New to SPCR, help appreciated, quiet PC for HOT environment
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:06 pm
Hi, this is my first post on SPCR. My current PC is an old Dell Dimension 8300. It's way past time to upgrade, the noise from my Dell led me to investigate quieter parts, and that's how I found this great Forum. I have never built a PC before, so I'm trying to do my homework.
Intended Use:
My current main usage, besides researching for a new PC build, is for Internet research related to the restoration of an old car. This means having about 15-30 tabs open in a Firefox browser at any given time, posting on a couple of car Forums and checking many parts & restoration service websites, with two or three Word documents open for notes (I'm looking into MicroSoft's OneNote program). Also printing frequently to Adobe PDF (restoration articles), searching through resource books that I have scanned to PDF via Fujitsu ScanSnap, and using a photo editor like Photoshop Elements or the old JASC Paint Shop Photo Album that came with the Dell in 2004, cataloging pictures of all the different car parts and various stages of the restoration, posting pictures to Forums with questions, etc. With all of these programs running at once, plus WinXP Professional (service pack 3) OS and other junk running in the background, this old Pentium 3GHz with 1GB of RAM has slowed to a crawl. Just closing (not opening!) an application often takes 20-25 seconds with so many programs running simultaneously. Loading pages in Firefox is often the same, to the point that sometimes I'm not sure if the system is frozen. I check "TaskManager" (ctrl+alt+delete) several times a day to find out if one or more of my programs is no longer responding, or if it's just thinking... I just checked TaskManager right now, it took about 15 seconds to pop up the dialog-box...
Goals:
1. A quiet computer. This Dell is LOUD.
2. A PC capable of running multiple applications without slowdown
3. A PC that will last me a while. I seem to use a computer for about 5-6 years before I am forced to upgrade. I'm going to try building it myself, and learn how to upgrade individual parts over time to keep up with technology, instead of starting from scratch (again).
4. A PC that would do well with games, if I can find time to play a few. I used to play Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, but it has been a long time. That game doesn't work since I got the NEC flat-screen monitor.
5. Needs cooling measures in order to work well in a hot environment. It's cool in the winter, but room temperatures are often in the upper 80s (close to outside temps) from June through August. My poor old Dell (250w psu!) howls like a leaf-blower in summer, I have to open the case to help cool it down.
Plans for new build:
Case: Antec P182 or similar case with good air-flow and silent qualities
PSU: Seasonic X-650
CPU: Intel i7-920 2.67GHz quad-core, 130W, 8MB L36 cache
CPU Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems (or MegaShadow) with 120mm Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 fan (will one fan be good enough, or do I need to 'push-pull' with two?)
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D ATX SATA 6GB/s USB 3.0
Memory/RAM: 6GB (3 x 2GB) Crucial PC3 12800 240-pin SDRAM CAS 8-8-8-24 DDR3 1600
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-Bit PCI Express 2.0x16
VGA Cooler: Is a cooler necessary with the 5850, either for sound or heat issues? I'm considering the Prolimatech Mark-13, Scythe SCVSG-1000 Setsugen Universal Ultra-Thin VGA Cooler with Speed Control and Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 Pro VGA Cooler (all 3 should be Radeon ATI 5850 compatible)
Primary Hard Drive: Crucial 128GB SSD, with ICY Dock converter (2.5" to 3.5" bay)
Secondary Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7,200rpm 32MB cache
Operating System: Windows7 (Home or Professional? 32-bit or 64-bit?)
Current components that I hope to use with new PC & Win7 OS:
1. 20" NEC 20WMGX2 monitor, at 1680 x 1050
2. CD/DVD: My 2 year old Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-112 should be fine
3. fairly new WD 640GB external HD for back-ups, and to unload some data from my nearly full 111GB original Dell primary "C: drive".
4. Fujitsu S1500 ScanSnap
5. Epson Perfection 4990 Photo flat-bed scanner
6. one old HP Laserjet 3100 multi-function printer that is still going strong
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, and thank you,
Scott
Intended Use:
My current main usage, besides researching for a new PC build, is for Internet research related to the restoration of an old car. This means having about 15-30 tabs open in a Firefox browser at any given time, posting on a couple of car Forums and checking many parts & restoration service websites, with two or three Word documents open for notes (I'm looking into MicroSoft's OneNote program). Also printing frequently to Adobe PDF (restoration articles), searching through resource books that I have scanned to PDF via Fujitsu ScanSnap, and using a photo editor like Photoshop Elements or the old JASC Paint Shop Photo Album that came with the Dell in 2004, cataloging pictures of all the different car parts and various stages of the restoration, posting pictures to Forums with questions, etc. With all of these programs running at once, plus WinXP Professional (service pack 3) OS and other junk running in the background, this old Pentium 3GHz with 1GB of RAM has slowed to a crawl. Just closing (not opening!) an application often takes 20-25 seconds with so many programs running simultaneously. Loading pages in Firefox is often the same, to the point that sometimes I'm not sure if the system is frozen. I check "TaskManager" (ctrl+alt+delete) several times a day to find out if one or more of my programs is no longer responding, or if it's just thinking... I just checked TaskManager right now, it took about 15 seconds to pop up the dialog-box...
Goals:
1. A quiet computer. This Dell is LOUD.
2. A PC capable of running multiple applications without slowdown
3. A PC that will last me a while. I seem to use a computer for about 5-6 years before I am forced to upgrade. I'm going to try building it myself, and learn how to upgrade individual parts over time to keep up with technology, instead of starting from scratch (again).
4. A PC that would do well with games, if I can find time to play a few. I used to play Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, but it has been a long time. That game doesn't work since I got the NEC flat-screen monitor.
5. Needs cooling measures in order to work well in a hot environment. It's cool in the winter, but room temperatures are often in the upper 80s (close to outside temps) from June through August. My poor old Dell (250w psu!) howls like a leaf-blower in summer, I have to open the case to help cool it down.
Plans for new build:
Case: Antec P182 or similar case with good air-flow and silent qualities
PSU: Seasonic X-650
CPU: Intel i7-920 2.67GHz quad-core, 130W, 8MB L36 cache
CPU Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems (or MegaShadow) with 120mm Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 fan (will one fan be good enough, or do I need to 'push-pull' with two?)
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D ATX SATA 6GB/s USB 3.0
Memory/RAM: 6GB (3 x 2GB) Crucial PC3 12800 240-pin SDRAM CAS 8-8-8-24 DDR3 1600
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-Bit PCI Express 2.0x16
VGA Cooler: Is a cooler necessary with the 5850, either for sound or heat issues? I'm considering the Prolimatech Mark-13, Scythe SCVSG-1000 Setsugen Universal Ultra-Thin VGA Cooler with Speed Control and Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 Pro VGA Cooler (all 3 should be Radeon ATI 5850 compatible)
Primary Hard Drive: Crucial 128GB SSD, with ICY Dock converter (2.5" to 3.5" bay)
Secondary Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black 1TB 7,200rpm 32MB cache
Operating System: Windows7 (Home or Professional? 32-bit or 64-bit?)
Current components that I hope to use with new PC & Win7 OS:
1. 20" NEC 20WMGX2 monitor, at 1680 x 1050
2. CD/DVD: My 2 year old Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-112 should be fine
3. fairly new WD 640GB external HD for back-ups, and to unload some data from my nearly full 111GB original Dell primary "C: drive".
4. Fujitsu S1500 ScanSnap
5. Epson Perfection 4990 Photo flat-bed scanner
6. one old HP Laserjet 3100 multi-function printer that is still going strong
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, and thank you,
Scott