Low Power, Low Noise, High Performance

moogaloo · Post by **moogaloo** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:00 am

This is what I have been looking for when searching the internet (especially this web site) for a shopping list for my next PC.

There seem to have been a number of emerging technologies such as the 45nm dual core processors, main board energy management, low idle power requirements on high end graphics and disk drives so I have treid to put it all together. I also want low noise, but am willing to comprimise here.

Here is my current shopping list

Case - Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower Case
PSU - Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK)
MB - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 (Dynamic Energy Saving, Ultra Durable 2, Heat Pipe)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB)
CPU Cool - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU Cooler
Memory - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
Graphics - HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT ICEQ3 512MB GDDR4 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI
HDD - Western Digital Green Power Caviar 500GB 7200RPM S300 16MB (WD5000AACS)
DVD - Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVDÂ±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter

Any advice on any of these, or anything I am missing please feel free to advise expecially in the spirit of my introduction.

Thanks

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:16 am

That's basically what I'm building too, with a lower end mb (ga-p35-ds3p), smaller CPU cooler (ultima 90), and an asus dvd drive with their "quietrack" technology.

I replaced the case fan with a slipstream and I'm also getting an accelero s1 for the 3870 if I ever find one in stock.

After I get it set up this week, I will probably try different things that have been suggested, such as adding a 92mm fan, closing up one of the 92mm holes at the front to direct intake, opening up an extra pci slot cover to get more air through the accelero, putting a fan on the accelero, trying a 92mm vs 120mm cpu fan, and experimenting with different fan voltages on my case fan and cpu fan.

moogaloo · Post by **moogaloo** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:31 am

Well all built and it is just as noisy as my last PC when I did not think about noise at all!

Culprit is the HIS 3870 IceQ3 which one of the selling points is that it is quiet. It is not!

Also the combination of Main Board and Ocz Reaper memory means I can't mount a fan on the Ninja for a push pull effect with the exhaust fan. I am currently running passively as the exhaust fan is so nicely lined up with the ninja anyway as well as the PSU fan above it.

FlorisNielssen · Post by **FlorisNielssen** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:54 am

Can't you replace the heatsink of the GPU? Like with a Accelero S1? The site mentions 3870 as a compatible GPU with the Accelero. Don't know about the XT though.

Strid · Post by **Strid** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:10 am

Don't worry, you should be fine with no fan on the ninja with that setup (good airflow and low power CPU).

Well, replace the GPU cooler with Accelereo S1, and you should most likely be able to run it passively!

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:47 am

I thought the main point of the iceq3 was high performance, as it's overclocked.

Like the others said, you might want to get an accelero s1, but I think it will void the warranty.

I don't know what kind of cooler the iceq3 uses, but my temperatures dropped about 20 degrees when I replaced the stock 3870 cooler with a passive accelero.

FlorisNielssen · Post by **FlorisNielssen** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:10 pm

It uses the standard, uge heatsink with a centrifugal fan on one side which blows air trough the heatsink out of the case.

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:29 pm

Hmm that just looks like the stock cooler.

I see in another thread that moogaloo doesn't want to use an aftermarket cooler. I'm not sure what you should do in that case.. Maybe you can find a better setting by manually adjusting the video fan speed.

moogaloo · Post by **moogaloo** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:55 am

To answer a few points

I have the non turbo version of the 3870 ICEQ which is not overclocked.

I believe it uses two fans to blow over the heatsinks and exhaust to the rear.

I prefer to buy of the shelf but am now considering an aftermarket solution as it seems a shame that the rest is quiet.

martdj · Post by **martdj** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:15 am

I've bought nearly the same system (still waiting for all parts to arrive), but I'm wondering if any of you already played with Gigabyte Dynamic Energy Saving feature of their new Rev 2.1 boards? I already received my mainboard and it's a rev 2.0 without DES, so I'm disappointed about that but I'm not sure yet if I should spend the money on sending the board back and getting a new one from a more expensive place.

