Silent PC for computer graphics and gaming

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:08 am

Hello, I'm a newcomer here and I apologize for my English grammar and everything since this is not my native language.

Ok, to start with, this is what I am going to use this PC for:

* Photoshop and some other Adobe and Corel 2D computer graphics software;
* I'm not that of a extreme gamer but I can't say that I don't play games at all. My favorate genre on PC gaming is strategy (especially turn-based) but still I'm not denying that I don't play first-person shooters;
* Despite computer graphics, my hobby is photography so high amount of hard-drive space is needed;
* reliability, quality and silence are important.

HDD: WD CAVIAR 640GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB
Optical drive: ODD DVD-RW PIONEER DVR-112 DVDÂ±RW /DVDÂ±R9 /DVD-RAM, DVD+ /-R 18x /18x, DVD+ /-RW 8x /6x, DVD+ /-R9 10x /10x, DVD-RAM 12x, DVD-ROM 16x, CD-ROM /CD-R /CD-RW 40x /40x /32x, ATAPI, Beige, Bulk
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Dinamic Energy saving GA-EP45-DS3/ P45+ICH10R/ 8/9/C2D/QuadCore/1600/1333/1066/800 FSB/ PCI-E 2.0/ 2*PCI-Ex16 slot (x8 x8)/ 2",4 DIMM DDR2 667/800/1066/1200/ Realtek ALC889A/ 8 Channel/ 6*Serial ATA II 1*PATA/ 12*USB2.0/1.1/ 2*GbE LAN/ HW
Mouse: LOGITECH RX250 OPTICAL MOUSE BL. USB/PS2
Keyboard: LOGITECH VALUE KEYBOARD BLK PS/2 LT OEM
Power: CORSAIR PSU 520W 120MM FAN ATX EPS12V
RAM: A-DATA 2x2GB DDRII Over Clock Extreme Edition DDR2 800+
VGA: GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GH 1GB GDDR3 256 bit/ PCI-E 2.0 x16/ Core Clock 675MHz/ Mem Clock 2000/ DirectX 10.1/ TV-OUT/ DVI-I/ HDMI / HDCP/ Multi View
Case: ANTEC PERF ONE ATX MIDI P182B U/PSU SILV
CPU: INTEL E8500 CORE2D 3.16GHZ 1333/6M S775

* I don't know *anything* about heatsinks. And do I need to know more than simply that this cooling is silent?

* I'm not sure about the power selection.

* Also I'm waiting for other recommendations and suggestions.

Elvellon · Post by **Elvellon** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:32 am

You need new heatsinks for your CPU and graphics card, as well as better and slower case fans. Check out the SPCR recommended lists and shops in your country. For example, the setup in my signature

with Thermalright HR-01 Plus instead of Scythe Ninja would be good.

Since you need much hard drive space, a logical choice would be a 1 TB hard drive (is there a Caviar Blue of this size?).

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:46 am

I think that 640 GB would be enough space for me. I will use CDs for complete pictures anyway.

Why do I need heatsinks for the graphics card if it already has them with it?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:04 am

Elvellon wrote:You need new heatsinks for your CPU and graphics card, as well as better and slower case fans.

No he doesn't. I'm sure he appreciates any input but at least put some thought into it first. His graphics card is passively cooled. It's perfectly fine as it is.

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:23 am

Do I need 520W PSU or 450W would be enough for this system?

tehcrazybob · Post by **tehcrazybob** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:41 am

A 450 watt power supply is more than adequate for a system like this. You would actually be very safe with only 300 watts, but most of the really quiet choices lately have been higher wattage. I'd actually suggest an Enermax Modu82+ 425.

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:50 am

Yes, the Enermax model would be great but I'm afraid the shop I'm buying all the PC parts doesn't have it, so I'll stick to Corsair's 450W model.

ame · Post by **ame** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:53 am

A 450 would be good enough if its 80%+ (Corair or Enermax 82+ would be my choice)

If you are going to use Photoshop consider a quad core CPU like Q9550.
Photoshop is highly threaded and can use the extra cores, nearly doubluing the power per clock.

Termalright HR-01+ would be ideal but you could get away with Ultima 90 or Ultra extreme 120 and a quiet 120mm fan. Many other heatsinks have good preformance so you might wanna check out the SPCR reccomended list.

With a passive 4850 card you MUST make sure you have excelent airfow in the case. You will likely need an intake fan. Also look into modding or removing the intake grill doors on the P182 to improve airflow.

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:14 am

Mmm... Modding? I know almost nothing about this. This is the first PC I have ever tried to assemble. Just a week ago I didn't even know that there are some kind of heat pipes that are used for cooling. Two weeks ago I didn't know nothing about Power Supplies and what they are used for. And so on...

If you recommend a quad core CPU, would Q9400 be enough?

I searched the internet about the passive version of 4850 but found very little information. I guess it isn't very popular.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:19 am

Kainen wrote:I searched the internet about the passive version of 4850 but found very little information. I guess it isn't very popular.

You did what?! You searched the internets?! Why you... !! You must only search SPCR or face the Binary Inquisition of the Geeky Internets Users!

There's already a topic here about that card

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:31 am

I've read that topic few hours ago but still I don't understand how the cooling would work and what do I exactly need. I just miss a full expert-like review about this card.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:36 am

Kainen wrote:Sorry for my English (again) if I have said something wrong.

