Need advice on quiet build...

[riversend3]

I have been reading through the forums and asking questions, and so far all the help has been great.

Upgrading from an AthlonXP 2700+, GeForce 5900, WinXP system. Will likely not overclock. Some gaming, video and photo editing (Adobe PS and Premiere), all the other standard home office and internet functions.

I have a pretty good idea what I want, but need some help with a couple of components.

I want the system to be fairly quiet (not silent, but not the noisemaker I currently have).

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ~$95

CPU: Q6600 ~$280 or E6750 ~$198 What kind of HSF combo should I put on there to get it quieter?

RAM: 2 x 1GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 2GB Kit DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 Xtreme Performance Memory Retail (~$67 after rebate)

Case: Need some help here on a quiet case. Not much info on the cases forum about quiet, mostly just cooling.
Looking at the Antec P182 (~$135 after rebate), also looked at NXZT Hush, but from what I've read it has some issues (not wide enough on the interior, LED power on is brutally bright). Any other quiet case suggestions would be great, not going to spend more than around 150ish.

Video Card: Am considering a BFG 7900GS OC for $99 after rebate, but even though the cost is quite a bit higher a silent 8600GTS might be worth it just for the silent operation. Gigabyte and MSI both have silent GTS for ~$160-170.

I am investigating keeping my Enermax PSU, if I decide to get new I will likely go with an Enhance 5150, seems to have good reviews on how quiet it is.

Keeping my current HD (200GB 7200rpm), DVD burner, monitor (Samsung 215TW), mouse and keyboard.

Anything else?

RE3

 

[mdunk]

Take a look at the Antec Sonata III, it won't be as quiet as the p182 though

 

[MarcVenice]

it might be your HD making a lot of noise too. The mobo you're buying, you definately want it to have a passively cooled NB. If you're not much of a gamer, a 7600gs passively cooled should do the trick too. I think you're right on the money with the enhance PSU, quiet, and a qaulity brand, it basicaly has to be a ball-bearing 120mm fan PSU. Cooling I'd prolly get a arctic cooler 7 pro.

Looks like you did your research though, so good luck

 

[asdftt123]

I would look into Scythe products for the CPU cooler. They are supposed to be very quiet.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If one wishes to get lost in the detail of quiet computing, nothing scratches that itch like http://www.silentpcreview.com/

The Enhance ENP-5150GH is a good, fairly quiet unit. I put a ENP-5140GH (400W) in my Sister's home comp. Tis quiet enough.

When and if I move to a rural home next year(i live near the intersection of two freeways), the selection of Arctic Cooling cases will get a good looking over. They come with proprietary Seasonic PSUs from 350W to 500W. http://www.arctic-cooling.com/pc_case1.php

Check this thread out for a look-see of the PSU internals. Gotta be careful of those long lived, ceramic bearinged but fragile frameless fans. http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1206

 

[riversend3]

Thanks for the replies. I will take a look at the silentpcreview site, that might get me over the top. My HD is not making too much noise, it's not silent, but I have certainly been around much louder HDs. Until I quiet down the rest of the rig, it isn't worth looking at the HD, if it turns out to be the loudest remaining component then I'll go looking. I will also take a look at the Arctic cooler 7 pro or the Scythe stuff.

 

[nwrigley]

When and if I move to a rural home next year(i live near the intersection of two freeways), the selection of Arctic Cooling cases will get a good looking over. They come with proprietary Seasonic PSUs from 350W to 500W. http://www.arctic-cooling.com/pc_case1.php

Those cases look nice, especially at those prices if they come with a Seasonic PSU. How come I haven't heard of them before? Do you know of some good reviews?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article216-page1.html

SPCR complains about resonance with the twin PSU fans. I beleive some of that could be dealt with by using a diode to drop the voltage of one of the fans. That way there would be no sypathetic vibrations. Also, only one HDD can be suspended. A DIY guy like me could take care of that. We have huge HDDs now, so how many would one want or need? The case is not easy to work with but I would just do a build that would not be messed with for a long time...Meh!
Yes the PSU is a quality build and the price is right. Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[nwrigley]

That review you linked to is for an older version of the case. It looks like they have improved them since then. For instance, if you look through the manual it would appear that the "HDD muffler" now accommodates 2 HDD's. They certainly have my attention.

Do you know of a US retailer that sells these?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I have done no research on these cases but I do know that Arctic Cooling is NOT a fly-by-night outfit. They may not achive a godly state of quiet by the standards of SPCR but for a decently quiet rig at a bargain price I can accept a few short comings, like lack of air filtration. My comps are 24" off the floor and stay fairly clean anywho.

If and when I want more detailed info on this line of cases, I would ask over at SPCR or register at Badcaps and bump the thread I linked. Per Hansson is a intelligent, happily helpful Swede. He is a good guy and would be delighted to answer your questions.

 

[engiNURD]

For the HSF, I'd suggest the Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B, Tuniq Tower 120, or the Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + S-Flex fan.

If you're not planning on overclocking, you can save yourself the trouble of that rebate and pickup some Crucial DDR2-667 from frys.com for only $35/1GB. And, if you do decide to OC, you still can:

Q6600: 9 * 266 = 2.4Ghz, DDR2-533 << STOCK speeds
Q6600: 9 * 333 = 3.0Ghz, DDR2-667 << Nice OC

 

[riversend3]

Thanks for all the input folks. Did a lot more reading, discovered a few things :thumbsup: , capitalized on one or two , and probably still made a few mistakes :laugh: . You could go on researching forever, but I am thoroughly looking forward to the new build; here it is:

INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6750 RETAIL BOXED W/COOLING FAN (3 YEARS WARRANTY) $198.50
ANTEC P182 (BLACK) ATX TOWER CASE $128.80
OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB KIT (1GB x 2) PC2-6400 800MHZ 5-5-5-12 240-PIN DDR2 DIMM W/HEAT SPREADER $98.50 (68.50 after rebate)
MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256EZ HD GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Silent Heatpipe Video Card (Retail) $10.00 Rebate $163.90 ($153.90 after rebate)
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L $88.95
CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX $109.00 (99.00 after rebate)

The only thing I'm not sure of is the MSI silent heatpipe fitting in this board, but I read a review where someone just made it fit into a DS3P and when I compared layouts I think there is a bit more room in the DS3L since it isn't crammed with as many features. I'll just have to wait and see. Also, still need to purchase a couple of IDE to SATA conversion cables for my HDDs and DVD burners.

Looks like from reading on silentpcreview that I'll be going with Arctic Cooler 7 pro. The Schythe products seem like a pain to install, and I don't need perfect quiet. The Arctic should be good enough. I will get a fanmate to attach to control the voltage and control the speed/noise that way.

Any recommendations on 120mm fans? I need to throw at least one more into the case and it needs to be relatively quiet.