Pretty quiet medium-high gaming rig

TheQuietType · Post by **TheQuietType** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:47 pm

I'm too lazy to take pictures, but here's my experience in case it might help someone.

My goal was to build a quiet machine fast enough for gaming and some software development work, with some upgrade potential as well, without paying too much for bleeding edge performance.

Case: Antec Solo
PSU: Seasonic S12-500
Motherboard: ASUS M2N-E
Memory: Kingston 2 x 1GB DDR2 667
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mine SCMN-1000
GPU: eVGA Geforce 7900GT CO
GPU Cooler: Zalman VF900 CU
HD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS
Optical: Samsung 16X DVDÂ±R DVD Burner

I got everything but the case at NewEgg. I originally ordered OCZ Platinum DDR2800 memory, but it didn't work with the motherboard. Everything else went together smoothly.

It turned out a lot quieter than my old 1.5GHz P4 machine, which had 80mm case, power, and CPU fans and a fanless graphics card. But it isn't as quiet as I anticipated, though I admit my expectations were pretty high. It makes a low whooshing noise that I can hear sitting at my desk, and the quality of the noise is pretty good.

The loudest fan is in the Seasonic S12. I almost got a lower power PSU, but I've been reading about how much power future graphics cards will use and wanted a little extra capability for upgrades. If it weren't for this fan, I think I'd barely hear anything.

The next loudest fan is the tri-cool in the Solo case, which runs at low speed.

The third loudest fan is the Zalman. The original graphics card fan was horrible, far and away louder than anything else (but I was expecting that).

The quiest fan is in the Scythe Mine. Before I ordered, I was worried about using a giant heatsink. It turned out to be bigger than I expected from the pictures, but also lighter than I expected. Now I have no concerns about strain on the motherboard.

I have the hard drive screwed into the soft mounts (not suspended), and I don't notice any disk noise at all. If I try, I can make out some seeks.

The case looks great, the cabling was easy, temps are low, and the performance is very good.

beaker · Post by **beaker** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:01 pm

If you're too lazy to post pictures, perhaps the gallery is a bad place to put this post.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:19 am

Yeah, no pictures, no gallery!

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:45 am

Erm, what exactly will pictures tell you that his post doesn't? We all know what the components he has used look like, it does not take a great leap of imagination to picture them assembled together.

beaker · Post by **beaker** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:08 am

I've got no problem with his post, just what section it was placed in. I agree that it's very detailed and we can picture how it looks. I'm just saying that the point of this little section of the forum is here for people to put up pictures of their work. By definition, his post is in the wrong section.

TheQuietType · Post by **TheQuietType** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:45 am

Yeah, I hesitated before posting in this area, but there wasn't an obvious better choice for describing an entire system.

Anyway, to make amends, here's a quick pic.

TheQuietType · Post by **TheQuietType** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 10:49 am

Well, I tried.

ShagMan · Post by **ShagMan** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 11:16 am

I like it!

Wow, my ju-ju didn't work either!

Goldmember · Post by **Goldmember** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:10 am

TheQuietType wrote:Well, I tried.

Here is a direct link to your Solo pic.

openwheelformula1 · Post by **openwheelformula1** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:22 am

seriously, people don't care what kind of rig you got or how quiet it is. People in this section of the forum want PICTURES. It's funny cause taking a picture is actually easier than typing specs.

Thanks for the pic btw. I say wire management.

AMD just dramatically cut the prices, I might just pic up another one.