Building a quiet desktop, non-gaming PC

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redrocket
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:15 pm
Location: USA

Building a quiet desktop, non-gaming PC

Post by redrocket » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:21 pm

Hi everyone, I'm new to posting here but I've been lurking for a few weeks and this seems like a good place to get some solid advice. I'm putting together a new desktop and have a few ideas so far:

NEEDS TO DO: multitasking, Photoshop, graphic design, web browsing, etc (not a gamer)

GOALS: quiet, stable, reliable, will last for a few years. not planning to overclock or having bleeding edge stuff here.

BUDGET: around $1000 US (flexible)

So far I have:
CASE: Antec P150 with 430-watt NeoHE PSU (already have this) $99
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor $183
CPU Fan: ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE 7 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail $10 - quieter than stock fan, good enough for normal use?
PASTE: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM $6
MB: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $133
RAM: Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit - Retail $137
Video: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $109
Optical: NEC 18X DVD±R DVD Burner 7170A-01 - OEM $30
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $43 - Just has to hold the OS and my programs, all my important stuff is on an external Seagate 300GB drive.

Estimated price: $750

I plan to go with a generic keyboard, mouse, and speakers for now using the onboard audio. Am I forgetting anything? Will this all work together smoothly? What would you do differently and why? Thanks in advance, any input is appreciated.

angelkiller
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Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:37 am
Location: North Carolina

Post by angelkiller » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:09 am

Ah, you've done some reserach! This is a very very nice plan. A few minor gripes. Your motherboard is known for overclocking. Just to let you know. It'll run fine at normal clocks too. I've used an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 in another system. The fan (at lower RPM's) is decently quiet. I think it's a tad on the loud side. (The AC Freezer also uses a 92mm fan) At default clocks, the e6300 might be able to be run passivily with a Scythe Ninja. That will dramatically cut down the noise. If you need a graphics card look for a passive one. A low cost 7600GS should suffice for your needs. Look at this. If you still want a 7600GT, look at this one Using the stock cooler on a 7600GT/GS is going to be very noisy. Passive is the way to go. Everything else looks great!

Le_Gritche
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:57 am
Location: France, Lyon

Post by Le_Gritche » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:11 pm

I will second angelkiller in most advices :
130$ seems too much for a mobo as you don't plan to overclock your CPU. Except if you need the bell and whistle (firewire, many USB ports...).

As for the GPU, that's the same thing as you are not a gamer. As far as I know graphic design doesn't need GPU power, but mainly CPU power and RAM, so maybe you could go along with a silent card (7600GS passive or even integrated GPU).
Can you explain why you chose the 7600GT ? A need for HD video playback or something else, or was it just because you wanted to spread evenly the 1000$ on the different parts ?

I am a little bit surprised by the choice of generic keyboard, mouse and speakers with 1000$ to spend.
Good quality 2.1 speakers can be bought for $50 (Logitech X230 or some Creative speakers). If you ever plan to listen to some music on your computer you should consider it.

As for the generic mouse, I'm surprised that given the precision needed for some photoshop and graphic design work (at least that's what I imagine) you are not choosing some quality mouse. Or maybe you use only a graphics tablet as input device ?

angelkiller
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:37 am
Location: North Carolina

Post by angelkiller » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:51 pm

As Le_Gritche said, I think a high quality mouse is in line for you, since you're under your budget. I use a Logitech MX-518 and I love it! (I game) But it has 1600 DPI, which is really reallyaccurate. I've used it a little in MS Paint, and I find the high DPI useful in certain situations. Just a thought.

redrocket
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:15 pm
Location: USA

Post by redrocket » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:39 pm

Well the world of computer hardware has changed quite a bit since I put my last computer together in the year 2000. My main guide in getting this far has been this page I found on another forum.

Basically my reasoning is that anything's gonna be better than the computer I have now.

Current system:
Dell Dimension 4100 desktop
Intel PIII @ 800MHz with a heatsink (no fan)
150 watt foxconn PSU
32mb nvidia riva tnt2 model64 8x agp card (no fan)
creative soundblaster live
20gb 7200rpm maxtor hard drive
2x usb 1.1 ports
NEC dvd-rom drive
dell quietkey keyboard
microsoft optical mouse blue
dell trinitron p780 17" crt monitor
altec lansing ada880 4.1 speakers
PCI ethernet card
PCI firewire card

I want to take the whole thing I have now and give it to a friend, salvaging only the firewire card. So I'm looking to build an all new system but I figured I wouldn't ask for the world in my 2nd post :)

I mean if you have the time and want to recommend a nice set of speakers, a good wireless keyboard/optical mouse combo, and maybe an LCD monitor I'd really appreciate it because I'm really lost in those areas and all the guides these days seem to be about CPU comparisons and not the basics like mice and keyboards. Also I didn't realize the 7600GT would be overkill and a majorly noisy component, I'll definitely look into the GS.

