What if you had almost unlimitted funds to build a quiet PC but wanted power?
Right now I'm looking to build, and while I don't have money to burn - I haven't built a PC in several years, so I am splurging.
I want to put a very hign end video card in - and RAID 5 with a lot of storage space. (three high capacity drives)
What makes the most sense here? Should I consider watercooling? I was planning on using a Ninja in a P180... But for video card, I don't think I can get away without a fan - if I'm planning on getting a 7800 GTX.
Would it make sense to buy 3 Silentmaxx HD "enclosures" to mount in the P180 5 1/4 drive bays?
Yes I would actually consider a Zalman TNN 500AF if it had more capacity to mount hard drives. (Owch it is pricey but I'd use it for many years)
Dream machine?
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KVM?
Buy a KVM with a long cord (or even better bluetooth) and put the monster in the closet?
Otherwise... I would definately go with the P180. Suspend the hard drives, and possibly look at running SLI version of the new 6800GS which puts out comparitvely little heat and still beats the 7800GT. They should be able to be passively cooled w/ a good 120mm fan nearby.
Look for Seagate or Samasung drives. That being said, when you are similtaneously operating 3+ drives they will be noisy -- and require some cooling of their own.
All the quite enclosures are only really good for 5400 or slower drives, so that option is out. You might want to look at available internal raid enclosures which might provide a little more insulation, and help with cooling. If you want to go SCSI or Firewire, you might look for an external raid array and put it in a closet or something. As long as you have a RAID card on your computer, your in good shape and can pick up the enclosures fairly cheap.
A final option is to have a smaller system HD wise and have a server in another space. Use iSCSI drives, and it should be as fast as local drives if you have a PCI-X or PCI-e eithernet 1000Gb card. If speed isn't such a major issue, get the better ethernet cards, but go to a 1+0 or SATA software Raid to save money -- giving you a big (and slow) datastore with a faster local "cache".
Finally, you could just try it and see how it works -- if you get good drives and suspend them, it may not be too bad. Regardless, I would seriously think of replacing the factory heat sink on the graphics card.
Otherwise... I would definately go with the P180. Suspend the hard drives, and possibly look at running SLI version of the new 6800GS which puts out comparitvely little heat and still beats the 7800GT. They should be able to be passively cooled w/ a good 120mm fan nearby.
Look for Seagate or Samasung drives. That being said, when you are similtaneously operating 3+ drives they will be noisy -- and require some cooling of their own.
All the quite enclosures are only really good for 5400 or slower drives, so that option is out. You might want to look at available internal raid enclosures which might provide a little more insulation, and help with cooling. If you want to go SCSI or Firewire, you might look for an external raid array and put it in a closet or something. As long as you have a RAID card on your computer, your in good shape and can pick up the enclosures fairly cheap.
A final option is to have a smaller system HD wise and have a server in another space. Use iSCSI drives, and it should be as fast as local drives if you have a PCI-X or PCI-e eithernet 1000Gb card. If speed isn't such a major issue, get the better ethernet cards, but go to a 1+0 or SATA software Raid to save money -- giving you a big (and slow) datastore with a faster local "cache".
Finally, you could just try it and see how it works -- if you get good drives and suspend them, it may not be too bad. Regardless, I would seriously think of replacing the factory heat sink on the graphics card.
Hey sgent.
I WISH I had good closet space where I live. Unfortunately the nearest storage location where I could reasonably run cables... Whether firewire or KVM... has an eastern exposure... And temperatures in the summer can reach into the mid 90's fairly regularly. It isn't air conditioned like my main living space.
Basement isn't an option either.
So I'm torn.
The 3rd party RAID vendors (separate chasis) don't seem to be selling their product on silence. So while I would consider buying one for the right feature / price ratio - since there is no real data on silence - and no easy separate storage space.... Internal drive mounting seems unavoidable
(I don't want to take the performance hit of going gigabit ethernet - which would get me greater distance away and I could conveniently mount a separate raid array)
It's a shame - I need to buy this year... But next year, we'll see AMD chips in 65nm and GPU chips in what, 90nm? That should have a substantial silence benefit.
