Viewing page 1 of 3 pages.
1 2 3 Next
The customized Serenity
system Puget submitted for SPCR-certification
in June proved to be an extremely quiet high performance computer. In the few
months since that review, Puget went back to the drawing board, tweaking and
refining the Serenity SPCR Edition for even quieter peformance. In the
process, some improvements for performance were also made. The table below details
the changes and commonalities.
|
Puget Serenity PC v2
|
|
*
|
v2
|
original
|
|
Motherboard
|
Asus P7P55D-E Pro
|
same |
|
CPU
|
Intel Core i7-875 (unlocked) 2.93GHz 8mb 95W (Socket
1156 45nm)
|
Intel Core i7-860 - 2.8GHz 8mb 95W (Socket
1156 45nm) |
|
RAM
|
4 x Kingston Value DDR3-1333 2048mb
|
2x Kingston Value DDR3-1333 2048mb |
|
Video Card
|
PowerColor Radeon HD5750 1gb Silent
|
same |
|
Hard Drive
|
Intel X25-M 34nm Gen2 160gb Solid State Drive
|
same |
|
Hard Drive
|
WD Caviar Green 2.0 tb
|
WD Caviar Green 1.5 tb |
|
Optical Drive
|
Lite-On 8x Blu-ray Player
|
Pioneer 22x DVD-RW |
|
Case
|
Antec P183
|
same |
|
Power
|
Antec CP-1000
|
Antec CP-850 |
|
CPU Cooler
|
Gelid Tranquilo w/ Scythe SlipStream 120 fan
|
Gelid Tranquilo w/ stock fan |
|
Fans
|
Quiet Fans Upgrade (Scythe SlipStreams)
|
Quiet Case Fans Upgrade (Scythe S-Flex)
|
|
Case Mods
|
AcoustiPack Acoustic Composite Sheets
|
same |
|
OS
|
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
|
same |
|
Warranty
|
Lifetime Labor, 1 year parts
|
same |
|
Price
|
Starts at $1250.00
As tested, Sept 2010: $2692
|
Starts at $1250.00
As tested, June 2010: $2542 |
The fundamentals are the same, with the same type or series of components.
Unchanged are the motherboard, video card, and case. The CPU speed got bumped
a bit, the amount of RAM doubled to a whopping 8GB, the HDD capacity went up
by 500gb, the PSU's maximum power rating went up to 1000W, and the optical drive
is now a Blu-ray player. Most of these should lead to higher performance, with
the exception of the PSU rating change. That might increase longevity, but probably
not, as the original machine only pulled 240W maximum from the wall, which translates
to a DC load of under 200W or just 23% of the 850W rating of the original PSU.
The only significant component change that would impact noise is the move to
Scythe Slipstream 120 fans across the board. This time, the fan on the Gelid
heatsink is also changed. In our own reviews, SPCR has noted that the Slipstreams
sound smoother and quieter at similar RPM or airflow compared to the S-Flex
(and most other fans). We'll see what impact this has on the overall noise.
Here is a note from Puget about the changes:
1) We've now made a custom plastic plate for blocking the top vent.
It's just more polished, but also blocks the sound a tad bit better. We had
to make a ton of them to make them economical, so we
sell them now too!
2) We've updated all chassis fans to Scythe Slipstream 800rpm, at 5V.
We did a LOT of testing, and we're very happy with the temperatures, and are
confident that we're not going to find much quieter than this! Temperature
logs are provided in the packet with the PC we're send you, though I'm sure
you'll be testing yourself.
3) We've updated the CPU fan to Scythe Slipstream PWM. We have gone
through the BIOS, and instead of relying on the default "Silent"
QFAN profile, we have custom tuned the fan ramping curve to provide the lowest
noise levels while maintaining good temperatures. We also tuned it to prevent
cyclic patterns of the fan ramping up and down. We keep it nice and smooth,
and in fact, our full load speed is only 30% higher than our idle speed. We
have this VERY well dialed in.
4) For the SPCR edition, we
are now cherry picking components from our shelf that are the quietest. We've
found that even with the same model of component, there are variations in
noise level. Hard drive spindle noise, power supply fan noise, motherboard
electrical noise (we're so quiet now that that's one of the loudest items!)...
we set aside the quietest components for SPCR packages. We're branding this
"Picked by ear." (Editor's note: This could be as significant
as the change in fans!)
5) We've done some minor power management tuning in Windows 7. None
of it is necessary to ensure quiet operation or good temperatures. We wanted
to make sure customers get the same experience even if they reinstall the
OS. Mainly, we're just decreasing the inactivity time before the secondary
drive spins down.
6) All this with no increase in price!
Everything else about the system is the same as in the original Serenity, so
there's no point going over those details again. Please refer to the
original Serenity review for details on the great packaging, documentation,
external cosmetics, etc.
Serenity
PC page at Puget Custom Computers
The SPCR-certified Silent
PC Program
Original Puget Serenity SPCR Edition
Review
| Help support this site, buy from one of our affiliate retailers! |
|
