Upgrading system, first encounter with silent mode

New to PC silencing? Read & post your questions here. Dedicated to rosy_toes.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
A_stranger
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:16 am
Location: Europe

Upgrading system, first encounter with silent mode

Post by A_stranger » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:38 am

OK, first of all, I know a lot of you are hardcore into silent PC. However, due to money restraints, I cannot afford at this moment a really silent PC.
As a matter of fact, I didn't even pay attention to silence before (except when I was buying Seagate HDD).

Right now I want to upgrade several components (case, CPU, graphics, RAM, MBO) on my PC, but I would like to invest a small bit of money for a more silent PC. I am not talking about totally silent as I stated, that would take too much money. There is also another problem - availability.

1) What do I need to pay attention to? More silent PSU, cooler for cpu, cooler for case? Keep in mind i will NOT be overclocking anything!
2) Do some PSUs come with 'cooler for case' included, or what? I don't quite understand it. If i check the list of the store here:
http://www.hgspot.hr/komponente.aspx?gr ... podgrupa=7
..those coolers for case are just plain old coolers, and they're gonna be loud no? What am I missing?
3) What top3 PSU (400-500W) from this list would you pick, having all this in mind:
http://www.hgspot.hr/komponente.aspx?gr ... odgrupa=83

4) Other. Yes I'm really a noob when it comes to buying coolers and all this. I can build a configuration but when it comes to a case, coolers, PSU and all that I'm a total noob. What does a standard configuration have anyway? What should I put in, for less noise (full silent mode would be too expensive and there's a lack of components)?

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:25 am

Given the nature of your queries, your post has been moved into the newcomer's corner. Start by reading the Announcements at the top of this section they will guide you to the rest.

In a nutshell, the noise sources in a PC are fans & hard drives... but silencing gets complex because fans are closely related to cooling of all kinds of components in a PC, and HDDs make more than one kind of noise.

A_stranger
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:16 am
Location: Europe

Post by A_stranger » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:01 am

OK, let's say I took care of HDD, that's no issue. What about the rest, ie question's above?

Matija
Posts: 780
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:17 am
Location: Croatia

Post by Matija » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:08 am

"Cooler for case" is, uhm, a "case fan" in Cronglish. And you don't want any of those listed in HG Å rot.

How much money do you have, what exactly do you need to upgrade, and what do you need the computer for?

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:11 am

Before any cooling questions can be addressed, you need to list all your components & describe the config. This is basic.

2) I know English is not your native tongue, but I don't understand your question. A PSU is usually just a PSU. None of the coolers there are that quiet, and what is best will depend on your CPU/system. The Zalman coolers with the fanmate speed controller set to min give decent quiet/performance.

3) Among the PSUs listed, the Tagans are probably the best bet, but I don't think they achieve SPCR-level of quiet.

psiu
Posts: 1201
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:53 pm
Location: SE MI

Post by psiu » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:17 am

A_stranger wrote:OK, let's say I took care of HDD, that's no issue. What about the rest, ie question's above?
Need more info:

What do you currently have, and what do you do with the PC?
What do you want to upgrade, and what do you want to do with the PC?

It sounds like you want to upgrade to newer components, and at the same time hopefully make the computer quieter, which is a good idea. Just need more info given before anyone can really add pointers...

EDIT: Darn fast typists...forget to refresh page and just post a reply and I'm 2 more posts down ;)

A_stranger
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:16 am
Location: Europe

Post by A_stranger » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:01 pm

psiu wrote:What do you currently have, and what do you do with the PC?
What do you want to upgrade, and what do you want to do with the PC?
OK, let's say that *after* upgrading it should look something like this:

Athlon 4000+ (Brisbane)
MBO which fits am2 and atx2
2 GB DDR2
GeForce 7200
Seagate HDD
DVDRW
DvDRom
Other stuff (don't think it's relevant.. nothing major.. Ethernet card.. that's pretty much it as far as inside of case is concerned)

I always buy 2 generations down, because it's dirt cheap.

I have not decided on a case yet at all, or PSU (or whether to buy case with psu included, but i assume that's not an option if i want it to be silent).

Any other questions? :)

I haven't answered what do I use comp for, because I don't find it relevant to be honest, since I posted components. It's mostly Internet, movies, music, and for that part the comp I have is good enough. For occasional game (don't have much time atm though) I'm upgrading the components that are lacking.

The problem however is, that comp is fast enough for 99% of things it is used. The noise however, is not. It's better now than it was before (with Seagate HDD, I had another one before), but it's still not good enough. I find that noise quite influences my nervous system, and I'm not kidding :) I'm more of a hermit type, I like quiet areas, and while spending 1hr in front of comp isn't a big deal, if I spend more it is.
Matija wrote:"Cooler for case" is, uhm, a "case fan" in Cronglish. And you don't want any of those listed in HG Å rot.
Yeah, I'm aware of that, but the problem is that I get the other components from them, and if I don't I have to build the comp myself, which means waste of time. Unless of course you know someone with same prices for other components, and good coolers. :)

OK, let's put money aside a bit. What would be good:
1) Medium silent solution
2) Trash silent solution (which means, not so quiet but better than HG-Srot gives in their configurations by default)
MikeC wrote:I know English is not your native tongue, but I don't understand your question
Actually, the problem wasn't in my eng but in my noobishness when it comes to this topic :)

OK, if we exlude those links, I still need coolers which have OK price and can be bought here. Considering that Matija is from the same country *cough* *nudge* perhaps he has a good solution.

