in case anyone else was wondering, the card needs exactly 11 inches of clearance between the faceplate and the back of the card, in the p183 this means you need to remove a drive tray, but not the whole cage.(the official spec included the protrusion of the bracket) it is also NOT silent under defau...

I'm going to say reference coolers w/ fan are virtually never quiet at load.

Purpose of the machine? you've said you won't be overclocking or doing anything cpu intensive, but also that you want better graphics than the low end integrated graphics(Not just a server?), so I'm a bit confused why you want to spend so much money in a way that won't pave the road for later upgrad...

Just ordered one of these. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125357 It will replace a reference gtx 260 core 216(which is currently the loudest component in my case, excluding a seldom used optical drive.) Anyone else have one? I'm a bit concerned about the length, but figure ...

it's a 2 slot card, but it probably needs the extra room to get enough air.

grimreeper wrote:PowerColor HD6850 SCS3
Gigabyte HD5750 Silent Cell
Gigabyte HD5770 Silent Cell

any idea when that 6850 will be available?

I don't expect to replace the processor in the lifetime of this rig, though I will probably change the video card in 2-3 years and add more RAM(I use a couple very RAM hungry scripts, and often sandbox windows and/or *nix in VMware). The future proofing comment was more in regard to the MSI board la...

That dvd burner looks overpriced, a comparable OEM samsung is only 20 bucks (you might need an extra couple mounting screws and a sata cable, if your case/mobo are stingy w/ those).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827151216

raid1 gets higher throughput reads, depending on implementation, and then there is the whole reliability thing, which is the main reason. that is a very interesting case and PSU, I hadn't even looked at cases over $100, but that PSU changes things a bit, especially when that combo has $90 off at new...

It's time for a new computer, as my current machine is getting long in the tooth (6 years will do that). I will be running starcraft 2 at 1920x1080 maxed settings, I expect the rig to last me another ~5 years and run relatively quiet. Case: Antec 300 ($60) PSU: Seasonic x-650 ($160) CPU: i7 930 ($20...