I'm planning on upgrading to the latest and greatest in the near future. After two years of sitting near the 'old' latest and greatest with no less than nine fans I'm ready to go much much quieter. So without further ado...
Motherboard
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2
Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Video Card
XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
One for now, probably another for SLI a month or two down the road if needed.
Hard Drives
Two -Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply
Optical Drive
PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
Case
LIAN LI PC-777B Black
The case I'll actually be ordering from Performance-PCs.com with windows rather than the mesh side panels to help keep the airflow more directional across the motherboard. Not to mention try to keep the majority of the air coming into the case going through a filtered fan. I've had quite enough of dust buildup in my current system.
I'm interested in recommendations on a quality passive heatsink to use with the AM2 socket if such a thing exists. Are there other options available besides the Scythe Ninja and the Thermalright Ultra-120?
Does anyone have any experience with the...
- XFX card linked above with it's heatpipe cooling solution? Good or bad?
- Seagate drives linked above and their idle/seek noise levels? I know my current 7200.7 80GB 1st gen. SATA Barracuda is loud during seek.
- Plextor slot load DVD Burner and it's noise levels when in use?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts. This looks like a great community for getting information on quieter PCs.
New System Build
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Why are you are getting an AMD 4600+ based system when an Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 is similarly priced? The E6400 beats the 4600+ in almost every benchmark/application test and uses less power.
http://tomshardware.co.uk/cpu/charts.html
Why are you getting a "DX9" XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card and thinking of adding another very soon when you can obviously afford a single 8800GTS or 8800GTX, have the same or better level of performance as 2 x 7950GT's in sli AND have "DX10" compatibility?
Samsung Spinpoint hard drives will be quieter (I have to strain to hear them and so for me are as good as silent), faster and cheaper than Seagate Barracuda 7200.10's. They are reviewed on this site.
http://tomshardware.co.uk/cpu/charts.html
Why are you getting a "DX9" XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card and thinking of adding another very soon when you can obviously afford a single 8800GTS or 8800GTX, have the same or better level of performance as 2 x 7950GT's in sli AND have "DX10" compatibility?
Samsung Spinpoint hard drives will be quieter (I have to strain to hear them and so for me are as good as silent), faster and cheaper than Seagate Barracuda 7200.10's. They are reviewed on this site.
Re: New System Build
As the others stated, why not just get a C2D? More bang for your buck. If you were trying to get best efficiency whlie idling then AMD is a better choice, but it looks like you're going for high end performance.
If you are going AMD for better SLI support I'd say forget about SLI. PITA to get working 100% of the time and price rarely justifies the performance gain (especially since you need to had the exact same card for SLI meaning it's a bad idea to wait to purchase the second card in case there's revisions made). You're better off buying a 8800 card now if you think you'll need the boost in performance.
Those Seagate 7200.10 hard drives are obnoxioiusly loud. I probably sound like a broken record saying this all the time but they emit an annoying high pitch whine that enclosures + suspension won't get rid of.
Plextor DVD drive? Waste of money. That's coming from a guy that used to only buy Pletox SCSI drives. Back when blank CD's cost $5 and the slightest vibration would ruin a burn, it made sense to get the best possible drive (not to mention the 20 minutes lost burning the CD at 4x...). This day and age, the "cheap" burners are reliable and fast, and good media is cheap so there's no real benefit - unless you just want to say you own an overpriced Plextor drive
Sorry I can't comment on noise levels of DVD burners - I don't worry about it too much since I rarely use optical drives (and when I do I almost always have headphones on since I'm gaming or listening to music)
If you are going AMD for better SLI support I'd say forget about SLI. PITA to get working 100% of the time and price rarely justifies the performance gain (especially since you need to had the exact same card for SLI meaning it's a bad idea to wait to purchase the second card in case there's revisions made). You're better off buying a 8800 card now if you think you'll need the boost in performance.
Those Seagate 7200.10 hard drives are obnoxioiusly loud. I probably sound like a broken record saying this all the time but they emit an annoying high pitch whine that enclosures + suspension won't get rid of.
