AMD 64 x2 Silent System proposal...

[Jason65]

Hi,

I'm thinking of doing my first homebuild PC for a change, and have decided to go for a silent system, and I want it to do everything...work (day trading with multiple monitors), home entertainment (DVD, audio, maybe DigTV) and gaming. If things go well, I may want to do a bit of overclocking, and a bit of SLi experimentation, all that and try not to make it TOO expensive.

After a bit of research I have picked out some components I like and *think* will work together OK, so if anyone can see some compatibility issues with my shopping list I'd be happy to hear it.

CPU: AMD 64 Dual core >4000 (Got a 2.2GHz Vaio lappy now, so I want an improvement)

MB: A8N32 SLi Deluxe (chose mainly for the heat piping and silent system, starting from the ground up)

CPU Cooler: Scythe Ninja SCNJ 1000P (maybe add a 120mm Scythe SFLex fan if OC'ing)

RAM: Corsair CMX1024-3200C2 4 x 1GB
Gigabyte i-RAM PCI slot card with 4x 1GB Corsair modules

PSU: SilenX 400W Luxurae Fanless PSU (chosen for noiseless operation)

HDD: Samsung 250GB 7200rpm SATA II (chosen for noiseless operation)

HDD Cooler: Zalman ZM-2HC2 HDD Cooler (fanless, and reduce vibration)

VGA: ???

VGA Cooler: KuFormula VF1 Plus and modify the fan bracket so it only takes up one PCI slot (chosen for noiseless operation)

Extras

AUDIO: Audigy 2 ZS
MONITORING: Aerocool Gatewatch temp and fan control
Universal Card Reader 33-in-1

CASE: GMC X-21 Trinity Case (built for silent operation etc - cheaper than the Zalman case!!!)
Siliceous washers and mounts all-round,

Re: the VGA card, I am not sure on this. I have a Matrox Quadhead PCI card that I'd like to go in, and would also like to add a gaming card as well, and run together if possible. The plan is to have a single large resolution screen output - maybe to a projector or a Dell 30" LCD for home ent., and have a number of smaller, say 19" LCD's set up for work.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jason.

 

[azrealhk]

Have you read Tom's New HTPC article
Cool machine.

http://www.denguru.com/2006/05/16/confessions_of_a_serial_htpc_builder/

Change the CPU, case, remove all the TV cards and you got a good cool system.

If you look at the total price, the Case and TV cards cost quite a lot, you can redirect that money to a Dual CPU etc.

 

[weskurtz81]

also... if you want 2gb of memory.... I would go with 2x1gb sticks... I have had some issues trying to run 4 sticks with AMD's memory controller.... has a hard time running it @ 1t timings..... and some motherboards require that they are all SIMM's rather than DIMM's.... and all the ddr1 I have ever purchased are dimm's.... might just be me though. 8O

 

[jaguarskx]

I would opt for the Seasonic S12 430. It has a fan, but it is also really quiet. I bought the S12 500 for my quiet rig build. You'll hear the fan in quiet room if you listen for it. It is a very efficient PSU as well, it's rated at about 85% efficiency which is important for a silent/quiet rig. That's because the more inefficient a PSU is the more heat it will produce and it raises the internal temperature of the case.

Not really very familar with the GMC X-21 Trinity Case. Most people opt for the Antec P180 or better yet, the P150. The P150 allows you to suspend up to two hard drives to reduce vibration noise. The P150 also comes with the NeoHE 430 who's accoustic characteristics almost rivals the Seasonic S12 series. But older versions of the NeoHE were notorious for being incompatible with many people who owns Asus motherboards.

I opted for the COOLER MASTER Centurion 532, the open mesh design allows plenty of air to enter the case without using fans. On the other hand is also allows somw hard drive noise to escape. No case is perfect, but that would have allowed me to passively cool a X2 4600+ at stock speed using the Scythe Ninja. However, I decided to put my build on hold until Conroe comes out. Good thing the Ninja is compatible with LGA775 since I can't use it on my Athlon XP.

