A new PC is always exciting!

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:01 am

Hello there! Just wondering if anyone can spot any issues with my proposed system or offer any improvements (without increasing the cost too much). The individual parts should be fine as they're mostly SPCR recommended but I'm a little anxious that maybe I've got incorrect fan usage, compatibility problems or maybe I've just completely overlooked some better components. I am a complete silent newbie and only a little experienced in general PC building.

Purpose of Computer
- Video/audio editing
- Basic audio recording machine (for vocals and guitar through USB Interface) - the primary reason for wanting a quiet computer
- Gaming, won't be too high-res but I still want solid fps.
- Will be running Windows Vista Business 64bit
- Don't plan on any hardcore modifications/over-clocking

CPU
- Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
- Cooling: Xigmatek HDT-S1283 + Xigmatek Crossbow ACK-I7751 (bolt-through) + Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan 1200rpm SFF21E

Mobo + RAM
- Asus P5Q Deluxe Motherboard
- 2x 4GB Kit DDR2 800 G.Skill-PQ

Case + PSU
- Antec SOLO Case
- Seasonic 550W S12+ PSU

Video Card
- Gigabyte ATI HD 4850 PCIe 2.0 or MSI R4850-T2D512 PCIe ATi
- Cooling: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1, Rev2

Storage
- 2x Samsung F1 1TB HD103UJ (already purchased, will use the SOLO suspension system)

Case Fans
- Rear exhaust: Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 120mm 1,000rpm Fan Orange
- Front intake (aimed at vid card): Nexus Real Silent DF1209SL-3 92mm 1,500rpm Case Fan

Potential Adjustments/Tweaks
- If the video card is too hot for passive, perhaps attaching the front Nexus 92mm to the Accelero or getting another fan.
- Overclocking CPU to 3.0Ghz
- Another video card in Crossfire if I want better game performance
- A smaller, and maybe faster, HDD for the O.S.

If anyone is interested I'd be happy to give a review or post benchmarks once I've got it built (got a lot of great info from this site for free so I'm more than happy to give *something* back).

Thanks!

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:09 am

You might want to check if you can get Enermax Modu82+ 525W PSU. Its quieter than M12. However considering your system specs, you should be able to run it even with sub 500W PSU.

Arctic Cooling Accelero is very find heatsink. Even passively HD 4850's temp in load are generally much better than Idling with stock cooler.

If you can get, Scytheslipstream 800RPM fan might be ebetter for exhaust as it pushes about same amount air that Nexus but quieter. Nexuses advantage is higgher pressure, which are pretty meaningless for casefans, unless there is really restrictive fangrills on case, which solo do not have.

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:18 am

thejamppa wrote:You might want to check if you can get Enermax Modu82+ 525W PSU. Its quieter than M12. However considering your system specs, you should be able to run it even with sub 500W PSU.

Arctic Cooling Accelero is very find heatsink. Even passively HD 4850's temp in load are generally much better than Idling with stock cooler.

If you can get, Scytheslipstream 800RPM fan might be ebetter for exhaust as it pushes about same amount air that Nexus but quieter. Nexuses advantage is higgher pressure, which are pretty meaningless for casefans, unless there is really restrictive fangrills on case, which solo do not have.

Oh upon further review it seems I can get the Modu82+ - didn't think so initially. Great!

I can get a Slipstream 800rpm too it turns out.

Thanks for the advice

It's much appreciated!

dragonfire · Post by **dragonfire** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:56 am

Just a warning...

I bought a p5q-e a few weeks back, and I've been having a rough time getting it configured correctly. Don't get me wrong, the board itself is great. But the bios/drivers/software are all very poorly documented, and work poorly with Vista32 (I don't even want to think about Vista64). Their website is horrible and their support documents don't help.

To give you an idea, it took me the better part of a night just to get a Linux live cd to work at all. Or, for another example, I flashed my bios to most recent two weeks ago, and my bios is now 2 versions out of date.

I'm not saying you can't make it work - if you have sufficient experience, you can get past these issues. I don't know what other P45 boards are like these days. Like I said, the board itself is fine, but you might want to take a quick look at alternate options before making your choice.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:30 pm

meisteh wrote: I can get a Slipstream 800rpm too it turns out.

I'm not sure a single 800rpm exhaust fan is altogether a good idea - there's no doubt that a Q6600 chucks out the calories when it's working hard, you're thinking of overclocking, you have a hot GFX card (which with passive cooling will be dumping all its heat into the case), and from your location I'm guessing your ambient temps can sometimes get high.

You might want to have the option of pumping air out of the case more quickly if circumstances demand it - maybe at least a 1200rpm Slipstream mated to a fan controller?

