Entire system spec'ed except for 7800GTX - Asus TOP??

PAP · Post by **PAP** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:11 pm

Here's the plan:

P180
ASUS A8N-Premium
AMD 4800x2
OCZ Platinum 1gb x 2
Seasonic S12-500
WD 74 Raptor (boot)
Nexus 120 fans upgrade all around
Scythe Ninja for CPU

My main question:

Just found out about the ASUS version of the 7800GTX "TOP" which has an external venting fan. This will keep all GPU heat out of the case, which seems a good thing. The bad is that it looks like you wouldn't be able to modify/change heat sink very easily if it is loud.

Check out this review: http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle. ... icleid=719

This is a 50% home office machine (quicken, web,...) 25% audio and video editing (home movies, ripping DVDs to video server) and 25% gamer machine (upgrade brought on by purchasing BF2). Budget is $3500 or less ideally.

Comments in general of course appreciated, but I'm specfically obsessing over video card.

Right now I have a Sonata (1) with a passively cooled 9800 and a 3 ghz P4 with a zalman. It's fairly quiet, but I need more power with less noise

Long time lurker (3+ years) first time poster. Thanks guys. I plan to buy the SPCR version of the P180 Btw!

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:19 am

AFAIK the AC Silencer for the 7800, that is used on the Asus GTX TOP, is about the same as the one for 6800s. So the fan may spin at 2,500 rpm, which for some people is loud. Other Silencers' fans spin at 2,000 rpm or even just 1,500 rpm, and sound much quieter. Since money doesn't seem to be a problem, I would suggest to buy and apply dampening material on the inside of the P180, in order to lower the perceived noise of the 2,500 rpm fan (I hope it's just 2,500 and not more, but don't know yet).
I'm not sure if the Scythe Ninja is the best option for the mobo. Since the Premium transfers the heat from the chipset to the voltage regulator heatsink, I believe a fanned XP-120 would help cooling that. But I'm not sure how well will it cool an AMD X2 4800 with just 1,000 rpm.
PS: I wish I could afford to build a new system like yours

PAP · Post by **PAP** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 6:47 pm

I bought the SPCR version of the P180 and it had an option for damping material installed (acoustipack deluxe V2) so I went with that.

I figure I'll have to run a fan on the Ninja, but plan a Nexus. Will watch MB temps but it seems I've seen lots of folks running the ninja with the premium version of the a8n.

Interestingly I had literally loaded up my card with stuff originally planning on running a water system in a Lian Li case and at the very last minute found a post about how the premium wouldn't run in that case (slots "upside down" and so heatpipe wont' work). Thank goodness I read the newegg user comments!

Since the 7800 runs cooler than the 6800 (right?) I hope the fan will run quieter.

As to the system, I usually build much more middle of the road setups, but my wife gets upset at the time (usually hours a night for weeks) it takes me to obsess over components and the time and cursing when building. She actually told me just to buy the alienware liquid cooled PC (I think was almost 6 grand

) but I backed out after reading it might not be as quiet as I hoped. So by building my own (once again) I'm actually saving money. I'm definitely off the price/performance curve, but I have more money than free time and if spending an extra thousand on parts means I go an extra year before the next rebuild then that makes the whole house happier! I'm excited about the possibility of just dropping in another video card into SLI mode in the future, because that's usually what demands the upgrade (video performance).

God bless and thanks for your feedback.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:35 am

The 7800 GTX doesn't really run cooler than a 6800 Ultra, it seems it's manufacturer dependent. I suppose the voltage on the GPU may vary slightly from one to another. The Asus GTX TOP is already overclocked, so it's going to run hotter than an ordinary 7800 GTX, probably ~10W more. If you plan to add another 7800 GTX later, and money is no problem, you might want to get the S12-600 to be safe. Even if the 12V1 spec is just 1A more than the 500, it might make a difference when using two 7800 GTXs. Good luck!
PS: I just spotted someone having trouble with A8N-SLI Premium and OCZ Platinum 2GB, on Anandtech forums. Maybe he has a bad part, but I think it's worth investigating.

spworley · Post by **spworley** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:41 pm

Your design is VERY CLOSE to the machine I just built. Same CPU, RAM, PSU, fans, hard drive and case! I picked a 7800GT and not a GTX though.

But please don't get that OCZ RAM! It was a big mistake, 1GB OCZ Platinum is running at its speed limits.

I used a LANParty SLI MB, I'm pleased with that choice. I did change the northbridge into a passive heatsink.

Lots of details on my build here:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=24898

I haven't decided on my replacement RAM yet, but probably Ballistix.

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:49 am

I am running the A8N-SLI Premium with a passive Ninja and two nexuses running at 5.5V at the top/back. The chipset is really hot to the touch, you'll burn your finger if you touch it. Still, I have had absolutly no stability issues either, and since it just wont crash, why bother?

PAP · Post by **PAP** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:16 pm

i ended up ordering Corsair twin2048-3200c2PT RT 2x1gb. It was on the list. Not as fast timings, but I'm after stability and no hassle install so I hope that was a good choice.

I've heard the chipset is speced to run up to 80c! We'll see.

IonYz · Post by **IonYz** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:36 pm

My EVGA 7800GTX KO has been quiet, well, when my 3800+ X2 ramps up its it drowns out everything. So I put the back exhaust (P180) on medium and now I can keep my stock HSF at 2500 RPM idle and 3000 RPM under load... of course now the back exhaust drowns out anything else. Haha. But I don't notice the EVGA KO at all in there.

The EVGA card doesn't use the ASUS TOP cooler (I can't SLI the ASUS TOP, its too wide for my board), but does use a better-the-stock heatsink. Really. I had no idea the stock (non-heatpipe) X2 would be the root of noise problems. Then again I didn't know it was bundled with a non-heatpipe cooler

My Gigabyte board doesn't have any heatpipes for the chipset but its passive. 70c temps at idle and 71c under load, haven't had any problems yet.

PAP · Post by **PAP** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:13 am

Just a followup in case anyone else is interested. I built my new system with:

P180 case
Asus a8n-sli premium
Corsair ram as mentioned above (2 x 1gb)
Ninja heatsink passive mode
4800x2 AMD processor
Vid card as above
2 x 73gb raptor, boot/scratch
2 x 300gb seagate raid1

Running all fans in the p180 on medium. I also did put a 120mm Nexus fan in the front spot.

My cpu temps running about 40 idle and high 40's under load with ninja passive mode (no cpu fan!)

Case is very quiet. not silent by any means. With any ambient noise I can't hear it though. Mostly just a slight air rushing noise. CDROM ramp-ups are annoying as it disturbs the overall quiet. Fan noise is definitely audible overall, and I think the front fan definitely adds quite a bit even though it's a nexus.

however, with regards to the video card, I can't hear it at all. I'm totally impressed with this product. It is a large card so read reviews you might not be able to SLI except with ASUS mb, but noise-wise it's a winner!

Running BF2 and AA at 1600x1200 with max settings and love it.

I