Time for version 2.0 of this thread. After a lot of advice here on the boards and some conversations with a support person on a norwegian webshop, I have changed my original setup quite a bit. I'm looking for comments on the current build.
Case: Antec SLK3000B-EC
CPU-Cooler: Zalman 7000AlCu
Case fan: papst 120mm 26dB fan w/zalman fan mate 2.
Graphics: Asus passive GeForce 6600
TV-card: Hauppage WinTV PVR500MCE
DVD-burner: Nec ND-4550
Harddrive: Samsung 200GB SATA
PSU: Seasonic S12 430W bulk (no link yet)
CPU/Motherboard option 1:
Athlon64 3200+ Venice
AsRock 939 Dual-Sata2
Kingston Value 2x512MB
CPU/Motherboard option2:
AMD Sempron 2800+
A good passively cooled MB.
Kingston Value 1GB
So, let the commenting begin....
help with new silent computer
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
help with new silent computer
Last edited by shanizar on Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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the asrock board splits up the north and south bridge functions like they should be split. nforce4, aka nHot4, jams all of it on one chip so it roasts itself.
the asrock board is a great performing board, recommend it highly for an spcr system. you can also use older cards on it before you fully upgrade. saves a lot of money.
it also costs about 75 dollars shipped in retail box. cant beat that. only thing it lacks is a gigabit ethernet (most dont ever need it is why) and no firewire.
firewire is a bit of a let down. almost perfect board.
the asrock board is a great performing board, recommend it highly for an spcr system. you can also use older cards on it before you fully upgrade. saves a lot of money.
it also costs about 75 dollars shipped in retail box. cant beat that. only thing it lacks is a gigabit ethernet (most dont ever need it is why) and no firewire.
firewire is a bit of a let down. almost perfect board.
I heard that the ASRock 939 Dual Sata lacks BIOS fan control and maybe fan control in general. A Zalman 7000B-AlCu running at 12V isn't exactly quiet. I would recommend getting a couple extra fanmates or getting an ASUS A8V-E SE or just get an A8N or A8V-E and stick on a Zalman passive northbridge heasink. The 3000B has pretty good airflow, so a passive cooler should be ok.
I know its more expensive, but its probably worth it. If you really can't afford a more expensive motherboard, just stick with the ASRock and some fanmates (or get a cheap fan controller). Stay with the Athlon64 3200+. It should give significantly better performance than a 2800+ Sempron.
I know its more expensive, but its probably worth it. If you really can't afford a more expensive motherboard, just stick with the ASRock and some fanmates (or get a cheap fan controller). Stay with the Athlon64 3200+. It should give significantly better performance than a 2800+ Sempron.
I thought the Zalman 7000AlCu came with a fanmate already... maybe I'm wrong. Both the ASRock MB's already have passive NB coolers, so no need to get the Zalman passive cooler.
So you would take the Uli based card (or what it's called) over the Nforce 4 card then? Only about 10$ difference so I don't care which I get...
So you would take the Uli based card (or what it's called) over the Nforce 4 card then? Only about 10$ difference so I don't care which I get...
How about S939 Opteron 144? 90nm core and 67W TDP as the A64, same clock of 1800mHz as the 3000+ and double the L2 cache(1Mb), should only cost about 20$ more than a 3000+ and they are supposedly great overclockers.. Or a 146 Opteron, the price difference compared to a 3200+ should be about the same as 144 vs. 3000+. Isnt it nice when decicions get complicated? 
Shg.no only seems to have S940 Opterons though..
The 700Alcu definately has a FanMate included unless you get a Bulk version, if you can find one. I bought mine when it was released and very expensive, saved a lot by bying bulk version. Now the cooler is under half the price compared to when it was introduced though, so i dont think theres any bulk versions available..
My opinion is that youll save yourself some headache if you get a Via board and not a nF4, theres enough experimenting and fiddling with optimizing cooling vs. noise without a hot chipset in a tight space.. If you are a mad overclocker though, nF4 is the way to go.
Dont know if the integrated hardware firewall on the nF4 works now, but i never got it working properly and eventually slowly killed it with a pencil. It would have been a nice addition if it had worked. a separate HW firewall is the way to go imo..