I WISH I had good closet space where I live. Unfortunately the nearest storage location where I could reasonably run cables... Whether firewire or KVM... has an eastern exposure... And temperatures in the summer can reach into the mid 90's fairly regularly. It isn't air conditioned like my main living space.
Basement isn't an option either.
So I'm torn.
The 3rd party RAID vendors (separate chasis) don't seem to be selling their product on silence. So while I would consider buying one for the right feature / price ratio - since there is no real data on silence - and no easy separate storage space.... Internal drive mounting seems unavoidable
(I don't want to take the performance hit of going gigabit ethernet - which would get me greater distance away and I could conveniently mount a separate raid array)
It's a shame - I need to buy this year... But next year, we'll see AMD chips in 65nm and GPU chips in what, 90nm? That should have a substantial silence benefit.
You can get a very quiet machine with a P180 and lots of passive parts plus a few Nexus fans. Getting silent components is only good up to the point that you get under the noise level in the room. Then you're just wasting money.
The real hard parts to quiet down are hard drives and graphics cards (especially if you're looking for a high end one). Consider suspending notebook drives and getting a passive graphics card solution. The ASUS Silencer N6800GT with a Nexus fan pointed right at it might work. I'm not sure if they're out yet. You could just get a 6800GT and put a Zalman VF700Cu on it. At 5V and inside a P180, I doubt you can hear its fan. The 7800 series might be a little too hard to cool.
The real hard parts to quiet down are hard drives and graphics cards (especially if you're looking for a high end one). Consider suspending notebook drives and getting a passive graphics card solution. The ASUS Silencer N6800GT with a Nexus fan pointed right at it might work. I'm not sure if they're out yet. You could just get a 6800GT and put a Zalman VF700Cu on it. At 5V and inside a P180, I doubt you can hear its fan. The 7800 series might be a little too hard to cool.
I would recommend the P180...based on the great comments I keep reading on this site. I would have got one if not for the price...oh well.
In regards to the graphics card, I would recommend that you check out the cooling solutions from Arctic Cooling. They make a Silencer model that is compatible with the 7800 series of cards from Nvidia. Although probably not as quiet as the Zalman...it allows the hot air to be exhausted out the back of the case instead of recirculating inside the case raising the ambient.
In regards to sgent's comment about the 6800GS...its is now way near the performance of the 7800. It is a stipped down 6800GT to compete in the $250 price range and I believe is just a bit slower than the 6800GT and the X-800XL in terms of FPS.
~Best of luck to you
In regards to the graphics card, I would recommend that you check out the cooling solutions from Arctic Cooling. They make a Silencer model that is compatible with the 7800 series of cards from Nvidia. Although probably not as quiet as the Zalman...it allows the hot air to be exhausted out the back of the case instead of recirculating inside the case raising the ambient.
In regards to sgent's comment about the 6800GS...its is now way near the performance of the 7800. It is a stipped down 6800GT to compete in the $250 price range and I believe is just a bit slower than the 6800GT and the X-800XL in terms of FPS.
~Best of luck to you
Gigabyte has an upcoming 7800GT with what looks like an all aluminum VF700. Hopefully its the same fan with just a Gigabyte sticker on it. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2597&p=3 . It looks promising, but I'm surprised they don't have any heatsinks on the RAM.Clarification
I just wanted to clarify -- the reviews I've seen of the 6800GS (anadtech) have the GS performing about the same as the 6800GT. More importantly, for the purposes of silent PC's -- it uses a new chip with a smaller die size and less wattage output.
SLI GS's (which is what I suggested) solidly trounced both the 7800GT and GTX in all the reviews I've seen, and should be easier to cool.
SLI GS's (which is what I suggested) solidly trounced both the 7800GT and GTX in all the reviews I've seen, and should be easier to cool.