New user, new system

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:35 pm

Hi all,

My first post even though I've been reading a lot here (and I mean A LOT

). I'm not new to computers but I tend to build them to last 5+ years, and time has come to get some new stuff (current cpu = K6-III 450!). I'm building a quiet but fast and upgradable system

Usage will be mostly software development and music ripping/compressing (converting my huge CD rack to PC jukebox and use something like slimdevices to play them)

After reading alot here and there, this list is what I'm sending to shops to get a price quote:

CASE: Antec SLK3000B
PSU: Seasonic Super Tornado 400
or Seasonic Super Silencer
or Enermax Noisetaker xxx Active PFC
or Nexus NX-xxxx
(PSU's seem hard to find around here so I left some choice)
BOARD: Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 (nF4, 939, PCIe, SATA-II, 1394b)
CPU: AMD Athlon64 90nm 3500+
COOLER: Zalman CNPS-7000
VGA: GigaByte GV-NX66T128VP (6600GT PCIe, passive cooling)
MEM: 1GB+ DDR PC3200
DISK: Samsung Spinpoint SP1614C SATA (with NIDEC if possible)
DVD: Plextor PX-716A (Just love Plextor)

Should be fast and silent

My own remarks:
- the VGA card is reported to get quite hot, so fresh air will be required: has anyone tried to mount a fan on the panel opening next to the VGA-card?

- Any Belgians reading here? Need some better addresses/sites to order my stuff...

Comments are welcome...

thanks,
Peter

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:10 pm

Hello Pétur & Welcome!

Looks pretty darn good! Just run the stock Antec 120mm exhaust fan on low, if at all possible, and keep the cables as neat as possible. Maybe a little undervolting... You should have a quiet and powerful computer -- which you will run Folding@Home on, right?

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:00 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Just run the stock Antec 120mm exhaust fan on low, if at all possible, and keep the cables as neat as possible. Maybe a little undervolting...

Well I was going to use it and see what it gives and replace it if too much noise...
The only thing that worries me a bit is the VGA card, I do hope the passive cooling will do. Worst thing to happen is the VGA card getting too hot AND at the same time noise coming out of the side vents

- we'll have to wait and see.

Peter

Cams · Post by **Cams** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:03 am

Nice system you've got there, Pétur. And a nice part of the world you're in too! I'm not too far away, in Luxembourg.

I ordered all the parts for my system from KustomPCs as I'm a native English speaker and feel more comfortable doing that. Their service is very good and their prices are competitive. I have bought one or two things from Germany or France in the past but, if I'm going to ship something, it might as well be from the UK.

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:14 am

Thanks, I'll keep that link aside... Had a quick check and saw they're not selling Gigabyte stuff, but I can always ask if they could order it.....

Also saw the Samsung spinpoint is out of stock, I wonder why that is

Peter

martinhm · Post by **martinhm** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 1:46 am

That looks quite similar to the system I am planning to build.

Does anyone know where to get a guaranteed Nidec motor Spinpoint in the UK?

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:34 am

FYI: I finally ordered the following:

CASE: Antec SLK3000B
PSU: Nexus NX-4090 + ATX 2.0 20/24 pin adapter
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3500+ (90nm Winchester), Zalman CNPS-7000B AlCu
VGA: GigaByte GV-NX66T128VP
MEMORY: 2 x 512MB DDR400 Kingston
HARDDISK: Samsung Spinpoint SP1614C SATA (Nidec)
DVD: Plextor PX-716A DL DVD writer

I'm getting the harddisk tomorrow, the other parts should arrive next week. Once I get the system up and running, I'll post my findings...

Once again I wish to thank the people of SilentPCReview and the forum here for the valuable input, I really appreciate it, and it helped me select the parts.

Peter

freggy · Post by **freggy** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:12 pm

Where did you order it? I would certainly be interested in a retailer in Belgium selling Nexus stuff.

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:20 pm

freggy wrote:Where did you order it? I would certainly be interested in a retailer in Belgium selling Nexus stuff.

http://www.dle.be
They are a supplier at work, which helped to get some stuff cheaper than what their pricy pricelist suggests...

