Hi
I'm a newbie building system for programming, web design, video encoding, and gaming. Aiming for a quiet (not necessarily silent) system.
Antec P150 ($160)
or
Sonata II ($100)
AMD X2 3800+ with Arctic silencer64ultraTC
link to silencer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835186123
abit an8 ultra nforce4 ($110)
or
ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 uli ($70)
2gb (2x1gb) G.skill extreme series DDR400 (pc3200)cas2
Western Digital 320gb SATA 7200 ($135)
or
Seagate Barracude 250gb SATA ($123)
EVGA 6800GS + Zalman with VF700 (all copper version)
Notes
1) I like the look of the P150 but how is the noise on that? The Sonata is advertised as the quiet case but review here is mixed and I dislike the front of the sonata.
2) Is the artic enough for the X2 3800? I do NOT plan on OCing
3) both mobos above use passive cooling. I'm debating whether the abit performs better with the X2 to justify the extra cost.
4) I think the Barracuda is better noise-wise, but the price per gig is better on the WD. How is the noise on the WD?
5) I *think* the vf700 works with the new 6800GS
thanks for your input
Please critique/advise my (newbie) AMD X2 3800+ system
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
1. both are quiet cases. one is white, one is black. one has a door cover, one doesnt. one has build in drive suspension, the other doesnt. but otherwise they are very similar, and both would be good quiet cases. i personally like the look of the sonata alot more, but thats just me.
2. i dont know if its enough or not, but i wouldnt personally recommend it. if i were you i'd look at either a thermalright xp-90/120 or the zalman 7000-alcu. you can pick your own quiet fan for the thermalrights, whereas the zalman you would need to do a mod job to swap the fan. both are very good coolers, and would work well for you.
3. motherboard performance differences are minimal. you shouldnt even consider motherboards based on their performance IMO. make sure it has the components you want, make sure the layout will work for you and the case and components you use with it. make sure its a stable board with a good track record. having a stock passive northbridge cooler is nice but it shouldnt be a deal breaker. you can always easily swap a NB cooler for a large passive heatsink. i personally prefer the nvidia chipsets. i will never own a via chipset mobo ever again.
4. you can put either one into a Smartdrive 2002c and they will be basically inaudible, plus run cooler than they would mounted normally. it really just depends on how important noise is to you. read the reviews on this site, and the recommended list. they do a good job of describing the noise signitures and how bad the drives are.
5. as far as i know that cooler works with all 6800's. zalmans website doesnt list anything in that line that doesnt work with that cooler.
2. i dont know if its enough or not, but i wouldnt personally recommend it. if i were you i'd look at either a thermalright xp-90/120 or the zalman 7000-alcu. you can pick your own quiet fan for the thermalrights, whereas the zalman you would need to do a mod job to swap the fan. both are very good coolers, and would work well for you.
3. motherboard performance differences are minimal. you shouldnt even consider motherboards based on their performance IMO. make sure it has the components you want, make sure the layout will work for you and the case and components you use with it. make sure its a stable board with a good track record. having a stock passive northbridge cooler is nice but it shouldnt be a deal breaker. you can always easily swap a NB cooler for a large passive heatsink. i personally prefer the nvidia chipsets. i will never own a via chipset mobo ever again.
4. you can put either one into a Smartdrive 2002c and they will be basically inaudible, plus run cooler than they would mounted normally. it really just depends on how important noise is to you. read the reviews on this site, and the recommended list. they do a good job of describing the noise signitures and how bad the drives are.
5. as far as i know that cooler works with all 6800's. zalmans website doesnt list anything in that line that doesnt work with that cooler.
Well your choice of cpu is good. I was all set on buying the intel equivalent this weekend until I actually checked on amd, and dang, the amd uses half the power, and even beats the intel extrem edition at games. Intel really dropped the ball on that one and lost a long time costumer.
Most people seem to be choosing the zalman 7700 or the slightly smaller 7000 cpu coolers. They're pretty big/heavy though.
I have the 250gb version of the western digital. It's fairly quiet. I think it's even on the recommended list, but probably the seagate is too. No experience with that one.
Most people seem to be choosing the zalman 7700 or the slightly smaller 7000 cpu coolers. They're pretty big/heavy though.
I have the 250gb version of the western digital. It's fairly quiet. I think it's even on the recommended list, but probably the seagate is too. No experience with that one.
I think that the arctic silencer 64 Ultra TC might not be powerful enough for the 3800, well it's probably be powerful enough, but not comfortable, have a look at the review SPCR review. I think it's a good cheap silent cooler, but wouldn't use it on more than a AMD64 3200. The Zalman 7000 AlCu is a bit better if you want to stay within the recommended weight, otherwise the classics: 7700AlCu, XP-120, Ninja.