Shg.no only seems to have S940 Opterons though..The 700Alcu definately has a FanMate included unless you get a Bulk version, if you can find one. I bought mine when it was released and very expensive, saved a lot by bying bulk version. Now the cooler is under half the price compared to when it was introduced though, so i dont think theres any bulk versions available..
My opinion is that youll save yourself some headache if you get a Via board and not a nF4, theres enough experimenting and fiddling with optimizing cooling vs. noise without a hot chipset in a tight space.. If you are a mad overclocker though, nF4 is the way to go.
Dont know if the integrated hardware firewall on the nF4 works now, but i never got it working properly and eventually slowly killed it with a pencil. It would have been a nice addition if it had worked. a separate HW firewall is the way to go imo..
Yes, the Zalman flower heatsinks all have fanmates included, but you'll need fanmates for other fans you might hook up to the motherboard. Personally, I like motherboard control of fans better because you can vary the voltage with respect to core temperature. I would get either the ASRock or an ASUS board with a Via chipset. The nForce4's built in secuirty features are nice, but like nici said, they don't always work. They're also pretty hot and may require a large heatsink to cool well.
k, so the Via chipset it is then, removed the nforce4 chipset MB from the list. I'm getting the computer for my gf and it's going to be in our bedroom... The gf part means she has a pretty tight rein on the economy, so going higher than the first option (939) isn't going to happen 
I was also wondering about 2x512MB ram vs. 1x1024MB ram... How big is the gain from doing dual channel? The 1GB chip would be better suited for later upgrades I guess...
About fanmates. I included one in the list for the papst fan. The fan that comes with the case already has included speed control, right? And so with the psu fan being temp controlled and the cpu fan including a fanmate I think I'm all set
What do you guys think, should it be possible to sleep next to this comp with all fans at 5V?
I was also wondering about 2x512MB ram vs. 1x1024MB ram... How big is the gain from doing dual channel? The 1GB chip would be better suited for later upgrades I guess...
About fanmates. I included one in the list for the papst fan. The fan that comes with the case already has included speed control, right? And so with the psu fan being temp controlled and the cpu fan including a fanmate I think I'm all set
What do you guys think, should it be possible to sleep next to this comp with all fans at 5V?
The problem with the Papst fans and many other case fans is that it takes a molex connection, not a 3pin connection for power. You might want to get a molex to 3 pin power converter. Make sure the 3 pin side is female (i think). Anyway, just make sure it'll hook up to the fanmate correctly. It shouldn't cost more than about $2-3 USD at newegg.
IIRC, for the equivalent price, 2x512MB RAM will be faster than 1x1024MB RAM. There are 1GB sticks with same timings as 2x512 sticks, but they're more expensive. I'd stick with the 2x512MB. You're not buying mATX or shuttle motherboards, so you'll have two slots to expand with. I doubt you'll need more than 2 GB of RAM anytime in the next 4-5 years.
And yes, I think you will probably be able to sleep next to the computer with all fans at 5V.
IIRC, for the equivalent price, 2x512MB RAM will be faster than 1x1024MB RAM. There are 1GB sticks with same timings as 2x512 sticks, but they're more expensive. I'd stick with the 2x512MB. You're not buying mATX or shuttle motherboards, so you'll have two slots to expand with. I doubt you'll need more than 2 GB of RAM anytime in the next 4-5 years.
And yes, I think you will probably be able to sleep next to the computer with all fans at 5V.
I would have a Papst fan and the stock tri-cool for case airflow. The Tri-Cool that comes with the Antec 3000B is about as quiet as a Papst at 7V when it is set on LOW. Personally, I'd have the Papst for exhaust and the Tri-Cool up front for intake because the Papst at 5V probably moves more air than the Tri-Cool on low. The intake fan will keep the hard drives cool and provide some airflow for the passive GPU cooler. FYI, the 120mm Papst I got from Directron had a 4 pin molex connection.
With a Seasonic S12 PSU and Tri-Cool, Zalman 7000, and Papst 120mm all set on low, there isn't that much more you can do without 'modding'. The next step would be suspending the HDD if its noisy, getting a Ninja or something else that might be able to be run passively, or getting a passive PSU. All rather expensive or relatively difficult things to do.