A fellow on tomshardware has recommended some PC2 6400 memory for about $20 more than the one I've chosen, a 160gb hard drive that's only $11 more than the one I picked, and a scythe ninja in lieu of the alpine 7. My only reservation about the Ninja is that it looks like it would crack the motherboard in half, its so massively tall! I'll consider it though. Thanks for your help everyone!

hexen
Posts: 94
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:34 am

Post by hexen » Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:20 am

Le_Gritche wrote: Can you explain why you chose the 7600GT ? A need for HD video playback or something else
is the 7600GT the lowest specked card that will play back 1080p?

ronrem
Posts: 1066
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:59 am
Location: Santa Cruz

Post by ronrem » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:36 am

Though the Ninja is big-it is the standard for silent cooling as it just sucks heat off the CPU-and does it with no moving parts---such as a fan. To get effective LOW NOISE cooling you want BIG. All those fins and heatpipes serve a purpose. A LOT of posters here use Ninja's without breaking things. Just be careful moving the computer around

Gigabyte has a very nice 7600 GT FANLESS...rebate deal at newegg 120 bucks.

Not being a gamer-overclocker,the name brand "value ram" is a good bet-the stuff is stable-compatible. The exotic stuff can be fussy and less reliable.

The best "computer speakers"...are none. You can get a decent used stero amp-and REAL speakers. I built mine,nice Titanium dome tweeters,small carbon fibre woofs-very accurate. The Amp is just jacked to the soundcard,handy for digitizing my cassette collection too.

Aris
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Post by Aris » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:01 am

go with a ninja heatsink if it will fit. If not, pick the largest tower heatsink from thermalright that will.

Since you wont be gamming, go with a passive 7600gs video card. Even this will be overkill for your applications. I'm a gammer, and i use a 7600gs card for WoW, at 1280x1024 with all the eye candy turned to max and i still get 60fps at all times.

If all you need your HD for is your OS and programs, then go with a 2.5" samsung 5400rpm drive. It will be much quieter, and most of the time, you wont even be able to tell a performance difference from faster desktop drives. I cant tell a difference at all, but i dont use programs that load large files like CAD and Photoshop. Once the files are loaded into memory though, it will run just as fast as with any other HD.

If you do happen to go with a 3.5" drive anyhow, make sure that caviar is an "SE16" model.

Since your buying stuff from newegg, get a Scythe S-Flex 1200rpm 120mm fans to replace the stock case fan. The Ninja heatsink comes with one to use on it, but if you end up with somthing from thermalright because of fitting issue's, pick up another S-Flex for the thermalright heatsink.

angelkiller
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Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:37 am
Location: North Carolina

Post by angelkiller » Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:11 am

Ok, using your previous proposed config:

Case- P150 with NeoHE 430
CPU- e6300
CPU Cooling- Scythe Ninja
Thermal Paste- AS5
Mobo- Look at these two
Ram- Kingston 2GB DDR2-667 (same as before)
Video- Gigabyte passive 7600GS
Optical- Whatever DVD Burner
HDD- WD Caviar SE WD800J (same as before)
Keyboard- Doesn't matter, chose by prefrence
Mouse- Logitech G7, G5, MX-518
Speakers Doesn't matter, Logitech X-230
Moniter-Pick by price, Viewsonic VX-922, or a ~20.1 inch LCD

