Opinions please about this cougar system.

j4web · Post by **j4web** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 3:01 am

Hello,

New here; a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information I need to absorb if my next system is to be quieter than my existing monster.

I want to buy a ready-made good performing quiet PC for programming and web design work and am having trouble finding where to buy such in Australia, preferably Canberra or Sydney. I have looked through the Australian links and there are not many systems being advertised. So first thing is if anybody has more recommendations about Australian system suppliers.

I came up with one system, from www.cougar.com.au and I would really like the opinion of you guys who have researched the subject much more than me as to your estimation of how quiet this system would be. So far the vendor is not able to provide that information, but I have asked them again, and am waiting on the reply.

Here's the specs - any opinions or pointers, or suggestions about what to change, welcomed:

ASUS K8N-E Deluxe nForce3 250GB Athlon64 DDR400/AUDIO/GBL/SATA/RAID
AMD Athlon64 3200+ 2.2GHz 32/64bit Retail Box & Fan
Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM (E85-03013) W/SP2
Cougar InnoVation 3 Year Parts & Labour Warranty (Return to Base)
Kingston HyperX 512mb 400Mhz PC3200 DDR CAS 2 DIMM Lifetime Warranty
Antec SLK2650-BQE MidiTower ATX 350W Black
ASUS Radeon 9600XT/TVD 128MB 8xAGP VGA/DVI TV-Out/In
Western Digital 80GB 7200rpm SATA150 8MB WD800JD - 3 year warranty
LG CDRW 52x32x52x / DVD 16x GCC-4521BBK Internal IDE OEM Black
LG 52x internal IDE CD-Rom OEM Beige
Sony 3.5" 1.44MB Internal IDE Floppy Drive Beige
Benq 19" TFT FP992 Black/Silver 1280x1024

Jack.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:16 am

Major noise problems with the stock AMD cooler and the vidcard fan. WD drives are a lot better now that they're FDB, but still not as quiet as Samsung SP80. Stock PSU is nothing special either.

Sounds like a business opportunity exists for one of our Aussie members.

ONEshot · Post by **ONEshot** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:17 pm

Isnt the 9600XT fanless?

pangit · Post by **pangit** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 5:53 pm

You're never going to get as quiet a system by buying one off the shelf instead of doing it yourself, particularly from a non-quiet vendor like Cougar. And there aren't many quiet specific vendors here in Oz. You could try contacting http://www.lownoisepc.com, based in Sydney. They mainly sell components but might make a PC up for you based on your specifications.

But why not give building your own system a try? Ask around here as much as you like, do your research and you'll end up with a much better, quieter (and usually cheaper) solution that will meet your exact requirements. It all depends on your confidence, as it's not difficult and you'll learn a lot.

Oh, and a warm sunny (40C here today!

) Aussie Welcome to SPCR!

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:35 pm

ONEshot wrote:Isnt the 9600XT fanless?

Not this one.

j4web · Post by **j4web** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 11:43 pm

Thanks everybody for the information and suggestions.

I am still waiting for Cougar to get back to me regarding my queries about the noise rating of their system. Seems it is a left-field question that perhaps companies are not used to dealing with.

Has it been suggested or tried, to have a co-ordinated campaign for people in this community to politely email vendors asking for 'Quietness Benchmarks' on their systems.

Eventually the more responsive firms would get the idea and the others will follow on in a few years. Maybe.

Meanwhile I am considering whether to build my own or get somebody to build to my specifications. Been doing more research in mags and on the net, and am amazed at how absent information about noise is in most reviews of systems.

Suggestions about a possible system for me to build or have built are very welcome. The Cougar system gives some idea of where I want the system positioned in performance and cost.

Jack

pangit · Post by **pangit** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 1:15 am

Any noise rating you get from a vendor will be pretty worthless, as noise is such a subjective thing and some vendors/manufacturers are renowned around here for their exaggerated claims of "quiet". For that reason there isn't much point extracting quietness benchmarks from them. I believe MikeC and some others are involved in trying to get manufacturers' dB ratings on fans/PSUs etc standardised, as that is the only way for these figures to have any real meaning.

Just about the only reliable place for genuine advice on quiet systems/components is right here, as most of us are a bit obsessed with silence and the SPCR staff are experts on the subject. So without being too biased

I would restrict your research to this site mainly. Checking the recommended section on the main site is a good place to start, then the reviews and finally browsing/searching through the forums. There is a vast amount of information in here. Yes unfortunately it is a bit overwhelming but the effort up front really pays off.

Once you've got your draft list of components together, post it up here for comments and I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses! We're pretty civilised around here so don't be shy!

To give you a head start I would take your list above, and start looking at substituting the following quiet components. I've added a few suggestions but by all means have a look at other choices:

CPU heatsink/fan - Zalman 7000AlCu or Thermalright SP90
Case - Antec SLK3700-BQE
PSU (if it doesn't already come with the case which the BQE does)
Case fans (tricky here in Oz, but Papst and Evercool Aluminium are about the only decent quiet 120mm ones available)
Hard drive (get a Samsung Spinpoint - this one's a no-brainer

)
Graphics card cooler - Arctic cooling ATI silencer to replace the stock one.

Hope this helps as a start!