Advice for a golden oldie

hitman47 · Post by **hitman47** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:26 pm

Hey there fine people of spcr,

I'm a friend from back in the old days of spcr when it was hard to get those silent bits and bobs (looking back at my thread archive is quite cute!) I used to be very up to date on the preferred silencer's hardware but other commitments since got in the way

I've read up over the course of this morning but built my last pc a good few years ago. The current rig has croaked and i'm ordering the following:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Motherboard: Abit IP35-E
Memory: GeIL 2GB PC6400
Graphics Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO SILENT

Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120
Fan: AcoustiFan 120mm

Case: Antec Solo
Fan Mounts: Acousti Ultra-Soft Fan Mounts

Power Supply: Seasonic S12 430W

I'm on a tight budget so not looking for silence, just getting your reassurance that it'll be quiet and that physically it all fits together?

1. Is that cooler okay for LGA775?
2. Will that motherboard hold the cooler securely?
3. Will the cooler fit inside the Solo case?
4. Will the hardware all be compatible?

Answers to these and all other thoughts sincerely appreciated

All the best

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:34 pm

-If you're on a tight budget, I would get the S12-380 instead. It will have more than enough power for your system.

-What C2D are you planning on getting? If you're on a tight budget, I would just grab a Pentium E2160 or C2D E4400 and OC it.

-What hard disk are you using?

-I'm guessing you'll want another quiet 120mm fan to replace the Tri-Cool fan in the exhaust. However, I would try the Tri-Cool and seeing if you can hear it. If the noise bothers you, try using no exhaust fan and monitor temps under load. You might find you don't need an exhaust fan at all, and you can always add a quiet one later.

-To answer your questions -
1. Yes
2. Thermalright hasn't listed any problems with S775 boards and that cooler except for some Gigabyte boards. The heatsink comes with its own retention bracket. Just remember to install it before putting the motherboard in the case.

3. Yes
4. Yes

hitman47 · Post by **hitman47** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:58 pm

Thank you sincerely jackylman, and especially for answering each of my questions

jackylman wrote:-If you're on a tight budget, I would get the S12-380 instead. It will have more than enough power for your system.

Forgot to mention the S12-430 is already purchased (taking it from my previous rig!)

jackylman wrote:-What C2D are you planning on getting? If you're on a tight budget, I would just grab a Pentium E2160 or C2D E4400 and OC it.

Bingo! Getting the E2160 and overclocking it, hope to reach 3ghz if i'm lucky..

jackylman wrote:-What hard disk are you using?

I've got on order a pair of Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache. Will these be okay noise-wise and compatability-wise ?

jackylman wrote:-I'm guessing you'll want another quiet 120mm fan to replace the Tri-Cool fan in the exhaust. However, I would try the Tri-Cool and seeing if you can hear it. If the noise bothers you, try using no exhaust fan and monitor temps under load. You might find you don't need an exhaust fan at all, and you can always add a quiet one later.

Once again jackylman, bullseye! I'm going with the Tri-cool for now and an AcoustiFan 92mm at the front for the Seagate HDs. If the Tri-cool bothers me i'll swap it out or, like you suggest, remove it

Thanks once again jackylman you're a star

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:44 pm

hitman47 wrote:I've got on order a pair of Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache. Will these be okay noise-wise and compatability-wise ?

SPCR has reviewed the Barracuda 7200.10 series and found it's fairly noisy compared to the competition (and it runs hot too

). In fact, I have a feeling they will easily be the noisiest things in your system.

The Samsung HD501LJ is a better choice for a quiet 500GB drive. I would cancel the order and opt for 2 of them instead.

Also, out of curiosity, do you really need a TB of storage or are you making a RAID?

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:35 pm

With both Core 2 and X2,the low $ chip (4300 Core 2) (3600 Brisbane) is the cool runner-and low $....but both OC quite well. Some Mobos,Asus.Abit,Gigabyte have (some models) a dynamic overclock-underclock that can use the range these offer. Crystal CPUID is a software alternativer usable on many other mobos. For example...if a Brisbane is 1.9 ghz stock....buy on demand (or lack of) can transform to 1.0 or 2.4....you get nice and quiet when you are not pushing the puter. When power is needed -it's available.

If the System also can adjust fan speed...you get to have your cake and eat it

Another new tech....eSATA. You can have your MAIN HD at full SATA 2 in an enclosure 6' from the case. This also helps case airflow...and

Big Fans----- Look for posts by Bluefront and Felger Carbon. Both have done a lot with the 220mm side fan idea. The deal is that these fans run well at under 400 rpm....and as low as 350-----yet move a lot of air. a large "tabletop" heatsink like the Aerocool Dominator cools the CPU with no fan direct mounted. If you have a dynamic OC setup-you could attach a Scythe to the mobo as if its a CPU fan, (stock 800rpm 120mm) and it runs only on load. use it as exhause or to blow across the chipset and CPU,with a home made bracket. If the mobo uses heatpipe cooling the you'd maybe line it up to cool that radiator and draw from the CPU. Of course-the PSU fan is also helping exhaust-but you don't want it getting too much of the case heat or it's fan speeds up.

Seagate lost it's crown as quietest to Samsung-who's T series is my pick. Western is their challenger...my last Caviar died in less than a year-so I won't recommend-but that could well be a fluke.

Seagate DOES have 5 yr warranty. I like their quality control-worked at a Seagate plant LONG ago when 1 GB was really deluxe stuff....
In a remote eSATA housing the noise is a lot further away and can be muffled easier.

hitman47 · Post by **hitman47** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:08 am

Thank you ronrem and jackylman once again. I certainly have fallen behind the times, 200mm is crazy!

jackylman wrote:SPCR has reviewed the Barracuda 7200.10 series and found it's fairly noisy compared to the competition (and it runs hot too ). In fact, I have a feeling they will easily be the noisiest things in your system.

The Samsung HD501LJ is a better choice for a quiet 500GB drive. I would cancel the order and opt for 2 of them instead.

You're absolutely right, I just remembered from the olden days that Seagate were the kings and assumed the same still applies. I've changed the order to a pair of Samsungs

jackylman wrote:Also, out of curiosity, do you really need a TB of storage or are you making a RAID?

I actually misquoted myself, I had on order the following two drives

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500gb
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320gb

which are now directly replaced with

Samsung SpinPoint T166 500gb (HD501LJ)
Samsung SpinPoint T166 320gb (HD321KJ)

I could do with the space and at todays prices I thought why not!
On the subject of hard drives, do you think it would be worth waiting for the Samsung F1 series? Or indeed the Seagate 7200.11 series? Both seem due any moment (..that's what I hate about upgrading, there's always something better right round the corner..

)

Thanks again gentlemen