Can any improvements be done for this system?

[madman]

I've read alot in this forum although since I'm a newbie and its kinda hard to get a silent computer I thought I should ask in here before I order the parts

cpu: Athlon 64 3200
motherboard: DFI LanParty UT nF4 Ultra-D
memory: DDR 512MB PC3200/400MHz X2
gpu: X800 XL powercolor
watercooling: ZALMAN RESERATOR 1 + VGA waterblock
PSU: SEASONIC 300W 12CM FAN SS-300FT
case: Antec SLK3000B
case fan: 120mm Nexus and possible a Zalman Fanmate2

I also plan to suspend my old segate barracuda HD in some sort of elastic material. I will also reuse my old NEC3500A dvd burner.

Got some questions aswell:

1. Will I gain anything by going with a fanless psu like the phantom instead of my 300W Seasonic?
2. Is it possible to skip the case fan and just rely on the watercooling and the psu?
3. The psu is only ATX 1.3, there is nothing really to gain by choosing some psu thats ATX 2.0 compliant right?

[StarfishChris]

1. Will I gain anything by going with a fanless psu like the phantom instead of my 300W Seasonic?

A fanless PSU should work well in a watercooled setup as it only has to extract its own heat...

2. Is it possible to skip the case fan and just rely on the watercooling and the psu?

...but you still need to move air to cool supended hard drives and (less so) motherboard components. Cover up all exhaust holes and use your existing PSU to draw air through the hard drives. If you went for a Phantom leave your case fan running at 5v. Either way, one fan should be all you need.

3. The psu is only ATX 1.3, there is nothing really to gain by choosing some psu thats ATX 2.0 compliant right?

Your system runs fine, so why change it? It's only going to be a concern if you upgrade later and need some of the features of 2.0.

[hypersipher]

1. Will I gain anything by going with a fanless psu like the phantom instead of my 300W Seasonic?
very little. it is wiser to reduce voltage to the fan on a pretty standard $25 PSU. e.g. making a hole on top of the PSU and sticking on a 120 mm fan ... which works both to remove system as well as PSU heat.

2. Is it possible to skip the case fan and just rely on the watercooling and the psu?
watercooling is not practical IMO. The biggest zalman CNPS (7700) cooler at the lowest rpm (50%) should be inaudible, and much cheaper (<15 dB)


3. The psu is only ATX 1.3, there is nothing really to gain by choosing some psu thats ATX 2.0 compliant right?
no idea

[Rusty075]

If you're going with the Reserator, you're still going to need a fan in your system somewhere. Whether its a case fan, or a PSU fan doesn't really matter. With the watercooling pulling 90% of the heat out of the case, the PSU fan won't ramp up very much at all.

I ran a Reserator cooler system with just a PSU fan for months, and the fan voltage never rose above its minimum.

That's the beauty of external watercooling. I'd probably go with a good fanned PSU rather than a fanless PSU and a case fan. There's just more choices for fanned PSU's, and you'll save a consderable amount of money. (about enough to pay for half the Reserator)

And it'll certainly be quieter than going with some like the 7700, which even at low speed is ~25dba. Plus you'd have to have a case fan to pull that heated air out of the case, or let the PSU fan ramp up to deal with the increased heat. And then there's the matter of quietly cooling that GPU, which will add even more internal heat and noise to deal with compared to the Reserator.

[madman]

Thanks for all your replys, based on them I think that I'll stick with the watercooling and the Seasonic psu. Although I'm gonna skip the nexus 120mm fan and just rely on the psu to move all excessive heat. If it needs more cooling I'll use the fan that comes with the case and use it on the low setting and if I'm dissatisfied with that I'll reconcider buying the nexus 120mm.

One thing that I forgot to say is that I plan to use the extra VGA waterblock to cool the northbridge on my DFI LANPARTY can anyone confirm that it works on this particular board?