Hey,

New here. So sorry in advance.

I wanted some advice/suggestions on building my computer. My priorities are: QUIET and silent (I have to forget that the computer is on ), below 1,500 (as close to 1,000 as possible), and gaming (I'm big on graphics), and then the usual word processing/internet surfing. Check my list to see that everything is compatible too.

Here's what I have so far:
AMD Athlon 64 3200
Asus K8V Deluze
I spent about $200 on the cpu/mobo. Got it through one of those retail programs. I'm definitely keeping the CPU/mobo.

Here's what I'm thinking of or planning to get from NewEgg
Antec P160 Case
(I'm also considering the Nexus Breeze case and Antec Sonata case with sound dampening. Both will run about $200).

eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Video Card, 256MB

Fortron Source 400W Power Supply

TWO Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
(1GB is highly prefered)

Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

SAMSUNG 172X-Silver 17" LCD Monitor
(LCD is important, I need the space. Otherwise I would've opted for a CRT)

Lite-On 8X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive


Excluding the cpu/mobo, that runs me up to $ 1,484.28. Yikes. Geeze, I have expensive wants. And I haven't even tackled cooling and other accessories to help with silencing. Where should I cut corners on?

Thanks for the help.

how much is that burner? not to be too pragmatic but if $1500's not in your budget, then dual layer media certainly isn't either.
recordable dvd media in general is a poor investment, just that DL carries a huge premium on top of that.

and this won't shave anything off the price, but the x800 pro uses so much less power than any 6800 it's not even funny.

Don't really see any way to save any money there; video card would be the most obvious but I wouldn't want to skimp either if I were you, the x800/6800s are both amazing, have an x800 pro myself... was about to suggest a CRT but then reread your post. There are a million variations of "fast, quiet, cheap, small, easy etc etc pick n-1", if you can't spend more money or get a bigger case, it's not impossible, just it'll take a lot of work.

Straker: Just click on the link. $80.99 is not much more expensive (if at all) than most burners. I think.

Also I think the eVGA's 6800 takes less power than the other brands.

Any suggestions on what components I could use for cooling but are quiet as well? (Hopefully they're cheap)

You can do a lot better and cheaper on cases. You're paying for prettiness here. Stop that. Get an Antec SLK-3700AMB. It'll probably cost about half the price of that case you have in mind.

The LCD monitor is really what's sinking your ship though. That's 33% of your costs right off the bat. A 17" LCD monitor is almost a no-no for gaming too since their typical native resolution is 1280x1024 (and most games prefer a 4:3 AR, though I think more games are supporting that res. What games you plan to play are more important). Yeah, word processing and browsing are nicer with a larger resolution, but you're paying $100-200 for that niceness over a 15" LCD (and about $300 over CRT).

The Video card can also amounts to 30% of your costs as well. Between that and the monitor, you've spent $900+. Consider an HIS 9800 IceQ II, which is a 9800 card with a VGA silencer on it. It'll cost half as much for something like 85% of the performance (again, depending on the game). If you're willing to home brew, you can get your own 9800 card and attach the VGA silencer yourself.

So between the monitor and the card, you can cut $450 from that price if you're willing to compromise a little.

Read the recommendations for cooling. I suspect the Zalman 7000-AlCu will work for you, but I can't verify that.

EDIT: I retract my 15" LCD statement I made above. I spoke before I took a look at what's available, and I shouldn't speak on gaming ever.

I second sthayashi's case advice. Even if you don't like the AMB, there are a bunch of good choices for less than a P160. Also, you can save $40 on the HD by buying the quieter Samsung SP1213C. And the NEC 2510 DVD saves about $10 over the Lite-on.

Hey, thanks for the advice guys. My goal has changed. If its hovering around 1,600 then I'm fine.

I ordered a Samsung hard drive (not Seagate and saved some money), the Lite-on drive, the memory, a sound card, and the LCD already. I still haven't completely decided on the other components yet.

So no go on the PC160. Is there anything wrong with choosing the Sonata? How about the Lian Li PC-6070A?

And I think I'm down to deciding between the Zalman 7000-AlCu , the Thermal Right XCP-120, or the Thermal Take Fanless 103 for the HSF. I think I'm leaning towards the ThermalTake.

Search - lots of threads on those two. Consensus is that both have mediocre airflow unless modded.


While the TT has yet to be reviewed, pretty much everyone here would suggest the 7000 or XP-120 first. SPCR has a lot of info about the Zalman in both reviews and the forum.

Antec's 3700BQE is highly regarded here, and is a little cheaper than the Sonata.

Yep, I think I'll go with the Antec's 3700BQE except I think I'll swap the power supply with another one.

I'm still undecided about the HSF and what 120mm fan I want though.