Quiet Intel C2D Build

[FrenziedEngi]

I posted somewhat recently on the forums, thinking I was going to gut my current computer and upgrade the major parts. But I got thinking, and I realized that all the noise it makes is starting to annoy me too-- so I am researching building a system from scratch.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Primarily for World of Warcraft and some web-browsing/e-mail. Will be running up to 2 wow clients simultaneously (multi-boxing on a single system).

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Up to 1400

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Live in USA, probably going Newegg route (or other suggestions)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
No real fanboyism. Just want best performance for the price.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Monitor (1680x1050), Raptor 74 hard drive, speakers, keyboard, mouse. Maybe optical drive.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Been looking quite a bit... Think I have a list firmed up

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes to overclocking - as long as I can manage the heat and not make the system obscenely loud

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Within a month

To Reiterate Priorities:
- Quiet
- Great performance in WoW (up to two clients)

Here is my current parts list:

Case Package: 414.95
Antec P182 BLACK Tower Case
Nexus NX-8060 600 Watt 80 Plus Modular PSU
Install Acoustipack ULTIMATE
Nexus Quiet Black and White 120mm Case Fan- Front Intake (installed)
Nexus Quiet Black and White 120mm Case Fan- Top Exhaust (installed)
Nexus Quiet Black and White 120mm Case Fan- Rear Exhaust (installed)

Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme CPU Heatsink (54.95)

EVGA 896-P3-1257-A1 GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130444
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$279.99

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116488
-$10.00 Instant
$109.99
$99.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231166


SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model SH-S223Q - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151173
-$10.00 Instant
-$5.00 Combo
$94.98
$79.98

Combo CPU/Mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115036

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128359
-$15.00 Combo
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate
$308.98
$293.98

Total ~1200-1300

Anyone with experience building quiet machines with some recommendations? Do parts seem well matched? I am not obsessive about quiet, but my computer now is quite loud (can hear it from the next room pretty easily)--am I going overboard? I know for sure I could spend a lot less (or trade up for some better components) if I wasn't spending so much on case/PSU/fans...

Let me know of your experiences and any trades that you might make.

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

 

[yh125d]

Ditch the case combo. If you want the P182 just buy it and a separate psu from Newegg. If you want to overclock though, I'd recommend getting a case with a little better airflow. I use the Antec 300. It's clean looking, cheap, and easily filled with 120mm fans. If you pick up the low rpm scythe fans it won't be loud at all and cool very well

P182 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/...2E16811129025&Tpk=p182

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341011
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139005

Either PSU is way overkill for your rig, but very good deals at $60-70 and gives plenty of headroom for future upgrades.

------
Must be a typo, because that DVD burner is $30 at newegg

------
Switch the Ultra Extreme for one of these two coolers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835207004

Equal or better performance, while being cheaper and lighter

------
I'd switch the CPU to either a Q6600 or Q8300, sicne you mentioned running multiple WoW clients. Everything is heading towards quad in the future anyway

------
I'd ditch the raptor. You can get a WD 640gb Caviar BLACK edition that's about 90% as fast while affording alot more storage for like $70. Also nearly as fast is the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB drive at $100

 

[Denithor]

PhII 940 + Biostar TA790GX combo $295 - $10MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $45 x 2 = $90
Corsair 620HX $160 - $30MIR
EVGA 9800GTX+ SC $165 - $20MIR
LG 6x Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVDRW combo drive $120 - $10IR (coupon code on page)

Hold off on the 3x120mm fans - see how the ones that come with the P182 sound before you spend a bunch more cash there. What the heck is an Acoustipack ULTIMATE?

Second, get a better PSU. The Corsair 620HX is one of the best quality modulars around at a decent price.

Third, WoW needs more CPU & RAM than it does GPU. Drop the GTX 260/216 down to the 9800GTX+ (saving $115) and upgrade from e8500/UD3R to the PhII 940/790GX (you get an unlocked 3GHz quad + mobo for $10 less).

Finally, ditch the DVDRW and use the LG BR/HD/DVDRW combo drive. It's a very fast ripper/burner & you can enjoy watching HD movies on your system (trust me, this is nice).

EDIT: Oh, and if you decide to stick with an Intel system, just swap the e8500 for this Q9400 ($229). Either way, as yh125d said, you want a quad.

 

[FrenziedEngi]

Originally posted by: Denithor
PhII 940 + Biostar TA790GX combo $295 - $10MIR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2.0V $45 x 2 = $90
Corsair 620HX $160 - $30MIR
EVGA 9800GTX+ SC $165 - $20MIR
LG 6x Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVDRW combo drive $120 - $10IR (coupon code on page)

Hold off on the 3x120mm fans - see how the ones that come with the P182 sound before you spend a bunch more cash there. What the heck is an Acoustipack ULTIMATE?

Second, get a better PSU. The Corsair 620HX is one of the best quality modulars around at a decent price.

Third, WoW needs more CPU & RAM than it does GPU. Drop the GTX 260/216 down to the 9800GTX+ (saving $115) and upgrade from e8500/UD3R to the PhII 940/790GX (you get an unlocked 3GHz quad + mobo for $10 less).

