Silent System: OK?

ChiefChecker · Post by **ChiefChecker** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:38 pm

Hi.
First please forgive me for my english since I´m not a native speaker.

I´m going to buy a new system:
CPU:
AMD Opteron 146 @2,8GHz
143€
MAINBOARD:
DFI LANparty UT nF4 Ultra-D
118€
RAM:
A-DATA DDR500
138€
VGA:
ASUS Geforce 7800 GTX
439€
CPUCOOLER:
Thermalright HR-01+Papst 4412F72GLL
71€
VGACOOLER:
AC NVSilencer 5 Rev.3
SOUNDCARD:
Creative X-Fi Extreme Music
99€
CASE:
Antec P180 black
169€
HARDDISK:
WD Raptor 36GB
98€
DVDDRIVE:
BenQ DW1640
41€
PSU:
Cooltek RealPower 500 Watt
99€
MONITOR:
Viewsonic VX924
333€
SOUNDSYSTEM:
Teufel Concept G THX
299€

I simply would be pleased if you could read through it and tell me if there´s any component which should be exchanged.
The case fans probably will be removed, so the Papst fan exhausts the warm air sucked through the High Riser.
As written in topic silence has top priority, after performance of course.

Bob_the_lost · Post by **Bob_the_lost** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:14 pm

First there is a forum for system advice, guess this'll be moved there soon enough.

CPU: The 148 will be OCd to get it that fast = more heat = faster fan to cool it = noiser = bad.

Motherboard: The DFI has a chipset fan, this will be loud and require replacing if you want your machine to run queitly, a better idea would be an A8N32, a bit more expensive but it's a passive board, and still lets you OC.

CPU heatsink, i'd just go with a AI-120, the difference is minimal for the top handfull of systems, and i like the way the SI 120 cools the surrounding parts on your motherboard.

PSU: Chose another one, try the recomended part of the board, the standard response is to recomend a seasonic PSU, the quietest range around at the moment.

You will not be able to remove the case fans, although you will be able to run them at the lowest speed setting. Or you can replace them with nexus fans which are quieter and easier to adjust.

mb2 · Post by **mb2** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:43 pm

in addition to what bob said..

if ur going to spend that much money on a pc, why not dual core opty?

is 36gb really enough for you? i would have thought the new 150gb raptor would have been better for such a system.

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:51 pm

...like bob said,and the DFI mobo's while nice tend to have the chipset crowded so replacing the noisy fan is a problem. Abit,Asus and soon,MSI offer mobos with a heatpipe passive on the chipset,the Abit can be had in non SLI at a decent price.

It's pretty hard to top a Ninja as a heatsink with efficiency,and as its obvious you are going heavy on the OC,you stick a big fan on it.

I'd likely opt for the Samsung 200g SATA 2 rather than a Raptor. The Raptor's rpms make it speedy,but the SATA 2 gives the Samsung a bit of speed edge on an SATA 150 at 7200 rpm....and is about as quiet as anything out there. If you do the Raptor,be sure to suspend it,and I'd screw a couple of strips of copper to the sides to get some heatsink effect.

ChiefChecker · Post by **ChiefChecker** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 3:57 am

THX for the answers.

I already feared that air cooling won´t be enough, the alternative is H²O cooling with a triple radiator for NB, CPU and GPU.

I don´t like the SI-120 because it blows the warm air into every direction and therefore system fans will be required.

A DualCore is a bad idea:
1. more heat
2. less OC potential
3. expensive/slightly faster when having 5+ tasks

Why not the Cooltek?

And yes, 36GB are enough. But what´s about the HDD´s noise, even with a heat sink on it?

There are no Nexus fans aviable in Europe. Are they better than Silenx iXtrema pros?

Could you write a shot list of internationally shipping shops in the USA? (1.2$ = 1€)

vEnEx · Post by **vEnEx** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:57 am

ChiefChecker wrote:There are no Nexus fans aviable in Europe. Are they better than Silenx iXtrema pros?

I have no idea if Nexus fans are better than the ones you mention, but I suppose they are. But claiming the Nexus fans are not available in Europe is a big no-no! They are available! I don't know where you live (you should really adjust your personal settings and include where you're from so I can help you more), but there are EU resellers who will ship them in all of Europe.

Start of by having a look at Nexustek home, click Headquarters, Where to buy, and select your country.
If you're unllucky finding them, have a look with Silent PC shop (NL). I'm pretty sure they ship to other countries then The Netherlands and Belgium, since this is the place where I get them from.

ChiefChecker · Post by **ChiefChecker** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 5:16 am

Sorry. But they only have 45m³/h and 1000r/m, no wonder that they are silent!

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:34 am

ChiefChecker wrote:THX for the answers.

I already feared that air cooling won´t be enough, the alternative is H²O cooling with a triple radiator for NB, CPU and GPU.

Air will be plenty enough

I don´t like the SI-120 because it blows the warm air into every direction and therefore system fans will be required.

This is exactly what your PWR components would need when you plan to heavily overclock. But I guess P180 case fans will handle them.

A DualCore is a bad idea:
1. more heat
2. less OC potential
3. expensive/slightly faster when having 5+ tasks

You obviously have no experience in dual cores. The only time you would notice a difference between an overclocked opteron 146 and overclocked dual core it would be for the benefit of dual core. No matter how fast your cpu is there are processes that are sometimes going to tax the cpu 100% load, during that time your overclocked single core is a slug. Dual core overclocked to 2.6 will kick the living shit out of that 2.8 opteron. For example in anandtech benches x2 3800+ had 25% more fps then fx-57 in quake4 etc...

