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rei · Post by **rei** » Thu May 10, 2007 7:20 pm

New build time as I am unsatisfied with my Silverstone TJ08 microATX setup's temps and noise. Have an ABIT NF-M2 board, AMD X2 5200+ and passive XFX 7950GT right now. Unhappy with the HD placement options inside the case.

Here's what I've got planned:

Case: Antec Solo
PSU: Corsair HX520 reused from existing setup
HD: Western Digital WD5000KS 500GB SATA reused from existing setup
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Mobo: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
CPU fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro on Zalman Fanmate 2
Video: HIS X1950XT IceQ3 on Zalman Fanmate 2
Sound: X-Fi XtremeGamer reused from existing setup
RAM: Mushkin XP2-5300 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM reused from existing setup
OS: XP + OSX + Vista + Ubuntu
Optical: Pioneer DVR-A10XL reused from existing setup

** reconsidered blowing a few thousand on an entirely new setup and will reuse what I can **

Lyshen · Post by **Lyshen** » Thu May 10, 2007 7:59 pm

rei wrote:New build time as I am unsatisfied with my Silverstone TJ08 microATX setup's temps and noise. Have an ABIT NF-M2 board, AMD X2 5200+ and passive XFX 7950GT right now. Unhappy with the HD placement options inside the case.

Here's what I've got planned:

Case: Antec Solo
PSU: Corsair HX520
HD: Western Digital WD5000KS 500GB SATA
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Mobo: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
CPU fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Video: unsure yet...some quiet 8800GTS
Sound: X-Fi Platinum
RAM: Mushkin PC2-6400 DDR2 2x 1GB
OS: XP not Vista
Optical: Pioneer DVR-A12 via eBay from HK since not available in North America

I'd suggest if you can, go with WD5000AAKS. There is not much of a difference but the AAKS version has I believe one less platter so it should run cooler. No experience with the Corsair PSU but I do know Seasonic ones are great. I use the Seasonic S12+ 650 and couldn't be happier compared to what I used to use.

Do you plan on overclocking? If you don't plan on overclocking you may be able to just get the TR Ultra-120 Extreme and run it passively. If you plan to overclock putting a 120mm 600-1200 rpm fan would easily cool it.

If you go with the 8800GTS I would suggest the HR-03+ w/ 92 mm fan. Can't passively cool it reliably since the 8800 series puts out quite a bit of heat.

Rest looks fine.

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu May 10, 2007 9:11 pm

Thanks for the feedback. No OC planned. The key in this setup is running things STOCK.
I have a KS now and I'm really really digging it and how quiet it is. Are the 250AAKS as good?

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Thu May 10, 2007 10:48 pm

FYI, you probably won't be able to hear the stock 8800 cooler over the hard drive and PSU noise. It's ricockulously quiet for such a high-end card.

rei · Post by **rei** » Fri May 11, 2007 12:47 pm

Any particular brands to recommend on the video card?

rei · Post by **rei** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:13 pm

Hmm. looks like I'll go back to the Asus mainboard and switch to an ati X1900XT board so i can run OSX easily.

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:11 am

Brands?

You know, it doesn't matter that much any more. I like Leadtek's modification of the stock heatsink; it's just a different enclosure, the fan, configuration, and all that's the same, it's just a slight tweak.

Foxconn is always well-priced, EVGA, XFX and BFG have the most tolerant warranties, and ASUS gives good bundle (for the extra money, they'd better).

Personally, I'd go for stock overclock and low price. A three-year warranty is a forever, but if you think you might change the heatsink, get a card with a lifetime we-don't-give-a-damn-if-you-mod-it-with-a-crowbar-and-duct-tape warranty like BFG.

As far as ATI cards go, uh, wait 'til tomorrow, and I'll tell you more.

theyangster · Post by **theyangster** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:16 pm

rei wrote:Hmm. looks like I'll go back to the Asus mainboard and switch to an ati X1900XT board so i can run OSX easily.

I was under the impression that ATI with OSX = mouse tearing, at least with the 3rd-party Callisto drivers. Unless they fixed the problem.

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:18 pm

It looks like this issue has been solved and someone has hacked together an installer for X1900XT and X1950XT cards. I've picked up an HIS X1950XT IceQ3 today.

matt2020 · Post by **matt2020** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 3:45 am

Case: Antec Solo - good case
PSU: Corsair HX520 reused from existing setup -
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - ok but could do better
Mobo: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe - this runs hot, so need good cooling
CPU fan: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro on Zalman Fanmate 2 - this is ok
Video: HIS X1950XT IceQ3 on Zalman Fanmate 2 - good but also hot consider water cooling!!
OS: XP + OSX + Vista + Ubuntu - consider 64 bit down the track will be useful
Optical: Pioneer DVR-A10XL reused from existing setup - consider BlueRay

rei · Post by **rei** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 1:19 pm

thanks for the feedback but there's absolutely no reason for a $500 blu-ray drive.

ck8-04 · Post by **ck8-04** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 11:06 pm

May I suggest an Intel board if you're not planning on SLI - DP965LT or D975XBX2? Intel boards are the most stable boards you can buy for Intel CPUs. They are the most problem free boards I've ever used and I've used a bunch of Taiwanese boards. Most, if not, all of them have passive cooling as well.

rei · Post by **rei** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:16 am

Thanks for the suggestions. Going to stick with the P5W DH Deluxe. Going to go with Antec Sonata III to save on PSU money.

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Re: Return to ATX...

Few points