Silent PC - Duron 1.3 or XP1700+?

[sticky52]

I'm building a home entertainment PC with the AOpen AK79G-VN strictly for MP3's, divx, and the occasional party game. I want it to be as silent as possible so running with a just a heatsink on the CPU would be optimal. All my PC's are Intel, so I'm a little green with AMD temps and cooling. I'm pretty sure I can get by with just the heatsink on the Duron 1.3, but 1700+'s are pretty cheap and would net me more ponies under the hood. Would I be able to run a 1700+ without the fan?

I should probably mention that the case is just going to be a mod of my entertainment center; mounting the board, harddrive, etc... right onto the cheap plywood. In doing so, I won't have any exhaust whatsoever so I can dampen the noise from the harddrive and PSU, so even having a fan on the CPU wouldn't do much.

Is this possible, or would I end up melting either processor? I'd appreciate any input, thanks.

 

[CraigRT]

My guess is that the Duron would be slightly cooler. and they have decent power too.. it should work well for you.

 

[adlep]

To the contrary, I believe that XP 1700 Tbread A or B would be more appropriate due to its smaller manufacturing process (.13 micron compared to .18 micron Duron) also take a look at my sticky, reference thread for max Wattage rating!
Edit: By looking at the reference chart...I am right, go with Tbread, you can find it for el cheapo over at Newegg.com

 

[The_Lurker]

Dun think you can go without a fan, these things just put out too much heat. With all that dampening though, a retail HS/Fan or some cheapo Coolermaster (I'm using my Duron 1ghz Retail fan on my Palimino 1700+ and it's running fine) will do alrighty, that plus they're pretty quiet.

 

[Jhhnn]

You'll need to provide for some airflow thru the box, otherwise the system will overheat after prolonged use. Neither processor will run at acceptable temps in a pure passive mode.

You want a thoroughbred core xp1700, like the axda steppings from Newegg. they run cooler than the older palominoes. Use a thermalright ax-7 heatsink with super quiet nmb 80mm fan, both from svc. Also install at least one of these fans to exhaust out the back, up high. Make provisions for air to enter easily down low. Put another one in your psu, mount it the same way or get a low noise seasonic, zalman, or similar.

The Seagate barracuda hdd's are easily the quietest available....

If there's any ambient noise at all, you won't be able to hear this system until you're very close, within a couple of feet...

 

[adlep]

According to the reference chart:

Athlon XP 1700 Tbread has a max power output of 49.4 W

"Regular" XP 1700 Palomino produces a max output of 64 W

While morgan cored Duron 1300 Mhz emits 60 W of a max power output....

Therefore, the Tbread is producing as much power as 900 Mhz Athlon Thunderbird, so whatever is suitable for 900 Mhz Athlon would be as much effective for the Tbread. For example a GC-68 heatsink with a stadard, low speed fan would do just fine...

 

[bgeh]

get the 1700+ and undervolt it
my 1700+ DLT3C goes to 2600+ undervolted by 0.025v

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I should probably mention that the case is just going to be a mod of my entertainment center; mounting the board, harddrive, etc... right onto the cheap plywood. In doing so,

That's going to look terrible, cheap, and cheesey, I'd suggest doing it right, but if you're strapped for cash......

 

[sticky52]

Thanks for the input guys, XP1700+ it is.

That's going to look terrible, cheap, and cheesey, I'd suggest doing it right, but if you're strapped for cash......

It's not going to be on the outside, it's going to be tucked in the cabinet where VHS's would normally go. Tough to explain visually, but I'll post pictures of the mod when I'm done with it.

 

[Nutzo]

2 words, Undervolt & Underclock

Get a Athlon XP 1700 Tbread (.13u) & run it at a 100 Mhz bus, this would give you a 1.1 Ghz cpu

Lower the volatge as low as you can while still maintaining stability.

Use a large heatsink with a large low-speed fan.


I did the same to my Wife's 1500+ (.18u) At 1 Ghz it was so quiet & cool & was able to take out one of the case fans & put a very quiet CPU fan on the heatsink. Of course now she complains the about the harddrive noise :frown: which she couldn't even hear before because it was drown out by the fans :Q