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:14 pm

Simplest solution:

1. Get an Antec P150 -- it comes with a very quiet PSU
2. Get a Zalman 7000 cooler -- set it on lowest speed with the fanmate, or run it off the motherboard's fan speed controller
3. Don't get a Seagate drive -- they are the noisiest. Get a recent Samsung or WD. They are the quietest -- and....
4. use the elastic suspension in the P150 case.
5. Set the case fan in the P160 on low.

btw, why bother with 2 optical drives?

You can have your shop build this for you. You'll have a computer that's not much more than 25 dBA/1m under most conditions. (Except maybe in really hot weather and/or extreme load -- like hours of gaming)

A_stranger
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:16 am
Location: Europe

Post by A_stranger » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:27 pm

MikeC wrote:Get an Antec P150
Unfortunately that's not an option, at least not yet. It costs as much here as it would cost me to buy half of the comp components I need. This is something I can keep in mind for the future though.

I googled fast, and first website had Antec P150 available here for cca $230. That will have to wait :)
btw, why bother with 2 optical drives?
Had a reader, then when the prices dropped replaced CDRW with DVDRW. It's cool when I copy stuff on-the-fly. And since dvd-rom is so cheap I just don't bother with selling it.

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:37 pm

A_stranger wrote:
MikeC wrote:Get an Antec P150
Unfortunately that's not an option, at least not yet. It costs as much here as it would cost me to buy half of the comp components I need. This is something I can keep in mind for the future though.

I googled fast, and first website had Antec P150 available here for cca $230. That will have to wait :)
Why not just keep all your other stuff and just replace the case, PSU and CPU cooler? That will get you the quiet system you want... since your system is already 99% fast enough. Later, you can upgrade other stuff as needed.

A_stranger
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:16 am
Location: Europe

Post by A_stranger » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:42 pm

MikeC wrote:Why not just keep all your other stuff and just replace the case, PSU and CPU cooler? That will get you the quiet system you want... since your system is already 99% fast enough. Later, you can upgrade other stuff as needed.
Hmm.. well I have that as a possibility. Actually, another possibility is that I could wait a bit and then buy totally new comp with that case and all that. But it's still nice to have options.

So, non Antec options are really much much worse?

Matija
Posts: 780
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:17 am
Location: Croatia

Post by Matija » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:14 pm

If you can spare ~340 kn ($68 ) for a cooler, you can get a Ninja and cool the Brisbane passively. It's a lot of money, but it's also something that'll serve you very well even with future CPUs. Otherwise you can get a cheap Zalman and lower the fan speed through the MBO or a Fanmate.

Zola (www.zola.hr) has Scythe stuff, including fans, so you want to go there for those things.

Case, well, no idea... I have an Antec SLK3000B (I wanted my case to have a door), which still might be found in some places for about the same price as the Ninja, ~350 kn. It's a decent case, but needs replacing the rear fan and maybe a cheap man's "HDD suspension" in the form of taking out the HDD cage and placing it horizontally on a piece of sponge or rubber.

Hmm, let me check some other Antec cases...

For ~600 kn ($120) you can get an Antec NSK4480, which looks nice, and includes an EarthWatts 380W PSU, which should be quiet enough. However, I wouldn't recommend it.

http://www.antec.com/images/400/NSK4400_i.jpg

Doesn't look like it's cablegami-friendly, and I'm always wary of cases which don't have HDDs placed on the bottom, directly in front of the intake holes. Speaking of that, there's an 80mm plastic shroud there, so god only knows how much air can get in - I have a feeling that the case cannot "breathe" properly.

Actually, I just went and searched, and this is what I found: http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb26 ... copier.jpg - you don't want your case to look like that.

So, find another case and PSU, I have no idea what you should buy ;)

If the GeForce 7200 you want has a fan, I'd say forget about it. Those things are usually very noisy. Get something passively cooled.

Whatever happens, don't let other people assemble your PC and buy different things at different places (www.nabava.net is your friend). If they assemble your PC, you'll end up with a giant mess of cables inside, a sticker on the back side, and probably half a tube of paste on your CPU.

It's hard to recommend anything when your finances are limited...

Case: Get one with 120mm exhaust and 120mm intake fan mounts, and be sure that they have hex meshes, so you can just cut them out and let more air in/out.

PSU: Don't go cheap on this one, seriously. It's the thing that makes the entire computer work, and it's the thing that can make the entire computer not work by destroying all the electronics inside or catching fire and burning your house.

Cooler: The bigger, the better... But maybe you'd even be satisfied with the stock cooler. You can always change it later, so don't buy a CPU cooler at first.

Graphics card: Passively cooled.

Don't know what else to say... :/

sjoukew
Posts: 401
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:51 am
Location: The Netherlands (NL)
Contact:

Post by sjoukew » Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:38 am

Carefully looking around for parts can cost a lot of time, but sometimes really saves money. Take your time, maybe you will find the parts you need cheap.
Maybe even used / second-hand parts can help, a used computer case in good condition is maybe better then a new one. It is just a thought, I don't know how many used parts are around where you live.

Post Reply