Plextor DVD drive? Waste of money. That's coming from a guy that used to only buy Pletox SCSI drives. Back when blank CD's cost $5 and the slightest vibration would ruin a burn, it made sense to get the best possible drive (not to mention the 20 minutes lost burning the CD at 4x...). This day and age, the "cheap" burners are reliable and fast, and good media is cheap so there's no real benefit - unless you just want to say you own an overpriced Plextor drive
Sorry I can't comment on noise levels of DVD burners - I don't worry about it too much since I rarely use optical drives (and when I do I almost always have headphones on since I'm gaming or listening to music)AMD is my preference for processors simply because I've had zero issues from my Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+. I'm aware the Intel Core 2 Duo is the current hot item for high end systems, but I am looking more toward the future with 65nm AM2 chips which may be out before I am ready to purchase the processor anyways.
I was under the impression DirectX 10 was going to be a Vista only feature? Is there documentation elsewhere to say otherwise at this point? I've never been one to play guinea pig while Microsoft gets there operating systems to a stable state and have no plans to upgrade to Vista for at least a year if not longer. The choice of the 7950GT listed was because it is passively cooled and under $300. If something similar exists in a GeForce 8 series I'd love to hear about it. SLI was merely an afterthought, but if it's as tedious to setup and use as some say I may forget it all together.
The Seagate Barracuda drives are another holdover on reliability for me. No issues other than seek noise with my 7200.7 80GB SATA drive, whereas my Dell laptop seemed to eat a Hitachi drive every couple months for awhile a few years back. Maybe sample quality is more of an issue with drives that have moving parts since I've read both loud and quiet reviews of the 7200.10's.
The choice of the DVD burner is merely aesthetic in that I want a slot load drive. The fact that it has an 8MB cache is a bonus for me. I too rarely use an optical drive so the drive noise isn't much of a concern, but I was curious if anyone else here has used one in the past and knows of it's audio characteristics. Pyogenes, you are right though, my current cheapo NEC DVD burner is considerable quieter than the Plextor CD burner mounted right above it.
Regardless of what it looks like I am trying to keep this build at or under the $1500 mark over the course of three to five months. Starting by purchasing those items that won't likely technologically improve by leaps and bounds in that amount of time, ie. case, PSU, optical drive. Then getting the components that update more often (and are generally more expensive) later on.
Another question though, does anyone have experience with the 120mm fans that are standard with Lian Li cases now? My old Lian Li case came with 80mm fans that are still running quieter than the video card and processor fans two years later. I'm hoping the 120mm fans have similar reliability.
I was under the impression DirectX 10 was going to be a Vista only feature? Is there documentation elsewhere to say otherwise at this point? I've never been one to play guinea pig while Microsoft gets there operating systems to a stable state and have no plans to upgrade to Vista for at least a year if not longer. The choice of the 7950GT listed was because it is passively cooled and under $300. If something similar exists in a GeForce 8 series I'd love to hear about it. SLI was merely an afterthought, but if it's as tedious to setup and use as some say I may forget it all together.
The Seagate Barracuda drives are another holdover on reliability for me. No issues other than seek noise with my 7200.7 80GB SATA drive, whereas my Dell laptop seemed to eat a Hitachi drive every couple months for awhile a few years back. Maybe sample quality is more of an issue with drives that have moving parts since I've read both loud and quiet reviews of the 7200.10's.
The choice of the DVD burner is merely aesthetic in that I want a slot load drive. The fact that it has an 8MB cache is a bonus for me. I too rarely use an optical drive so the drive noise isn't much of a concern, but I was curious if anyone else here has used one in the past and knows of it's audio characteristics. Pyogenes, you are right though, my current cheapo NEC DVD burner is considerable quieter than the Plextor CD burner mounted right above it.
Regardless of what it looks like I am trying to keep this build at or under the $1500 mark over the course of three to five months. Starting by purchasing those items that won't likely technologically improve by leaps and bounds in that amount of time, ie. case, PSU, optical drive. Then getting the components that update more often (and are generally more expensive) later on.