It was a joke... I was joking? Hence the -->

ame · Post by **ame** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:41 am

Sorry but I didnt know your level of experiance. Regardless even if you don't mod anything I would reccomend a front 120 intake fan, and watch your temps. Removing (as opposed to modding) the front intake vent is also an option. If it gets to hot when gaming you might wanna try it.

Look at this guy's thread (Oscar) and see the excelent pics of how simple it is to mod the intake vents using a box cutter knife. Its a proven mod to help drop temp in P182.

viewtopic.php?t=44219

Q9400 would have better preformance in Photoshop than E8500. It will mostly be noticable when rendering or working with large files. However the larger cache of the Q9x50s makes me think they are worth the extra $, then again if you are not a professional working on tight deadlines this is likly minor.

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:15 am

But does modding the vents like that affect the silence of the PC (in a bad way)?

If I have understood it right, I need a 120 mm vent cooler for a video card? Something like ZALMAN VGA HEATPIPE COOLER 18DBA 1400RPM would apply? Is this even a 120 mm one?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:56 am

Or you could just use zip ties and and attach 120mm fan blowing directly on the heatsink and not bother with Zalman which are expensive and have crappy fans with poor noise signatures.

Kainen, it might in theory give more open sound path to the noise but P18x has door, which effectively quiets down effects of improving front airflow as it forces noise to come from side holes indirectly.

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:10 am

Do you mean I could attach this (http://www.nexustek.nl/NXS-120mm-pwm-fa ... -quiet.htm) with zip ties and turn the air flow directly to the card and everything would normally work?

Wouldn't buying a normal HD 4850 card would be better if a vent is still needed?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:17 am

Kainen, go to the topic I mentioned and read the user experiences with the card.

And this one
viewtopic.php?p=436406#436406

Kainen · Post by **Kainen** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:11 am

TXFI wrote:I have two of those running in Crossfire and get around P13000 in 3DMark Vantage. In addition I have a BFG Physx card. Works well for me, 1920x1080 in Unreal Tournament with all settings maxed out + Physx enabled and it runs _smooth_.

They never go over 60 C, even after several hours of gaming. CPU stays below 50 C.

Specs:

case: Antec P182 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129025
power supply: Enermax Modu82+ 625W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817194027
motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128330
RAM: OCZ DDR3 8 GB (4x2GB) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227318
processor: Intel C2 Quad Q9550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115041
processor cooler: Scythe Orochi http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835185064
physx: BFG Physx http://www.directron.com/bfgrphysx128p.html
crossfire video cards: Gigabyte GV-R485MC-1GH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125237
video card cooler: AOC FC-2000 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835888309
harddisk: Samsung F1 HD103UJ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152102
harddisk stabilizer: Scythe SCY-HDS2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817984001
blu-ray drive: LG GGW-H20L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136137
fan controller: Sunbeam RHK-EX-SV http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811995017
other stuff: bluetooth+wireless keyboard+Gyration mouse+game controllers

The only "mod" I did was to remove the fan from the heatsink on the Physx card and replaced it with a Zalman heatsink originally intended for northbridge cooling. I had to cut the fins down to make it fit on the last PCI slot. All the slots are now in use due to the PCI fan being in between the Radeons. I added five Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E/D fans (removed the stock fans):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835185005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835185004

With the Sunbeam lowering the fan speeds, the system is extremely quiet (I can only hear the HD occasionally and the Blu-Ray drive when it's running).

Ok, why does he need FIVE fans? The P182 has THREE. That is not enough? Where would I put the other two 120 mm fans?

Is this the main solution of cooling the passive 4850? I mean, I have to change the stock fans with something like NEXUS CASE FAN 120MM ULTRA SILENT PWM and that would be everything?

Elvellon · Post by **Elvellon** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:12 am

Sorry about my google phobia (the graphics card misinformation)!

ame · Post by **ame** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:14 pm

Kainen wrote:
Ok, why does he need FIVE fans? The P182 has THREE. That is not enough? Where would I put the other two 120 mm fans?

Is this the main solution of cooling the passive 4850? I mean, I have to change the stock fans with something like NEXUS CASE FAN 120MM ULTRA SILENT PWM and that would be everything?

I'm not sure anyone NEEDS 5 case fans. but obviously some people want them.
I pesonally prefer having the least number of fans spinning at the lowest speed possible to keep my systems components cool.
Often this could be as low as 2-3 fans, depending on the system.

For your system, considering you have 1 hot component (4850) and it already has a passive heat sink (so you dont need another heat sink), what you want to make sure of is decent airflow.

The sugestion of using zip ties to place a 120mm fan on the card itself is a good one. So is increasing the intake flow.

You should experiment as you go...

The default fan setup of the P182 is 3, plus 1 in the PSU, maybe add that nexus as intake for a total of 5 perhaps 1 on the CPU cooler that is 6. Now see how low you can go with fan speeds while monitoruing temps.

Next might be able to block the top vent -1 fan, remove the bottom chamber fan -1, cool the CPU passively -1 and your down to 3

You should figure it out, watch your temps.

Overall the list of parts you have is good, you still need to choose a CPU cooler, but I think if you dont plan to overclock, and are smart about airflow you could eventually get away with 3 fans total.