SPCR

Hi guys

My fiancee will be purchasing the parts from Newegg for a new rig soon, and while I've managed to figure out most things, I could use your input on a few remaining parts. I'll list what has been decided on first:

Case - Antec Three Hundred (seems to do me fine)
PSU - Seasonic M12II 620
CPU - Phenom II 965 (staying at stock clock)
RAM - Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333
HSF - Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B
GPU - HD 4850 (will do for now until HD 5850 prices come down)

I know the PSU seems a bit overkill, but I'm thinking it should still be able to cope when the GPU is upgraded at a later date.

Okay, so now for the few remaining parts that I need help on:

HDD - Samsung F3 1TB, Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB or Caviar Black 1TB.
Fans - Nexus 120mm, Scythe Slipstream 1200rpm or S-Flex 1200rpm

I've read good things about the Caviar Blue 1TB. It's reported as being quiet and some say it's as fast as the SATA II version of the Caviar Black, and this rig will be used for gaming. F3's seem highly regarded on here, but I'm not sure.

Obviously, when it comes to fans I'd like something that's quiet but provides adequate cooling. I'm more than happy with the Neuxs fans in my case, but it seems to get a little warmer in Toledo than it does over here, and I'm not sure the Nexus would provide sufficient cooling at an acceptable noise level.

Thanks for any help.

Haych wrote: GPU - HD 4850 (will do for now until HD 5850 prices come down)

I know the PSU seems a bit overkill, but I'm thinking it should still be able to cope when the GPU is upgraded at a later date.

FYI, 5850 has exactly the same power consumption under load as 4850.

bskd wrote: FYI, 5850 has exactly the same power consumption under load as 4850.

Thanks bskd. Does that mean that the PSU is always going to be overkill? As it stands, I've managed to talk her into buying a 5770 instead of the 4850 (which means her rig will kick my rigs ass in every department now, lol), but it should use less energy. Would buying the Seasonic M12II 520 be a more sensible purchase? I'd expect the 620 version's fan ramps up at a higher wattage/heat, which might be advantageous.

Both of them have the same efficiency, so at a given power draw from the outlet I don't see a reason for any difference in noise levels. The 620 would just have more headroom.
You won't get past 400watt power consumption with either 4850/5850/5770. I'd get the M12II 520.
Hope that helps. Sorry for my bad English.

@bskd - Thanks again for your input. I think we'll stick with the 620 version. It's only a matter of $10 difference, and maybe leaves her with more options for upgrading in the future, providing the PSU lasts long enough. You're English is fine BTW.

@widdlecat - Thanks for the recommendation, but price is a factor with the build, and the budget can't be stretched enough to purchase the X650

We've decided to go with the Caviar Blue 1TB. It may be a risk, but if it as good, or better, than the 3 platter Caviar Black then it will prove to be a risk that was worth taking. The SATA III Caviar Black has two platters like the Caviar Blue, but from my reading, seems to provide no significant improvement over its predecessor.

I could still use suggestions regarding fans though.

A bit off topic, but if you, Haych, could provide any information about the noise level of the new 500 GB/platter WD Blue 1 TB (EALS), then it would be immensely appreciated. The old blue 640 gb was very popular thanks to its quiet operation, and it would be interesting to know whether the successor has the same noise level.

Oddly, there's still no review of the WD Blue 1 TB out on the web.

Suggestions regarding the case fans, you've probably read the round-up by SPCR

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page6.html

The S-flex seems to be a good choice given its noise level and low price, in Denmark at least.

@kuzzia - Thanks for the recommendation re: case fans. My fiancee had already opted for them herself, which was nice, 'cause I was loathe to say she should consider them as the price is a a little spicey for my taste

I know what you mean about reviews. I keep searching from time to time and none of the regular sites seem to have done one, despite the drive getting some favourable comments on e-tailer sites. If you don't mind waiting, I'll try and remember to post my opinion on noise. I'm due to fly out to see her on the 7th of September, so it'll be a day or two after before I post. Performance wise, I'll try and ask her to install HD Tach prior to any other programmes and get a benchmark before and after it's divided into two partitions, and I'll send her winaam, so she can see if aam being on makes any significant difference.

A hot gaming system can't be silent while gaming, but it can be reasonably quiet and non-annoying at idle.

It won't be much use to consume funding on quieter components when the video card will probably be the dominant noise generator. Your choice would be to retrofit the card with a quiet cooler or perhaps get a card with a quiet cooler.

Please consider the Antec Sonata Designer 500 Quiet Computer Case w/ EarthWatts 500W Power Supply. It has sound-deadening panels to reduce noise and a washable air filter.

The CPU PWM fan control can be used to operate the chassis fan which is often more audible than the CPU fan.

The CPU PWM fan control can operate more than one fan with a PWM Y-adapter.

I'm looking forward to your review of the HD.

kuzzia wrote:A bit off topic, but if you, Haych, could provide any information about the noise level of the new 500 GB/platter WD Blue 1 TB (EALS), then it would be immensely appreciated. The old blue 640 gb was very popular thanks to its quiet operation, and it would be interesting to know whether the successor has the same noise level.

Oddly, there's still no review of the WD Blue 1 TB out on the web.

I picked up one a yesterday and installed W7 x64 on it.

I previously had a pair of hard mounted 6400AAKS that were inaudible inside my P150.

OOTB, seeks on the 10EALS are audible, and accompanied by a noticeable low frequency resonance.

I need to play around with my configuration this weekend to see if removing one of the drives, or disabling AAM helps.

FWIW, seeks are still audible after removing one of the drives, and putting the two remaining ones in the bottom bays. However, the resonance has disappeared.

@thegrommit - Thanks for the info. My fiancee bought two from Newegg while they were $65. I'll be installing one via suspension in the bottom of the case, and the other will be used for backing up, possibly using a usb 3 external enclosure.

Just wanted to post the HD Tach results from my fiancee's Caviar Blue 1TB drive. This was a long bench test on a completely fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit, so no other programs were installed except HD Tach. The drive isn't partitioned, and I'm assuming from the random access time that AAM is off.

An important point for anyone considering buying the Caviar Blue 1TB. Be sure to take note of what seems like a rather large number of DOA's and failures regarding this particular drive.

My better half bought two from Newegg. When it came to building the computer it was discovered one was DOA. The other has been running for less than two days now, and has today started dieing on its ass according to the repeated warnings the OS is giving. YMMV.