Heavy Multi-tasking very very quiet build advice

sleepygrad · Post by **sleepygrad** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:41 pm

I need some help deciding wither to keep my case or upgrade AND which mobo I should choose. Here is my setup with my options

Cpu: OWN intel core i5

Cases: OWN Antec SLK 3700 BQE with one rear case fan
Options: Antec P180 mini or Antec Solo

Mobo: Options: Gigabyte P55a: UD3, UD3P, or UD4P

Power supply: Nexus 430
Cpu cooler: Thermalright HR-01+ and a Scythe 1200RPM Slip Stream M fan

Ram: 4 gb of ram, open to suggestions, Gskill 1600 is what everyone recommends
Storage: OWN: WD black 1tb drive and WD Caviar 250gb drive
GPU: OWN: VGA GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH 7600GT fanless

Ill have to buy at least one more case fan maybe 2.

Suggestions?

I know my usage will make a difference so here is some info about what i want to do with the new build. Extra points if you know which site this post came from.

If your TLDR ignore the last part

What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? Etc

A) Mostly, I am a heavy desktop user, this is a normal desktop session: 3 to 5 firefox windows open with a 40-80 possible tabs per window, MS 0ffice 2007: 3 or 4 word documents, excel, maybe a powerpoint, 4-10 pdf files open, Foobar playing in the background or maybe pandora/LastFM, Pigin, utorrent, and maybe skype. I want things to open and switch FAST.
B) I listen to music 24/7 on my old old Cambridge Soundworks Dtt2500 5.1, Pandora, and a large mp3 collection. Thus, a very very quiet or inaudible computer is very very important.
C) When I have time I watch movies that I try to download w/ AC3 so I can use my 5.1 speaker system. I would like to take advantage of my nice monitor so HD would be a plus. I do not multi-task and watch video.
D) I also am a casual gamer, occasionally, I do enjoy playing, however, I am in grad school + a girlfriend means not that much time for gaming. Fav, RPGs, maybe I would like to play new rpgs.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

600ish, shipping not included.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

Cpu+slient or very very quiet cooler, Mobo, Ram, maybe a power supply if my thermaltake isnâ€™t enough.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

A) Power supply Thermaltake tr2 430np,
B) 1tb sata Black WD drive, partially, full.
C) MS natural ergo keyboard, Logitech mx something mouse.
D) Old ide benq dvd burner, I have an external enclosure for this if necessary.
E) I donâ€™t know if its worth keeping this VGA GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH 7600GT or if I should just buy a new one. Note, this is a fanless card, as I said quiet is very important.
F) Antec black SLK 3700 BQE case 7 years old, It has space for a 120 intake fan in front of the hard drive cage, supports 5 drives on rails, in the back it has a antec 120 fan, 2 usb on the front, door that accesses 5 5.25in drives, no top fan/hole .
G) I have a couple IDE hard drives that are just kicking about 120gb-250gb just kicking around. WD and Seagate. I pry would like to use one of them for a temp storage drive.
H) I also have a 120 fan from an old Zalman Flower cooler.

6) Will you be overclocking?

I wouldnâ€™t mind overclocking just a little bit if itâ€™s not too hard, Iâ€™ve done it before.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

Already have 24inch Benq 2400

When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

next week or two. Possibly this later this month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

a) Coax digital out so I can output AC3 to my speakers.
b) Built in sound has to be great! No pops or static, due to many hard drives and external devices being used.
c) Sata 3.0 and USB 3.0.
d) Excellent fan control, very quiet when using desktop/music, but hopefully the ability to automatically turn up the cooling if I am playing a game.
e) Esata might be nice, but not essential.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:46 pm

before too much else begins, I want to ask a question.

What on earth are you doing with 4-5 FF windows with 40-80 tabs at a time?

400 tabs seems ridiculous to me. all things considered, I've done my fair share of researching with maybe 20 tabs at max in one window, but once I find a solution, I free up my space again (I do audio work).

Considering I just moved to a quad core processor, I'm still largely unfamiliar with i5/i7 stuff, so I'll just throw my $0.02 where it fits.

For the PATA drives, SATA adapters might be worth looking into for keeping those drives inside. Many motherboards still offer at least 1 PATA port, but in the future with i5 advancing, PATA may be a thing of the past, having adapters available might be worth something.

here's an even better question though:

What about your system is not fast enough/good enough etc?

sleepygrad · Post by **sleepygrad** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:19 am

I do a lot of web research. I also just dont close my tabs. Its kind of silly. For example i have 5 radar tabs of my area cause i wanted to know the weather.

My desktop died. Mobo just gave up the ghost. It was a old Athlon thunderbird 3800 or something like that. I am currently using a Intel duo core solo acer 1410 notebook. It does most of what i want ... but it is obviously stressing out. Its not meant for this multitasking.

And I'm a grad student ... so i really am doing research.

reddyuday · Post by **reddyuday** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:05 am

I recommend that you try Google Chrome, for web browsing which is lightweight and fast. Almost never crashes or hangs.

I would also recommend a solid state drive (MLC, e.g., Corsair X32 or X64) to hold the operating system and oft-used applications. It makes a big difference in cutting down disk noise.

Cheers,
Uday

sleepygrad · Post by **sleepygrad** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:54 pm

reddyuday:

A SSD drive is out of my price range right now, perhaps down the line.

Chrome is a nice browser, but i rely heavily on the firefox extensions, ad block, zotero, mouse gestures, etc etc.

Does anyone know if the Nexus Value 430 will supply enough power for this i5 system?

components:

Intel i5-750
gigabyte p55a-ud3p
1tb black wd drive
250gb WD caviar drive
Gigabyte 7600GT

also, given this setup, its possible down the line i would like to get a better gpu. Will the Nexus be able to run this setup and a moderate GPU?

thanks!

pixelfairy · Post by **pixelfairy** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:57 pm

scrapbook for doing research online https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/427

reddyuday · Post by **reddyuday** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:20 am

sleepygrad wrote: A SSD drive is out of my price range right now, perhaps down the line.

If you look at my own configuration in my signature line, you will find that the SSD is the only expensive component in it. I built it as an experiment using throw-away components bought on eBay, but I am extremely satisfied with its performance and keeping it.

For the kind of application you have in mind, with lots of apps and windows and wanting them to open fast, the key factors are the size of the memory and the speed of the disk drive. So, it would make sense to focus your budget on those components.

Uday