Finally, ditch the DVDRW and use the LG BR/HD/DVDRW combo drive. It's a very fast ripper/burner & you can enjoy watching HD movies on your system (trust me, this is nice).

EDIT: Oh, and if you decide to stick with an Intel system, just swap the e8500 for this Q9400 ($229). Either way, as yh125d said, you want a quad.

Thanks for these suggestions --
Along the AMD lines... If I am overclocking is having 2 ram kits (4 sticks) going to significantly impact my upper limit? Also, back in the S939 days low ram latency on ram was quite significant, is that no longer the case?

Here is my updated config:
Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129025
-$25.00 Instant
-$29.99 Saving
$169.99
$115.00

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139005
-$60.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$159.99
$99.99


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL6D-4GBNQ - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231226
-$15.00 Instant
$119.98
$89.98
($44.99 each)


Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116488
-$10.00 Instant
$109.99
$99.99


XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835233003
-$7.99 Saving
$36.99
$29.00


AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103471

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813138128
-$40.00 Instant
-$40.00 Combo
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$374.99
$294.99


EVGA 512-P3-N879-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814130416
-$10.00 Instant
-$49.99 Combo
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$234.98
$174.99

Subtotal: $941.92
- $50 in rebates + $28 ship

Leaves me some money to play with better fans and other accessories after I see how it performs....

 

[heyheybooboo]

You are taking a small hit going from the 260 to the 9800gtx - As D noted won't make much difference in WOW but might be fairly significant in other games - though I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the guy when it comes to stream processors vs core clock.

If you go with the Phenom II combo it is a Radeon CrossFire motherboard. Without opening the SLI/CrossFire debate an nVidia card would limit future video expansion - You can't SLI two nVidia video cards on a CrossFire motherboard.

An HD4850 or HD4830 would be a close competitor to the 9800gtx - probably an HD4870 to the 260.

And I'd be hard pressed to describe any of the above video cards as quiet - it doesn't really go with the high-end territory

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
You are taking a small hit going from the 260 to the 9800gtx - As D noted won't make much difference in WOW but might be fairly significant in other games - though I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the guy when it comes to stream processors vs core clock.

If you go with the Phenom II combo it is a Radeon CrossFire motherboard. Without opening the SLI/CrossFire debate an nVidia card would limit future video expansion - You can't SLI two nVidia video cards on a CrossFire motherboard.

An HD4850 or HD4830 would be a close competitor to the 9800gtx - probably an HD4870 to the 260.

And I'd be hard pressed to describe any of the above video cards as quiet - it doesn't really go with the high-end territory

He could do a single main GPU and a second card for Physx work though (pretty sure)


I haven;t heard a 9800gtx, but my GTX260 is plenty quiet, except when its being fully maximized, in which case theres alot more noise coming from my speakers

 

[zenguy]

This PSU could save you some money, in fact enough to dbl the RAM from 4-8GB which is never bad.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817703005

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: FrenziedEngi
Along the AMD lines... If I am overclocking is having 2 ram kits (4 sticks) going to significantly impact my upper limit? Also, back in the S939 days low ram latency on ram was quite significant, is that no longer the case?

Leaves me some money to play with better fans and other accessories after I see how it performs....

Low latency RAM isn't really an issue in nearly all real-world applications (only exception is a few data-intensive scientific cruncher programs). The IMC on the PhII and i7 and the huge L2 cache on the C2D/C2Q chips pretty much negates the need for high bandwidth/low latency RAM.

Four sticks shouldn't impair your OC efforts. But if you have the room in your budget, I would go for these sticks instead: G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1100 CAS5 1.8V. They're $80/kit so about twice what the other ones run but they run lower voltage for cooler temps & easier on the IMC of the CPU.

Where are you getting the price on the 9800GTX? The one I linked was $145AR (here). And regarding this choice in GPU - the OC 9800GTX+ is going to be close in performance to a GTX 260/192 at stock speed. The much faster core clocks will balance out the lower number of shaders so they will be similar (especially in WoW which is not as demanding of a GPU as most other games today).

That PCP&C 610W PSU would work and save you $20 but it uses an 80mm fan, which is going to be louder than the 120mm fan used in the Corsair 650TX. And you wanted quiet...

 

[FrenziedEngi]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
Do you all think that the 520hx would be enough for my build? Or should I go with the 650 one?

Regarding Crossfire/SLI/etc... I don't think I will ever do it, plus I have heard some weird issues with ATI drivers and WoW, so I'm sticking with nvidia.

 

[Denithor]

The 520HX is more expensive than the 650TX because it's modular. If the appearance of the innards don't matter to you just get the 650TX. If you want a neat & orderly case grab the 520HX and only hook up the cables you need.

 

[FrenziedEngi]

Sorry, I guess I was referring to the 620hx. But strictly power wise... the 520 would be enough with 4 sticks of ram (8GB), 9800 GTX, 1 hard drive, OCed processor (Phenom II x4)?

 

[theAnimal]

More than enough power.