My own reflections and concerns:
My head hurts! Researching these components was exhausting and frankly, the concept of silent PCs is not exactly yet mainstream. Thus, obtaining or designing a silent box requires a lot of up-front work and persistence. One significant reason why I never updated my old hardware is that my current primary box is silent. My definition of silent is
inaudible. I have been reluctant to update hardware because I like that silence!
The AMD BE-23x0 CPUs finally are available. Possibly some SPCRers might argue that a 65W 3600+ Brisbane can be undervolted to likely achieve the same energy consumption as the new chips. Yet, I prefer to start with the 45W ceiling. If 45W is the max this CPU can generate then that is a good starting point for potential subsequent undervolting. The lower TDP rating, compared to the 3600+ at 65W, also promotes a smaller and more affordable silent heat sink solution. I doubt motherboard BIOSs are yet current for the new CPU and I likely will wait several weeks for that to happen. Regardless, this is a good time to finally be updating to newer hardware, especially with a silent box as the ultimate goal.
I considered some of the Antec SLK line, but those cases come packaged with PSUs --- and side vents. Incredibly, a significant number of various case models have side intake vents or ducts. With the way my office is designed with a custom-made corner desk and the room hydronic baseboard registers on the left side, the only placement for my box is to my right side --- with those case side openings facing directly at me. Any box with side openings troubles me with my goal of a silent box. I prefer front intakes.
I am hesitant about ordering any case with a PSU because PSU fan noise is subjective. What is acceptable to many people more than likely is unacceptable to me. With the Zen PSU I need not worry about fans at all.
I have mixed thoughts about the Solo. I like the inner design, but am not tickled with the glossy piano finish. I am an older fart regarding style and do not care for the modern designs of many boxes with the glossy or steel finishes, virgin whites, blue glowing LEDs, or side-windows. Nothing wrong with all that, but not my cup of tea. I want a computer case, not a piano or college dorm. A case with a basic matte finish is all I want or need. Black is nice but classic beige is just as functional. Oh, no front doors please.
I want a mini tower case. I prefer to have future expansion potential with the front accessories and I want three 5.25 bays and at least one 3.5 bay. I cannot find anything that comes close to promoting the inaudible design of the Solo so I suppose I will have to live with a piano.
The motherboard I selected will have more USB ports than I need in the back of the box, but I suppose having convenient access to two additional ports in the front will be nice. As will a front panel Firewire port, which currently I have no need.
I figure 2 GB probably is a safe compromise for a new box that will run virtualization software. I struggled with whether to buy DDR2-533 rather than DDR2-800, but the difference in price is nominal therefore I figured proceed with a wee bit of future-proofing and take the extra bit of speed. I am unlikely to notice any difference with most apps, but I do occasionally compile software and the extra speed might provide a cumulative difference through the years.
The Koutech Floppy Drive & Multi Card Reader seems like an inexpensive way to provide future expansion and flexibility. Part of the device actually connects to one of the motherboard back plate USB ports, but that does not bother me.
The Icy Dock MB123PK-B IDE-to-SATA mobile tray will allow me to do something I never have been able to do: hot swap my backup drives. I have long used several extra IDE drives for backups, an excellent purpose for otherwise unused drives. This tray, however, will allow me to continue using those useful drives but without the need to reboot as I always have had to do with my current hardware. The IDE interface does not support hot swapping like SATA or USB, so this tray should be a treat. Yes, I could use USB drives, but why waste money on backup disks when this inexpensive option exists?
I did a lot of reading about DVD players. Silent models do not exist per se. Additionally, no consensus opinion exists here at SPCR. However, long ago I learned with my CD burner that burning CDs at a slow rate (8x or less) significantly avoids most of the noise problems. Just never be in a hurry.
The only thing I cannot control is a commercially pressed disk burned at high speeds. As far as watching an occasional movie DVD, that should be no problem because they run at slower (1x?) speeds. Besides, I prefer watching DVDs in my living room.
Therefore I might as well focus on other features of a DVD device.
Originally I was concerned about my choice of CPU heat sink and chassis fan, but not now with the 45W Brisbanes available. The SPCR testing of the Alpine 7 was with a P4-520, not a 45W Brisbane, but even then the results were favorable. Everything else I have read indicates that my type of basic office usage should keep those two fans running at minimum speed and they should be inaudible to me. I might even be able to disconnect the CPU cooler fan, but that remains to be seen. Passive cooling would be great, but if the fan never speeds up then some nominal air flow is a good thing, especially to help the voltage regulators.
The Arctic 7 cooler includes a 4-pin PWM fan, which the motherboard requires. Based upon comments here at SPCR, I will be replacing the stock Antec TriCool case fan with the Arctic AF12L. The mobo supports only 3-pin chassis fans.
Using a Micro ATX board with integrated everything, this box should run "cool" for the demand I likely will create. Therefore I hope my heat sink and chassis fan choices are practical.
There might be a video capture card in the future, but only for recording some late-late night movies when I am asleep. This box will not be a HTPC in any shape or form.
For energy conservation I wanted to consider the newer 690G/V chip set. However, my primary OS will be Slackware (GNU/Linux) and ATI driver support has not always been the best for that platform. I read many positive reviews for the Nvida 6150 chip set. The 6150 chip set will consume a couple of watts more than the 690 but I am unwilling to gamble at this still relatively early stage of AMD owning ATI. The 690 chip set also is relatively new and although the Linux kernel is updated continually, I'd rather go with the already proven 6150 chip set.
The 690 chip set also only supports one IDE channel (two drives) and I want support for 4 drives.
I need a parallel port. Although there are USB-to-Centronics converters, I am unwilling to risk the Linux modules not functioning perfectly. Best to buy a motherboard with the port built in.
I never considered working with dual monitors, but with this motherboard and an additional DVI-D port, I might reconsider. Especially with running a continuous virtual OS.
