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Quiet PC on a Budget

O

okb

Member
I'm thinking about updating my PC (PII 300) to something more modern and quiet. It's a bit noisy and slow. Price is a consideration, so I can pretty much rule out Pentium-M. Looking at some AMD options, but there's a staggering array of motherboard choices in all sorts of prices. Some factors being taken into account:

-onboard video might be nice (I have an AGP GF2, but with a noise hsf--can it be run w/o? I also have an AGP 8meg RageII)
-have a sound card PCI
-have a NIC PCI, but onboard LAN is fine
-have HDDs/CD-R
-need PSU, CPU, mobo, RAM obviously

It will be pretty much used by my wife for browsing, some word processing and things like that. Nothing heavy duty (no video editing or gaming), bottom end of current chips is fine. She's a light sleeper and can hear things inaudable to most humans, hence the 8meg video card. It's still loud for her and I haven't nailed down what's causing it. Maybe just an excuse to build a new PC... 😉

I should mention that I have a Thunderbird 900MHz without a motherboard (the mobo is fried) is that a possibility? I could reuse my PSU and RAM then, but I don't know how cool and how quiet I could make the system with minimal fans. I would like to use this chip somehow, it hardly got any before the mobo went bye-bye. 🙁
 
If you want hardcore silence...

Pentium M Dothan w/ fanless heatsink
Antec Sonata II w/ Nexus fans
Video card w/ passive heatsink
Seagate hard drive

...yeah
 
Case/PSU: Antec Sonata II, around $100 Alternatively get a Seasonic PSU and an Antec 3000b and tape over the side panel holes
M/B: Get something with passive cooling, not one with a 40mm fan
CPU heatsink: If you're willing to drop around $45, it's completely passive. Alternatively, get a Arctic Freezer; you're stuck with a proprietary fan, but they're relatively cheap
Videocard: they tend to be noisy with stock cooling. See if the Zalman heatpipe cooler is compatible with your video card. If it doesn't put out that much heat, you can run it passively.
Hard drive: silentpcreview.com shows ways to decouple your hard drive, this can make a big difference in idle and seek noise
Fans: Consider getting a set of fan isolators from veraxfans.com if you don't go with the Sonata II, the Sonata II comes with them, most other cases don't.
Fan Controller: optional, but you might be better off waiting until you have more money to spend later. The Nexus fans available from most websites, or the Yate Loons available from Jabtech or tekjems are good when undervolted.

The VGA card is probably one of your loudest components because of 40mm fan. Get a mb with onboard video or get a replacement fanless heatsink, that'll do the most good.
 
What about a Sempron 64bit 2500+ and an inexpensive mobo w/ onboard video? I can get the chip for $74 (claims 256k L2, but I'm not convinced...). Or a mobo for my TBird, worst case the I replace the PSU if it's also noise. The PII seems to have a whine to it, but it's harder to tell how loud the PSU is.

Any mobo suggestions? The PC really won't get much of a workout, so passive cooling where possible should be fine. I have 2 case fans, one is pretty quiet (and at the back, so most of its noise is blocked by the computer and surroundings). Really, if I can get it down do current HDD noises the rest should pretty much be drowned out by normal apartment building sounds. She sleeps with it on many nights since I removed the GF2, but she still complains about it, can't say I blame her, the whine is irritating at times but I sleep through thunder storms, so I'm not really one to judge! 😉

Bona Fide, yes that would be nice unfortunately a low-end P-M isn't much shy of $300, so that's not in the cards. Mind you thi is all in Monopoly money. 🙂
 
Case&PSU>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129140 $95
CPU>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104251 $59
MOBO>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157035 $76 & upgrade path if needed
MOBO alternate>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123240 $56 and axe the vid card
GFX card>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121542 $62
FAN>http://www.jab-tech.com/NEXUS-120MM-REAL-SILENT-CASE-FAN-D12SL-12-pr-2856.html $16
RAM>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145026 $43
Comes to $351 w/ Asrock and vid card...$269 w/ Epox mobo and no vid card. Need to look into getting a silent HD as well. I favor Sammie Spinpoints.
unless you have which I just read you do lol. What is your budget?
 
