Silent PC for web and music

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tipo33
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:10 pm

Silent PC for web and music

Post by tipo33 » Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:20 pm

I am building a new computer for simple web surfing and music enjoyment. Here are the parts I'm looking at:
Antec NSK3480
GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3V
Samsung MV-3V4G3D/US (the samsung "wonder ram")
Thermalright HR-01 Plus with LGA 1155 mounting acessories
A quiet fan of some sort to run at 500 rpm.
64g Samsung 830 SSD (from an existing computer I own)
2gig Seagate barracuda green (not the queitest drive, but what I have lying around)
Asus Xonar Essence ST (the reason I chose a motherboard with a PCI slot)
Atheros AR9380 in a miniPCIe to PCIe 1x converter

I am undecided on the CPU. I was interested in the i3-2120T but it only has Intel HD2000. There are Ivy Bridge CPU's but they have a 65w TDP and I would like the rear fan to be the only one (passively cooled CPU.) The reason I ask is it has to be able to output to my 2560X1440 monitor. If I got the i3-2120T then I guess I would have to get a passive videocard, which kinda negates getting a CPU with a 35w TDP. This computer doesn't have to do anything serious (apart from be quiet :lol: ) It wil run a lightweight Linux OS and all I will use it for is surfing the internet and listening to music. Does anyone have any opinions/experience on this?
Thank you.

kuzzia
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Location: Denmark

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by kuzzia » Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:25 pm

Listening to music and web browsing are very light tasks for a computer so a Pentium or Celeron Sandy Bridge CPU will easily get the job done. And whatever CPU you choose will only dissipate a very little amount of heat so you won't need a tower cooler. A tiny cooler like the Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 will be able to cool the CPU inaudibly. I can't hear my AC Alpine 64 (the AMD version). It cools a 95W triple core AMD so it has enough cooling power for whatever CPU you may choose.

Fan: I would recommend a Scythe Slipstream 500 rpm (or 800 rpm at 5 V) as a case fan. It's cheap and Slipstreams have very low starting voltages.

Edit: I didn't notice that you intended to run the CPU passively cooled. But if you only want to run a single fan, why not put it on the CPU cooler instead of the exhaust fan? The CPU will practically be the only component you need to worry about in terms of temperature and putting the fan on the CPU cooler would naturally benefit the CPU temperature much more.

tipo33
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:10 pm

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by tipo33 » Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:40 pm

I figured that the CPU will spend most of the time idling, so it wont output much heat, regardless of TDP rating. As for the fan and fan placement. I am completely open to suggestions. I just figured that having the one fan at the back of the case would be better than mounting it in the cooler, especialy since I haven't decided if I will be using integrated graphics or a descrite GPU. I am completely new to silent computing. Most of my computers up to this point have been air-cooled and extremely loud, or watercooled and vaguely quiet. This is the first time I am building a computer to be silent.

Highfi
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:40 am
Location: Norway

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by Highfi » Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:06 pm

The first PC I built for my father we used a NSK3480, it's good for airflow and is a small case compared to many others. For his next PC we found out he could go for the HDPlex H3 to get it completely silent and in an eaven smaller case. He is very happy about that choice, so for a PC with only a CPU as the main powerdraw I really would suggest a smallest possible fanless system. A fanless case may cost some more but you can take in acount the cost for a fan and cooling tower you don't need. I am also interested in good sound so I went for an external usb DAC, you may consider this also because the price wouldn't have to be much higher considering the sound quality you get. For a smal PC without an internal soundcard you could consider the Akasa Euler: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Akasa_Eul ... n_ITX_Case. There are other users on this forum that are satisfied with this case.

The soundcard you suggest is good so if you want to go for that you must find a case that support a PCIe card, for example the Streacom FC5(or FC8): http://www.silentpcreview.com/Streacom_FC5_OD_Case. The Price may be a bit high but you don't need a cooling tower or fan, and the PC will be completely quiet. There may be other fanless cases for a lower price. The i7 3770T has only 45W TDP and has H4000 graphics, and there are other CPU's with good graphics for a lower price, like the AMD APU's: A10-5800K / A10-5700. Others and myself are very happy with the small fanless cases, so I just wanted to inform you of the possibility.