Ok, now, for the mobo, Both are great boards. The only (major) difference is that the Intel board has integrated graphics, which the Gigabyte board lacks, and the Gigabyte board has 8 sound channels, while the Intel board has six. These differences should not make a difference in which one you pick. As a note Intel is known for it stability. You don't need much graphics horsepower, so a 7600GS will do. I did not pick a notebook HD because of the lack of selection and performacne. Photoshop is resource hungry, and its startup times are often used as a HDD benchmark. I don't think installing it on a 5400rpm drive is very wise. (long startup times) I did not pick a 7200rpm notebook drive because I have no idea which ones are quiet. (I got some hatachi's and Seagates) 80GB is plenty for the OP, so I don't think the extra money for a SE16 is worth it. The cheapest SE16 is $75. Keyboards are honestly all the same. Pick by preference, try the ones at Best Buy and see what styles you like. For a mouse, I again think a high DPI gaming mouse will be useful for you. The high DPI makes the mouse extra-precise. The G5 and MX-518 are wired, the G5 has 2000 DPI, the MX-518 has 1600. The G7 is a wireless version of the G5. I can vouch for the VX-922, I think it is a fantastic monitor. No ghosting, high quality construction. I don't know much about graphic design, but the 922 is awesome for games! And speakers, any setup will do, the X230's are Logitech's "budget" 2.1 set. They should work fine for you.

Wow, I worte alot. Sorry!! If I'm not clear or ramble it's because I just woke up. (school's out) Just ask to clear up anything.

Le_Gritche
Posts: 140
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:57 am
Location: France, Lyon

Post by Le_Gritche » Fri Mar 16, 2007 5:54 pm

angelkiller wrote: I can vouch for the VX-922, I think it is a fantastic monitor. No ghosting, high quality construction. I don't know much about graphic design, but the 922 is awesome for games!
Judging from reviews, the colours are badly adjusted (from this old review, in French, but just take into account that lower is better)

Most mainstream LCDs are quite bad colour wise, and today's CRTs are mainly low budget crap.
If colour consistence matters to you (between what you see onscreen and what you will see on paper) and if you don't have a calibration device for your screen, I would suggest you keep your trinitron and buy a cheap CRT on an auction website for your friend (decent second-hand 17" can be bought for 10-15€ here).

Aris
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Post by Aris » Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:07 am

angelkiller wrote: I can vouch for the VX-922, I think it is a fantastic monitor. No ghosting, high quality construction. I don't know much about graphic design, but the 922 is awesome for games! And speakers, any setup will do, the X230's are Logitech's "budget" 2.1 set. They should work fine for you.
I will also vouch for the VX-922. I was a hardcore CRT gammer, and for a long time i never thought LCD's would be good enough for me, until i saw this one. No ghosting whatsoever. Very high quality.

I really like the 2.1 speakers from creative labs. You'd be suprised how good some of the cheeper speakers sound now a days. its alot better than it was just 5 years ago.

For keyboard/mice combo. I will never use corded input devices again, and i will never use a wireless mouse without a docking station. If you can still find them around for sale, go with the Logitech LX700. Its very good.

hexen
Posts: 94
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:34 am

Post by hexen » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:52 am

the most common reason for 'ghosting' is long cable lengths or really cheap cables

im not denying that it could be cause by a really cheap monitor, but its not a common occurence

ronrem
Posts: 1066
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:59 am
Location: Santa Cruz

Post by ronrem » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:11 am

I have an Emprex M993C mouse. It's smooth,accurate,comfortable and I do a lot of Photoimpact. It is cordless-optical-rechargeable. Takes 2 AA rechargables and the sending unit recharges it...has worked great 1 1/2 yrs. I don't use a pad,I built a "mouse table" attached to the arm of my chair,lets me lean back if not typing. I don't know who sells these-got mine at Fry's and they don't have them now. High Res mice can be too touchy for graphics. I had one that was just too jerky. This thing-however-is perfect for me.

ronrem
Posts: 1066
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:59 am
Location: Santa Cruz

Post by ronrem » Sun Mar 18, 2007 5:38 am

The Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH is the Vid card for passive. $146.....but a $30 rebate (newegg) drops it to $116.

It has 170+ user reviews and almost 85% say excellent-with just ONE report saing below average. Users report that Vista drivers load fine,runs Aero, Does dual DVI fine,even gets good reports for games like Doom 3. The majority who did NOT give a full 5 stars had issues with it's sixe. The Heatpipe HS unit is VERY nice-but big.

There ARE a few other dual DVI cards that are $10-15 less....but are new with zero feedback,or feedback is that the passive HS is just not adequate,or the drivers are buggy. This Gigabye is SO roadtested it's well worth a few bucks of overkill. I am CHEAP but if I was spending my coin and needed dual DVI----it is just no contest. In fact- It's hard to recommend ANY other passive card over this,except for the low end items----wghich won't do dual DVI.

This bad boy also gets praise for it's HD-TV abilities. Do read all the feedback. Always good tips.

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