Non-gaming Antec 3480 build, video encoding box

awx · Post by **awx** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:56 pm

I'm looking to replace my Dell 400sc 2.8 P4 + HIS ATI X800 Pro system with a cooler running and quieter build. The old 400sc was used for gaming, video encoding and net surfing but the new one will not need to be gaming at all.

Here's my shopping cart so far:

Antec NSK3480 micro atx, $90
G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 (F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ), $50
Intel BOX DG33TLM LGA 775 Intel G33, $122
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W, $125
Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm Ninja
Replacement case fans ???

I vastly prefer running on stock settings so the lack of over/underclocking on a motherboard is a good thing for me. But the motherboard I'm considering was given low marks from SPCR for lack of fan speen control options. The problem seems to be that the fans will instantly go from normal speed to high speed as soon as the temp rises above a certain threshold. Are there any workarounds for this behavior such as fanmates or something?

If that M/B won't be a decent choice, what are some others that have good DVI/HDMI video? I've found this this one so far:
GIGABYTE GA-73PVM-S2H LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100 HDMI
I never enjoyed my Athlon nForce Shuttle MN31n. Are the nForce chipsets less of a hassle now?

I am running Vista on a Westinghouse 37w3 1080p TV/Monitor via DVI via the X800 Pro and it works perfectly. I do have some concern about whether or not the Intel graphics can produce a flawless image at 1920x1080 resolution. My old Intel 865 powered Optiplex couldn't compete in clarity over VGA against the X800 but will a digital connection make all the difference?

And is E4500 Allendale a good choice? It's cheap but does it run noticeably cooler than the more expensive Conroe chips such as the E6750?

Is the Scythe SCNJ-1100P 120mm Ninja at NewEgg the rev b model that people prefer?

awx · Post by **awx** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:13 am

Also, the Asus P5E-VM HDMI motherboards look very tempting, even at $150. But they've just started shipping so there's no idea how stable they are.

firefox90 · Post by **firefox90** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:11 pm

I am getting ready to build a similar rig. The Antec case is $72 without shipping from Zipzoomfly. Came to about $87 with shipping for me.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=10006029

awx · Post by **awx** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:04 pm

Cool, I always forget to check out ZZF.

What kind of motherboard are you going to use? Do you have any reservations about cooling or noise for your or my setups?

firefox90 · Post by **firefox90** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:27 pm

Well I am building a cheap AMD rig for my dad (cheap, fairly quick for his needs, quiet, stable). As far as what you have listed for the Intel components, the list looks good. I am sure you couldn't go wrong with the Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R at $130 even if you are not planning on overclocking. It looks to like a pretty solid motherboard and a solid brand.

Specs of what I am building:
Case: Antec NSK3480
PSU: Antec 380w w/ case
Motherboard: Abit 7050PV
CPU: AMD X2 4000+ Brisbane
RAM: G.Skill 2x1 gb (above)
Hard Drive: WD SE 1600AAJS 160 gb
Optical: DVD-ROM from current Dell
~$330 shipped.

From what I have read form the SPCR review of the NSK3480, it looks to be a fairly quiet case. I like the simple and clean M-ATX layout of the case. Sometimes there is just too much going on with the small cases. For my dad, I think I am going to leave the stock fans in depending on how loud they are. Those would be quick fixes for you if they are too loud. The cooling layout looks pretty great for an M-ATX case. A simple 120mm rear fan and spots for 2x80mm up front if you want. The power supply looks solid for a case bundle. The nice thing about this NSK3480 is it has the room for the standard ATX power supply if you need to upgrade.

What I definitely plan on doing is flipping the power supply from the standard orientation so that the wires are closer to the pass through on top. I am going to decides where I want to place the hard drive when it arrives. If I can figure something out, I may rig up a suspension rig. There looks to be a decent amount of room towards the front of the case.

I think we will both be looking at a fairly low power draw and quiet running machine. I just ordered the parts tonight. I will post my impressions probably later next week. Maybe I will even build a custom HD suspension cage for that bottom HD mount.

awx · Post by **awx** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:34 am

firefox90, I'm looking forward to reading about your experiences.

That Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R does look nice. It doesn't have DVI/HDMI but at this point I would be satisfied getting a passively cooled ASUS Radeon HD 2400 Pro to go with it.

However, a similar board from Gigabyte got bad marks for being power hungry while the Elitegroup G33T-M2 did better. This issue was discussed in another thread here but I can't decide what the conclusion was.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't wait a month or two to get a G35 board that includes HDMI.

firefox90 · Post by **firefox90** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:50 am

The motherboard issue was something I struggled with when I looked at Intel options for my build. It seems like the Intel M-ATX options are fewer and less polished if that makes any sense. AMD has lots of M-ATX options from lots of brands with lots of features. Maybe I am just rambling.

I am not saying saying go AMD, but instead that you may want to wait like you said for the G35. It would be nice if someone else would come in here and provide some more insight on the motherboards you are looking at.

awx · Post by **awx** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:31 am

OK, I just ordered this system but replaced the motherboard with the Asus P5E-VM HDMI and went with an Intel 1.8 ghz E2160. I hope my NEC 3520 DVD fits in this case.

Bugsi · Post by **Bugsi** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:05 pm

I think you'll like the Antec case. Things can get a bit cramped, but if you flip the PSU and pay good attention to cable management inside the box, it can run very quiet. I managed to squeeze a Scythe Ninja with a Scythe 120mm fan into it (in addition to the 120mm case fan).

The Tricool 120mm isn't very loud using the Antec speed control on lowest setting. I replaced mine with a Yate-Loon and dropped the 12V down to around 7 with a Zener diode. I did the same voltage drop for the Scythe 120mm mounted on the Ninja.

With both fans running, it's still very quiet.

You can mount the hard drive to the floor of the case with the Antec silicone absorbers. That stays very quiet.

I actually hae a Antec NSK-3300 case, and modified it with a cable-cutout in the same location as the 3480, and lengthened the cable leads to reach the hard drive. Using the stock PSU as well, but you'll be better with the one in the 3480. Cables do get cramped in the upper compartment. Pay close attention to cable management for the best results!

awx · Post by **awx** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 9:42 pm

Good info. I just wish the front of that case was black.

awx · Post by **awx** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 12:59 am

firefox90 wrote:What I definitely plan on doing is flipping the power supply from the standard orientation so that the wires are closer to the pass through on top.

My case just arrived (everything else is due tomorrow) but I immediately noticed that the PSU is already flipped straight from the factory.

firefox90 wrote:I am going to decides where I want to place the hard drive when it arrives. If I can figure something out, I may rig up a suspension rig. There looks to be a decent amount of room towards the front of the case.

I'd love to stick the hard disk in the 5.25 bay but I don't think it would get enough cooling. The bottom bay will block my only PCI slot so that sucks.

firefox90 · Post by **firefox90** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:43 pm

Well stupid ZZF screwed up my address and somehow they got an extra space in there so it just shipped out yesterday and will arrive next Wednesday hopefully. Their service and support sucks. Never ordering from there again.

I have a hard drive mounted in a 5.25 with a custom made mount in another case of mine with 2 80mm intake and 2 80mm exhaust and it does get a bit hot unless I run my fans at 50% or higher speed (way to loud now that it is out of the basement).

Does the 120m Tricool have the mini controller like I thought I read somewhere? I am going to find a place to mount that on the outside probably.

awx · Post by **awx** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:15 am

Yeah, the TriCool has a 3 position switch and a molex power connector. I'm going to swap it out for something that runs slower and that can be controlled by the motherboard.

So far I'm very pleased with the case. I'm using the 1.8 ghz E2160 at stock speed with the Ninja with no CPU fan. The only fans in the system are the TriCool (running at low) and the PSU fan.

The ASUS utility shows my idle CPU temp at 20 C and at load it is around 38-42. The motherboard temp stays around 40 C all the time. Even at full load, the air coming from both fans is cool.

The noise is still too loud for me though. I'm also getting that droning noise (which I think they call "beating" here?) that I've got to figure out.

