soberspine wrote:I am also interested which card is more silent, asus or sapphire. From what i read asus can't go lower than 1500 rpm.

It can go lower, but it will require a modded vga bios.
Gigabyte should be quieter though.

Wait for the Thermalright HR-02 to come out.

+1, my WD15EARS is dead silent.

This fan is not very well suited for heatsinks. NF-P12 if preferable.
Their website has all the details: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=nf_s ... son&lng=en

Both the Noctua fans and the Nexus are tested on a Megahalems here: http://www.overclockers.com/65-fans-tested-megahalems/

One 5850? No problem. Almost capable of powering two of those, depends on CPU.

I'd choose the AM3 platform - money saved on cpu+mobo is better spent on GPU.

Why bother with temps? 55c is perfectly fine.
A higher speed fan would shave off a few degrees, which is pretty much meaningless, but the noise increase isn't.
I'd leave the slipstream, it's a great fan.

Case fans - static undervolt with a on/off switch
CPU - single channel fan controller
GPU - passive

Lawrence, how do you manage your PSU fan with SpeedFan?

I have lots of 120/140mm Yates, no problem with those. Never had a bad one.

Both of them have the same efficiency, so at a given power draw from the outlet I don't see a reason for any difference in noise levels. The 620 would just have more headroom. You won't get past 400watt power consumption with either 4850/5850/5770. I'd get the M12II 520. Hope that helps. Sorry for m...

Concerning motherboards, there are two things to consider: - Are you going to overclock? - Are you willing to use multiple graphic cards? If answer to both is no - get whatever is available and fits your budget. :) Newer boards support USB3 and 6Gbit SATA, older don't. DDR2 vs. DDR3 is not a real is...

Haych wrote: GPU - HD 4850 (will do for now until HD 5850 prices come down)

I know the PSU seems a bit overkill, but I'm thinking it should still be able to cope when the GPU is upgraded at a later date.

FYI, 5850 has exactly the same power consumption under load as 4850.

That should help with the alot-of-low-rpm-fans question.
// The forum doesn't let me post links, check out the "Are 2 fans noisier than 1 blowing the same CFM?" thread in the fans section.

From my own experience - yes, they will be quiet; my rig has 6 undervolted fans and it is.