need some help debating parts for a build!

[raventy]

Hey guys,
So i'm trying to build a decently powerful core i7 rig while also keeping noise at a minimum. I've been going back and forth through cases, fans, etc and would appreciate any advice I could get.(any suggested changes?) As of now I will only have a single GPU installed but I would like the system to be able to support a second in the future.

heres what i've come up with so far for my rig:
1.) Antec P183 case
2.) Core i7 920
3.) ASUS P6T deluxe motherboard
4.) 6gb OCZ gold mem
5.) EVGA GeForce GTX 275 892MB graphics card
6.) CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W PSU
7.) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB (for apps) (if you think this drive is loud maybe it would be worth it to go with a VelociRaptor?)
8.) two Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB (in RAID 1 for backed up storage)
9.) Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU HSF
10.) Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D case fan

I was thinking about moving the default top case fan to the MID-front fan spot and popping the Scythe down in the lower-front fan spot to help cool the HD's (maybe this isn't necessary?) What do you guys think?

[stromgald]

Hey guys,
So i'm trying to build a decently powerful core i7 rig while also keeping noise at a minimum. I've been going back and forth through cases, fans, etc and would appreciate any advice I could get.(any suggested changes?) As of now I will only have a single GPU installed but I would like the system to be able to support a second in the future.

heres what i've come up with so far for my rig:
1.) Antec P183 case
2.) Core i7 920
3.) ASUS P6T deluxe motherboard
4.) 6gb OCZ gold mem
5.) EVGA GeForce GTX 275 892MB graphics card
6.) CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W PSU
7.) Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB (for apps) (if you think this drive is loud maybe it would be worth it to go with a VelociRaptor?)
8.) two Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB (in RAID 1 for backed up storage)
9.) Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D case fan

I was thinking about moving the default top case fan to the MID-front fan spot and popping the Scythe down in the lower-front fan spot to help cool the HD's (maybe this isn't necessary?) What do you guys think?

I'd save some money on the PSU by getting a 550W version and spending the saved money on the velociraptor. 850W is way way too much. You can see the system power consumption on this test done by anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3539&p=22 . With a Core i7 processor and GTX 275, the system barely got past 300 W under load. Even the SLI systems couldn't get to 450W during load.

Not to mention, they're measuring the input power into the PSU from the wall. PSUs are rated based on their output power. There's generally an 70-90% efficiency factor, which gives you even more margin. I'd say you're safe with a 550W PSU.

You also didn't mention what CPU cooler you're planning on using. Check out the Recommended Heatsinks page for ideas.

[raventy]

for cpu cooler I was thinking about going with the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366. Thanks for the advice about the PSU.. i'll look more into that. Do you think the WD velo-rap's are more quiet than the caviar black? It doesn't seem like the performance gain might be worth the extra price for the raptor. Not sure though.. that was something else I had debated back and forth with.

another concern I have is the noise from the default P183 case fans. I'd run them on low (as was done in the SPCR review for the case) but I'm hopin it will be decently quiet... any opinions on that?

[stromgald]

for cpu cooler I was thinking about going with the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366. Thanks for the advice about the PSU.. i'll look more into that. Do you think the WD velo-rap's are more quiet than the caviar black? It doesn't seem like the performance gain might be worth the extra price for the raptor. Not sure though.. that was something else I had debated back and forth with.

another concern I have is the noise from the default P183 case fans. I'd run them on low (as was done in the SPCR review for the case) but I'm hopin it will be decently quiet... any opinions on that?

Yeah, I don't think they're as good as the Caviar black in "bang for your buck", but the Velociraptors did turn out significantly quieter than the Caviar Black in the SPCR reviews.

Personally, I don't feel there's that much of a performance difference in hard drives these days. If I were you, I'd get a blue (standard) or green (eco friendly but slower) WD drive and upgrade to SSD in a year or so. Solid state drives will give a huge boost in performance over normal HDDs, but are prohibitively expensive these days.

The default fans on low are enough for most people; however, the members of this board aren't "most people" . They're not inaudible, but they're not distractingly loud either. I'd buy the P183 first and try it out. If it's too noisy on low, then get a few Scythe or Yate Loon fans to replace the stock ones.

[hybrid2d4x4]

Solid state drives will give a huge boost in performance over normal HDDs, but are prohibitively expensive these days.

I guess "prohibitively expensive" is a relative term. In my mind, if you don't mind paying ~CDN$210 for a 150GB raptor (which offers minimal performance benefit over a new 500GB/platter drive costing 1/3 of the price and offering over 3x the capacity) a 60GB Vertex for $30 more (which offers double the sequential read, not to mention access times and random reads that are orders of magnitude better than the raptor) shouldn't be out of your budget and offers much better bang-for-buck. I don't know how many or what kind of apps the OP runs, but I imagine that 60GB would suffice for the OS and apps.

EDIT: Sorry for using CDN$, I really wish they wouldn't hide the previous posters' user info while on the page where you type your comment, then I would have went and found US$ prices.