Here's a sample thread from xtremesystems forums and a typical single vs dual conversations there. I'll quote:
"I have an FX 57 but for the past month I've been using either my Opty 165 or 175. They both clock to the same 2600Mhz 24 hour dual prime stable. The 165 is actually able to play COD 2 at 2.7 without problems. What's interesting is that I don't have any desire to switch back to the FX57. I looking forward to the next dual core instead of the latest and greatest single core. Go for the dual core."

Heat isn't a viable excuse since you are planning to overclock to 2.8ghz on an opteron (wich runs hotter then venice cores). Dual cores can overclock to 2.6ghz without breaking a sweat. After that their heat output starts to raise really fast. You are getting NV Silencer to remove the GPU heat out of the case. Your computer doesn't have very much heat output. And could easily be run passively cooled with that HR-01 heatsink with any AMD processor in P180, the case fans would easily handle it, but adding that fan to the heatsink makes it even more so.

Also what's that about removing the case fans? It makes no sense sound wise. If you want you computer silent, just run them at low speed. Then your papst fan would probably make more noise then the 2 upper part antec fans.

Just to sum it up.
A DualCore is a bad idea (my version):
1. If it doesn't fit in your computer budget
2. If you prefer a faster SuperPi benchmark score with higher clocked single core. (The only benefit of bigger overclocking potential)

There are no Nexus fans aviable in Europe. Are they better than Silenx iXtrema pros?

Nexus has probably better availability in europe then in USA. Judging from your component choises, I'd guess you live in Germany or Austria (german speaking countries... I ruled out Switzerland, since they don't use euros). If that is true, you should have no problem locating nexus fans.

If more silent equals better, then nexus is better. And btw don't trust the marketing specs (lies) of manufacturers, listen to the experience of people in here. HR-01 is ment for low speed fans, nexus will be the best choise.

I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of this rig. My guess would be that you want a gaming rig since you prefer 36gb raptor and you listed viewsonic vx924 4ms as your monitor. But then it always makes me wonder to see an expensive GPU used with a cheap low resolution monitor. Your viewsonic is limited to 1280x1024 resolution, like most 19" tfts. Even GF6600gt could run most games with excellent fps at that resolution. Those gf7800 cards excel at high resolutions and they would be blazingly fast with 1280x1024, but if money has even smallest priority for you, you could be able to play games with a cheaper gf7800gt and not notice a difference. A save worth 150€, that money could be spent on that dual core

. Even slower GPUs would do, but imo gf7800gt has really nice price/performance.

I would have also recommended changing to P150, but since you are planning to overclock heavily, I'm not really sure how fast the NEO HE psu would ramp up. Your rig doens't require as big a case as P180. But this looks like a matter of preference (black), since you chose the SPCR edition.

Well I hope you found some of my advices helpful. Good luck with the rig. And welcome to SPCR, since no one else has yet said it

. I'd suggest you read up all the FAQs in these forums. They have valuable information for you.

P.S Wrong section. Next time post in system advice.

ChiefChecker · Post by **ChiefChecker** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:16 am

@Erssa: Thanks and sorry!

So you would take:
ABIT AN8 SLI + Opteron 165
CPU:9*288, RAM: -33, NB: 3*288 (=only 864!)
And two Nexos/Silenx/Papst fans sucking air through a Ninja and exhaust it.
What´s about the PSU? Cooltek, AcBel, or what?

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:00 am

I cannot say how well that Abit AN8 overclocks. But opteron 165 would be a nice a nice choise imo. Performance wise you wouldn't see a difference between 864 or 1000 HT

One Cpu fan is definately enough in P180 because it has two case fans near the cpu. There are lots of good tower heatsinks to use P180: Thermalright HR-01, Scythe Ninja, Noctua NH-U12... (hasn't been reviewed here yet, but will be soon. It should be on par with the best). Check this spcr article to see how a good tower heatsink performs in P180 with overclocked hot P4 processor. Remember those temperatures were obtained with burn programs. Cpu would never produce that much heat when gaming and neither would an AMD processor.

So if you were to use a similar combination I'd say you'd be able to keep the overclocked opteron cool enough.

I don't really want to say anything about the PSUs in this case, because the cabling can be tricky and I have no real experience with P180. Or the PSUs you mentioned. I'd suggest using the search tool and look what information you can find from these forums.

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:25 pm

I saw a review of the new 150gb Raptor which also discussed the history,evolution of Raptors and put them against 7200 rpm SATA drives ans SCSI's inclusing 15,000 rpm. The 37gb model is a first generation drive,the 74 has been updated twice now,and its performance now is similar to the new 150,and a lot better than the older 37 which has only a small edge on the best 7200 rpm drives,while having louder seeks. In short,For the extra cost,noise,heat,you may as well get a Spinpoint or Western Caviar. With the 74gb Raptor it DOES have better speed,runs a bit cooler and is even quieter at idle. Not surprising,a Spinpoint is still a lot less noise when seeking. You might look for Yate loon fans in Europe,there was a German site that even had the 140mm Yate Loon.

If you really need to overclock heavily,for games,probably watercool would be the best bet,though I don't game so I don't get why a stock clocked x2 3800 would not be all the power you'd really need. Stock,or with a mild OC,a 3800 X2 can run quiet on air but if you clock it up to the max,like any chip it will cook your dinner as you compute.