Entirely new system - P182 / E8400 / BTF95 / HD2400

lorn · Post by **lorn** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:38 pm

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking in the forums for a few weeks now, in anticipation of building my first PC in years, and while the site is choke-full of useful informations I'm still having a few doubts about my config so I'm looking for advice and feedback.

My usage is mainly browsing the internets and watching movies. I run some P2P every now and then and the only games I play are the proverbial Flash games. Since I plan on running Gentoo, I expect to spend some time compiling softwares. I'm looking for efficient components that I will neither overclock or underclock and with a good quality/price ratio. Here's my current projection of my future rig: (I've italicized the parts I'm not sure about)

Core 2 Duo E8400 (which means I can take some time pondering before they're available around here )
Antec P182 with its stock fans (preferably on Low)
Corsair VX450W
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
an ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO (ASUSTeK EAH2400PRO/HTP/256M)
Samsung SpinPoint T - HD501LJ - 500 GB
ZEROtherm BTF-95 Fanless

...all that with some 4GB of RAM (still trying to figure out which one

) and a DVD reader that I will use exactly once, for install

Now the questions that are burning my mind.

Would a Samsung F1 750GB be much quieter? I'd go a bit over-budget with it (160â‚¬ vs 90â‚¬) and I don't really need the extra storage. (note: I don't want to install a 2.5' either, because I had bad experiences in the past)
Is the BTF-95 okay with two of Antec's TriCool on top, positionned on "Low"? I guess I could replace it with a BTF-90 and not hear any difference, but if I can go fanless then I'd rather do. I've read mixed reviews about the BTF-95, but most of the negative reviews came from sites that seemed unreliable, while that one got decent temps on an Opteron 148 (TDP listed at 85W) in an open case. I've read about Thermalright's heatsinks, but they seem overkill and I would probably need to buy another fan unless I attach a TriCool to it.
Is there a better configuration for the fans? I think I'll just keep the TriCools to avoid going over-budget, and position them on the lowest setting. That should move enough air for the upper chamber and not be too loud, or am I mistaken? The case will rest under a desk next to me.

Thanks in advance to those who'll share their experience

wired · Post by **wired** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:12 am

I'd say that a p182 is way too big for that system, if you're hardly do any gaming and don't have more HDDs, i'd say mATX would be the way to go...
Also, if you are on a tight budget a NSK34x0 is cheaper (~100EUR) and includes PSU... Also, if you are not gaming and run linux I would recommend a mobo with the G35 chipset meaning a Intel x3100 GFX-card wich aint to bad and most of all uses opensource drivers!

Hence, mATX gives you a smaller case with more silent PSU, and saves you buying that gfxcard, and hence you can afford a new and more silint case fan!

phil0079 · Post by **phil0079** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:37 am

Core 2 Duo E8400

the e8400's are available. i ordered mine on the weekend.

ncix.com has them ready to ship

thou i have not received it yet, it is confirmed and ordered

cheers

phil0079 · Post by **phil0079** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:45 am

let me know what mainboard you go with?

im currently looking to pair this E8400 with a mATX Asus P5E-VM-HDMI

this board is getting great reviews on SPCR and other reviews forums, though in December there wasn't a DX10 driver supporting the on board chipset

soon there will be DirectX 10 driver support and this motherboard will be the one of choice!

but let me know what you are going with. thanks. cheers

lorn · Post by **lorn** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:53 pm

Thanks to all and sorry I didn't reply earlier.

I have taken a look at mATX builds for a while, but I finally went with the P182 because the size doesn't really matter (the case rests under some desk) and I like its look

I finally ordered the parts last week and recently finished building it. The parts are the same as indicated in the first post except for the motherboard and the heatsink. I bought a GA-P35-DS3L for ~80â‚¬, compared to DS3/DS3R sold at 92-95â‚¬. Retrospectively, perhaps I should have chosen the DS3(R) instead. From what I've read, they have a better electrical circuitry and they're "Ultra-Durable 2" instead of just "Ultra-Durable", which only difference seems to be all-Japanese capacitors on UD2. But I don't really care what country my capacitors are coming from as long as they don't fail me, and if they ever do I'll update this thread

Beside the supposedly better capacitors, there is a notable difference between DS3L and the others: the Northbridge heatsink. It's much smaller on DS3L and it runs very hot. If you want to overclock, prefer the other DS3.

And the reason I'm updating this thread so long after posting it is to give some feedback regarding the rest of the build:

Turns out that in my case, the VX450W --inside the P182-- is completely inaudible. A E8400 with a modest GFX card isn't enough to make it ramp up its fan. Even with the system in full charge, the power supply draws very little air and I can't hear the fan, no matter how close my ear. I had to use the smoke from an incense stick to check whether the fan was running and drawing air
Antec's TriCool, on Low, are themselves quiet but they push so much air that air turbulence generate quite some noise. I replaced the top two fans with two Noctua S12-800 on ULNA. They are very quiet and they provide a gentle breeze to my case.
The bottom fan is unnecessary if you only have one HD in the bottom cage. I remember one of MikeC's post saying that you don't need any if you've got less than 3. I have blocked the vents around the power supply with cardboard and an Ubuntu sticker, which makes the power supply draws its air from the front. The HD remains warm
Samsung's HD501J vibrates a lot. A hell lot, as described in the recommended HD list. Antec's grommets absorb most of the vibrations and the enclosure muffles most of the turbulence noise but the seeks can be distinctively heared from 1 meter away. With that said, the seeks are relatively soft, so it's not a real bother.

I didn't take the BTF-95 because I couldn't find conclusive reviews and its availability was in question. I had decided to settle for a Ninja when the shop announced it would receive Ninja CU soon. I back-ordered one, but then its delivery date went to hell, which turned out to be a good thing considering the recent review at SPCR. I cancelled it and I'm currently waiting for a HR-01 that I intend to use with its fan duct. I'm still using Intel's stock HS, which is a noisy piece of crap, but does its job.

Hope it'll help someone.