here's the best system WITH limited cash 😉
antec 3000 b $50
ram...
seasonic 430watts $96ish
athlon 64 3000+ $146.
hsf-go with the xp 90 and a nexus fan(or yate loon. they're the same thing)
replace the exhaust fan with a nexus fan
nexus for the intake fan
nec 3540a
if you want silence over reliability, get a samsung hard drive. if you want all around, get a seagate.
get the asrock mobo so you have agp video card choices as well(it's fanless)
your choice of video card + and zalman vf700 OR you can find a gigabyte fanless video card.
lastly but most importantly, get a fan controller. you can cut the speed in half and with only nexus and zalman fans, it will be SILENT!!! (but things may get a little hot)
 
No budget atm, still getting my school finances sorted out. I did just buy an expensive laptop though, so be kind. 🙂

Athlon 64 is probably overkill for what it will be used for. It would be my preference in a perfect world, but realistically a Sempron will do fine. I mean it's a PII300 and she doesn't complain (much). $74 for a retail Semp 64bit 2500+ (256k??)

What about the Antec SLK2650-BQE Black Quiet? It has a 350W psu, I'm not planning on lighting a ball field so I shouldn't need to spend $100+ on a psu in theory. Though I may have to rethink my drive arrangements which is cool. Don't need to buy a new drive, unless there's a killer deal I just can't pass up, but I haven't seen any of those lately. $96

Onboard video is good for me, this won't be doing graphics (maybe Homestar) or games or anything like that. That memory price is really nice, I don't see anything like that this side of the border, even with the exchange rate wich is merciful lately.

What about this mobo? It's called an upgrade, but it seems like it's a 754 with a slot for a 939 w/ adapter. Could be nice for later down the road. http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8UpgradeVM800.htm $75

Of course I could go barebones, but I'm not familiar with Foxxcon or whatever it's called.
 
Originally posted by: okb
No budget atm, still getting my school finances sorted out. I did just buy an expensive laptop though, so be kind. 🙂

Athlon 64 is probably overkill for what it will be used for. It would be my preference in a perfect world, but realistically a Sempron will do fine. I mean it's a PII300 and she doesn't complain (much). $74 for a retail Semp 64bit 2500+ (256k??)

What about the Antec SLK2650-BQE Black Quiet? It has a 350W psu, I'm not planning on lighting a ball field so I shouldn't need to spend $100+ on a psu in theory. Though I may have to rethink my drive arrangements which is cool. Don't need to buy a new drive, unless there's a killer deal I just can't pass up, but I haven't seen any of those lately. $96

Onboard video is good for me, this won't be doing graphics (maybe Homestar) or games or anything like that. That memory price is really nice, I don't see anything like that this side of the border, even with the exchange rate wich is merciful lately.

What about this mobo? It's called an upgrade, but it seems like it's a 754 with a slot for a 939 w/ adapter. Could be nice for later down the road. http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8UpgradeVM800.htm $75

Of course I could go barebones, but I'm not familiar with Foxxcon or whatever it's called.
Click to expand...

The Antec case is good if your on a budget. I wouldn't bother with anything like that Asus board. This MSI board should suit your needs.
 
Antec SLK2650-BQE Black Quiet - I have 2 and like them alot. replaced fans with Nexus and have Zalman 7000AlCu on one and 90mm thermaltake on other. Seagate drive, fanless MB and vid card. Oh yeah, on one I did replace the PS with a Nexus 400. Both machines are very quiet. I have them right on my desk. Server is on 24/7. Thanks, Dave
 
Originally posted by: Operandi
Originally posted by: okb
No budget atm, still getting my school finances sorted out. I did just buy an expensive laptop though, so be kind. 🙂

Athlon 64 is probably overkill for what it will be used for. It would be my preference in a perfect world, but realistically a Sempron will do fine. I mean it's a PII300 and she doesn't complain (much). $74 for a retail Semp 64bit 2500+ (256k??)

What about the Antec SLK2650-BQE Black Quiet? It has a 350W psu, I'm not planning on lighting a ball field so I shouldn't need to spend $100+ on a psu in theory. Though I may have to rethink my drive arrangements which is cool. Don't need to buy a new drive, unless there's a killer deal I just can't pass up, but I haven't seen any of those lately. $96

Onboard video is good for me, this won't be doing graphics (maybe Homestar) or games or anything like that. That memory price is really nice, I don't see anything like that this side of the border, even with the exchange rate wich is merciful lately.

