meglamaniac wrote:Your choices so far seem to be right down the line.
The only thing I'd hold off on is the Acoustipak - you may find you don't need it.
The Accoustipack was one of the first items I had ordered. I've already thought of plenty of uses for the stuff outside of my computer as I wait for other parts to come in... If it wasn't so expensive!
meglamaniac wrote:I would also avoid tampering with the PSU until you've tried it - I am one of the privilaged few in the UK to own the 400w version of that same model (had to import it from the USA to get the Rev A3) and it is VERY quiet. Unless you have super sensitive hearing or sit with the PSU exhaust next to your ear, I doubt you'll notice it.
As you've stated you don't intend to stress the system often and you're going for a Winchester, I would expect the PSU fan to idle the majority of the time as those Winchesters don't kick out much heat at all, especially if you enable AMD's Cool'n'Quiet which by recent accounts can reduce the CPU power draw at idle to around about 20W - tiny! With your XP-120 you should have no problems, and the CPU fan may even stop at times (see my motherboard recommendations).
My goal is to run it without a CPU fan. The only fans I hope to use are the one in the PSU and the exhaust fan, both undervolted or thermally controlled. And with the 3000B I think the airflow will be good enough to achieve it.
meglamaniac wrote:
Mainboard:
Asus have some very good products with PCI-express. I would suggest the Asus K8V if you want it now. If you're prepared to wait, the Asus K8N-E Premium looks like being an excellent board and stock is expected sometime in February - just don't try finding it on the Asus website as it isn't listed yet! I'm holding out for that board myself at the moment. Importantly, it is one of the few Socket 939 boards to have passive chipset cooling out of the box, so no need to strip off an annoying 60mm fan.
Both boards incorperate thermal regulation of the CPU fan (Asus call it Q-fan) in addition to Cool'n'Quiet. When running with both enabled, it is quite possible for the processor to become so cool that the board will stop the CPU fan entirely - especially with a decent cooler such as yours.
ASUS is taking so long with their premium boards. I imagine they are having a hard time keeping the northbridges cool. It might just be beneficial for me to invest in a northbridge cooler and a non-premium board; although I'd rather just wait it out. I mean, the technology can only get cheaper right?
meglamaniac wrote:
Memory:
Crucial Ballistix has consistantly come out on top during reviews on the AMD64 platform, most noteably in an extensive test on Anandtech including many other premium brands. It is also a good deal cheaper than other premium brands such as Corsair.
Corsair is a bit expensive but has those cool led lights. Ok, so they don't have any useful purpose other than the wow factor. Part of the reason I build computers and mod them myself is for the wow factor though. It's just nice when we can pull off something that people didn't know was possible (like a silent or near-silent pc)
meglamaniac wrote:
GPU:
Easy: GeForce 6600GT. Good performance in all up-to-the minute games, and excellent price/performance comparison. The Zalman ZM80D-HP passive cooler fits the PCI-express version with no issues, so you can get rid of the GPU fan too.
The 6600GT by Gigabyte was my first thought. Now I'm torn between it and a X800-XL also passively cooled stock. Video cards are my nemisis in this new machine. So many choices and such hot components.
meglamaniac wrote:
Soundcard:
Both motherboards have good onboard surround sound (as do most now). If you're really into your gaming, a Soundblaster Audigy 2 will give you full hardware effects support so might free you up a few extra FPS in games, but otherwise stick with the onboard.
Ended up getting the Audigy 2 ZS. Mixed together with the Z5500s it should make for an amazing DVD experience ... if my roomates don't kill me due to watching movies to loudly. (Just because I want my PC silent, doesn't mean I like my action flicks that way)
meglamaniac wrote:
Speakers:
I'm thinking of getting Altec-Lansing's
VS3151 set. I've not heard them in action, but they've got some decent reviews if you look with google.
Z5500, very impressive. Good clarity and a great price for the quality.
meglamaniac wrote:
Keyboard/Mouse:
No particular recommendations, but I would suggest a wireless optical set. There are plenty of manufacturers offering them, and you'll wonder why you ever put up with the cords in the first place once you've tried it.
Do wireless input devices suffer from lack of control or lag? I'm a website designer/producer and do a lot of graphical work (photoshop). I already suffer from an optical mouse at work that occasionally jumps around.
I was thinking of the MX700 duo. Tried playing with a set at BestBuy and thought it was pretty nice.
meglamaniac wrote:
Monitor:
This all depends on what you want to use the rig for.
Decent LCD panels are still very expensive, while CRT prices are falling all the time. It's up to you really.
I've got a 17" Viewsonic that will do until my computer is quiet enough for me to hear the monitor. At that point I'm not quite sure what I'll do. LCD's are getting to be fairly nice but for graphical work nothing quite beats a CRT. The refurbished units are getting to be very inexpensive even at larger 21"+ sizes.
Thank you for the input!!!
