My new PC - Advice wanted

TBM328 · Post by **TBM328** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:31 pm

I need to replace my 4 years old PC. This is what I have in mind.

Case Antec Solo
PS CORSAIR 520HX
MB ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38
CPU Intel Q6600 2.4GHz
CPU HS ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT
Memory Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2 800
V.Card GIGABYTE GV-NX88T512HP 8800GT 512MB
HD Western Digital Raptor 74GB
DVD RW ASUS Black 20X DVD Burner
KB/Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000
OS Vista Ultimate OEM

The WD Raptor is the only component I will recycle from my old PC. Everything else I need to buy and can be changed. All advice/criticism is welcome.

Thanks for your help!

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:04 am

Raptor will be easiest noisiest part of your computer. CNPS 9500 is good and quiet when running @ 5v but very noisy @ 12v. So spending bit more for Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme and some scythe 120mm fan might be worthwile.

Vahan · Post by **Vahan** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:54 am

may i suggest Samsung Spinpoint F1 series hard drives. havent got one myself yet, but i read that a lot of people find them to be very quiet and almost as fast as a raptor while using less power and producing less heat. also has higher capacity. the 1 terabyte one is the largest and also the fastest, but very expensive. you could get two 500gb spinpoint F1s for cheaper and RAID0 them, but 2 drives are more noisy than 1... unless you have really good sound insulation.

i'm saving up for a 1TB drive. huge capacity in a single drive is so much more convenient than arrays and partitions etc etc.

by the way your machine looks very similar to the one i just built, so i assume its mainly for gaming. i think you should consider windows XP instead of vista. better performance

QuaiBoy · Post by **QuaiBoy** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:45 pm

You already have the Raptor so you are familiar with the noise profile. If you can continue to handle the seek noise (which is pretty noticeable) and have sufficient system airflow, soft-mounting the Raptor will be a sizable difference. I type from experience here, I have an early 74gb model that I flog almost all the time.

I also use the 9500, but there are better options available for less. Check the cooler reviews. The rest of your system is awesome, enjoy.

-Evan

TBM328 · Post by **TBM328** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:33 am

Thank you for your input. I've just realized that the new 45nm CPUs are about to be released. In addition I have an unused old XP-120 heatsink and I found there is a mounting bracket for 775 motherboards. Therefore I made some changes:

Case Antec Solo
PS CORSAIR 520HX
MB ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38
CPU Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
CPU HS Thermalright XP-120
Memory Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR2 800
V.Card EVGA 512-P3-N841-A3 8800GTS (G92) 512MB
HD Western Digital Raptor 74GB
DVD RW ASUS Black 20X DVD Burner
KB/Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000
OS Vista Ultimate OEM

The video card comes with the stock cooler, but I plan to switch to a Zalman VF1000 after a couple weeks burn in (so I can RMA it if it fails at an early age).

The main dubt still have is the hard drive: I know that using the Solo built-in elastic suspension will help a lot, but in my previous two builds I experienced some early failures of the suspended hard drives. This is, after 2 1/2 years of using Samsung Spinpoint 160 Gb drives suspended with sorbothane strips the hard drives in both my computers begun having problems. One of them had to be replaced. The other had bad sectors but I could exclude them with the disk utility. I suspect that the higher temperatures typical of suspended drives had something to do with this. I was thinking about suspending the HD but adding an intake fan that blows fresh air right on top of it. A 92 mm Scythe at 5Volts shouldn't add much to the background noise. Has anybody has tried this?

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:05 am

The new 45 nm quad cores have been delayed by a few months. I think March/April is the current release date, so to speak.

TBM328 · Post by **TBM328** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:32 pm

You are right. It looks like only the dual core version will be available by the end of the month. I guess I'll settle for an E8500.

phil0079 · Post by **phil0079** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:30 pm

TBM328 wrote:You are right. It looks like only the dual core version will be available by the end of the month. I guess I'll settle for an E8500.

yes, the E8500, 45nm, 6MB L2 cache, 1333Mhz FSB!!!

This is a GREAT chip! i am waiting for the E8200, at those clock speeds 2.66Mhz is good enough for me.. they overclock very well, check HardOCP and xtreview

"With 1.864 v and 9.5x multiplier it was possible to overclock the processor to 580 MHz system bus, which ensured the total frequency 5517 MHz." - Xtreview

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4020- ... cking.html

If you are waiting for that, what mainboard and RAM are you going for? DDR3 or DDR2? also, what would you use to cool it? stock HSF or??
thanks

cheers

TBM328 · Post by **TBM328** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:50 pm

I finally pulled the trigger. This is my final setup:

Case Antec Solo
PS CORSAIR 520HX
MB MSI P35 neo2
CPU Intel Core 2 E8400
CPU HS Thermalright HR-01 Plus
Memory CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB DDR2 800
V.Card EVGA 512-P3-N841-A3 8800GTS (G92) 512MB
HD Western Digital Raptor 74GB (suspended)
DVD RW ASUS Black 20X DVD Burner
Fans 2 Scythe S-FLEX 1200 rpm (Exhaust and CPU, running @ 800 rpm)

I assembled it and it is working fine (I'm using it right now) . Next weekend I will replace the 8800GTS stock cooler with the Accelero S1 and wrap the case in Acoustipack. So far I'm pleased with the results as the PC is already the quietest I've ever owned. The suspended Raptor clearly is not silent, but the seek noise is muted to the extent it doesn't bother me, not even at night.

Thank you all for your advice!

My new PC - Advice wanted

My new PC - Advice wanted

Worth adding an intake fan?