What about this mobo? It's called an upgrade, but it seems like it's a 754 with a slot for a 939 w/ adapter. Could be nice for later down the road. http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8UpgradeVM800.htm $75

Of course I could go barebones, but I'm not familiar with Foxxcon or whatever it's called.
Click to expand...

The Antec case is good if your on a budget. I wouldn't bother with anything like that Asus board. This MSI board should suit your needs.
Click to expand...

Why not the Asrock/sus? I would say to stay away from MSI lol 😉
 
Originally posted by: JBDan
Originally posted by: Operandi
Originally posted by: okb
No budget atm, still getting my school finances sorted out. I did just buy an expensive laptop though, so be kind. 🙂

Athlon 64 is probably overkill for what it will be used for. It would be my preference in a perfect world, but realistically a Sempron will do fine. I mean it's a PII300 and she doesn't complain (much). $74 for a retail Semp 64bit 2500+ (256k??)

What about the Antec SLK2650-BQE Black Quiet? It has a 350W psu, I'm not planning on lighting a ball field so I shouldn't need to spend $100+ on a psu in theory. Though I may have to rethink my drive arrangements which is cool. Don't need to buy a new drive, unless there's a killer deal I just can't pass up, but I haven't seen any of those lately. $96

Onboard video is good for me, this won't be doing graphics (maybe Homestar) or games or anything like that. That memory price is really nice, I don't see anything like that this side of the border, even with the exchange rate wich is merciful lately.

What about this mobo? It's called an upgrade, but it seems like it's a 754 with a slot for a 939 w/ adapter. Could be nice for later down the road. http://www.asrock.com/product/product_K8UpgradeVM800.htm $75

Of course I could go barebones, but I'm not familiar with Foxxcon or whatever it's called.
Click to expand...

The Antec case is good if your on a budget. I wouldn't bother with anything like that Asus board. This MSI board should suit your needs.
Click to expand...

Why not the Asrock/sus? I would say to stay away from MSI lol 😉
Click to expand...

The "CPU upgrade" feature is useless in my opinion.

I've built countless systems based on MSI (and Aopen) boards with zero failures. I've tried Asus twice for builds for friends and family both boards were DOA, go figure.
 
Originally posted by: okb
Why is that?
Click to expand...

If you are replying to me check the older mobo threads here and google some. MSI in 2004 had a rough QC ride. Since then I have not bothered with their boards, but that doesn't mean they aren't any good. Each person has their preference and has had different experiences with different boards. They all have bugs imo.
 
I was replying to you, sorry, neglected to quote. 🙂 You're exactly right. I had an MSI board that was great until it got fried (lightning?) Maybe some people get tagged with a bad batch. I have no real preference these days as I'm no longer into overclocking. Longevity and stability are probably the key factors now since I can't go replacing things if all doesn't go as planned. The fact that the technology has changed so much since I was last in the market it's all the same to me. Don't have the time to really get down and dirty, hell I shouldn't even be on the forums right now either! 😉
 
Originally posted by: okb
I was replying to you, sorry, neglected to quote. 🙂 You're exactly right. I had an MSI board that was great until it got fried (lightning?) Maybe some people get tagged with a bad batch. I have no real preference these days as I'm no longer into overclocking. Longevity and stability are probably the key factors now since I can't go replacing things if all doesn't go as planned. The fact that the technology has changed so much since I was last in the market it's all the same to me. Don't have the time to really get down and dirty, hell I shouldn't even be on the forums right now either! 😉
Click to expand...

lol I just prefer Asus, especially if you are after stability. Asrock is made by Asus..just a lower-end product....I thought the double socket board was a nice option if you wanted to move up one day to a 939 & it was only $76. The other board (Epox) is a nice, inexpensive board and has the onboard video. Asus makes a 754 board w/ onboard video as well...think its around $60 or so. So for ~$300 you can get a pretty sweet rig shipped and all. You never said what your budget was 🙂
 
Originally posted by: JBDan
lol I just prefer Asus, especially if you are after stability. Asrock is made by Asus..just a lower-end product....I thought the double socket board was a nice option if you wanted to move up one day to a 939 & it was only $76. The other board (Epox) is a nice, inexpensive board and has the onboard video. Asus makes a 754 board w/ onboard video as well...think its around $60 or so. So for ~$300 you can get a pretty sweet rig shipped and all. You never said what your budget was 🙂
Click to expand...