What"s your take. Is DES woth the trouble or does it save so little in real life experience compared to using the usual EIST/C1E functions and undervolting that it doesn't really matter?

mcv · Post by **mcv** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:10 am

moogaloo wrote:
Case - Antec Solo Quiet Mini Tower Case
PSU - Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK)
MB - Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 (Dynamic Energy Saving, Ultra Durable 2, Heat Pipe)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB)
CPU Cool - Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU Cooler
Memory - OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
Graphics - HIS ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT ICEQ3 512MB GDDR4 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI
HDD - Western Digital Green Power Caviar 500GB 7200RPM S300 16MB (WD5000AACS)
DVD - Samsung SH-S203NBEBN 20x DVDÂ±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter

This is almost exactly what I'm looking at at the moment, with a few differences:

PSU: Seasonic S12II 330
MB: GA-P-35-DS3L
Graphics: Peak Radeon HD3850
GPU Cooler: Accelero S1
Memory: no idea yet, possibly something cheaper, but I'll look at your choice too
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint T166 501LJ (but the WD GP was a prime candidate)
DVD: Pioneer DVR-212D

Basically the Seasonic should give plenty of power for a low-powered set up like this, I don't need all the DS4 features on my motherboard, I decided that the cheaper 501LJ should be quiet enough in an Antec Solo case, and I know nothing about DVDs, but some people recommended this one. I'll definitely have a look at your DVD choice too.

However, the biggest difference is the Accellero cooler on the graphics card. My Peak 3850 is dirt cheap but is rumoured to have a cooler problem, which I don't care about since I'm going to replace it with the Accellero anyway.

By the way, isn't the Western Digital Green Power Caviar 500GB actually a 5400 rpm drive? Performs well enough for a 7200, but as I understand, it's actually 5400.

I haven't bought it yet, so I've got no idea how quiet it is, but if it's not quiet enough yet, I'm going to replace the Antec Tricool case fans with Nexus case fans.

nitram_tpr · Post by **nitram_tpr** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:06 am

What about the new MSI 8800GT with the Zalman cooler fitted?

http://www.cpu3d.com/content/view/3438/53/

I have been thinking long and hard about the GFX card for my future HTPC build and this MSI looks very promising. Powerful, but quiet. If you aren't gonna be taxing it too much, maybe the fan can be volt modded to reduce the noise even further.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:04 pm

martdj wrote:What"s your take. Is DES woth the trouble or does it save so little in real life experience compared to using the usual EIST/C1E functions and undervolting that it doesn't really matter?

Look at this Anandtech article on DES. It does nothing you couldn't do with Gigabyte's Easytune software.

moogaloo · Post by **moogaloo** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:38 am

moogaloo wrote:To answer a few points

I have the non turbo version of the 3870 ICEQ which is not overclocked.

I believe it uses two fans to blow over the heatsinks and exhaust to the rear.

I prefer to buy of the shelf but am now considering an aftermarket solution as it seems a shame that the rest is quiet.

Quite Bizare I was getting a few lockups, tested the memory found one duff dimm then my PC just refused to turn on, preseed on got a power light for a sub second and nothing, no fans, nothing, unplugged everything from the motherboard (except the power) and tried again, nothing, bought a new budget power supply, tried again and still nothing, put my old PC side by side with my new one and plugged the other cases power swtich lead to the motherboard and got the same problem with the old case. So I thought well it's not the power supply, swtich or other components it must be the motherboard. Sent then both back, got replacements (in fact had a rev 2.0 P35-DS4 and got replaced with a rev 2.1 EP35-DS4) Plugged it all in and it all worked.

I had aslo bought a Accelero S1 which I was planning on silencing the HIS 3870 ICEQ with, but had thought it was better to wait to make sure the system is stable first.

Well here is a strange thing, I replaced the motherbaord (did not do a fresh install of windows) and the 3870 is now very quiet without the Accelero?

So my motherboard was somehow making the 3870 thrash it's fan!

I am now a happy bunny, even if I feel like I have been through the wars and had to spend out on a PSU and accelero that I did not need!

Oh I also now have undervolted a fan on the Ninja and set the exhaust fan to low.

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:28 am

I'm glad it worked out! I'll have to remember that the motherboard can cause something like that. there's still too much randomness in computer building, I guess.

I think people might be excited to know that you have an accelero you don't need, by the way..

nstarz · Post by **nstarz** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:24 pm

Wow, thank you for posting. I'm looking to build a system similar to yours.

Low Power, Low Noise, High Performance

Low Power, Low Noise, High Performance

Any success with DES

Re: Low Power, Low Noise, High Performance

Re: Any success with DES