Quiet but powerful pc

[lion1750]

Hi. I'm planning on building a pc soon. I want it to be powerful, since I plan to game on it. I also want it to be quiet because I plan to keep it on 24/7 and it will be sitting in my dorm room. I have a list of some parts that I plan on getting...

C2D E6420 (I plan to overclock it, so I want a nice, but quiet cpu cooler.)
8800gts 320mb (I'm also worried about the noise coming from this.)
2gb of ram (still havent decided which ram to get, but not really expensive stuff.)
PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU
ASUS P5N32-E motherboard.
I have 2 hard drives that I plan on using in it. One 250gb, 7200rpm Hitachi Deskstar, and an old 60gb, 5400rpm drive from my old computer, I'm not sure about the brand of that one.

I'd like to just use air cooling and get it as quiet as possible, but I'm not sure what I can do about the 8800, since that is probably loud. What do you think the best case is? I would like one with a side window to show off my stuff. I was looking at the antec 900 or the xclio A380BK

I have no clue if those cases are quiet, but they have larger fans, so I figured they don't need to be going really fast in order to move a lot of air.

Thanks, lion1750

[qviri]

PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU

Swap for a Corsair HX620W, quieter. Better yet, Corsair HX520W, you don't need that many watts.

I have 2 hard drives that I plan on using in it. One 250gb, 7200rpm Hitachi Deskstar, and an old 60gb, 5400rpm drive from my old computer, I'm not sure about the brand of that one.

Check the model of that drive, but chances are high that it's ball bearing and very loud. That Hitachi may be not all that great either but chances are it won't be terrible.

[jaganath]

I plan to keep it on 24/7...8800gts 320mb

what a waste of electricity.

[lion1750]

PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU

Swap for a Corsair HX620W, quieter. Better yet, Corsair HX520W, you don't need that many watts.

I have 2 hard drives that I plan on using in it. One 250gb, 7200rpm Hitachi Deskstar, and an old 60gb, 5400rpm drive from my old computer, I'm not sure about the brand of that one.

Check the model of that drive, but chances are high that it's ball bearing and very loud. That Hitachi may be not all that great either but chances are it won't be terrible.

Thanks for the advice, I'll probably end up getting the Corsair hX520W one.

I was also looking at hd suspension to cut down on the vibrations from the hd.

[MikeC]

I plan to keep it on 24/7...8800gts 320mb

what a waste of electricity.

It won't be bad if standby mode is used effectively.

[bonestonne]

i wouldn't say many cases come with quiet fans. Cooler Master cases have lower RPM fans, not the lowest, but lower. My Elite 330, which houses a very hot computer does a good job. came with a 1000RPM 120mm fan in the back, room for an 80, 92 or 120 up front.

if you get a case with a window, remember that plexiglass will be like putting a blanket over the case, so you'll want to find performance fans, which generally don't light up, so the idea of a case window would be for computers that don't take much of a beating, unless you don't care about noise, and here, its a no-no...so you may want to steer clear of cases with windows.

also, your OS will play a big role in electricity, i'd say that XP is a better OS to use than Vista for something like this, because Vista has a lot of processes, that keep the CPU busy, thus continuously producing heat. you can even slipstream XP with nLite, from www.nliteos.com, which is a very handy tool, i've used it on a lot, theres also a version for Vista, however i haven't touched it yet. i've seen final Vista .iso files at less than 700mb, so people really take the crap out of Vista.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811103011
^that made me laugh...but theres plenty of cooling for an 8800.

if you're shooting for cooling, maybe a Centurion from Cooler Master would do, if you're going for looks, maybe a Raidmax?

[ck8-04]

Your objectives are the same as mine when I built my PC a week ago. Here are my specs:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6700 at stock
Mushkin 2x1GB XP2 4-4-3-10 @ 1.9-2.1V
Corsair 520HX
Antec Solo
eVGA GeForce 7950GT 512MB
WD Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD
Sony DRU-820A
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme and HR-03 both passive
rear Tri-cool fan on low setting

The only two fans in this system are the fan on the PSU and the rear exhaust fan. This is the quietest system I have ever built, yet it can play C&C3 at 16x12 with max settings just fine. You definitely do not need that 610 watt PCP&C PSU. A Corsair 520 would do you just fine for that setup and it would be much quieter.

