Quiet desktop PC: Pentium M vs AMD Cool&Quiet

[Ornette]

Hi,

I decided to upgrade my 4 year old system (Athlon 1000) which was optimized for being very quiet, as my PC is used in the living room.

I need the PC for internet, office, image editing, playing DivX movies (TV Out), recording and playing music (dedicated PCI soundcard), and probably for recording analog TV. No gaming.

Desktop video and TV Out quality should be very good (will keep my Matrox G550 card for the moment)

I found two options for me:

1) Pentium M with MicroATX mainboard.

2) AMD 64 Cool&Quiet with regular ATX board

Pentium M is the best option as far as noise is concerned, but it is more expensive, the choice of mainboards is very limited and those are all microATX with few card slots (I need 2 PCI and 1 AGP but would like to have a spare PCI).

Is the Pentium M really worth it in terms of quietness, compared to a well configured AMD C&Q? It is mainly the noise in idle status that is important for me. Could a Sempron be the best option, given that speed is not a priority?

So far I have read many comparisons of the power consumption of those CPUs, but none on noise produced by the necessary fans.

Thank you

Claude

 

[Fox5]

In idle status I'd imagine that they'd be about the same. BTW, no, don't get a sempron unless speed really doesn't matter, the quarter to 1/8 cache of the sempron and lack of dual channel will knock a fair amoutn of performance off.....though if performance doesn't matter very much and price is more of a concern then go for the sempron, just it will have to throttle higher to do the same tasks as say a Venice. While idling, I think P-Ms and Athlons/Semprons use about the same power, just at max speed the P-Ms have an advantage.(you could always buy a Turion chip though, but that sort of defeats the price advantage of A64s)

Add in an Antec Phantom power supply and some panaflo fans, and it should be a very quiet PC.

 

[Safeway]

2) AMD 64 Cool&Quiet with regular ATX board

It's an easy choice. It's cheaper, quiet enough (for most), etc. You then have great performance and support for dual channel, etc.

 

[GnomeCop]

Go with the AMD. The only reason I have a pentium M 2.0ghz dothan for my desktop system is because I upgraded my laptop cpu and had a cpu left over, and my desktop was showing its age.
paired with a GF6800ultra using a NVSilencer5, my system is very fast and quiet, however, if you are interested in doing media encoding the pentium M isnt the fastest.
However since the only thing that I use that stresses my system is games, its OK for me

Also multitasking is not the greatest on the pentium M, but until I find a way to play multiple games at once on the same system, I will be OK..

 

[Zap]

LOL@GnomeCop. Dude, you'd have to be ambidexterous to be able to play two games at once.

I'd say A64 for these reasons:
-Cheaper
-wider choice of cooling (most Pentium M boards use tiny proprietary cooler)
-wider availability

I like the Pentium M - I really do, but it is a tough sell.

With my A64 I use RightMark CPU Clock Utility for the Cool&Quiet. With RightMark you can basically choose the increments of speed and voltage as well as how aggressive it ramps up in speed. I think the lowest setting is 800MHz at .8 volts. Some socket 754 Semprons do not have Cool&Quiet (I believe those under 3000+). My opinion differs from Fox5 because I don't believe the socket 754 Semprons give up much in performance versus socket 754 A64 at the same true clock speed.

Here's a reasonable suggestion for a quiet system. I'll make some assumptions for my choices. I'll assume you aren't overclocking since you didn't mention it, but instead mentioned running quiet. I'll also assume that you have a bit of a budget to spend, since you mentioned Pentium M and those are not cheap.

CPU - Whatever socket 939 CPU is in your price range. Make sure it is the newest core, currently "Venice" or "San Diego."

Motherboard - Whatever socket 939 that has the features you want in the form factor you want. You'll probably be looking for one with an AGP slot for your Matrox card unless you want to upgrade.

RAM - Any dual channel kit, no need for anything fancy.

Case - Any that looks good to you and has "quiet" features. Look for large exhaust fans (120mm) and unobstructed airflow. SilentPCReview.com may have some suggestions. Consider a quiet fan or a fan controller to lower RPM. Cases with rubber grommets at the HDD mounts are good choices. Cases using thicker metals are good choices.

Power supply - Seasonic S12. I still don't trust passively cooled units such as the Antec Phantom (indeed a friend had one die).

Hard drive - Seagate or Samsung. If you become a real fanatic, you'll "suspend" the drives.

CPU heatsink - I suggest one of the "tower" units. I know large conventional ones are really popular, but they're tough to fit. I've had to sell my Thermalright XP-120 after a motherboard upgrade because it no longer fit, and I still have a Zalman 7700 new in the blister pack because it didn't fit on my current board. With a "tower" unit you can get one with NO FANS. That's why I suggested a case with 120mm fan and the Seasonic power supply, even with the tiny bit of near silent airflow, a large tower heatsink designed for passive cooling will get the job done. Some possible choices are the SCYTHE SCNJ-1000 NINJA SILENT FANLESS CPU COOLER or the THERMALTAKE CL-P0071 SONICTOWER FANLESS 4-IN-1 HEATPIPE CPU COOLER.

Do check out Silent PC Review for their suggestions. Those freaks (and I use it in the nicest way to indicate "complete enthusiast") are a good source for someone wanting to "go quiet."

 

[GnomeCop]

yep, gotta be ambidextrous, and not to mention sprout a couple of extra arms.
The midrange amd chips are the way to go with a large cooler.
The pentium M boards mainly force you to use a bundled proprietary cooler. Though the board I have lets me use almost any socket 478 cooler. I use a thermalright XP90 on my cpu without a fan. The proprietary coolers arent bad, since the fan on them rarely ever spins.

However if you are paying for a new 533mhz fsb pentium M and a 915 chipset pentium M board you would have spent way more than you would have had to.


however...... if you were interested in an ATX pentium M board... here you go
looks like it accepts a wider array of coolers too.... scared to even look up the price.

 

[Unkno]

get nexus fans, adequate air flow and quiet

 

[Ornette]

Thanks for all the information. I wasn't aware of this new Pentium M mainboard, which looks interesting. But I think I'll go the AMD route.

 

[GnomeCop]

cool, good luck with your system.