My First Silent PC

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Wed May 04, 2005 5:03 pm

I tried searching already made posts and some of the FAQs but my head hurts too much from doing all of this research... so here it goes:

I want to make the most quiet PC that I can for 600-800 bucks.

This is all I have decided so far:

Case: Antec, but I'm not really sure
CPU: Athlon (XP or 64 i dont know)
RAM: 2GB, bang for the buck... but its still gonna be expensive

Mobo: Probably Asus (firewire 2 ports, onboard sound)
Videocard: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6814121185
I don't need a fast card but i want dual display and its cheap
HD: Seagate Barracuda, 1x40gb, 1x200gb
Fan/Heatsink: one of the zalman products for the CPU

That's about it, but im not sure if i would get quieter case and psu if i bought them separately or not. Also, im trying to save money.

I am also trying to follow this criteria so that I can use a ProTools system/software that I have:
AMD Athlon™ 64 or 64 FX Processor

VIA K8T800, VIA K8T800 PRO, or NVIDIA nForce3 chipset
Socket 754 or 939 motherboard
384 MB minimum of supported RAM*
512 MB or higher highly recommended
AMD Athlon™ XP Processor (2000+)

VIA KT266A or NVIDIA nForce chipset
384 MB minimum of supported RAM*
512 MB or higher highly recommended

If you could give me any advice it would be appreciated. I know i just typed a bunch of crap that you probably dont want to read through.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed May 04, 2005 5:24 pm

Hello & welcome to SPCR,

Well, it is hard to critique a vague list -- so I'll suggest a few things:

Athlon 64, definitely; the real question is Socket 754 or Socket 939. Depending on your budget and your needs -- I'd go for the S939, all else being equal.

Antec SLK3000B or Evercase 4252, either w/ a Seasonic PS. And a Yate Loon 120mm fan or two...

If you get a motherboard with 4 DIMM slots, then you can get 2GB for a little less, and get better performance -- though you'll want to get a Venice, as this has a better chance at running the RAM at DDR400.

A Zalman HS is great, and there are several other heatsinks that are also fine: Alpha, Thermalright, and others.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Wed May 04, 2005 5:29 pm

What's a Venice exactly?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed May 04, 2005 5:42 pm

Hello:

A Venice is the latest generation of the Athlon 64 core -- it uses less power and has lower heat output than even the Winchester. Look for the threads on Venice -- it has an improved memory controller, and performs a bit better.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:42 am

on newegg.com for the 2 black evercase cases, there are 2 models that look pretty much the same. The bb-53 and the bb-81. Whats better?

I forget if i mentioned this but I'm building this system to run ProTools. You may or may not be familiar with it, but on their user forums some people are recommending a "mobile" athlon 64 and a dfi lan party 250 (nforce3).

1)Whats the deal with the mobile athlon? Is it meant for laptops but can be used in desktops?

2)Also, I remember than not many people liked via chipsets. Have they improved now or is nforce3 better?

3)You recommended getting a 120mm Yate Loon fan or two. Is that because the evercase doesn't come with any fans? would 1 be sufficient? I wont be overclocking and ill probably get an athlon 3400 or lower.

Thanks for your help.

BenW · Post by **BenW** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:59 pm

1) The mobile athlon will have a lower heat output and use less power making it more suitable for a laptop but it can be used in a desktop. You might need a different mainboard depending on the socket it uses

2) Just get nforce3/4, people buy them over via for a reason

3) The case probably does come with fans but the yate loon fans will be quieter. 1 fan would be enough but you wont get as much airflow and the 1 fan will have to work harder than 2 fans meaning its noisier with 1 fan than with 2.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Sun May 15, 2005 9:13 am

thanks for the reply.

If any of you feel up to it, could you take a look at cyberpowersystem's amd 64 configurator here http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/custom/ ... urator_top and see if it would be possible to put together a silent pc here for a good price. Obviously you would have to replace some fans like the cpu and stuff, but I'm just wondering if any of the stuff they offer is silent.

Well i guess my main question would be is the "THERMALTAKE 480WATT POWER SUPPLY (SILVER) [+69]" or the "Super Alien 500 Watt See Through Power Supply w/ Fan Speed Control" or "ULTRA X-Connect 500W ATX PS w/2 80mm Fans" that they have on there as an option somewhat silent? The other PSU's there are expensive and they all provide too much power. I dont think i even need more than 350watts.

