I'd still pick the 7K250's.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

we had a customer recently who had a deskstar, it had failed on him. we did a recovery and got all the information off of the drive, luckily. he had given us a hard drive to copy all lthe information to. It was another deskstar, brand new, we took it out of hte retial package. He had to come back in after three days because the new drive failed too. he said forget it and bought on of the WD we carry. That is the first i have heard of that happening in a timeframe so short. But we can thank hitachi/ibm for ~40% of our reconveries. Another ~40% comes from maxtors. the other 20% comes from the random POS and operator error. We have one school district or another come in every other weekend because they screwed there servers up again.

 

[imported_waldo]

If you want cool, I wouldn't have gone with the Sonata, as they run hot as it is, but it looks nice!

 

[Toadster]

cool

thanks guys, yes, i understand the legacy IBM drives were crap... i've heard all good about the 7k250 - so it was a bang for the buck decision...

also, the sonata IS a beautiful case, a couple of my buddies have it and love it - nearly silent

once i get my CPU fan installed, i hope to report back on my satisfaction level