Hi all,
I've been lurking for awhile and finally gathered enough info to build my silent (well, mostly silent) PC. It's been up and running for the past few days, so I decided to post the system.

Basic parts:
- 3.2Ghz P4
- i875 Gigabyte MB
- 1gig OCZ memory
- Plextor CD-R/RW
- ATI 9500 (passive heatsink), soon to be an x800-based card

Parts picked for silent reasons:
- 120gig Samsung SATA (8MB cache)
- Toshiba DVD-R
- Antec p160 case (removed rear fan mesh)
- Tagan 480W PSU (wow this thing is quiet!)

Cooling:
- Zalman Reserator1
- Zalman CPU water block
- 2 Pabst 120mm case fans (planning on adding a RAID array, thus the 2nd fan)
- Fan Master fan controller & temp monitor
- Zalman passive Northbridge cooler

I can not tell that the machine is on from my seating position. In the very near future, I plan on adding one of the ATI x800 based cards and plan on cooling it with the Zalman VGA water block + passive RAM heatsinks. It should be noted that I'm OC'ing to 3.5Ghz and the system is very stable (so far). It remains to be seen if the Reserator can handle an overclocked x800 and P4 chip. A few notes about some newer products:

Antec p160 case: This case has decent airflow (huge holes in the front of the case) and is (IMO) quite stylish. The case is similar to the Sonata in terms of drive mounting (rubber grommeted HD trays, etc.). There are 2 5.25" drive trays that have aluminum covers (the drive pushes the spring loaded flap down). This is nice because it is just one more layer of material to block noise from the DVD or CD drive. An enterprising modder could probably affix some sound deadener to the inside surface for additional SPL reduction. The case also has 2 temperature monitors (displayed on the front panel). I have mine attached to the HDD and passive Northbridge cooler.

Zalman Reserator1 & water blocks:This thing is huge! Setup was very straightforward, even for a 1st time watercooler like myself. The pump was inaudible unless you put your ear on the Reserator tower. For the performance enthusiasts, you can replace the existing (low flow) pump with a higher performance option. Supposedly the unit can work w/o any pump but I keep the Zalman unit on (it's silent so better safe than sorry). My home has A/C, so I can't tell you how the unit performs in hot environments. As mentioned above, I plan on adding the VGA water block when I upgrade my current video card. I'm also playing around with the position of the Reserator in relation to the rear case fan. I plan on running a few tests to see if the (warm) exhast will aid or hinder cooling (vs. totally passive).

Tagan 480W PSU:I hope Silent PC Review takes a look at one of these power supplies... IMO it deserves a spot on the recommended list. So far, I have been very impressed with the performance and lack of noise from this unit. It is significantly more silent than my Enermax 350W unit w. fan control. I went with the huge power supply because I plan on adding a RAID array & high end video card. This PSU comes with every cable imaginable (including multiprocessor and server options).


That's about it for now... thanks to everyone on this board for the great info. Feel free to reply or PM me with any questions / comments.

ooh a reserator - yeh those things are huge! one of my friends just bought one for his mum's computer.

i'm pretty sure the reserator will be able to handle an x800 as well as a p4. keep in mind that the x800 actually has a smaller heatsink than the 9800XT, suggesting that it doesn't put out much more heat (if any more at all). one thing's for sure though: your system will still be as silent as it is now

Yep, I think I'm one of the lucky people who haven't experienced the clicking fans.

Maxamus, once I get the new fan controller installed I will post the temps...

More could be done if your willing to lay out the $$.

Try a fanless PSU from Silentmaxx.

Suspend that hard drive and maybe put it in a sandwich.

Why the 2 case fans? Most of the heat is transfered out of the case
via the reserator anyways.

it plugs into the wall with its own power cord

heh Maxamus, you might want to shorten your sig a bit, it takes up so much space!

Sorry for the delay... I was out of town for a bit. Here's the answers to the questions (system temps still comming!).

Leto, I was very interested in the Silentmaxx PSUs until I did a bit more digging. It seems that the power ratings are rather generous. For most applications, this would not be a problem. However, I am planning on installing a 1TB RAID system in this case (+ a power hungry video card). I want a super strong 12V rail to power all this... the Tagan is virtually silent and meets this need. This is also the reason for the 2nd 120mm case fan (to cool the drives). My current hard drive is mounted on rubber grommets (standard with the p160 case) and is very quiet. Both fans are mounted with rubber rings.

The reserator is powered via an external plug. HOWEVER, you do not need to run the pump... it will work via thermodynamic properties (hot water will rise when it enters the cooling tower). I run the pump for peace of mind (since I can't hear it at all). You can upgrade the pump to something more beefy if you require an increased flow rate.

Maxamus, enjoy the reserator. You will be shocked when you see the size of the cooler...

Show piccies .

you absolutely HAVE to run the pump for the zalman reserator to work. water will not flow through the cpu block if the pump isn't on. if you try it without the pump i hope you have thermal protection enabled on your motherboard

actually you don't. the heat will move along the tubes to the reserator naturally. whether or not the cpu will be cooked by then is a different story, but the idea is that it can act as a big, slow heatpipe.

Why on earth would you water cool any cpu that it would work like that with? I could see it working on a via C3 or something.....but you would have to be retarded to spend $280 to cool a C3

OK, here's some temps:

Ambient: 23C
Case, HDD, Northbridge & PS are 25C
CPU: 50C (after 2hrs. of gaming)
VGA: 35C (after 2hrs. of gaming)

The VGA card is an ATI x800 Pro (not XT).

HOWEVER, the pump in the reserator went from dead silent to loud (esp. when vibrating off the aluminum reservoir). I am currently investigating the problem with Zalman... hopefully this isn't a global issue with the product. The pump is an Eheim so one would think that the quality would be there...

maxamus,
It's a 3.0Ghz Northwood, but o/c'd to 3.4 (I backed off my original 3.5). I have an unlocked part, so it opens up some interesting possibilities...

Update: It turns out that my Zalman (Eheim) pump wasn't working very well. I RMA'd it after it started making noise. After replacement, my temps are _way_ lower. The hottest temp I see is the CPU at 35C (after 2 hrs. of Doom3). The rest of the temps are below 30C (ambient temp 23C).

... then I guess I must be another. My Tagan 480W has been fine