Or i could just remove the standard psu and put in another one.

Picking out parts on newegg.com seems kind of expensive too. I guess I just have to pick out cheaper brand parts.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun May 15, 2005 7:46 pm

BenW wrote:1) The mobile athlon will have a lower heat output and use less power making it more suitable for a laptop but it can be used in a desktop. You might need a different mainboard depending on the socket it uses

2) Just get nforce3/4, people buy them over via for a reason

3) The case probably does come with fans but the yate loon fans will be quieter. 1 fan would be enough but you wont get as much airflow and the 1 fan will have to work harder than 2 fans meaning its noisier with 1 fan than with 2.

there is no reason to get nforce at all. it does ensure though a hotter northbridge so harder to cool. there is also no reason to get 754 NOW. a half year ago, it was best dollar for power option, now its dead in the water, way to hot and no dual channel memory (not like it slows any gaming I do down ever, but who knows what game may come out)

Via is a good chipset, the 800 chipset is really rock solid and tried and true. I would go Abit motherboard with a venice core and k8t800 type of chipset.

im anti sli anti pci-e. doesnt do a freakin thing, and in future, wont help anyone cuz the CPU sockets are changing before the AGP slot will be maxed out. (and the pci-e card you have will be slow poke compared)

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Sun May 15, 2005 8:13 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Antec SLK3000B or Evercase 4252, either w/ a Seasonic PS. And a Yate Loon 120mm fan or two...

If you get a motherboard with 4 DIMM slots, then you can get 2GB for a little less, and get better performance -- though you'll want to get a Venice, as this has a better chance at running the RAM at DDR400.

A Zalman HS is great, and there are several other heatsinks that are also fine: Alpha, Thermalright, and others.

1.The Antec case already comes with a fan, and I read that it is a pretty quiet fan. It is about 50 bucks and the evercase is like 35 bucks, and it doesnt come with fans. So do one of the yate loon fans cost 15 or more? I couldn't really figure out the price.

2. The cheapest ram i found on newegg was kingmax brand. So i would just be getting 2 packages of 2x512. Anything wrong with kingmax?

3. I know zalman is good, and so are other brands. Is there any reason that i should go with something else? I was thinking about the 7000alcu

thanks for the help.

tay · Post by **tay** » Sun May 15, 2005 9:12 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:
BenW wrote:2) Just get nforce3/4, people buy them over via for a reason
there is no reason to get nforce at all. it does ensure though a hotter northbridge so harder to cool.
Via is a good chipset, the 800 chipset is really rock solid and tried and true. I would go Abit motherboard with a venice core and k8t800 type of chipset.
im anti sli anti pci-e. doesnt do a freakin thing, and in future, wont help anyone cuz the CPU sockets are changing before the AGP slot will be maxed out. (and the pci-e card you have will be slow poke compared)

A couple of things :
- Via have a history of bugs in their chipsets. They got squeezed out of the market pretty quick for a reason. If you look at the linux kernel mailing lists, there is often talk of VIA bugs/chipset revs without changing version numbers and other such nonsense.
- Of course, the nforce4 has a couple of bugs as well including an disk corruption bug, but nvidia has generally been better.
- All this being said I'm now running a VIA dual P3 board after retiring my trusty intel P3 board that I used for 5 years. Lets see how it goes.
- WRT PCIe, an interesting saviour of its capabilities could be the Longhorn UI. It is supposed to be all 3D, and I imagine there is a lot more information sent from the card back to main memory which is a problem with AGP. Then again, this might not be a problem

- Another side benefit of PCIe is the GigE interfaces having some room to breathe. I am stuck with GigE on PCI.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Sun May 15, 2005 10:28 pm

Edit:

I ordered the Asus A8V Deluxe and the zalman 7000alcu.

I just found out on the zalman website that for this asus board you can't use the backplate. Now i feel really stupid lol. here's a link:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/ ... e_eng.html

Do you think that by not using the backplate there will be more vibration or any more noise?

What if i just drill some holes through the backplate? Would that work?