With a Seasonic S12 PSU and Tri-Cool, Zalman 7000, and Papst 120mm all set on low, there isn't that much more you can do without 'modding'. The next step would be suspending the HDD if its noisy, getting a Ninja or something else that might be able to be run passively, or getting a passive PSU. All rather expensive or relatively difficult things to do.
But with 4 DIMMS he would be forced to run 2T command rate (unless he's getting one of the new DFI ATI boards, and even there that feature doesn't seem to be very stable).stromgald wrote:IIRC, for the equivalent price, 2x512MB RAM will be faster than 1x1024MB RAM. There are 1GB sticks with same timings as 2x512 sticks, but they're more expensive. I'd stick with the 2x512MB. You're not buying mATX or shuttle motherboards, so you'll have two slots to expand with. I doubt you'll need more than 2 GB of RAM anytime in the next 4-5 years
again, thanx for all the help, these boards are great
About the ram. This being a computer for my girlfriend, I don't think it will be upgraded that often so I'll stick with 2x512MB.
About the papst fan connector. It's obviously different from store to store, but I just checked mine at it says 3-pin so I'm assuming that is correct.
I will probably suspend the harddrives. I've done it in my other computer, although in a rather un-elegant manner, so shouldn't be a problem.
But you're saying that the Tri-Cool fan on LOW makes as much noise as a 7V papst. but the papst on 5V moves more air than the Tri-Cool on LOW... Maybe I should get two papst's...
The Scythe Ninja isn't an option in the shop I'm using and regardless, all the passive cpu coolers are a bit too expensive... Passive psu's really isn't an option as they are expensive as hell.
I could switch the fan on the Zalman7000 though, but not sure how much of a gain I'd get. I'll be running it at 5V at all times anyway, don't think I need more for this setup.
How about the different isolation you guys put into the cases, how much does this really help in a case like I'm getting?
About the ram. This being a computer for my girlfriend, I don't think it will be upgraded that often so I'll stick with 2x512MB.
About the papst fan connector. It's obviously different from store to store, but I just checked mine at it says 3-pin so I'm assuming that is correct.
I will probably suspend the harddrives. I've done it in my other computer, although in a rather un-elegant manner, so shouldn't be a problem.
But you're saying that the Tri-Cool fan on LOW makes as much noise as a 7V papst. but the papst on 5V moves more air than the Tri-Cool on LOW... Maybe I should get two papst's...
The Scythe Ninja isn't an option in the shop I'm using and regardless, all the passive cpu coolers are a bit too expensive... Passive psu's really isn't an option as they are expensive as hell
.I could switch the fan on the Zalman7000 though, but not sure how much of a gain I'd get. I'll be running it at 5V at all times anyway, don't think I need more for this setup.
How about the different isolation you guys put into the cases, how much does this really help in a case like I'm getting?
I don't know about sound dampening or isolation since I haven't tried that. Maybe someone else can help with that. With the Papst vs. Tri-Cool, its really hard to tell. A Papst at 5-7V and Tri-Cool on low are both very quiet. The Papst seems smoother to me though, and that might be why it seems quieter. The numbers for the Papst at 12V according to SPCR is 55cfm at 26dBa. The Tri-Cool on low is 35cfm at 21dBa. Honestly, I'd stick with the Tri-cool because the noise difference isn't much and you save the cost of a Papst, which aren't cheap, at least not in the US.
My recommended mods is to seal any holes in the front of the case (behind the bezel) except the fan intake. Easiest way to do this is just get a scissor and some masking or painter's tape. Tape up all unnecessary holes up front. You can take off the side duct and close it off if the Zalman 7000B is too noisy, but at 5V, I doubt that will be necessary. You can also take out the hard drive cage and try some homemade hdd suspending ideas. Look around in these forums for pics of those. Its somewhat extreme, but it'll cut down on your hard drive noise some more.
My recommended mods is to seal any holes in the front of the case (behind the bezel) except the fan intake. Easiest way to do this is just get a scissor and some masking or painter's tape. Tape up all unnecessary holes up front. You can take off the side duct and close it off if the Zalman 7000B is too noisy, but at 5V, I doubt that will be necessary. You can also take out the hard drive cage and try some homemade hdd suspending ideas. Look around in these forums for pics of those. Its somewhat extreme, but it'll cut down on your hard drive noise some more.