As far as cases go, the sonata's 90° drive bay probably make it have less good airflow, and the P150's rubber-band suspension is easier than doing it yourself, but the case is going to be in your home.
For the mobo's, the ASRock is a cool motherboard, what's more is you can save an extra buck by getting an AGP card
As far as cases go, the sonata's 90° drive bay probably make it have less good airflow, and the P150's rubber-band suspension is easier than doing it yourself, but the case is going to be in your home.
For the mobo's, the ASRock is a cool motherboard, what's more is you can save an extra buck by getting an AGP card
Suggestions
Just a few suggestions:
- For either chassis, go for the Scythe Ninja for the CPU heatsink. I'm running it passively right now in a Sonata
- To be honest, I'd ditch the PSU on either case for a Seasonic S12-380
- The ASRock 939DUAL is a nice board (I've got one in a Sonata)
- Don't bother with AGP if you are building from scratch - perf is much better on PCIe
- There are some bundle sales right now that have an eVGA nForce4 SLI board + 7800GT for about $360 (TigerDirect and Monarch for example) - could be a good deal
-Derek
- For either chassis, go for the Scythe Ninja for the CPU heatsink. I'm running it passively right now in a Sonata
- To be honest, I'd ditch the PSU on either case for a Seasonic S12-380
- The ASRock 939DUAL is a nice board (I've got one in a Sonata)
- Don't bother with AGP if you are building from scratch - perf is much better on PCIe
- There are some bundle sales right now that have an eVGA nForce4 SLI board + 7800GT for about $360 (TigerDirect and Monarch for example) - could be a good deal
-Derek
On another thread,someone reports hia X2 4600 runs passive with a Ninja at stock speeds. He reports temps of 36C,with load peaks at 43C. That's a real good safety margin. What case fans,PSU he has are not mentioned.
Obviously a Ninja will match up well with a PSU that has a big bottom fan,or with a case that puts an exhaust or intake fan nearby. Silentium cases would have their intakes near,having opposite airflow from the usual.
Some Antecs flip everthing,mounting the PSU at the bottom (upside down?) and having the mobo also upside down,all of wich is fine.
While the Ninja is massive,there are a lot of people who have used it without troubles. It is not cheap...but without a fan,the difference between it and anything cheaper but good is just a few $. You CAN add fans,stick a big 120 at 3000 RPM on a Ninja and you can cool a radical Pentium overclock.
Obviously a Ninja will match up well with a PSU that has a big bottom fan,or with a case that puts an exhaust or intake fan nearby. Silentium cases would have their intakes near,having opposite airflow from the usual.
Some Antecs flip everthing,mounting the PSU at the bottom (upside down?) and having the mobo also upside down,all of wich is fine.
While the Ninja is massive,there are a lot of people who have used it without troubles. It is not cheap...but without a fan,the difference between it and anything cheaper but good is just a few $. You CAN add fans,stick a big 120 at 3000 RPM on a Ninja and you can cool a radical Pentium overclock.
There have been a lot of issues regarding the power supply that comes with the P150, Neo HE 430. If you buy a P150 and have a problem, Antec will replace it, but is it worth the headache? I really wanted a P150 until the power supply issue surfaced.
You might want to go through the forums and see what others are using.
How important is the size of the case to you? I wanted something small and and just built using an SLK2650-BQE. It is also difficult to do a home made drive suspension in this case. But, small cases are hard to work in. Most around here go with the larger Antec SLK cases as in 3000, 3700 and 3800 or the even larger P180.
The Ninja heatsink mentioned above can be run passive, but it requires a power supply with a 120mm fan on the bottom (or a top vent like the P180). Also the motherboard must position the CPU cose enough to both the power supply and case exhaust fan. It's elegant, but it will not work with the Neo HE.
Take a look at endpcnoise.com and see how they build their systems. I got some ideas from them.
BTW, the X2 3800 will run at 2.4 gigs at stock voltage.
You might want to go through the forums and see what others are using.
How important is the size of the case to you? I wanted something small and and just built using an SLK2650-BQE. It is also difficult to do a home made drive suspension in this case. But, small cases are hard to work in. Most around here go with the larger Antec SLK cases as in 3000, 3700 and 3800 or the even larger P180.
The Ninja heatsink mentioned above can be run passive, but it requires a power supply with a 120mm fan on the bottom (or a top vent like the P180). Also the motherboard must position the CPU cose enough to both the power supply and case exhaust fan. It's elegant, but it will not work with the Neo HE.
Take a look at endpcnoise.com and see how they build their systems. I got some ideas from them.
BTW, the X2 3800 will run at 2.4 gigs at stock voltage.