Building a quiet but powerful PC: spec advice please

grahamstewart · Post by **grahamstewart** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:32 am

Hello All,

I'm trying to spec up a new PC and I'd like it to be as quiet as possible (without resorting to really expensive solutions), but I'd also like it to be powerful enough to play any modern game and not look too ugly either. A fairly common goal for any system builder I'm sure.

So what do you think of this for a spec?

Case: ThermalTake Tsunami Dream
MoBo: Abit AX8 S939 PCIE
CPU: Athlon64 3500+ (Winchester core)
Graphics: Gigabyte GV RX80L256V X800XL 256MB
Memory: Geil Value 1Gb PC3200 Dual Chan DDR Kit
Drive: 160Gb Samsung SpinPoint P80
Optical: NEC ND-3520A DVD+/-RW
Power: not decided
Monitor: 17" ViewSonic VP171B

Any obviously terrible choices in that lot?

What supply would I need to power that spec, but still be good and quiet?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:37 am

Hello Graham:

I would go for a case that is in the SPCR recommended section -- same for the power supply. After that -- looks like you got a great list!

Oh, except maybe the NEC -- I don't have personal experience with them, but some around here have warned that NEC drives are (sometimes) noisy. The Sony DVD writer I used recently was quiet.

grahamstewart · Post by **grahamstewart** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:20 am

Hmm.. I honestly hadn't considered the DVD drive as a potential source of noise. But I could probably live with it as this is just a general PC (games, web, programming etc) and I'm not likely to be watching any DVDs on it.

I did have a brief look at the SPCR recommended cases, but to my eye many of them failed the "not look too ugly" requirement.

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:45 am

The Tsunami is serious challenged for airflow. Any case on the SPCR recommended list will be better.

grahamstewart · Post by **grahamstewart** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:55 am

The Tsunami is serious challenged for airflow

Really? That could be an issue for me as the graphics card and mobo chipset are both passively cooled.

The review of the Tsunami Dream over at CustomPC seemed to reckon the airflow was good. It has two 120mm fans, one at the front and one at the back.

Tech · Post by **Tech** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:15 am

It wouldn't be too bad if the front panel wasn't so restrictive.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:26 am

Hello Graham:

The Antec SLK3000B is very similar to the Tsunami in size and specs, but it has far better fan grills and front intake air flow.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and is more than skin deep -- if you have a case that actually works well, that makes it pretty gorgeous!