Quiet Office PC

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rgiltrap
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:13 pm

Quiet Office PC

Post by rgiltrap » Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:16 am

I am looking towards getting a new PC.

I currently run off of a Notebook with Celeron M processor which is dead quiet 99% of the time with a moderate fan noise kicking in when under constant load. This is normally used as a PC and is hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard & mouse.

I've been really pleased with this setup from a noise point of view and would like to replicate the low level of noise but with newer hardware.

My needs now are having:
- A dual core CPU (but does not need to be super fast)
- Dual head graphics (some 3d capability but only basic is needed)
- 200GB+ HD
- 2GB Memory

Given that I want dual head that rules out a notebook (unless there are options I don't know about).

So I'm wondering whether I should build something from scratch or buy a SFF machine.

What do you all recommend?

I use this in a very quiet room so noise minimization is my primary concern but do need to keep costs within a reasonable budget.

cAPSLOCK
Posts: 224
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:06 pm
Location: Switzerland

Post by cAPSLOCK » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:40 am

Welcome to SPCR!!!

Well there is actually a solution to use your notebook: the Matrox DualHead2Go.

If you choose to go the new pc way, I would avoid barebones because they are less fun and are harder to silence (hard-drive noise (unless you are rich enough for a 200GB 2.5" drive) and PSU's with tiny fans).
You could make yourself a SPCR-standard PC:
P150, Ninja on a E6300 or an AMD X2 EE, some passive mobo, some passive gfx card, a Samsung or WD Caviar SE 16 (320GB and above **KS version IIRC) and a nexus case fan should work...

rgiltrap
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Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:13 pm

Post by rgiltrap » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:22 pm

cAPSLOCK wrote: You could make yourself a SPCR-standard PC:

P150, Ninja on a E6300 or an AMD X2 EE, some passive mobo, some passive gfx card, a Samsung or WD Caviar SE 16 (320GB and above **KS version IIRC) and a nexus case fan should work...
I've put this off long enough and I now need to go ahead and make a purchase. I'll be in the USA next month so will pick up a P150 while I'm there.

I need to understand now what CPU / Heatsink / Fan combo are currently the best to get.

I'm trying to do video editing now so I would like to get the most powerful CPU I can WITHOUT compromising on silence.

My question now is will a fan on lowest settings be able to cope with a 65W TDP CPU (such as the Core 2 Duo 6320) as well as a 45W (such as the AMD BE-2350)?

Aris
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Location: Bellevue, Nebraska
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Post by Aris » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:09 am

Processor: C2D E6320

Heatsink/Fan:
Scythe Ninja w/ included S-Flex 1200rpm fan

Video Card:
Passive 7600gs

Yes you can run a fan at minimal speeds and still keep a C2D cool with a scythe ninja.

rgiltrap
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:13 pm

Post by rgiltrap » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:18 am

Aris wrote:Yes you can run a fan at minimal speeds and still keep a C2D cool with a scythe ninja.
Do I just need the case fan or do I need the CPU fan as well?

Aris
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Post by Aris » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:25 am

rgiltrap wrote:
Aris wrote:Yes you can run a fan at minimal speeds and still keep a C2D cool with a scythe ninja.
Do I just need the case fan or do I need the CPU fan as well?
Depends on the case used, and its orientation to the CPU heatsink. If its somthing like the P150/Solo, you could probably get away with it running without a fan on the CPU heatsink since the exhaust heatsink is so close to it.

protellect
Posts: 312
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 3:57 pm
Location: Minnesota

Re: Quiet Office PC

Post by protellect » Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:28 pm

rgiltrap wrote:I am looking towards getting a new PC.

My needs now are having:
- A dual core CPU (but does not need to be super fast)
- Dual head graphics (some 3d capability but only basic is needed)
- 200GB+ HD
- 2GB Memory
At my office we just put together pre-built PC's from mwave with the following specs;

Antec Sonata III + 500W Earthwatts Power Supply [110$]
ASUS M2X-???? Motherboard [Socket AM2, Geforce 6150 Chipset] [
2GB DDR2
250GB Seagate SATA II .10 HD [16MB Cache]
Geforce 7300GT Dual DVI PCI-X
DVD Burner

Cost a hair just under 450$. I was suprised that mwave was offering that case so cheap, and with such a good power supply.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewproduct. ... 2D+Desktop

AMD ATHLON 64 / SEMPRON - AM2 SYSTEMS (BLACK)
ANTEC SONATA III + 500W EARTHWATTS
ASUS M2A-VM
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+ EE - WINDSOR
MWAVE 2GB DDR2 667 (1GB x 2)
LITE ON 48/24/48+16X COMB

$334.11 $334.11

Then we added our own 7300GT

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx ... ia=4139339

Passive heatsink, etc.

But they are very quite, fast, and inexpensive.

rgiltrap
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:13 pm

Post by rgiltrap » Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:47 am

Just shy of a full year since I asked the original question I have finally taken action (more due to being busy than procrastinating).

I purchased the following:

- Antec Designer 500
- Intel Core 2 E4500
- ASUS P5K SE (no NB fan)
- Seagate 320GB
- Corsair 2 x 1GB DDR2 6400
- Passive video card
- Scythe Ninja Rev. B

I run the large case fan on low, it's very quiet (except when the DVD is running) and I'm very pleased. The HD still 'ticks' along but at a suitably quiet level and the system is barley audible at 1m.

My only issue now is that the CPU will not even get above room temperature!!!, which makes me think I should have gone for a E6xxx instead.

I'll have to run a few copies of Prime 95 to see how hot I can get the CPU.

Thanks for the early advice!

ntavlas
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: Greece
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Post by ntavlas » Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:53 am

That`s a nicely balanced system. My only issue is with the cpu temperature reading which seems incorrect (can`t go below ambient with conventional air cooling).

Take a look at this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=44272

In a few words, most versions of speedfan report a lower than normal temperature while core temp usually gets it right. Still, you should have very good temperatures.

"...which makes me think I should have gone for a E6xxx instead."

Nothing that can`t be fixed with a little overclocking :) .

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