[lion1750]

Your objectives are the same as mine when I built my PC a week ago. Here are my specs:

Intel Bad Axe 2
E6700 at stock
Mushkin 2x1GB XP2 4-4-3-10 @ 1.9-2.1V
Corsair 520HX
Antec Solo
eVGA GeForce 7950GT 512MB
WD Raptor 74GB WD740ADFD
Sony DRU-820A
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme and HR-03 both passive
rear Tri-cool fan on low setting

The only two fans in this system are the fan on the PSU and the rear exhaust fan. This is the quietest system I have ever built, yet it can play C&C3 at 16x12 with max settings just fine. You definitely do not need that 610 watt PCP&C PSU. A Corsair 520 would do you just fine for that setup and it would be much quieter.

Thanks, this helps me out a lot. They have a HR-03plus for the 8800, but would that be fine by itself? It recommends a 92mm fan added to it.

[pyogenes]

Thanks, this helps me out a lot. They have a HR-03plus for the 8800, but would that be fine by itself? It recommends a 92mm fan added to it.

HR-03 won't passively cool a 8800. Get a fan.

I hooked up a 120mm fan to my HR-03 (attached to an x1950xtx) by hanging it with thread so it was suspended below the heatsink without touching it (HR-03 was below the video card, not above it). Less case vibrations that way. That wasted several expansion slots, but I don't need them on that computer.

[jaganath]

I plan to keep it on 24/7...8800gts 320mb

what a waste of electricity.

It won't be bad if standby mode is used effectively.

I bet 10 bucks the OP is not intending to use standby mode.

if you get a case with a window, remember that plexiglass will be like putting a blanket over the case

I highly doubt there is any significant temperature differential between equivalent windowed and non-window cases, given equivalent cooling capacity (ie same size fans).

[EV10]

I also want it to be quiet because I plan to keep it on 24/7 and it will be sitting in my dorm room.

If it's just to dl pr0n, you can cut on OC and do it only for games.

PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU
ASUS P5N32-E motherboard.

Seasonic or Corsair 520 is better. Is the mobo passive?

[lion1750]

I also want it to be quiet because I plan to keep it on 24/7 and it will be sitting in my dorm room.

If it's just to dl pr0n, you can cut on OC and do it only for games.

PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU
ASUS P5N32-E motherboard.

Seasonic or Corsair 520 is better. Is the mobo passive?

Ya, I'm getting the corsair 520w power supply. The mobo is passive.

[wutang]

are seasonic and corsais psu on the same base?

[lion1750]

I decided I'm going to get the antec solo, It is a very nice looking case. I think I might try out the stock cooler for the 8800 gts and see how it sounds when I turn it down a little. If theres too much noise, then I'll get the HR-03 plus.

[ronrem]

You'd better measure..that is likely a big card-and the Solo is not a big case.

The XClio was a better idea as the big fan will help a lot with that card.

Go with whatever scheme avoids a small high rpm fan to cool the vid. Don't go nuts on the OC unless you have the means to quickly switch over to an underclock mode.

24/7?

You have to build a DRAG Racer then expect to use it as an All Night taxi cab????

You can probably get a cheap used piuter for the 24/7 stuff. Make it quiet,or do a basic Sempronn box

[Max Slowik]

8800 GTS 320 is silent (and not THAT big) but the PC P&C PSU is NOT.

Also, uh, wait a few days, since ATi might be releasing a much better card for the money. If anything, it'll lower the price of the GTS.

[Jokoto]

I hooked up a 120mm fan to my HR-03 (attached to an x1950xtx) by hanging it with thread so it was suspended below the heatsink without touching it (HR-03 was below the video card, not above it).

Could you save a slot by ducting the fan from the front of the case, blowing to the back of the case through the HR-03? I'm thinking of doing that or at least trying, if mounting an HR-03 Plus the other way around a 8800 can't be done in my case.

[lion1750]

8800 GTS 320 is silent (and not THAT big) but the PC P&C PSU is NOT.

Also, uh, wait a few days, since ATi might be releasing a much better card for the money. If anything, it'll lower the price of the GTS.

Ya, hopefully ati will come out with a card more powerful than the 8800gts for around the same price.

[cloneman]

I plan to keep it on 24/7...8800gts 320mb

what a waste of electricity.

It won't be bad if standby mode is used effectively.

Dammit ATI, NVidia ... where's the speedstep for VGA! Ditch the powermizer/powerplay stuff. Or use hybrid graphics like sony did on the SZ.

Sorry to threadcrap but I didn't start it!

[s_xero]

This MUST be a joke:

PC Power and Cooling silencer 610W PSU

[Max Slowik]

Ya, hopefully ati will come out with a card more powerful than the 8800gts for around the same price.

Well it's rumored to release for about $50-100 less, and perform 130-180% over the GTS 640.

Still, it's [rumored] to be 80nm, and [rumored] to require more power than the competition. The cool thing [according to rumors] is about the HD 2600s, which are [rumored] 65nm, and use less power and all that, at a similar performance gain.