I know it has been said before, but SPCR is a great resource of knowledge on building your own quiet computer. Anyways, I’d like to just throw in my two cents from my experience in building a new computer over the holidays. As a first time builder that went through these forums pretty thoroughly (IMHO) there are some things that I didn’t know that might’ve helped. Hopefully, this will help some people who browse through these forums as a first time builder. Here’s the specs on my new computer:
AMD Athlon64 3200+
ASUS K8V-Deluxe Motherboard
1GB (2x512MB) Mushkin PC3200 DDR400 RAM
Gigabyte nVidia6800 (Non-Ultra) AGP
Seagate 80GB SATA HDD
Western Digital 160GB HDD (from my old computer)
ASUS 16X DVD E616P2
HP 10X CD-RW (from my old computer)
Antec SLK 3000B
Fortron Blue Storm 350W THN-R PSU
Zalman 7000B-AlCu
TriCool 120mm fan (came with the case)
Papst 4412FGL 120mm fan
Cost: ~$1125 w/ shipping and tax
Temperatures:
Case: 26ºC (ASUS Probe Software)
CPU: Idle: 42ºC (ASUS Probe Software), 47.5ºC (BIOS)
Load: 57ºC (ASUS Probe Software)
Note: From, what I’ve read discrepancy between the software and BIOS comes from the fact that the two sensors are in different places. ASUS’s temp probe is in/under the board in the CPU area and the BIOS reads from a sensor in the processor die itself. Also, these temperatures are with both side vents of the SLK3000B blocked. I need to get around to getting some wire mesh to keep dust bunnies out before I open them up.
Gripes, Grievances, and Comments:
Much like the sample that SPCR received, my SLK3000B did not have a manual, which caused a few problems for me. Although most of it was pretty simple to figure out, with no experience with an Antec case, I wasn’t sure of how some things worked. I looked at the CD-ROM mounting brackets and tried to slide them in from inside the case (like my old Dell and IBM), but it wouldn’t fit. It took me a little while and cost me a few scratches inside the case to figure out that I should pop the front bezel and slide the drives in from the front. However, this method is much easier than with my old computers. I was also only able to pop open the front bezel because I remembered about the small tabs mentioned in SPCR’s review of the 3700BQE
. The case seems quite sturdy and good, although the finish on the case isn’t as nice as the ones on the BQE. An included manual or even a downloadable online one would be a big help for new system builders.Unfortunately, I didn’t really look into Seagate’s SATA HDD. There’s some mention in the forums about how they’re nosier than their IDE counterparts, but I must’ve missed them. I just thought Seagates were generally quiet and had a nice warranty. The SATA drive has less seek noise than my WD HDD, but intense read write operations creates some rumble.
I also ran into some compatibility issues between the Zalman 7000B-AlCu and the ASUS board. I looked at the board before buying it and it definitely had enough clearance. However, ASUS attached a metal back plate to reinforce the area around the CPU for heavy heatsinks. The standard AMD retention bracket is attached to the ASUS back plate via screws, and the plate is glued to the bottom of the motherboard. I thought about removing it, but didn’t want to damage the board. Fortunately, the holes for the screws on the ASUS line up with the holes on the Zalman backplate since the motherboard is essentially like any other AMD board. The ASUS backplate seems sturdier than the one supplied by Zalman, so I left the standard retention bracket in and used the longer screws from the Zalman to screw all the way through to the ASUS backplate.
As expected, the Tri-Cool fan is the noisiest fan in the system. Even at medium setting it is louder than the Papst at full power. I had originally intended to put it up front at the lowest setting, but the first few times I powered up the system, the fan only started after I have it a tap in the right direction. I left it in the back where I could easily tap it if it doesn’t start on boot. I called mwave, where I got the case, but they have yet to send me a replacement fan like they promised (it’s been 2+ weeks). It seems to start fine now, so I might move it eventually.
Another note for people who are buying a similar system, Windows XP SP2 has trouble if you try to install it directly to a SATA Drive. After a little searching on the internet, I found that you need to copy the drivers off the ASUS CD (done on another computer) to a floppy and tell Windows that you have an RAID/SCSI driver to include during installation.
The Fortron blue storm 350W works fine and my only worry is the 12V line, which is giving me 11.612V according to ASUS Probe and the BIOS. Everything else is well within tolerances. The Gigabyte graphics card is great. I bought it because it has just a heatsink, one less fan to worry about. The temperatures from Gigabyte’s GPU-Tuner reads 50ºC at idle, and 59ºC after some hard gaming.
Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the system. It’s not silent, but it is quiet. Much quieter than the air conditioning in my dorm room which I really have no control over. The temperatures will probably drop ~5ºC when I open up the side vents. I’ll probably do that and put some wire mesh over them and the front bottom intake. Swapping the fans and setting the Tri-cool fan to low should quiet it some more. Now, time to go drool over the P180 some more
.
!!!!
.