Another question though, does anyone have experience with the 120mm fans that are standard with Lian Li cases now? My old Lian Li case came with 80mm fans that are still running quieter than the video card and processor fans two years later. I'm hoping the 120mm fans have similar reliability.
I'm building a system based on upgrade ability and I came to SPCR with questions on noise levels of components. Whether it takes one month or five months to round up all the parts doesn't make a difference to me, I'll likely buy the same parts as they fit my needs. I don't go for bleeding edge technology, it's expensive and blood shorts components. I never asked for advice on which processors to buy or anything like that, though the advice on SLI was helpful and I've since done some further studying on it that says the same things.Howard wrote:If you're going to build when K8L comes out, why not ask then? Any advice given now will most likely be sorely outdated by the time you can actually use it.
I do appreciate the constructive comments that have to do with the questions I actually asked, please keep them coming.
For what its worth (I sense you are one of those people who don't prioritise normal decision making criteria like performance vs cost) here are some articles in which they test the forthcoming AMD 65nm AM2 chips.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... =2893&p=10
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... i=2889&p=8
They basically conclude that AMD need a completely new chip architecture in order to compete with INTEL C2D. They actually perform slightly worse than their 90nm counterparts.
Unless you are an AMD stockholder, and / or on a serious budget, in my opinion, based on a performance vs cost criteria, there is NO decent reason on earth to go down the AMD route now or in the near (upto 12 months) future.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... =2893&p=10
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... i=2889&p=8
They basically conclude that AMD need a completely new chip architecture in order to compete with INTEL C2D. They actually perform slightly worse than their 90nm counterparts.
Unless you are an AMD stockholder, and / or on a serious budget, in my opinion, based on a performance vs cost criteria, there is NO decent reason on earth to go down the AMD route now or in the near (upto 12 months) future.
Many reviewers only consider loudness as an afterthought and have a rather high threshold for what they consider quiet. While some people might consider the level of noise acceptable, the general concensus is that the newer Seagate drives are nowhere near as quiet as their older ones. So don't base your decision by their track record with previous drives.Erazor wrote: The Seagate Barracuda drives are another holdover on reliability for me. No issues other than seek noise with my 7200.7 80GB SATA drive, whereas my Dell laptop seemed to eat a Hitachi drive every couple months for awhile a few years back. Maybe sample quality is more of an issue with drives that have moving parts since I've read both loud and quiet reviews of the 7200.10's.
Such a PITA that only Plextor makes full size slow loading DVD drives. I'd prefer a slot loader too, but I don't want to part with the extra $100.The choice of the DVD burner is merely aesthetic in that I want a slot load drive.
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cyberspyder
- Posts: 259
- Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:58 pm
- Location: Markham, Canada
Here's my recommendation:
-Antec SOLO ($89.99)
-Corsair HX620W PSU ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard ($209.99)
-Samsung SATA DVD DL burner ($39.99)
-Thermalright Ultra 120 ($54.95)
-2X Samsung T-series HD501LJ 500GB hard drives (2X $149.99)
-Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 2GB ram ($269.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Intel C2D E6300 ($184.00)
-eVGA 8800GTS videocard ($419.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty edition soundcard ($115.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Lian Li PC-343B 3 X 5.25" Fan Module (personal preference, I like more airflow through the case. Comes with a fairly quiet ADDA fan) ($24.95)
-2X Yate Loon 120mm Low Speed Fan (find this of a better value than the Nexus 120mm's because it's cheaper, and can be just as quiet with some soft mounts) (2X $8.95)
-2X Scythe "KAZE-JYU" 100mm Ultra Silent 100mm Fan (fits in 92mm location) (2X $8.95)
-3X Rubber Soft Mounts (for the three fans) (3X $1.49)
TOTAL: $1908.04
I believe that this system, not only will it be cheaper than your AMD rig and just as reliable, it'll whoop it's butt. Regarding the ram, the Corsair Dominator OCs better (should you ever want to do that) and is cheaper right now, so I suggest you get that instead. Also, the videocard is DX10 compliant, and like you said, it won't be of much use until Vista and DX10 games come out, but it's better to be prepared for it.
