Old comp overhaul / silence thread - need some advice

[bNeta86]

I'm a pretty avid reader of the forums and found many individual threads on how to tweak your comp to make it just right but I was hoping to get some advice.

I have an old machine that I am thinking of upgrading for my wife...but I dont know if I want to just keep it as is and build another PC...I dont really want to spend more than about $200-300...and not sure if its even going to be worth it to do so.

She only plays Zoo Tycoon and does webdesign stuff.

Current PC

Athlon XP 1800+
MSI KT333 Ultra Board (battery dead for the clock so it doesnt keep time - pisses her off and I fear that its time for just a whole board replacement or something to that effect.)

768MB random RAM I think its PC2100...

GeForce TI-4200 (128mb i think)
Crap PSU / case - some coolermaster case I got for like $30 a long while back - with the PSU!!! it still works but it from the "more 80mm fans is better" era so it has like 5 80mm fans everywhere - blowhole on the side - 1 in the back - 4 in the front - 1 on the chip...yikes its so loud.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106602
is the cpu headsink/fan I think...



I also have an Hewlett Packard PC that is still just completely stock. Its PSU is a POS that needs some serious work but its a really small case and not sure that a normal PSU would fit in there. I would love to go fanless in this machine as its only a PIII-850 and unlikely to need much in the way of power. It supports 2 HD / CD rom and floppy.



GOALS = SILENCE - slightly faster performance - but not too worried about this.

Also - want to figure out the cheapest way to increase speed - I was thinking graphics card upgrade...but not sure if that would have a big effect vs. cpu / mobo upgrade. Anyway - thanks in advance for all advice.

 

[disperse]

I'm sure others on this forum will have more to say about specific components. I have a couple quick suggestions.

For Zoo Tycoon and web design the latest graphic card isn't going to increase performance all that much. If she has a lot of large images open at a time, get her as much RAM as possible.

If you aren't overclocking and the computer is in a room that stays fairly cool, 5 fans is overkill. I wouldn't kill yourself trying to get the computer dead silent. Instead, consider changing the location of the computer. Putting it in a corner beneath/behind a desk will do a lot more for killing noise than investing in a lot of expensive "silent" components. Also, try decoupling it from the floor or other acoustic surfaces with foam. If you want to kill hard drive noise, try suspending the hard drive with elastics to decouple it from the case.

Hope that helps,

Mark.

 

[bNeta86]

Good advice.

The room is pretty hot - I have 3 other comps running in there all the time...

the HD isnt too loud - its a samsung I think the main culprit is the crappy PSU and the tons of case fans - the thing I am scared of is getting too hot in there with all the other PCs.

Would a seasonic S12 work with that PC set up? I have been reading that is a much quieter PS.

Maybe a new sonota case would work well for it...I dont know - just looking for cheap alternatives.

 

[bNeta86]

not trying to bump my own post - just didnt want this question to get left inthe origional thread.

Is there a way to cheaply convert this to a shuttle PC - I think that would work great.

I would like to keep everything but the mobo if thats possible but if I have to I can upgrade processor mobo / ram

Thanks again for the insight.


BTW - it sits on carpet is that ok?

 

[yacoub]

I'm not sure about pricing but some quick recommendations to check out would be:

Seasonic S12 PSU (yes, I think this would be a good idea for a quiet, reliable PSU.)

Athlon XP 2500+ Barton (if you can find one) or XP-M 2500+ (Both should be cheap and offer a nice boost to CPU performance over that 1800+.)

1GB of PC3200 value select RAM - just find something cheap from a well-known name brand. Corsair, Crucial, Kingston, OCZ, Geil, Mushkin, etc.

A new Socket-A motherboard or somehow get a replacement battery for your current one. Maybe look into an Asus A7N8X 2.0 (Deluxe or otherwise) since those are decent NForce2 boards with onboard sound and LAN, USB 2.0, etc.

I'm actually considering buying a new system and it sounds like what wifey wants is essentially my current system but perhaps with a lesser videocard than my 9800Pro 128MB. (2500+ Barton core AthlonXP, 1GB PC3200, A7N8X Deluxe 2.0, etc.)

edit - regarding the Shuttle.. imho those are really made to be table-top solutions to ensure they cool properly. I think most of those cases have air intake holes on the bottom and use the little leg-nubs to allow air to flow in underneath the case.

 

[yacoub]

It looks like this is NewEgg's cheapest Athlon XP that is offered Retail (aka with a HSF):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103377
Athlon XP 2800+ Barton core 333MHz FSB
$105

Asus A7N8X-X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131468
$62
(keep in mind your primary future consideration if you go with Socket-A boards will be the lack of SATA for newer harddrives. The trade-off is that this should be much cheaper than going with newer socket-style setups like -754 or -939.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440
Corsair ValueSelect 2x512MB pc3200 DDR400 Unbuffered Dual-Channel capable RAM - One-day sale - $78.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151022
Seasonic 380W S12
$76.99
(Make sure that's enough power for your system, but considerin no overclocking and not a modern GPU, you should be fine.)

That's $323 plus any shipping costs. You would re-use your case, harddrive(s), soundcard(?), and videocard if you did this though. For another ~$30 you can get a Deluxe A7N8X which adds onboard sound and such.

 

[bNeta86]

would the ram downclock automatically?

The floor idea was because the current case is on the floor - and disperse had mentioned putting it on some dampening material. Just making sure carpet was good enough - without causing airflow issues.

Going to price out that PSU to see how much it is along with a new case.

Wonder what the cheapest shuttle options are - going to have to do some reading in the sff forum.

 

[yacoub]

www.sudhian.com has a rather extensive SFF forum section.

 

[disperse]

I mentioned placement of the computer because people obsess about components when placement can make so much more of a difference in how loud the computer seems.

Experiment. You'll notice that a computer placed on top of a desk will be much louder than one placed underneath a desk on a carpet. If you place it so the side of the desk is between you and the noise source, it will be quieter still.

Computers, such as the shuttle PC, that take in air from the bottom of the case, should not be placed on carpet. However, you could place it on a piece of wood and then put that down on the carpet.

Mark.