Quiet & Reliable system I hope

yukonam · Post by **yukonam** » Sat May 26, 2007 6:11 pm

I'm putting together a machine for my business - a convenience store/gas station with a budget of $1000. The system will be used for browsing, email, word processing, spreadsheets and the odd dvd rip/burn. I should also mention I don't plan on o/cng this system even though a lot of these parts could be used in such a system.

My main concern is reliability because I'll be leaving the company at the end of the summer for my partners to operate while I travel for a couple years. They are not very computer literate so I can't have the hard drive dying while I'm gone for example..

Also, I've focussed on building a near silent system since a whiny computer in a small back office can wreak havoc on one's nerves.

So let me cut to the chase, here's the specs & prices are in CAD before tax (6%):

X2 3800+ EE (65w/90NM)-------------------------------------------- $95.68
Biostar Tforce TA690GAM2 mATX ----------------------------------- $93.02
Thermalright HR-05-SLI High Riser Northbridge Chipset Cooler - $20
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro -----------------------------------------$23.32
Crucial Rendition 1GB PC2-5300 (x2) ------------------------------- $67.98
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 ----------------------- $68.75
Pioneer DVR-112D Black PATA -------------------------------------- $38.99
Black Sony Floppy Drive -------------------------------------------- $6.75
Sparkle Power SPI ATX-400PN 400W ------------------------------$35.10
Antec Solo Quiet Mini ------------------------------------------------ $94.75
Yate Loon D12SL-12 120MM ---------------------------------------- $6.99
EXPRESS IBM ENHANCED USB KEYBOARD ----------------------~$30 (ebay)
G7 Mouse --------------------------------------------------------------- $70-90

1. Monitor
Samsung SyncMaster 206BW 20IN ----------------------------------- $320.10
or
UltraSharp 2007WFP------------------------------------------------------ $349

2. APC (There's a lot of lightning storms in the Prairies so outages/surges are frequent in the summer)
APC BE550R 550VA ------------------------------------------------------- $69 (possible PM with staples)
or
Belkin Office Series 750VA------------------------------------------------ $89

The prices are from Directcanada.com, keep in mind I live in the Prairies so the only parts available to me are from Directcanada.com since I want to lump all the items together, taking advantage of their free shipping offer.

I don't know if it's possible, but ncix has the x2 3600EE which is a 65NM core but directcanada only offers the 3800EE (65w/90NM core), could I get directcanada to sell me one of ncix's 3600s since they're the same company...

Also, I'm torn on the monitor - HDCP is not a concern for me, longevity of the screen, crispy text, adjustable heights and small footprints are the most important features for me. My last screen was the NEC FP912-SB crt which served me well for several years. I prefer to spend a larger portion of the budget on the screen since that's what the user will be in contact the most - having a beast of a machine on a substandard monitor is unfair to everyone, no?

As for the motherboard, I know it's not well known, but I'm going to give Biostar a shot since they have put some thought into their pcb layout. I wanted to lean away from the crowd of Asus fanboys (although the M2N-VM was an alternate) and consider another mobo company (maybe Gigabyte?) like Biostar that seems to make decent boards (do they use JP capacitors?).

Thanks for checking this out, I look forward to your feedback!â™¦

johno · Post by **johno** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:07 pm

Regarding the processor, I'm fairly confident that there are no longer any special EE cores since the 65nm Brisbanes have been released. Seeing as the new 65nm are more efficient than the old EE core models, it doesn't matter so much. From what I can see, directcanada have the X2 3600+ 65nm Brisbane listed, which should be as efficient as you can get, short of going to one of the 65nm single core parts.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sat May 26, 2007 8:20 pm

Sparkle PSU's, well...can be good and bad sometimes...you may want to look into a more reputable name...sure there are some good reviews, but price shouldn't be something to base a buy on unless its practically a steal for the technology.

also, if you're going to put a floppy in, get a combo drive instead of just a floppy drive.

other than that, stock cooling could be sketchy but tolerable....if you don't want it to make much noise look into a different CPU cooler.

about the different CPU types, maybe, maybe not...its worth asking customer service about that. but it could be a regional availability thing.

about leaving it for a couple years, just in case anything fails, be sure to leave behind a good techy's number...especially because its not a retail PC, they'll need to know their stuff...also, you might not want to give them much access to the inards or admin rights unless thats important for them. keep it clean, dust free, and it should be able to last.

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Sun May 27, 2007 1:23 am

I think you should get 65nm X2 3600+/3800+, undervolt to 1.1V or further down, you will get a pretty cool, mighty running processor at a reasonable price.

As for PSU, go for Seasonic S12 330. It may be a little pricey, below 150W, you are able to reach a quiet level without speeding PSU fans.

Biostar TA690GAM2 is a great MB, from my friend experience, but Fan control in bios is not useful. You may need one or two ZA Fanmate to adjust fan speed. With that, it would be a best mATX MB.

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Sun May 27, 2007 2:10 am

I'm not entirely sure anymore that the HR-05 is compatible with the board. In anycase, you may not need it. Yes, it's a hot-running board, but damn far from unstable. Besides, where the heatsink is placed you can build a duct to it and run super-cool without spending a cent.

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Sun May 27, 2007 2:29 pm

Hello and welcome yukonam!

bonestonne wrote:Sparkle PSU's, well...can be good and bad sometimes...you may want to look into a more reputable name...sure there are some good reviews, but price shouldn't be something to base a buy on unless its practically a steal for the technology.

As far as I know, Sparkle = FSP/Fortron, so it should be fine. I have a couple of them and they are "quiet", but not as good as some others that you read about here. On the other hand, if you want to spend more to try and improve reliability you could get a Seasonic like lolmlo suggested. (Availability from DirectCanada is the only issue, though NCIX sells them.) How much more reliability you would be buying though, is anyone's guess.

The only other thing I would suggest is to try and make the computer resistant to cooling performance degradation due to dust. That is not to say that you should install filters, since these clog up an no one remembers to clean them. Low airflow helps (less air = less dust), but I would try to use coolers and heatsinks that have wider spaced fins and have the computer set up so that it is (at least partially) self-regulating for temperature. That way if the weather gets hot or dust starts to build up it can compensate without much attention.

For example I recently re-built a semi-budget computer for my father that uses an (older) AC cooler that has a temp sensor it it, and replaced the power supply with a modern FSP unit that is also self-regulating. Many motherboards these days also have CPU fan speed control functionality as well, so that may be something you could look into.