Fair enough heh. The double socket is attractive, but I have to think realistically...will I upgrade while it's still a useful option? Seeing as we're still using a PII300 that might not be a good question lol! I think onboard video would be a much more useful feature, and it would solve any video issues.

Haven't nailed down a budget yet. Waiting to see how much is left over after tuition/books etc. I could in theory buy a high end system, but we'll never use it. I use the lappy now and the PC just sits there waiting for things to get backed up or the wife to check her email.

I may put Linux on there, so I don't know if that factors into this. Should be ok from what I can tell.
 
Originally posted by: okb
Originally posted by: JBDan
lol I just prefer Asus, especially if you are after stability. Asrock is made by Asus..just a lower-end product....I thought the double socket board was a nice option if you wanted to move up one day to a 939 & it was only $76. The other board (Epox) is a nice, inexpensive board and has the onboard video. Asus makes a 754 board w/ onboard video as well...think its around $60 or so. So for ~$300 you can get a pretty sweet rig shipped and all. You never said what your budget was 🙂
Click to expand...

Fair enough heh. The double socket is attractive, but I have to think realistically...will I upgrade while it's still a useful option? Seeing as we're still using a PII300 that might not be a good question lol! I think onboard video would be a much more useful feature, and it would solve any video issues.

Haven't nailed down a budget yet. Waiting to see how much is left over after tuition/books etc. I could in theory buy a high end system, but we'll never use it. I use the lappy now and the PC just sits there waiting for things to get backed up or the wife to check her email.

I may put Linux on there, so I don't know if that factors into this. Should be ok from what I can tell.
Click to expand...

Is a strange feature if you ask me. The board is aimed at the lower end market which is rarely upgraded, for the system you plan on building it's a waste of money. Either pocket the savings or use the extra money for more RAM.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131549
Can you find this board up yonder where your at? lol.... It is microATX though
Click to expand...

Yep. $80 at one place. Micro doesn't bother me any. I mean really, what all am I going to put in it? Maybe an AGP video card, and a PCI sound card. If it's got onboard LAN that's taken care of, and even if not that's only 2 PCI slots

Is a strange feature if you ask me. The board is aimed at the lower end market which is rarely upgraded, for the system you plan on building it's a waste of money. Either pocket the savings or use the extra money for more RAM.
Click to expand...

Operandi, funny you should mention that. When I first saw the board I wondered the same thing. Seemed an odd feature given the price range. More of a gimic perhaps?
 
I'm gonna reply to this because I don't see the OP's question being answered properly per his requests.
It will be pretty much used by my wife for browsing, some word processing and things like that. Nothing heavy duty (no video editing or gaming), bottom end of current chips is fine. She's a light sleeper and can hear things inaudable to most humans
Click to expand...
Sempron for socket 754 should be just fine. Even the slowest (2500+) should run circles around that Tbird 900. Get one with 256k cache if you want to cut your percieved performance losses. Perhaps look for the newer Sempron 64 chips. One suggestion for quietness would be to use a Sempron rated 3000+ or higher, since I've heard that those support "Cool and Quiet" technology, exactly what you are looking for.

mATX socket 754 motherboard with onboard video. I don't think any of these have a fan on the Northbridge. Get one based on the ATI chipset if you "think" you'll do anything beyond what you listed. Otherwise, get one based on the SiS 760GX chipset, or even the VIA K8M800 chipset if you are feeding on ramen by the end of the month. Don't listen to the fanatics, it will work fine for your listed uses. Note that all of these can at minimum be upgraded to better video/CPU, but based on what you currently use and your listed expected uses, the onboard stuff will suit you/your wife just fine. Note that all of these have onboard USB 2.0, video, 10/100 network, sound. Most brands work just fine.

When using socket 754, for best performance use only one stick of RAM. For instance, if you want 1GB RAM, get a 1GB module instead of using two 512MB modules. Not that it won't work either way, but it just works a hair better with a single module, so you may as well plan for it from the beginning with whatever amount of RAM you think you need.

Ditch your PCI NIC and sound, use onboard for simplicity.

Keep your CDROM if it works. It'll only make noise if there's a disc inserted and you are accessing it.

