Almost silent high-end system

BMD · Post by **BMD** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:07 pm

After much searching through SPCR, I assembled my new college computer.

Specs:
Antec P180 (what else?)
ABIT AW8D
Pentium D 805 2.66 overclocked to 3.36
2GB OCZ Gold
X1900GT (HIS ICEQ3 cooler)
Coolermaster eXtreme power 600 watt PSU
Segate 7200.10 320GB Hard Drive

Cooling Mods:
Scythe Ninja running at 30%
2x Scythe 1600 rpm S-Flex 120mm Fans running at 8v
Replaced 100cfm PSU fan with the Tri-Cool at medium

System is only audible when I'm next to it.

I highly reccomend the ABIT AW8D motherboard for high-end silent pc builders. Passive northbridge heatpipe system (OTES) and
seven independent built in fan speed controllers that you can tweak to your heart's content with the included windows app. Unfortunatly 8v is the lowest they go, but the CPU's PWM goes down to 30%. Plus the on-the-board HEX display helped me figure out that my OCZ ram wasn't compatible without a bios flash.

The HIS ICEQ3 heatsink is pretty good. It hasn't ramped up much under heavy use, (doesnt reach peak speed until 90+ degrees celcius!) and is inaudible when not being used.

I know people might complain that I'm using a 600watt PSU, but i got it for $10, and after replacing the stock fan, it's very quiet now. Plus, with plans for more hard drives, and a second x1900, I need room to grow.

Crits?

BMD
(Pics on request)

JohnnyWakko · Post by **JohnnyWakko** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:24 pm

Sound good BMD. Can you link me some pics?

Did you leave the Antec 180 bottom case fan idle?

vitaminc · Post by **vitaminc** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:59 pm

P4D 805 for highend?

C2D E6300 only costs $100 more and runs a lot cooler and faster with lower clock speed. And I think I've seen E6300 OC to 3GHz on air.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:46 am

I'm using a 600watt PSU, but i got it for $10

Insanely cheap! The PSU in my current rig was a $10 special as well, but is inaudible from more than about 1ft (after fan swap); funny how people pay huge amounts of money for a silent PSU, when sometimes the cheapest give just as good a result?

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:16 am

jaganath wrote: funny how people pay huge amounts of money for a silent PSU, when sometimes the cheapest give just as good a result?

Problem with cheap stuff is that above 95% is BS, and you dont know before you've tried it.

Usually you have to go throug MANY ElCheapos, before you find one that work. And even then, when you buy the next one same-branded, they've changed the fan or something else, which makes it a noise-source instead. Of course, without any kind of notice on the package.

You can be lucky once in a while, but chances are great, that buying cheap will end up being much more expensive...

Buy cheap, and cry all the time. Buy expensive, and you only cry once.

BMD · Post by **BMD** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:42 am

I removed the middle fan for now, I'm thinking of putting the 100cfm fan from the power supply in there with a switch so i can turn it off when I'm not playing games, it didn't undervolt very well.

I ordered this stuff before all the new core 2 stuff came out.

I can tell it's a cheap power supply becauase the 12v line is usually running around 11.7v. When I was having problems with my ram (and didn't know it yet) i tried my old Fortron Source 300w PSU, and all the voltages were much closer to spec, even though I was at or past it's limit. That's the big difference between ElCheapo and quality.

Pics on the way.

BMD

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:41 am

Problem with cheap stuff is that above 95% is BS, and you dont know before you've tried it.

Very true, I went through loads of rubbish cheap power supplies before I found that one, and it's been discontinued. Whereas both of the Seasonics I have bought have been impeccable.

BMD · Post by **BMD** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:21 pm

....well that nice (not El Cheapo) digital camera I was going to take those pictures with is now only displaying violet lines horizontally across the display while taking pictures, but viewing existing ones still works. Has this happened to anyone before? Last I used it, it was still working, and then it sat on a shelf for about 2 weeks.

BMD

Chris Chan · Post by **Chris Chan** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:30 pm

sony camera? They have ccd probs, were recalled.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:21 am

The camera should have a warranty.. All my digital cameras have worked fine though. My Sony W1 didn't have any problems, but it's retired now anyway. And even if they didn't, and were out of warranty, i could say the expected lifetime is longer than the warranty period and get it repaired/replaced that way. Don't know about where you live, but the consumer rights are pretty good here.

pyogenes · Post by **pyogenes** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:58 pm

Chris Chan wrote:sony camera? They have ccd probs, were recalled.

Not just Sony cameras. Recall was for all cameras using specific Sony CCDs, which means pretty much every brand except Kodak and Fuji was affected.

Also, most manufacturers are repairing this past warranty (they just make Sony pay for it).

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:56 pm

For those of you wondering: The Coolermaster Xtreme 600 is really a Seventeam 500. No more, no less.

Still a great supply and system.

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:17 pm

Nice looking rig. And good cable management.