Thanks.

tay · Post by **tay** » Mon May 16, 2005 2:29 pm

Not using the backplate may make it less safe to move the computer. I think your idea of drilling out the holes where the capacitors are is a good one. Better than zalmans alternative anyway.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Mon May 16, 2005 5:51 pm

Is the antec slk3000b good enough with just the one fan that it comes with? or do i need to buy another fan? I wont be overclocking

tay · Post by **tay** » Mon May 16, 2005 6:53 pm

Yeah dont lose sleep over getting a second fan as the front fan wont do much at all unless you run 3 or 4 HDDs in which case it'll help cool the HDs. If you do find a good 120mm fan where you're ordering from might as well buy one to see if its better than the Antec supplied one. But really you wont be missing much.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Mon May 16, 2005 10:47 pm

tay wrote:
~El~Jefe~ wrote:
BenW wrote:2) Just get nforce3/4, people buy them over via for a reason
there is no reason to get nforce at all. it does ensure though a hotter northbridge so harder to cool.
Via is a good chipset, the 800 chipset is really rock solid and tried and true. I would go Abit motherboard with a venice core and k8t800 type of chipset.
im anti sli anti pci-e. doesnt do a freakin thing, and in future, wont help anyone cuz the CPU sockets are changing before the AGP slot will be maxed out. (and the pci-e card you have will be slow poke compared)
A couple of things :
- Via have a history of bugs in their chipsets. They got squeezed out of the market pretty quick for a reason. If you look at the linux kernel mailing lists, there is often talk of VIA bugs/chipset revs without changing version numbers and other such nonsense.
- Of course, the nforce4 has a couple of bugs as well including an disk corruption bug, but nvidia has generally been better.
- All this being said I'm now running a VIA dual P3 board after retiring my trusty intel P3 board that I used for 5 years. Lets see how it goes.
- WRT PCIe, an interesting saviour of its capabilities could be the Longhorn UI. It is supposed to be all 3D, and I imagine there is a lot more information sent from the card back to main memory which is a problem with AGP. Then again, this might not be a problem
- Another side benefit of PCIe is the GigE interfaces having some room to breathe. I am stuck with GigE on PCI.

well, the via chipset has been far less buggy for the past 2 years compared to anything nforce has put out. it was not until the nforce 3 that the comparison subsided, thten nforce 4 came out and was horrendously buggy. go look up tomshardware.com about chipsets, look from 2003 late year through this past winter... via chipset hasnt changed much at all and has been stable. It is the most mature motherboard chipset out there for a64.
yes i agree that the pci-e has cool gigabit and beyond controling capabilities. However, FIOS and cablemodem dont do much in this regard

also, the 800 by via chipset runs cold all the time, no questions asked, no matter what system. It never needs active cooling, hardly needs much of a heatsink. This reduction of heat is important, I feel, when making a truly near silent system.

yes, linux has problems with via chipsets that is true. however, linux has lots of problems with anything that isnt a direct match of a simple pentium system/win 2000/xp system.

tay · Post by **tay** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:02 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote: also, the 800 by via chipset runs cold all the time, no questions asked, no matter what system. It never needs active cooling, hardly needs much of a heatsink. This reduction of heat is important, I feel, when making a truly near silent system.

yes, linux has problems with via chipsets that is true. however, linux has lots of problems with anything that isnt a direct match of a simple pentium system/win 2000/xp system.

Good to know the current chipsets dont have high profile bugs like the early to mid Athlon ones. Nvidia still has some NCQ bugs in its SATA controller. I wonder why they run cooler than the nvidia chipsets. They both likely use the same fab. Anyhow, linux does have problems with new hardware because the manufacturers dont often write for it, but the linux system i use is available for 11 different processor architectures and the kernel is compiled for even more. The problems linux had with VIA (if you'd reread my posts) were with chipsets bugs and revision number stupidity on VIAs part. In this case linux wasnt to be blamed for shoddy HW support although it often can be especially with newer drivers. The reason i mentioned it is because linux development is transparent and you can read about such things in the developer mailing lists. I didnt know from persona experience as I used to avoid everything but intel until the Athlon XP after being burned by the shoddy performance of a Cyrix.

rclayton17 · Post by **rclayton17** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:18 am

hey all thanks for the help. Now i feel better that i got a cooler chipset.

I was reading some reviews for the asus a8v deluxe on newegg's site and someone was talking about 3rd party cpu coolers:

"One warning though, if you want to use an aftermarket cooler for the CPU that requires to remove the metal backplate, use a hairdryer to loosen the glue that holds it on. I'm on mobo 2 because of this mistake, but thats my own fault."

Does this mean that there is already a backplate installed on the mobo that i would have had to remove anyway?