Brendan
-Antec SOLO ($89.99)
-Corsair HX620W PSU ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard ($209.99)
-Samsung SATA DVD DL burner ($39.99)
-Thermalright Ultra 120 ($54.95)
-2X Samsung T-series HD501LJ 500GB hard drives (2X $149.99)
-Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 2GB ram ($269.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Intel C2D E6300 ($184.00)
-eVGA 8800GTS videocard ($419.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty edition soundcard ($115.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Lian Li PC-343B 3 X 5.25" Fan Module (personal preference, I like more airflow through the case. Comes with a fairly quiet ADDA fan) ($24.95)
-2X Yate Loon 120mm Low Speed Fan (find this of a better value than the Nexus 120mm's because it's cheaper, and can be just as quiet with some soft mounts) (2X $8.95)
-2X Scythe "KAZE-JYU" 100mm Ultra Silent 100mm Fan (fits in 92mm location) (2X $8.95)
-3X Rubber Soft Mounts (for the three fans) (3X $1.49)
TOTAL: $1908.04
I believe that this system, not only will it be cheaper than your AMD rig and just as reliable, it'll whoop it's butt. Regarding the ram, the Corsair Dominator OCs better (should you ever want to do that) and is cheaper right now, so I suggest you get that instead. Also, the videocard is DX10 compliant, and like you said, it won't be of much use until Vista and DX10 games come out, but it's better to be prepared for it.
Brendan
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ultrachrome
- Patron of SPCR
- Posts: 445
- Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:23 am
- Location: Pacific Northwest
Have you considered a C2D...just kidding. I think you've had enough of that.
1. Have you compared SLI 7950 with a single 8800? Price/performance, it might be possible to have your cake and eat it too if the 8800 has better perf/dollar and DX10 compatibility. Something to consider.
2. I just popped in a 7200.10 400GB drive and while it's not irritating, I can hear it. Contributes a noticeable humming/ringing sound than my Samsung and it's even suspended. I worry about the noise that drive mounted in that aluminum case might make especially with its prominent position in the case.
1. Have you compared SLI 7950 with a single 8800? Price/performance, it might be possible to have your cake and eat it too if the 8800 has better perf/dollar and DX10 compatibility. Something to consider.
2. I just popped in a 7200.10 400GB drive and while it's not irritating, I can hear it. Contributes a noticeable humming/ringing sound than my Samsung and it's even suspended. I worry about the noise that drive mounted in that aluminum case might make especially with its prominent position in the case.
I don't think you can say that simply because you've had zero issues with your sample size of one, one platform is intrinsically more reliable than another.Erazor wrote:AMD is my preference for processors simply because I've had zero issues from my Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+.
I don't have a lot to add to what the others have said, but FWIW my 320GB 7200.10 whines like my ex-mother-in-law. It sits in a remote server now, so I can't hear it (pity I couldn't have done the same with the EMIL). Definitely one to avoid.
I can't see any "browbeating" going on here - some of the OP's choices don't seem to give him the best return on his investment, and people are just trying to help by pointing it out. Otherwise, you might as well wrap up the thread with "well, none of your components are the fastest/quietest/cheapest, but hey it's your money, so just do what you want."
Good point, mate. X2's still idle with lower power consumption (for now) and the AM2 socket should be compatible with K8L 65 nm chips, so this route might make sense for people who like to upgrade more frequently.jaganath wrote:The only concerning thing about this thread is the way people have tried to browbeat the OP into choosing Intel. OK, Intel may perform better but if AMD is his preference, so be it; after all it's not your money, is it?
My suggestion would be to try and find an NForce 570 SLI board, as the chipset runs cooler and you don't lose much performance (dual x8 configuration hasn't been shown to be a bottleneck, even with the latest games and GPU's). So unless you really want the built-in wireless function of the high-end model, you can save a chunk of change ($40) by going with the ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe.