Because of problems with the Intel Graphics not working with my monitor, I've had to buy a passive ATI 2400 card.

Edit: Even at 1.8 ghz, this system is a great speedup from my last one. I've tested 3 xvid video encodes and it seems to be roughly twice as fast as my P4 room heater.

Broadleaf · Post by **Broadleaf** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:22 pm

The air on the high pressure (output) side of a fan is very turbulent. Placing this turbulent air against the heatsink fins or the chassis grill will sometimes cause unpleasant effects. Placing a 2-3 cm (1 inch) duct in between the fan and the heatsink fins or the chassis grill will give the turbulent air time to moderate. An easy duct can be made from an unwanted fan with the "guts" cut out.

A weakness for building a quiet PC with the Antec NSKnnnn series chassis is the grills on the right side of the case. My recomendation is that you block them with clear plastic or black sheet materials.

Jokoto · Post by **Jokoto** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:56 pm

Do you mean the "Intel Thermally Advantaged Chassis" vent in the side panel? I got rid of that by swapping the side panels with each other in my NSK3480 - now it's on the right side (looking from the front) and the former right panel is on the left. Now there's no chance of an airflow short circuit from the vent to the rear exhaust. I thought of trying to use it for what it's designed for but there was no room to duct it as a Ninja intake.

fwki · Post by **fwki** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:29 pm

Jokoto, great idea on the panel swap. I removed the duct and replaced it with a cheesy red lambda fan grill to sorta hide the cpu hsf. For some reason I thought the panels were unswapable mirror images.

Broadleaf · Post by **Broadleaf** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:36 pm

Yes, Jokoto, a great observation about the airflow short circuiting caused by intake grills which are close to the chassis and power supply outputs.

When cooled with a Ninja e/w the included 1200 rpm fan aimed towards the rear of the chassis there is already a high pressure zone at the chassis grill area. I suspect that no fan or an 800 rpm Scythe fan is all that is needed here for the amount of heat that an E2160 at stock 1.8 Ghz speed puts out.

firefox90 · Post by **firefox90** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:45 pm

Well AWX, I got the case. Bad news. The front is scratched up. Called up ZZF, raised hell, they asked for pics, sent them, blah blah. Issue was not resolved. Ended up building the system anyways to at least have it ready for Xmas. I'll probably just swap the front face plate when I get an RMA. ZZF SUCKS! /rant

Maybe I am not as sensitive as most here, but after using my Macbook most of the time which is pretty much inaudible, I feel the Antec is very quiet. I have not even buttoned the case up yet. It is sitting on my work bench with the top and side open and I still think it is very quiet. The only issue I think is the stock AMD fan (70mm?). It has kind of a whine to it. System idles around 35c.

I came up with a great mounting mechanism for the HD. I will take pictures sometime this week. I'm busy with finals at the moment. The hard drive (WD1600AJ or AAJ?) is very quiet regardless of the mounting method. The mount I created is great for my dad because I don't have to worry about him moving it one day and screwing up a suspension rig.

This case tempts me to buy a P18x to replace my gale force desktop case.

henners · Post by **henners** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:04 am

So did you stick the full size Scythe into the 3480? Any pics as I'm planning on doing the same although with a quad core processor...

awx · Post by **awx** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:46 am

Yeah, the Ninja fits in easily. The only possible problem is that the chipset heatsink on my board is tall so it would be impossible to fit the fan onto the Ninja. But that is an issue with the board, not the case.

Sorry, I don't have any pics.

henners · Post by **henners** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 3:03 am

OK thanks for that, I've ordered one - I have ordered an Asus mobo so hopefully the fan will fit...

awx · Post by **awx** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:14 am

Mine is the ASUS P5E VM HDMI

henners · Post by **henners** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:07 am

The p5e does have an insane chipset heatsink, the P5K looks slightly smaller

awx · Post by **awx** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:05 am

That should work then. I think mine is fairly close.

Non-gaming Antec 3480 build, video encoding box

Non-gaming Antec 3480 build, video encoding box

Reducing Annoying Fan Noise