Ditch your HDD. Older HDDs (ie, one that shipped with a P2 system) use ball bearing motors and are considered fairly noisy. You may not notice the HDD whine until the rest of the system gets quieter than the HDD, and after that it's all that you notice - meaning you notice it all the time. Also, HDD performance has increased much since the P2 days. These days you can find deals on HDDs all the time, depending on how willing you are to play the rebate game. Check the Hot Deals forum - someone there posts a weekly recap of current HDD deals. There are deals as low as $20 after rebate for a new 100GB HDD, $40 AR for 160GB, $50 AR for 200GB... if you don't like rebates, Fry's has a 200GB for $70 with no rebates.

Case... almost any with 120mm exhaust fans will work. The Antec 2650 isn't a bad case, but it's probably the most flimsy out of all Antec "SLK" series cases (meaning they are still better than any "cheap" case, but not up to the standards of other Antec cases). For the same $96 I'd go with the Antec SLK3000B (around $46 shipped from Amazon) and a Fortron AX400 power supply (around $46 shipped from Newegg). The case and power supply both use 120mm fans for low noise with adequate cooling.

CPU fan/heatsink, for budget get an Arctic Cooling unit as they are designed for low noise with reasonable performance at budget prices. They are quieter than stock heatsink.

If using Windows XP and a CPU that supports Cool and Quiet, use the driver from AMD for Cool and Quiet or use third party utilities to dynamically alter CPU speed based on CPU usage. I don't know if such tools were available for Linux, but wouldn't be suprised if there were.

Total cost (rough estimate from memory):
CPU $90
motherboard $50
512MB RAM $45
HSF $20
HDD $70
PSU $46
case $46
=$367
 
yup, the people are overstated her cpu requirements. shes not gaming after all. but i would use the money saved for a sonata antec case as its solid build and thick metal keep noise in, plus 120mm fans on rubber grommits and harddrives also on rubber mounts. the psu included is also decent and once you factor it in the cost is ok. and buy a quiet cooler. ~30 dollars for a zalman type should be enough, i'm sure someone can suggest another. for a lower cpu you won't need much anyways. silentpcreview.com
 
I couldn't find any info on AMD about 64bit Semprons. If is just me or is there nothing on there yet? Weird. Anyways, thanks Zap, CnQ is an attractive feature. We have an Xbox for games. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: okb
I couldn't find any info on AMD about 64bit Semprons. If is just me or is there nothing on there yet? Weird. Anyways, thanks Zap, CnQ is an attractive feature.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. CnQ is nice, but I'm not 100% sure about Sempron support for it, so you may want to do more research if you want that feature. Do note that from what I've read in forums (FWIW) only the 3000+ and higher Semprons support that feature - meaning the more expensive ones. Now, CnQ does it's magic by reducing clock speed and voltage. If you want to save money and have it run cool, just get a socket 754 Sempron 2500+. It has 256k cache, supports 64 bit so it is the newest core and it also runs at the lowest GHz released for socket 754 at 1.4GHz. Don't know about reduced voltage, but it should run cool enough for even passive cooling (with the right cooler of course).

Example of normal Sempron 3100+

Example of Sempron 64 3100+

I don't know how to tell a difference with vendors that don't explicitly specify what you are getting. There is only a dollar difference between the two so if you have a choice, of course get the 64 bit version whether or not you plan to run 64 bit code. I believe the Sempron 2500+ is only available as 64 bit. It costs around $60, about $40 less than the ones that (might) support CnQ.

BIOSTAR GEFORCE 6100-M7 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $62

This is a board that is both inexpensive plus should perform well. Buying this should shut up both the cheap bastards and the 'leet snobs. 😛 It has probably what is the best integrated video that money can buy, for very little money. The integrated Geforce 6100 video is supposed to be able to run most of the games on the market - forget about uber high resolution and 8xAA or such, but it will play the games. It also has a PCIe 16x slot for future upgradability, incase your wife discovers The Sims 3 in a few years that requires better video. :laugh: As a potential added bonus, on occasion the engineers at Biostar have a brain fart and accidentally leaves in overclocking features in their mATX boards. I know the socket 939 version of this board has overclocking features (which can also help undervolt).

Good luck with finding the "right" parts and let us know what you end up with.
 
Thanks. I will be sure to let you folks know if/what I end up with. Lots to think about and read up on, and I'm in no rush. Could end up being a part-by-part venture, lest I totally neglect my classwork. 😀
 
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