Ultimate Silent PC

jonlumb · Post by **jonlumb** » Sun May 18, 2008 9:58 am

So, suppose that you've just won the lottery and can now build your ultimate quiet pc. What are you going to put in it?

VanWaGuy · Post by **VanWaGuy** » Sun May 18, 2008 1:46 pm

For my main machine, I would probably exchange out my Arctic Cooling Freezer for a TRUE or one of the Direct-Touch heatsinks.

For my second machine, I would also upgrade the heatsink, as it is running on one I got for $1 after rebate, and also put a Seasonic PSU in it like my main system.

Other than that, I am very happy with my machines, and even if I won a lottery, I would still be frugal, just part of who I am.

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Sun May 18, 2008 5:23 pm

Honestly, I don't think I would be worrying about my quiet PCs for a while. Assuming this is one of the biiiiiig jackpots, I would have a couple years of travel and adventure with my wife I think. Some nice camera gear and off to see the world.

When I got back, my remote, secure, and offgrid castle should be done. I might think about things like quiet pcs then.

Just saying.

Ant6n · Post by **Ant6n** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:59 pm

maybe the lottery is only 2000K?
how about putting a real fast and loud rig in the basement in a sound proof room, and have all the wires go to other rooms.

jonlumb · Post by **jonlumb** » Mon May 19, 2008 2:54 am

Ant6n wrote:maybe the lottery is only 2000K?
how about putting a real fast and loud rig in the basement in a sound proof room, and have all the wires go to other rooms.

Genius that man!

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon May 19, 2008 3:23 am

jonlumb wrote:
Ant6n wrote:maybe the lottery is only 2000K?
how about putting a real fast and loud rig in the basement in a sound proof room, and have all the wires go to other rooms.
Genius that man!

I can't help feeling that would be "cheating" somehow.

also, it's debatable whether the cost of the soundproofing + all extension cables, drilling holes through walls etc would be any less than a well-constructed silent rig. aren't there problems with signal degradation when you run VGA cables over a certain length? in addition, for people living in flats, esp. rentals, this is not really an option at all, as space is at a premium and drilling through walls is right out.

if money was no object i'd have a massive SSD as my system drive, and heatpipes on everything going to large aluminium heatsinks which double as the case (Ã la TNN300 or mCubed HFX), except done properly and actually nice-looking. this would be fanless of course.

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Mon May 19, 2008 3:54 am

jaganath wrote:
jonlumb wrote:
Ant6n wrote:maybe the lottery is only 2000K?
how about putting a real fast and loud rig in the basement in a sound proof room, and have all the wires go to other rooms.
Genius that man!
in addition, for people living in flats, esp. rentals, this is not really an option at all, as space is at a premium and drilling through walls is right out.

Youve just won the lottery, i dont think you'll be living in a flat for long.
My cooling methods really wouldnt change much from what they are now. Id buy a WC kit and experiment with that on another system.

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Mon May 19, 2008 4:32 am

Quick 'n Easy? Screw watercooling, I'd go with a Memoright SSD drive and a Zalman TNN500AF case and be done with it. That's my solution anyways.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:47 am

Here's my part list for the 'silent' computer that I would build (in my case it would be a workstation, I'm a programmer):

- case: Sonata Designer (white Solo), because I already have the P150 and got used to the colour.
- case fan (only one 120 mm): Scythe Slipstream 800 rpm (BIOS controlled), mounted with rubber screws.
- PSU: Enermax Pro82+ 525W (overkill for this system, but reports of low quality for the 425W unit scared me away).
- motherboard: uATX G45 based with good fan control options.
- CPU: Intel E8200 (2.66 GHz), at stock voltage and frequency, about 40W AFAIK.
- CPU cooler: passive Thermalright HR-01+ (mounts with bolt-through). Thermal paste: Tuniq TX-2.
- chipset coolers: Thermalright HR-05 IFX (SLI).
- memory: Corsair or Mushkin 2x2GB DDR2-800 C4.
- graphics card: nVidia 8800GT 1GB (future-proof), with Arctic Cooling S1 v2 and Thermalright HR-11.
- HDD: Western Digital 640 GB in Scythe Quiet Drive, resting on foam on the bottom of the case.
- DVD-RW: Pioneer 216 (I read reports on these forums that it's pretty quiet).
- OS: WinXP Pro, with the /3GB switch in boot.ini.

- monitor: I'm not sure yet, the very best ones seem to buzz.

