Need advice on PC-parts-List

pjeremy · Post by **pjeremy** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 1:47 pm

Hi,
I'm currently planning a new PC, which I'll build in about 4-5 months,
because I'm waiting for prices to go down.
The goal is not an extremely silent PC, but a fair compromise between noise and cooling.

PSU: Seasonic S12Energy+550
Mainboard: Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 _or_ Abit AW9D-MAX
Case: SilverStone TJ05T (Silver, with temperaturedisplay) _or_ Lian Li PC-V1000A Plus (Silver)
CaseFans, if needed: Scythe and/or Papst
VideoCard: GigaByte GV-NX76T256D-RH (Retail, TV-Out, 2x DVI, passive, RoHS, Civ4) _or_ Asus EN7600GT Silent/2DHT (Retail, TV-Out, 2x DVI)
HDD: 2x Samsung HD252KJ (no raid)
FDD: Teac floppy+cardreader
RAM: OCZ DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800 Kit (OCZ2G8004GK, XTC Gold) _or_ 2* Corsair DIMM 2GB DDR2-800 EPP Kit (TWIN2X2048-6400C4)
CPU: IntelÂ® Core 2 Duo E6700 (FC-LGA4, "Conroe") _or_ IntelÂ® Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (Boxed, FC-LGA4, "Kentsfield")
CPU-Cooler: Arctic-Cooling Freezer 7 Pro _or_ Thermalright Ultra-120

The PC will run Linux most of the time and occassionally Win XP for some gaming (Civ 4, C&C3) thus the requirements for the video card are rather low,
although it must be an nvidia (ati support for linux is crap).
I'd welcome suggestions regarding the case and the overall setup.
The requirements of the case are:
- 1 external 3.5", at least 4 external 5.25", at least 3 internal 3.5"
- at least a Midi-Tower
- silver or beige or white, no black (currently have a black one, acceptable cooling is possible, but noisy)
- decent design (no "cool" design,for example Aerocool AeroEngine , no unnecessary LEDs)
- if it does have side fans, they must be on the left.
- if it does have a frontdoor, it must open to the left.
- no windowkit

Cooling requirements:
The PC will have its place close to a balcony door and during the summer the ambient temperature might be 30-35Â°C.
Sun will shine on it most of the day, blinds might not be down all the time.
The balcony door will be open while I'm at the PC, however, the PC
will still be turned on even when I'm not around.
There's no additional air conditioning in this room.

Thanks for any help.

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:05 am

Hi, a (belated) welcome to SPCR!

I don't see anything wrong with the parts selected, but the case choices might be an issue. I have taken some serious looks at the Silverstone TJ05 cases and while I really love its appearance and features, I have a tough time giving it the okay (I ended up not buying one) because it just has so much ventilation restriction in the front. Sure they have provision to mount a 120mm fan, but there is very, very little intake area to feed it, which makes quiet/silent cooling more difficult. The V1000 would probably breath much easier even though it's not really comparable with its different layout and separated chambers.

Cost will be higher but out of your two CPU cooler choices I think many people would prefer to use the Ultra-120 because you can choose your own fan. If you want to swap the fan on the AC cooler or are unhappy with it, you are kind of stuck with it or you have to be creative...

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:34 am

Also, the PSU is kind of overkill; even with the QX6700 power draw will be sub-250W (non-OC'd).

pjeremy · Post by **pjeremy** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:03 am

Hi,
thanks for the replies.
I know the PSU is a bit overkill, but so far Seasonic hasn't released an S12Energy+ with less wattage, although I read that they will.
Indeed the Ultra-120 seems a bit more flexible, but will it fit in a V1000A?
Edit:
Would the Antec P180-EU silver be a better choice regarding the cooling requirements?