Please give me some opinions on this...

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iamthedruman
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:08 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Please give me some opinions on this...

Post by iamthedruman » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:29 pm

Hi there,

After ghosting here for a little while, I've decided to take the plunge, register, and post in order to get some advice. I've been living with a dustbuster for a computer for several years now and enough is enough! 8) Here's what I'm looking at. Please feel free to comment, critique or offer alternatives:

Athlon64 S939 3000+ CPU - Winchester core, of course
Gigabyte GAK8NF-9 Motherboard - this is the 4X version
1 stick Crucial 512MB PC3200 RAM - until I can afford another 512
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA - not ideal... :( Samsung if I can get it.
NEC 3520 DVD-RW - any thoughts?
Gigabyte RX80256D RADEON X800 256MB - this is a heatpipe version :)
Antec Sonata w/ Stock PSU

This is going to be a jack-of-all trades machine with an emphasis on gaming (as you can see by the X800 :)). It will be on most of the time. Silence is not a necessity but QUIET (ie: a whisper, not a jet taking off like my current system) is what I'm after. What I like about the vidcard is the heatpipe solution to help with noise although I'm a little concerned about heat. Anyone have any experience with this card?

Once I get the nerve to tackle the Sonata with a dremel, I'll be implementing a few of the more basic mods from the cases section to get her even more quiet!

Thanks in advance for any help!

iamthedruman

burcakb
Posts: 1443
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2004 9:05 am
Location: Turkey

Post by burcakb » Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:44 pm

It takes a LOT of experience and modding to get Sonata to quiet levels. Have a look at the 3700BQE or better still the 3000B along with a nice quiet PSU like the Seasonic.

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Post by m0002a » Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:55 pm

burcakb wrote:It takes a LOT of experience and modding to get Sonata to quiet levels. Have a look at the 3700BQE or better still the 3000B along with a nice quiet PSU like the Seasonic.
I don't think the side CPU tube vent in the Antec SLK3000B is needed for an Athlon64 3000+ Winchester CPU, especially since they let some noise out.

For Someone on a tight budget, the Sonata may be a reasonable choice, especially since I have started to see $30 USD rebates on the current version in anticipation of the Sonata II.

I do think that some kind of aftermarket CPU cooler is needed, since the stock ones are a major source of noise on most systems.

Tibors
Patron of SPCR
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Location: Houten, The Netherlands, Europe

Post by Tibors » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:59 am

Look at the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 or Arctic Cooling Super Silent 64 Ultra TC for cooling your CPU quietly. The reviews are for the P4 versions of those coolers. But if they can cool a P4 quietly, then then surely won't have a problem with a cool running A64 Winchester.

The PSU of my Sonata is quiet now. That is only so because I replaced the fan in it with a Nexus fan. In stock form it is a quite loud PSU. But my system doesn't have a hot video card, so you are probably better of with another PSU (or case altogether).

iamthedruman
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:08 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Post by iamthedruman » Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:01 am

So far, I should be looking elsewhere at a case that would be quieter than a Sonata. Any thoughts on the HDD or vidcard? I haven't heard anything about the latest Seagate's and I know very little about Gigabyte's heatpipe vidcards.

Thoughts on this?

Thanks!

iamthedruman

Pétur
Posts: 59
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:09 pm
Location: Gent, Belgium

Post by Pétur » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:50 pm

Can't help you yet, I have ordered the GigaByte GV-NX66T128VP (GF6600GT with passive cooling) and will be using it in an Antec SLK3000B. I read somewhere the card can get quite hot, but: GigaByte wouldn't make such a card if passive cooling weren't enough.

so more info probably next week when I get the parts I ordered

Peter

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