Peter

Kryten · Post by **Kryten** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:27 pm

Nexustek is a Dutch company http://www.nexustek.nl/hq/. There are links on their website to various vendors in the EU. I ordered from a Dutch site myself, as I can't seem to get the Nexus fans anywhere in this country.

Cheers

Kryten

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 3:27 am

Got my system up and running and have been doing modifs to get it silent. Here are my comments on the parts:

Pétur wrote: CASE: Antec SLK3000B

After taping most of the holes in the front and the dustfilter-bypass at the bottom, got very good airflow. Rear fan a bit noisy, now running at 5V, going to decouple it tonight.
CPU duct removed and the inside has a layer of accoustic damping stuff on it. So the side panel openings are all closed.

Pétur wrote: Nexus NX-4090

Nice PSU, not completely quiet but not the noisiest thing at the moment

Pétur wrote: BOARD: Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 (nF4, 939, PCIe, SATA-II, 1394b)

Probably the worst selection I made: Very noisy!!!
I removed the dual-power module fan at the moment and replaced the NF4 cooler with that Zalman passive thing. It gets quite hot but I can still touch it... and the airflow is quite good.

Drivers and tools support is way below what I expected. Can only read CPU temp in Easytune, NVidia nTune freezes the system so that won't work. Other tools refuse to find sensors. Any tool recomendation is welcome here!
Also, the advertised smartfan doesn't work! CPU fan is never lower than 2100 RMP !!!! Don't buy Gigabyte !!!!

Pétur wrote: CPU: AMD Athlon64 90nm 3500+

runs idle below 30 degrees (C), very nice

Pétur wrote: COOLER: Zalman CNPS-7000

Noisy! now running at about 1300 but has some high-pitch noise left, need to investigate more.

Pétur wrote: VGA: GigaByte GV-NX66T128VP (6600GT PCIe, passive cooling)

Very nice, GPU temp was first 55, now 66 degrees (after reducing system fan speed and closing side panel vents), but this is acceptible. Heatsing is warm, not hot.

Pétur wrote: DISK: Samsung Spinpoint SP1614C SATA (with NIDEC if possible)

Seeks were very loud when mounted with stock rubber grommets, now suspended in elastic bands and 100% silent. Good thing!

Pétur wrote: DVD: Plextor PX-716A (Just love Plextor)

Noisy but after playing with plextool settings got it acceptible.

Overall, quite silent, will need some more small tweaks to get the last bit of noise out of it. Worried aboud NF4 temp because I can't measure it.

Peter

tollo71 · Post by **tollo71** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:56 am

Petur,
I am about to buy a very simular system as yours. Are you happy with the Nexus PSU or would you buy an other one if you wouls have another chance?

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:15 pm

tollo71 wrote: I am about to buy a very simular system as yours. Are you happy with the Nexus PSU or would you buy an other one if you wouls have another chance?

The Nexus is OK. I just did the zip-tie decoupling of the case fan, and considering the fact that there are three fans running in my system, I'm quite happy with it.

After installing the latest NVidia drivers, I got speedfan running and I get a reading from 'temp3' of 71 degrees celcius. I guess that it is the northbridge (nF4), will have to look after that one...

Will post some pics later if I get the time

Peter

tollo71 · Post by **tollo71** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:24 pm

Petur,
I actually ment : How do you like the Nexus NX-4090? Not the case-fans.

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:33 pm

As I said: the Nexus is OK. Its power load in my system is so low I never hear it spin up.

My PC is standing at 0.5 meter to the right of me, and pointing with its back to a wall, so I can hear the slightest whisper of my system. If I stop the case fan and cpu fan by hand (just did to test) I can hear the nexus, but only the air it is moving.

As for connections, the nexus has 2 SATA power connectors (6pin, not the fake 4pin version), it only has a 20pin MB connector but that is OK for the giga-byte board. There's an on/off switch at the back and a very open ventilation area.

Peter

tollo71 · Post by **tollo71** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:40 pm

Peter, I thought you ment your Nexus case fans... but I get it now. Thanks for your update.
Ok, I wait for Tibors experiences with ordering a Seasonic PSU in a German webshop.

New user, new system

New user, new system

Nexus fans

Re: New user, new system