Looking for a quiet, small, AMD64 system

TomMM · Post by **TomMM** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 6:24 pm

Hi.

I need a new system, and I'd like to get a small, quiet, AMD64 system. When I say 'small', I mean like a micro-ATX or a shuttle, and when I say 'quiet' I don't mean silent.

Graphics are not important so I want integrated graphics. I don't want to get into over or under clocking. SATA would be nice.

I want an AMD64 system because of the 'cool and quiet', not because of the 64 bit. I want to be sure that the MB I get support the 'cool and quiet' feature. I see that Tom's site recommends socket 939 to support "90 nm Winchester processor core, for considerably reduced power dissipation". And I see that the shuttle SN95G5 has socket 939 (http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN95G5.asp).

I'm going to need to add CardBus slots, so it will need to have a PCI slot for that.

So I've looked around a little bit and I don't see as many options as I expected.

They carry the Shuttle SFF systems locally (Toronto), but I noticed that sthayashi says the Shuttle's are loud. On the other hand, I see that spacey says that his SN95G5 is quiet, so I'm not sure what to think. Too bad that the Shuttle Zen isn't available for AMD. Perhaps I should consider getting an Intel. Are there any P4's with the speedsteep technology yet?

If I try to build my own with a quiet mATX case, then I run into the problem that very few of the MB's are mATX, most are regular ATX.

Thanks for any suggestions,
TOm.

kamina · Post by **kamina** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 10:45 pm

I just got the sn95g5 and it's definatly not loud. The main fan has a certain rattling tendency, but apart from that it's fairly silent. You have alot of options in bios for the fan speed, and default was spinning it at about 650rpm. At that speed the fan sound itself was pretty much inaudible, but there was still some sound that seemed like bad bearings.

The northbridge has a nasty little 40mm fan that is clearly audible. It runs at over 3000rpm and creates an audible whine. Some people say they have slowed it down with speedfan, unfortunatly the newest version does'nt work without changing settings so I have not gotten myself to do it yet. It might be that I'll end up just getting a passive cooler for it sooner or later. I might also change the 92mm fan for something else at some point.

All in all I have to say that I love the machine.

TomMM · Post by **TomMM** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:08 pm

Thanks for the info, but I'm a little confused.

At the beginning you say that 'apart from that [rattling] it's fairly silent.' Towards the end you talk about a noisy northbridge. Do you mean that it is fairly silent, other than the rattling AND the northbridge? And what is the northbridge anyway? Putting a passive cooler there sounds like a good idea, but can I do it safely? It is cold in Canada, but not as cold as Finland, so maybe I would need active cooling here?

I can do a certain amount of modding, and I like the sound of the SN95G5, but if there is too much modding that it means that I probably have the wrong system.

kamina · Post by **kamina** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:04 am

The northbridge is the motherboards chipset. For some strange reason manufacturers tend to put a fan on it even if it's not needed. I guess they have to take all situations into count, like somebody overclocking the computer in a tent in sahara.

Changing the fan into a passive heatsink requires removing the motherboard from the case, and popping it out. There are two small sticks holding it in place that are fairly easy to take off. Then you just put a bit of thermal paste and put the new passive heatsink (zalman has a few). I managed to find an older version of speedfan yesterday, and it slows down the fan so that you can't really hear it anymore though.

I've noticed that alot of people don't complain about the main fan in the system, so the rattling might be specific to my computer.

Tom P · Post by **Tom P** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:49 am

You mentioned mATX. There are several different, decent mATX A64 boards available. Mine is a Gigabyte socket 754 with a SIS chipset and has almost everything, including Firewire and integrated video with 128MB onboard memory. Not the latest, greatest and fastest, but more than good enough for me. The northbridge is passively cooled, i.e., no fans on the motherboard. I'm using an Inwin mATX mini-tower with a built-in duct and that came with a decent power supply; obviously much bigger than a Shuttle but also cheaper and easier to get reasonably quiet. I'm using only the power supply as exhaust right now; not silent enough for the obsessive, but a starting point to play around with later. Just to throw in two cents.

TomMM · Post by **TomMM** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:06 am

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm seeing indications that - for those concerned about heat and noise - the socket 939 is preferable to the 754. Apparently the 939 processors use a smaller manufacturing process so they generate less heat, and they seem to be the same price around here. On the downside, the 939 MB's are more expensive and less available than the 754 MB's.

padmewan · Post by **padmewan** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:23 pm

I second TomMM's interest in a 939 Athlon64-based rig, and would love any additional, specific recommendations.

Qwertyiopisme · Post by **Qwertyiopisme** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 3:57 am

I have a S939 mATX board (MSI RS480M2-IL) and it is wonderfull. It uses the new SB400 chipset by ati and has good integrated graphics (5000 marks in 2001, which is enough for simple gaming) and everything else one would want (6 channel audio, firewire, 6x usb, tvout and so on and so forth). It is also very cheap for being S939

.

EDIT: Forgot to mention but the NB is passivly cooled.

ky · Post by ky » Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:40 pm

It's a shame that the Iwill ZPC Athlon 64 was discontinued. It seemed like a great idea.