How's this for a silent system?

lorkp · Post by **lorkp** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:09 pm

PSU: Seasonic S12-330
Case: Silverstone TJ06
DVD Burner: NEC 3250A
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (754)
Heatsink: Thermalright XP120 with Nexus/Yate Loon
Exhaust Fan: 120mm Nexus/Yate Loon
Hard Drive: Samsung SP1614C (Nidec hopefully)
Memory: PQI 2x512MB 3200
Motherboard: Biostar K8NHA-Grand NF3 250GB
Video Card: Sapphire 9600 (Passive)

Will this be silent? If not, how can I make it quieter?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:25 pm

Your system should be very quiet, but not silient (although it could be below the ambient noise level of the room your computer is located in).

lorkp · Post by **lorkp** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:29 pm

it won't be silent, but I won't be able to hear it?

And if I'll be able to hear it, how can I make it so that I won't be able to hear it?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:49 pm

Whether or not you can hear it depends on the ambient noise level of your room. Things like central A/C and heat, refrigerators, wind, birds, vehicle traffic, etc, can all add up to 15 dBa or more of noise (this is a very low ambient noise level). It is not unusual for the ambient noise level of an average home to be in the mid 20's or more. If you have a individual room A/C, the ambient noise level can easily be 30-40 dBa.

Also, it depends on how close you are to your computer. If you are 1 foot way, some slight noise may be noticeable which would not be discernable from 3-4 feet away or under your desk.

To appreciate a computer that is completely silent, you would need to live in an anechoic chamber and practice your breathing so as not to make any noise. To make a computer completely silent (with the components you have), you will need to spend a lot of time and money, probably for no good reason.

lorkp · Post by **lorkp** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:07 pm

any tips on making it quieter without spending a considerable amount of money?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:19 pm

It would help if your disk drives were at least mounted using grommets, or preferably something even softer. But I don't know anything about your case to know how hard that would be. You might want to read the threads on quieting hard drives.

See if your optical drive can be slowed down to 24X max using software settings.

If you do the above, I think you may be very satisfied, unless you get addicted to this forum. In that case you will probably never be satisfied.

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:22 am

With those components you should have a very quiet system. As was already pointed out, "Silent" is an extreme that can't be achieved. "Virtually silent" is what you are trying to achieve and you are already there with these components (if you run the fans at 5V and isolate the hard drive, of course). Go ahead and get these components and you'll be happy -- there's no need to worry so much about it.

el_ · Post by **el_** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:39 am

go with venice core(939)! I think you can undervolt the venice core april 18th ship date and practically run it passive with the xp120.

dfi is best mobo but chipset cooler needs to be replace with passive heatsink.

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:53 am

That there looks to be a pretty quiet setup. I don't blame people here for distinguishing silent from quiet.

There was a time here when I'd read a setup and think it would be virtually silent, having built similar setups. But then I found out that my apartment was just pretty darn loud.

What you've spec'ed out is very impressive. My only suggestions to you would be to give some consideration on how to suspend your hard drive. The Samsung has been known to rattle quite a few cases, though I haven't read of any rattling problems in combination with the TJ06.

Alternatively, you could drop the drive and get a 2.5" drive instead.

Finally, though you have a couple Nexus/Yate Loon fans spec'ed out, you may want to look into fan control methods, particularly if you decide to go with a Yate Loon solution, which will be a little louder than the Nexus (by virtue of the fact that it spins a little faster).

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:54 pm

What you might want to consider is a mobile 35w "Oakville." I'm using one, and at the same speed, they run much cooler than Newcastles or Clawhammers. With the right heatsink, this would allow you to run the fan at a very low RPM, or possibly even run passive and let case airflow cool the processor heatsink. Memoryexpousa.com sells the 2800+ for $120 w/free DHL shipping.

http://www.memoryexpousa.com/amdatmo28754.html

However, if you do get this processor, some of your other selections will have to be changed. I do not believe that Biostar supports these mobile processors. I believe MSI makes a mATX NF3 board that shoud work, though. Also, you will have to use mobile compatible heatsink. The Thermalright SLK-948U and Alpha PAL8150 are both possible choices.

Erssa · Post by **Erssa** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:37 pm

el_ wrote:go with venice core(939)! I think you can undervolt the venice core april 18th ship date and practically run it passive with the xp120.

dfi is best mobo but chipset cooler needs to be replace with passive heatsink.

Monarchcomputer a ship date of may 6th for low end venice.

To OP: Your system is should be fine, unless you really want to do all those underclocking/overclocking stuff. But since you are not going for a high end PC, you could consider this.
Why buy a passively cooled VGA, when you can have it integrated? 9600 and x300 are based on the same core. Less parts inside you case, less heat. Although I'm not sure what coolers fit that mobo.

Other manufacturers are releasing ati xpress 200 mobos aswell in a while. So if you decide to wait for venice, then you could wait and see what they will have to offer.

steelcitysi · Post by **steelcitysi** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:39 pm

Erssa wrote:
el_ wrote:go with venice core(939)! I think you can undervolt the venice core april 18th ship date and practically run it passive with the xp120.

dfi is best mobo but chipset cooler needs to be replace with passive heatsink.
Monarchcomputer a ship date of may 6th for low end venice.

To OP: Your system is should be fine, unless you really want to do all those underclocking/overclocking stuff. But since you are not going for a high end PC, you could consider this.
Why buy a passively cooled VGA, when you can have it integrated? 9600 and x300 are based on the same core. Less parts inside you case, less heat. Although I'm not sure what coolers fit that mobo.

Other manufacturers are releasing ati xpress 200 mobos aswell in a while. So if you decide to wait for venice, then you could wait and see what they will have to offer.

haha, someone recommended that board to me as well, it does seem excellent from a cooling point of view. Do you know if the THermalright XP-120 will fit onto that board without sacrificing a card slot or a DIM? I don't see that board on the Thermalright "OK" list

el_ · Post by **el_** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:16 pm

the official dfi rep angry_gamer told me it fits and that you can even take out the ram! I know it fits but if you replace ram all the time I am sure it is pretty tight/hard to remove the ram with heatsink installed.