Pappnaas
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Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 11:23 am
Location: Germany

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by Pappnaas » Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:59 am

If you do not want to build a system yourself, you could try Lenovo's M72e tiny. The bigger modell M92 was reviewed by Anandtech http://www.anandtech.com/show/6162/leno ... ized-power

I haven't had the chance to hear one myself, but as far as i have gathered other impressions around the web it is pretty quiet. The M72e can be had with a i3-T cpu, which should cover your needs. And if you have the budget to spend a SSD into it, this could be a nice quiet system.

tipo33
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:10 pm

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by tipo33 » Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:15 am

@Pappnaas: The M72e and M92 won't output to my monitor.

@Highfi: I looked into a lot of the horizontal passively cooled cases, and came to the conclusion that I wouldn't know what to do if it broke. I like to build my PC's because the parts are standerdized. If I upgrade it in a few years, i might need a new case because the integrated cooler is incompatible.

Highfi
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:40 am
Location: Norway

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by Highfi » Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:01 pm

The heatpipe coolingsystems are adapteble to different motherboards. The placing of the CPU may vary a little but this is easy to adjust by pulling the heatpipes back or forth a little in the mountingplates. The later upgrading to new components is actually some of what I like with these cases. With my case I have done a bit of modding, but when the job is done the same coolingsystem and PSU can be used for later components with better performance. It's just to change the thermal paste and maybe adjust the system a little. I have built several heatpipe cases and have yet not broken a single heatpipe, and if it sometime should happen it must be possible to order a new heatpipe. If you follow the normal setup you don't have to bend the heatpipes. If you want to mod some it's just to be carefull when bending the pipes, they are easy to bend. It sounds like you have some experiance in pc building so it will probably be easy for you.

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by HFat » Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:20 am

You are at risk of wasting your cash, tipu33.
Also, you have apparently not looked at the most annoying sources of noise.

You have no use for a better CPU than the G530.
Intel's TDP doesn't rate individual models. Do not use it to choose a CPU!
A passive graphics card wouldn't necessarily use a lot of power. I don't know offhand which ones could drive your display but some burn less than 10W.

Based on what you wrote, you don't know how sensitive your hearing is or how noisy your environment is. Beware of blanket advice!
Lots of people can't hear what the average SPCR poster would consider moderately loud. You might not be able to hear the small Arctic Cooling HS/F recommended above. It might even be overkill for you (though that's less likely).
You might not even need a case fan depending on how much noise would be inaudible for you and other factors. The heatsink fan is usually the most important fan to have because it cools a part of the board which is usually designed to benefit from the airflow of the heatsink fan.

Beware cheap power supplies which can be noisy and/or inefficient.
There are boards which take DC, allowing you not to use a power supply. There are also cases which include fairly efficient fanless power supplies. The trouble is finding a board or case which could accomodate your cards. That might be impossible, leaving you with two choices: a pico or an unusually good conventional PSU (see SPCR reviews), both of which are difficult to obtain at moderate expense in some locales.

The most noisy part in your build could easily be your hard drive which will also burn some power needlessly. Consider not using one (surely you can put your music on some server/NAS if you have too much for your SSD).

tipo33
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:10 pm

Re: Silent PC for web and music

Post by tipo33 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 4:44 pm

Hfat: I will use a G530. The loudest thing in my environment is the heat/AC system, which comes on and off as it sees fit. My hearing is OK. I guess I just want to build a computer, and be sure that it would not disturb me. I currently don't have a home server. I have a F@H/gaming rig, which is not quiet, despite being watercooled, and spends half the time in parts, and a few Thinkpads. I want a quiet, reliable computer, that I can allways use, despite the various states of disassembly my other computers are in.

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