The Zalman ZM-2HC2 HDD Cooler seems okay, but I plan to keep my hard drives cool and quiet when I go forward with my upgrade using a pair of Smart Drive 2002 Copper enclosures.

As for your GPU, I would opt for nVidia over ATI because high end ATI cards consumes a lot of power, thus they are hot and will be harder to cool quietly. Depending on the types of games you play and your budget, you should consider either the 7600GT or the 7900GT. The 7600GT may be good enough to drive a resolution of 1280x1024 for most games without much problems with the exception of maybe F.E.A.R. and Oblivion. The 7900GT should be good enough for up 1600 x 1200, again without much problems except the two mentioned games. the 7900GTX would be optimal for 1600 x 1200 and higher resolutions.

I would opt for the Zalman VF900 or maybe an Artic Cooling HSF since it does exhaust heat out of the case. But they have some alleged noise probelms as they age. Gotta research it more.

Don't forget to get some quiet fans for the case. The Nexus 120mm Nexus 120 mm Real Silent Case Fan, which are really cherry picked Yate Loons.

Universal Card Reader 33-in-1

I didn't know they made a 33-in-1 reader.

 

[weskurtz81]

if I am not mistaken... aren't seasonic and pc power and cooling both made by FSP.... if so.... you could save a little money.... and just get a fortron.

 

[jaguarskx]

RAM: Corsair CMX1024-3200C2 4 x 1GB
Gigabyte i-RAM PCI slot card with 4x 1GB Corsair modules

I think they are going to release a 16GB version, but may require ECC registered RAM. If you plan on using i-RAM to boot your system then you might want to consider this never version since it is likely that Vista's footprint will be be bigger than Windows XP Pro.

 

[jaguarskx]

if I am not mistaken... aren't seasonic and pc power and cooling both made by FSP.... if so.... you could save a little money.... and just get a fortron.

No, Seasonic definitely designs and builds their own.

I am nearly 100% positive that is the same for PC P&C. They have a very large presence in the industrial sector.

 

[weskurtz81]

Just looked some stuff up... you are probably correct about seasonic... but from what some other people have found.... pc power and cooling is made by fortron... check the forum.... not sure how accurate it is.... but I am digging around, would be good information to find out.... could save a little money...
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=130148

 

[Jason65]

Is that cool as in 'kewl' or 'c-c-cool...'???

Interesting read. Is ATI Radeon X550GE fanless VGA card any good though? Seems a bit...sedate.

cheers,
J.

 

[Jason65]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Some good advice there.

jaguarskx wrote:

>I would opt for the Seasonic S12 430

Yeah, sounds like a good choice, and about 100 bucks cheaper. But I read a report mentioning incompatibility issues with Asus MB's. http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod3252.htm

I hadn't checked out the Antecs, they look alright. The GMC X-21 http://www.pccasegear.com.au/category101_1.htm is about 90 bucks cheaper than the Antec 150, but doesn't have a PSU...

The Smart Drive 2002 Copper enclosure looks OK, but doesn't seem to be available in Oz. Going to cost a fair bit more than the Zalman to import. See how costs go.

>I didn't know they made a 33-in-1 reader.

Yep. Check it here http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod1834.htm

cheers,

J.

 

[jaguarskx]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. Some good advice there.

jaguarskx wrote:

>I would opt for the Seasonic S12 430

Yeah, sounds like a good choice, and about 100 bucks cheaper. But I read a report mentioning incompatibility issues with Asus MB's. http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod3252.htm

No, the Seasonic doesn't have any problems with Asus mobos, but they do have issues with DFI mobos.

The Antec NeoHE PSU do have problems with Asus mobos, but that issue has been resolved back in Febraury.

For reviews and recommendations of quiet and silent components go to:

www.silentpcreview.com

The forum is pretty helpful too, but recently it has been a little quiet (no pun intended).