For the CPU, I would suggest a 65W Athlon X2 4200. You can probably OC it a bit while still running Cool'n'Quiet.
The 7200.10 Cuda's are reported to be louder than their ancestors. A better choice at that price riange would be the WD 3200KS or Samsung 321KJ.
The list looks good to me. Does it have any overclocking potential?
cyberspyder wrote:Here's my recommendation:
-Antec SOLO ($89.99)
-Corsair HX620W PSU ($149.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard ($209.99)
-Samsung SATA DVD DL burner ($39.99)
-Thermalright Ultra 120 ($54.95)
-2X Samsung T-series HD501LJ 500GB hard drives (2X $149.99)
-Corsair Dominator DDR2-800 2GB ram ($269.00 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Intel C2D E6300 ($184.00)
-eVGA 8800GTS videocard ($419.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty edition soundcard ($115.99 after $30.00 Mail-In Rebate)
-Lian Li PC-343B 3 X 5.25" Fan Module (personal preference, I like more airflow through the case. Comes with a fairly quiet ADDA fan) ($24.95)
-2X Yate Loon 120mm Low Speed Fan (find this of a better value than the Nexus 120mm's because it's cheaper, and can be just as quiet with some soft mounts) (2X $8.95)
-2X Scythe "KAZE-JYU" 100mm Ultra Silent 100mm Fan (fits in 92mm location) (2X $8.95)
-3X Rubber Soft Mounts (for the three fans) (3X $1.49)
TOTAL: $1908.04
I believe that this system, not only will it be cheaper than your AMD rig and just as reliable, it'll whoop it's butt. Regarding the ram, the Corsair Dominator OCs better (should you ever want to do that) and is cheaper right now, so I suggest you get that instead. Also, the videocard is DX10 compliant, and like you said, it won't be of much use until Vista and DX10 games come out, but it's better to be prepared for it.
Brendan
Motherboard
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Final decision on this motherboard. I'm brand loyal to ASUS and this is a beautiful update to my A8V-Deluxe. I don't use the integrated Wi-Fi all the time, but when I need it, it's a great thing to have.
Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2
Tentative final decision on this processor. I may switch up to a K8L if they are released super early, if not the option is there to upgrade nearly as soon as they are released. Brand loyalty again. Intel may have a current winner in the Core2Duo series, good for them. I don't foresee the trend continuing. One good line of processors in the past five to ten years is not going to sway me from AMD.
Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Tentative final decision. I'm a huge fan of Cruicial's lifetime warranty and I highly doubt I would ever go with another memory manufacturer. Someone did mention the Dominator series from Crucial in another post and after checking it out I couldn't find a difference other than some ridiculous heatsink on the Dominator series which likely would cause more problems than good it would do. I say tentative on this because if DDR2 800 drops in price I may step up to a pair of 2GB sticks.
Video Card
XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
Tentative decision. After advice both here and elsewhere I've decided to forget about SLI at all and stick with a single card. Whether that will be a 7 series or 8 series remains a factor of price at purchase time. The only loyalties I have here are nVidia chipsets and a fondness for Gainward cards which have proven to be next to impossible to get in North America. I like the passive cooling on this particular card, but the Condor from Aerocase has proven even the newest cards can be silent with a few pounds of aluminum.
Hard Drives
Two -Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Tentative decision. Again I love the warranty from Seagate, 5 years on a hard drive is unheard of and it makes me feel much better about my data. On the other hand, I'm looking at the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive and in OEM trim it appears to have a 3 year warranty from Western Digital. Could someone with WD drives comment on their speed, volume, and reliability? I know Samsung SpinPoint drives keep getting recommended over and over again, however I'm having trouble finding them with a 16MB buffer and 250GB sizes at least from Newegg.
Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply
Final decision. This is a highly recommended PSU from SPCR, so my fate is in your hands on this one.
Optical Drive
PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
Final decision. The only full size slot load drive available on the market, price be damned!