Such a setup should run at low load with both fans (case and PSU) under 500rpm, which would be very, very quiet (but not really silent, I agree).
Now if I could find a quiet beige (or white) keyboard to go with all this...

lm · Post by lm » Tue May 20, 2008 5:32 am

My current parts list:

HP LP3065 30" lcd display
Datahand Pro II keyboard
Razer Lachesis laser mouse
Ulti-mat Original teflon-coated steel mousepad
2x Kinesis Savant Elite Triple Action Foot Switch pedals
Beyerdynamic DT531 headphones
Bluetooth iFrog wireless keyboard, single handed (left)
Antec P182B case
Corsair VX450EU PSU
APC Back-UPS 650
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme
Scythe Quiet Drive
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4
Asus 8800GTS 512MB
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB SATA
Intel Celeron 420 1.6GHz (lol, really)
2x Kingston Valueram 2x2GB kits, 800MHz DDR2 ECC CL5 for a total of 8GB ram
Samsung SH-S203P/BEBN 20x DVD+/-RW LS black optical drive
Some random bluetooth adapter
The fans are those that came with case and psu, TRUE has no fan atm

Parts that I have ordered but haven't yet received:
Arctic cooling accelero S1 rev2
Intel Q9450 retail
Western Digital Velociraptor

I'm pretty happy with my computer, but I would undoubtedly get some more parts if I win a lottery (but I don't do lottery so I can't win, despite what my emails tell me all the time :p)

I think I would get a second 30" monitor to run dualhead.
I'd also love a brain-controlled interface to my computer, but nothing is yet available.
Would probably get a FAST and BIG SSD too

I would also get fancier home theater equipment, and redo the whole kitchen.

samuelmorris · Post by **samuelmorris** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:19 am

Lol a Celeron with a TRUE! That's got to be a first.
Would you mind posting what temps you get with your Accelero S1 on your 8800GTS? I'm curious to see how well they do in a proper silent PC environment.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:28 am

HARDWARE:
Antec NSK3480 Case
Corsair 520HX PSU
Asus P5E-VM HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield
A-DATA 4GB (2x2gb) DDR2 800
MSI 8800GTS 512mb
Western Digital 300GB Velociraptor (est $300)
Scythe SQD 2.5

Subtotal: $1272

FANS:
2x Scythe S-Flex 1200rpm Fans
Zalman Fanmate 2 Fan Controller

Subtotal: $34

HEATSINKS:
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink
Thermalright HR-03 VGA Heatsink

Subtotal: $118

PERIPHERALS:
Viewsonic VG2230wm 22" Widescreen LCD
Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 Speakers
Logitech MX3200 RF Wireless KB w/ Lazer Mouse

Subtotal: $530

GRAND TOTAL: $1954

I'm never a "buy bleeding edge technology" guy. Even if i had the money to burn, i wouldnt want to waist money like that.
This is "top of the line" in my mind.

*I dont use internal optical drives. I have an external slim optical that i use via USB 2.0 if i ever need to install software on any of my machines.

lm · Post by lm » Tue May 20, 2008 9:18 am

samuelmorris wrote:Lol a Celeron with a TRUE! That's got to be a first.
Would you mind posting what temps you get with your Accelero S1 on your 8800GTS? I'm curious to see how well they do in a proper silent PC environment.

Well I wouldn't run that celeron if my Q9450 would have already been delivered. For some odd reason the boxed version (I want the 3 year warranty) is nonexistent in Finland. Also the Accelero S1 I don't have yet, but should receive it any day now. But since I'm moving soon, I can only give you numbers next month.

About the 8800GTS noise level with it's default cooler: It's a double slot thingie, and actually it's pretty quiet. But at power on, it WOOFs for a couple seconds, starting the fan up with full power. I have not managed to get it even near that noise level in actual use, even gaming.

But I don't want to go any more off topic, so pm me if you need.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:52 pm

sthayashi wrote:Quick 'n Easy? Screw watercooling, I'd go with a Memoright SSD drive and a Zalman TNN500AF case and be done with it. That's my solution anyways.

Here is your winner. SSD eliminates the only weakness in TNN500AF, HD resonance.

Cistron · Post by **Cistron** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:09 pm

I'd buy my own confocal microscope and have it built for quiet usage. Our current setup is a pain in the neck, those damn lasers just need too much cooling. Sounds like an airport.

edit: hmm a little off topic, I just realised.

jonlumb · Post by **jonlumb** » Wed May 21, 2008 11:25 pm

Cistron wrote:I'd buy my own confocal microscope and have it built for quiet usage. Our current setup is a pain in the neck, those damn lasers just need too much cooling. Sounds like an airport.

edit: hmm a little off topic, I just realised.

Maybe, but you talked about lasers, so you get massive bonus points for style

widowmaker · Post by **widowmaker** » Thu May 22, 2008 6:11 am

PEW PEW PEW!

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu May 22, 2008 8:08 am

LOL, I'd buy MacBook AIR and Eee 901. Then I would keep my current machines and travel around world ^^

... Or then I would buy that big, passive Zalman case and I would build completely passive system with SSD as primary disk and 4 TB space in externally...

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:17 am

I already have an absolutely silent PC

.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:36 pm

For me, the real question is what am I NOT going to put in it? Namely, a big honking array of Raptors.

Currently, my main workstations are diskless, and netboot off of a 100mbit LAN because I'm cheap. But given the funds, I'd gladly trade up to gigabit hardware and put a bunch of Raptors on the file server.

For my new main workstation, I'd actually slightly downgrade from my current Sempron 3100 to a 2.5Ghz Northwood Pentium4. Why? So I can eBay an old Shuttle Zen XPC ST62K. This is the PC I wanted more than any other when I got into silent computing. I still want one, even if it means downgrading CPU performance.

Naturally, I'll do my own 80mm fan mod.