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:48 pm

dragonfire wrote:Just a warning...

I bought a p5q-e a few weeks back, and I've been having a rough time getting it configured correctly. Don't get me wrong, the board itself is great. But the bios/drivers/software are all very poorly documented, and work poorly with Vista32 (I don't even want to think about Vista64). Their website is horrible and their support documents don't help.

To give you an idea, it took me the better part of a night just to get a Linux live cd to work at all. Or, for another example, I flashed my bios to most recent two weeks ago, and my bios is now 2 versions out of date.

I'm not saying you can't make it work - if you have sufficient experience, you can get past these issues. I don't know what other P45 boards are like these days. Like I said, the board itself is fine, but you might want to take a quick look at alternate options before making your choice.

I did actually spend the whole of last weekend looking at motherboards, it's certainly not an easy choice. They all seems to have their failings in some respect.

Thanks for the heads up though, but I think I've give the board the benefit of the doubt as I haven't read about any issues like this with it before. I'll put myself on the line for copping an "I told you so" if things go horrible ;)

Thanks again for the warning.

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:59 pm

nick705 wrote:
meisteh wrote: I can get a Slipstream 800rpm too it turns out.
I'm not sure a single 800rpm exhaust fan is altogether a good idea - there's no doubt that a Q6600 chucks out the calories when it's working hard, you're thinking of overclocking, you have a hot GFX card (which with passive cooling will be dumping all its heat into the case), and from your location I'm guessing your ambient temps can sometimes get high.

You might want to have the option of pumping air out of the case more quickly if circumstances demand it - maybe at least a 1200rpm Slipstream mated to a fan controller?

What... hot? Here? ;) You know I'm considering a move to the UK actually and hadn't yet considered cooling for my PC as a good reason to do so! :P

Sounds like a good plan, 1200rpm on a fan controller. Better safe than sorry I guess.

Cheers.

hybrid2d4x4 · Post by **hybrid2d4x4** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:40 pm

I agree with the suggestion to get quicker fans on a controller- the flexibility for your polar-opposite tasks of gaming (full-load) and recording (idle) would come in handy. Also, I'm pretty sure you could attach a quieter, slower-turning 12cm fan on the Accelero (I hope so, anyways- that's what I plan on doing in a week or 2).

I haven't really had any issues with my P5Q Pro in Vista Home Prem x64, but I do admit that the software from Asus has been hit & miss. The InstALL thing on the Driver disc tended to freeze up while installing some INF updater or something, so I gave up on that and just manually picked out the important drivers and utilities I was interested in, and it went smoothly after that.

Finally, with regards to your idea of upgrading to a smaller, faster hard drive I personally wouldn't bother as the F1s are some of the quickest drives available (unless you're thinking velociraptors, but those aren't very good value for money). Just my 2 cents.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:38 pm

I think 800 RPM fan will be enough as case is Solo, meaning PSU will help case ventilation aswell.... But better safe than sorry...

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:00 am

I'll try 1200rpm and see how it goes. I don't mind grabbing another fan later and trying it out - even just for curiosity's sake. It's a learning experience after all.

The extra hard drive was mainly so my OS was on a different drive to all of my storage, to improve performance during video editing (assuming it actually would). But for starters I'll do without it and make sure my editing is done on the other disk.

Thanks again all. Grabbed the mobo today and I'm starting to get excited!

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:56 am

meisteh wrote: What... hot? Here? You know I'm considering a move to the UK actually and hadn't yet considered cooling for my PC as a good reason to do so!

It would certainly be effective - this year we're having a particularly miserable summer here in the UK, and frankly anywhere with temps over about 20C is starting to look like a tropical paradise. As I type this, looking out of the window, there's fog over the Bristol Channel, the temperature outside is 18C, the sky is the colour of lead. And it's raining. Again.

If I were you I think on balance I'd go for the "fast, noisy fan" option and stay where I was...

meisteh · Post by **meisteh** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:02 am

Your summer sounds like the winter we're having right now ;) 14 degrees, overcast and a bit of rain is the worst it gets. Even that only lasts a few days at the most. I certainly won't be moving for the weather.

Ethyriel · Post by **Ethyriel** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:03 am

If you're doubting the Asus board, I've always had very good luck with Intel based Gigabyte boards. The latest I've used is the P35-DS4, and a 965P-DQ6 in my server, so I can't speak for P45. I would definitely suggest taking a look, though. I know my DS4 has very good cooling and voltage regulation (not to mention solid state capacitors throughout) for a rather reasonable price.

The BIOS took some getting used to, having come over from primarily Asus, and Epox before that, but I haven't had any bugginess.

By the way, I moved on from Asus after getting caught a couple times early adopting flat out lemon boards.