Case
LIAN LI PC-777B Black
Final decision. I like the looks of this case and I think it will respond well to the small amount of customizing I have planned for it. This is a personal thing like the optical drive, price be damned!
The only other things I'm still looking for advice on is a passive CPU cooling solution that will clear the Northbridge/Southbridge/heatpipe and the RAM slots on this motherboard.
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
Final decision on this motherboard. I'm brand loyal to ASUS and this is a beautiful update to my A8V-Deluxe. I don't use the integrated Wi-Fi all the time, but when I need it, it's a great thing to have.
Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2
Tentative final decision on this processor. I may switch up to a K8L if they are released super early, if not the option is there to upgrade nearly as soon as they are released. Brand loyalty again. Intel may have a current winner in the Core2Duo series, good for them. I don't foresee the trend continuing. One good line of processors in the past five to ten years is not going to sway me from AMD.
Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Tentative final decision. I'm a huge fan of Cruicial's lifetime warranty and I highly doubt I would ever go with another memory manufacturer. Someone did mention the Dominator series from Crucial in another post and after checking it out I couldn't find a difference other than some ridiculous heatsink on the Dominator series which likely would cause more problems than good it would do. I say tentative on this because if DDR2 800 drops in price I may step up to a pair of 2GB sticks.
Video Card
XFX GeForce 7950GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
Tentative decision. After advice both here and elsewhere I've decided to forget about SLI at all and stick with a single card. Whether that will be a 7 series or 8 series remains a factor of price at purchase time. The only loyalties I have here are nVidia chipsets and a fondness for Gainward cards which have proven to be next to impossible to get in North America. I like the passive cooling on this particular card, but the Condor from Aerocase has proven even the newest cards can be silent with a few pounds of aluminum.
Hard Drives
Two -Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Tentative decision. Again I love the warranty from Seagate, 5 years on a hard drive is unheard of and it makes me feel much better about my data. On the other hand, I'm looking at the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive and in OEM trim it appears to have a 3 year warranty from Western Digital. Could someone with WD drives comment on their speed, volume, and reliability? I know Samsung SpinPoint drives keep getting recommended over and over again, however I'm having trouble finding them with a 16MB buffer and 250GB sizes at least from Newegg.
Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply
Final decision. This is a highly recommended PSU from SPCR, so my fate is in your hands on this one.
Optical Drive
PLEXTOR Slot Load 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
Final decision. The only full size slot load drive available on the market, price be damned!
Case
LIAN LI PC-777B Black
Final decision. I like the looks of this case and I think it will respond well to the small amount of customizing I have planned for it. This is a personal thing like the optical drive, price be damned!
The only other things I'm still looking for advice on is a passive CPU cooling solution that will clear the Northbridge/Southbridge/heatpipe and the RAM slots on this motherboard.
I would really reconsider making decisions based on brand loyalty.Erazor wrote:I'm brand loyal to ASUS
Brand loyalty again. Intel may have a current winner in the Core2Duo series, good for them.
I'm a huge fan of Cruicial's lifetime warranty and I highly doubt I would ever go with another memory manufacturer.
The only loyalties I have here are nVidia chipsets and a fondness for Gainward cards which have proven to be next to impossible to get in North America.
Technology changes far too quickly for a single company to always have the best product for the time. When it comes to corporations, never be more loyal to them than they are to you.
You make an interesting point in stating that the Core 2 Duo is the first line of chips in a long time from Intel. By your reasoning nobody should have bought Athlon chips when they came out because back then AMD only came out with cheap imitations of Intel's offerings.
Seriously though, AMD doesn't have anything in the current pipeline to compete with Intel. Assume their next big thing blows away whatever Intel has to offer - think it'll run on the current crop of motherboards. Most likely not (and if it does, it'll be holding back the CPU). So whether you go for an Intel or AMD chip now you'd likely need a new motherboard. Not much risk in getting the best current option.
(for the record I have a far greater financial interest in AMD's success over Intel so don't think I'm some crazed fan-boy)