New soldier in the "silent front"

Lightmaster · Post by **Lightmaster** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:41 am

Good'day everyone!My name is Alex, I'm 17 years old(soon to be 18 ) studying electronics and telecomunications at high-school.Recently however, I've made a passion out of music and started learning guitar/piano.Had to re-design my room in order to fit amplifiers/piano and such and now I'm forced to keep my computer in un-orthodox ways.
Another concern is the noise coming from it...it's too freggin loud for music purposes now.
I would like you guys to come up with a mid-range silent setup.I want a microATX case for a change, as my current tower is pretty big.While I'm at it, I'm going to need a new mATX motherboard and a decent video card(curently using a ATI1650PRO DDR2

), nothing fancy,just enough to run games fluently in 1280x1024.
So, let's recap.I'm going to need:
-new mATX case
-mATX board
-video card(pasive cooling)
-fans, coolers and whatnot
For a PSU I have a Seasonic S12-330W.Now I know It's decent but I want to overclock my old processor a bit(Intel E4300) to a comfy 3GHz and I want to know If it cand handle the new video card, OC'ed processor, fans, HDD's, etc.
Wow, a wall of text

.I tend to talk way too much.
Thank you very much for your help!

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:05 am

Unless you run a high end gaming rig, you probably aren't going to top 200w, so 330w should be plenty so long as there is enough amperage on the 12v line. Old power supplies had most of the amperage on the 5v line because that is what components used, now almost everything relies on the 12v line.

I doubt this was your intention, but reading your post seems like you are giving us a shopping list and want us to do all of the heavy lifting, it is generally more preferable to phrase things in the form of questions.

There are lists of recommended components of every type, most of which can be found on the right side of the main page.

mATX motherboards are specifically backwards compatible with ATX. A mATX board will fit in any ATX case, even if it might look a little awkward.

We could also be a lot more helpful if you could tell us where you live, if there is a microcenter or fry's near you, and your approximate price range.

How comfortable are you modifying or using parts in non-conventional ways? Some of the easier ways to quiet down a computer once you have decent parts in it is to suspend you hard drives using some sort or elastic or stretch magic. Also, using something like CrystalCPUID allows you to create your own "Cool & Quiet" profiles, so that your computer can be at 3ghz when you are gaming and then move down to like 1ghz when you are just using the internet so you are drawing less power from the wall and therefore have less heat to dissipate which in turn makes the computer quieter because the fans don't have to work as hard.

EDIT: Also, at that resolution, I would consider a mATX motherboard with integrated graphics. It will save you some space and money, your PCIe slot will still be open if you decide to get more monitors and they are generally a good bit cheaper than buying a motherboard and a discrete graphics card. I use 780G motherboard for two monitors at 1440x900 each and have no problems running games like WoW. The 780G is a Radeon HD 3200 GPU if that means anything to you.

Lightmaster · Post by **Lightmaster** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:22 am

Sorry for seeming too rude.I just wanted to put it in the most easy way possible.Sure, the integrated route sounds interesting aswell.
My budget is around 400Euro's top.And sadly I dont have those kind of shops here in Romania where I live

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:32 am

It's no problem, that is kind of what I figured when I read what you wrote again. Man, I wish I had that kind of money when I was in I can't help you with where to buy the parts specifically, but maybe someone who lives a little closer to you would be able to help. I'll just get prices off of newegg and pretend it is a $1 to 1E conversion to allow for a little breathing room for taxes and shipping and not being to find them as cheap as newegg or what all.

For the motherboard you could try something like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128363

Case you could go with the mATX version of the P180, the mini P180: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129041

For fans and coolers and what not, just look at the recommended list and see what tickles your fancy. The Xigmatek is pretty good and pretty cheap.

I am a scythe fanboy when it comes to fans. Well, rather, I really like the S-FDB fans.

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:32 am

Lightmaster wrote:So, let's recap.I'm going to need:
-new mATX case
-mATX board
-video card(pasive cooling)
-fans, coolers and whatnot

Hi. I also don't know where to buy computer parts in Romania, so I'm also going to use Newegg.com as a reference point. I also don't mind designing your system for you. It's no problem for me.

For a case, I really like the Antec's NKS3480. It's small, but has a pretty open layout, which opens lots of possibilities. Many have used this case before and have gotten very nice results.

I really don't know any specific motherboard models to recommend. However, I do know what to look for. For this situation, I think your chipset should either be Intel's G43/G45 or Nvidia's 9300/9400. Generally speaking the Nvidia chipsets are more expensive, and may not be worth the few extra features, especially if you use a discrete video card. Personally, I'd go with Intel's G43/45, strictly becasue of cost. As for a manufacturer, I've had good experiences with Gigabyte and Asus.

A passive video card you have two options. I'd recommend either an ATI 4670 or a Nvidia 9600GT. Performance between the two is similar, with an edge toward the 9600GT. However, the 9600GT's power consumption is noticibly higher than ATI's. At idle, the 4670 beats the 9600GT by ~20W, which is significant. On load, the 4670 still beats the 9600GT by ~10W. So it would be advantageous to get a 4670 because the lower power consumption will be easier to cool passively. However, a passive 4670 is hard to come by, even here in the US. So if you can't find a passive 4670, you could always get one with a fan and replace the stock heatsink with an Arctic Cooling S1 or S2. These large heatsinks were designed to be run with no fans and should be enough to cool either card.

As for cooling, all you need is a CPU heatsink and two 120mm fans. As for a heatsink, the SPCR reviewed Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is an excellent performer that is reasonably priced. As for fans, Scythe Slipstream fans seem to be popular at the moment. They are also very quiet. The 800rpm version will be very quiet right out of the box, and should be adequate for your setup.

And you haven't mentioned a hard drive yet. One thing I've learned is that as soon as you upgrade your fans and such, you'll learn that your PSU and hard drive are really loud.

Just something to keep in mind.

Hopefully this was helpful.

Lightmaster · Post by **Lightmaster** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:17 am

Hmm, I have a older WD 2500KS.Dont think it's silent at all.

EDIT:
I made a setup.

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:54 am

Lightmaster wrote:Hmm, I have a older WD 2500KS.Dont think it's silent at all.

EDIT:
I made a setup.
http://g.imagehost.org/t/0961/config.jpg

WD6400AAKS Fast & quiet.

New soldier in the "silent front"

New soldier in the "silent front"

Re: New soldier in the "silent front"