Silent uATX PC Build Review Please

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
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Are you overclocking? If not I'd step down to DDR2-800, but even if you are I'd go with DDR2-1000. Both will be less expensive than DDR2-1066 without sacrificing performance.

Do you already have a case and power supply?

Edit: Nevermind, I either missed the NSK3480 or you just popped it in when you edited.

Edit 2: What about a hard drive?
 

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Oops, sorry, already have a 150GB Raptor.

May overclock, don't know. Are you saying that there is no difference between DDR2-1000 and DDR2-1066?

If there is only $30 or so difference to get guaranteed 1066, why would I not want to do that? The motherboard manual says I can run the RAM @ 1066 by adjusting the BIOS.
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
8,770
54
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Originally posted by: Fun Guy
Oops, sorry, already have a 150GB Raptor.

May overclock, don't know. Are you saying that there is no difference between DDR2-1000 and DDR2-1066?

If there is only $30 or so difference to get guaranteed 1066, why would I not want to do that? The motherboard manual says I can run the RAM @ 1066 by adjusting the BIOS.

because you won't notice any speed difference from running it at 667mhz, 800mhz, 1000mhz, or 1066mhz... unless you play a lot of benchmarks...

and your PC won't be silent with those moving parts in there.. such as the case fans, psu fan, cpu fan, etc etc
 

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
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81
Alrighty, thanks.

The video cards have passive coolers, the Antec case has a quiet PS, I can add quiet case fans, and the CPU is a 45nm process, so the stock cooler can be replaced with a high-dissipating passive cooler. I'm thinking this is going to be a quiet, if not silent, machine.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Make sure to mount the Raptor hard drive in the HDD soft-mount on the bottom of the Antec case to cut vibration noise.

You may want to go with the 8600 GT card just for the dual DVI.

The Xeon E3110 and Core 2 Duo E8400 are (essentially) the same chip, so get whichever one is the cheapest. BTW, my Asus P5K-VM only allows me to add around 0.05v more to my E3110 CPU. Newer BIOS may or may not help. I was still able to hit around 3.8GHz-ish for a while (temp problems in my SFF case).

I second DSF with getting cheaper RAM. Even DDR2-800 will allow you to overclock the 3.0GHz CPU all the way to 3.6GHz without overclocking the memory one whit. Just know that the Asus board only allows up to 2.1v VDIMM. Most overclocker RAM requires that or more to run at rated speeds. Best bet is to find some cheap DDR2-800 that only needs 1.8v.

The 120mm Antec Tri Cool fan that comes with the case is not that great. In fact it will probably end up as noisy or noisier than the 80mm fan in the EarthWatts PSU it comes with, plus these sleeve-bearing Tri Cool fans aren't known for their longetivity. I'd suggest trying it out first in case you don't mind the noise, but keeping in mind that you can always swap out for a quieter fan.

You may want to consider an aftermarket CPU fan/heatsink as the stock unit on these Wolfdale chips are very anemic. Most "tower heatpipe" style units would be good, though my personal favorite would be a Scythe Ninja running passive or severely undervolted.
 

Fun Guy

Golden Member
Oct 25, 1999
1,210
5
81
Nice, thanks. I knew that if I bumped my thread enough times the old, experienced guys would come out! You joined AT just two weeks before me, but you have a few more posts.

I'm getting the E3110, even though it's a few dollars more, because the voltage specs are a little tighter, leading me to believe the Xeon would be more efficient.

If what you say is correct, I think I'll just get 2x2GB of G.Skill DDR2-1000 and save about $40.00.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Originally posted by: Fun Guy
You joined AT just two weeks before me, but you have a few more posts.

I actually was a member before the forum software move, so been here longer than 1999. Also, only had about half the posts until less than a year ago when I got nominated to be a moderator. Made me feel as if I needed to visit more often. :eek: