Help building a silent PC based on P6T SE/I7 930

Cooling Processors quietly

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BasariStudios
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Help building a silent PC based on P6T SE/I7 930

Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 5:41 am

Hello all, it is my first post on this forum. First i'll make it clear who am i and what i know, it will be easier for people to respond on my topics.
I am a Mac guy for the last 12 years but thruought that i had a share of few PC's so i am quiet familiar with them too, mostly OS handy not that
much hardware literate about PC's. I already have a PPC G5 DUAL 2.7 on Tiger OSX but its time to go PC, MAC is just ridiculous for me now,
same specs as my planned 1300$ I7 930 Mac will cost 6000$. I am a musician, a lot of Sound engineering and Sound programming tasks. Some
of you might be familiar with softwares like Cubase, Kontakt, Reaktor, Wavelab and else...i also do quiet a few things with Photoshop or with
Video editing softwares. And once in a while i like to sit and Play COD, BF and few similar games, nothing extreme, i can deal with a less GFX
power but to be in reasonable limits. Also english is not my first language so sometimes i can be missunderstood. After searching i came to this:

ASUS P6T SE Motherboard / Intel Core i7 Processor i7-930
Corsair TX750W Power supply / X6G1600C8D DDR3-1600 (Dominator-12800C8*XMP*3CH) 6GB.


GFX:
ASUS ENGT240 Silent/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 240 or EVGA nVidia GeForce GT 240.
I know the second one has a Fan and i was willing to sacrifice Noise for Performance (honestly, not knowing how much Noise) and then i found
out about the ASUS one...i will need something in that range of power. The question is would the ASUS be as powerfull, stable and compatible?
In other words should i go for it with no question asked? If any sugestions, please no ATI since we have problems with those in Audio world.

Cooling:
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 CPU Cooler or Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Cooler.
I got confused with these 2 items too after reading few controversial and contradicting reviews on the net. When it comes to hardware, cooling,
voltage and stuff i have no clue of anything...when people talk aboutthis voltage, that voltage this RPM and e tc... and i also have no clue of use
this fan, use that pump, use this use that. I am looking more for an ALL IN ONE thing where everything comes together instead of have this fan
on front, this on top, this on back this pump and e tc.

My main goal is to get as quiet as possible and if possible, nothing in the extremes but i dont wanna have a Tractor in my room either. This topic can
serve as both, as asking help for Silent PC and also as a general topic on my whole setup where people can sugest and give me some more ideas in
general. As for HDD i am planing on using a smaller 160GB SATA split in 2 for 2 different OS only and then another 1.5 TB 7200/10000 RPM
32/54 MB cache...Seagate or something...if that counts as anything in the whole Noise issue...as for an Optical drive i still have no clue but i dont
need a Blue Ray, only DVD/CD. I dont think i'll ever use a BlueRay burning or reading...at least for now but thats something i can change later.

I will apreciate anything that anyone will say, i still have few more days left before purchase, a comp store will build it for me here in NYC, i will
be ordering parts from the net and also from them, wherever cheaper. Any help would be greatly apreciated. In simple words my questions are:
1. Coolants/GFX Cards/Power...how do i get it more silent....any sugestions on what to use.
2. The whole system in general open for discussions, ideas, sugestions and else.

I can spare 100-120$ for CPU Cooling, Power and GFX Card each, the whole system should be around 1300$ -Monitor.


...and yes, i've searched a lot on this forum and others and read almost everything for few days and then...then i got more confused.
As for overclocking i dont know yet, for now i am not thinking about it, i think there is enough juice in there.

Thank you All!
Nedim
Last edited by BasariStudios on Sat May 29, 2010 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

BlackWhizz
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Post by BlackWhizz » Sat May 29, 2010 6:10 am

I would say get the noctua cooler. Both are good performers, the Noctua is just a little more silent (and you get 2 fans with it so u can use the fans in a push-pull combo or use one fan as exhaust.

Also the Asus GT240 is what i would get. Those gpu fans are tiny and whiny so. When you have a well-ventilated case a passive card isnt going to be a problem.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 9:10 am

Thanks you sir, i was leaning towards that too, i think i will go for that from other sugestions too.

Thanks

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 9:11 am

These are the 2 things left: Case and an Optical drive...i want also a little at least good looking case, not completely dumb. Antec?

Thanks you.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 9:11 am

This is the final list so far:

ASUS ENGT240 Silent/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 240 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
104.99 + 7.56 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-14121369

Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
84.99 (-10.00 rebate) + 2.99 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-35608014

Asus P6TSE LGA1366/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CrossFireX/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard - P6T SE
199.00 (-20 rebate)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB- ... a6c87416b4

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
288.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-19115225

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D
209.99 (-20.00 rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-20145224

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
109.99 (-10.00 rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-17139006

Seagate Barracuda 7200 1.5 TB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s 32MB Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive ST31500341AS-Bare Drive
99.00

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda ... B00066IJPQ

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 9:54 am

Someone also sugested Seasonic X-650/750, Semi-passive PSU fanless/noiseless over the TX750.
And also some Scythe PSU over the NOKTUA, anyone any light on this?

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Post by ilovejedd » Sat May 29, 2010 10:04 am

You mean Scythe vs Noctua CPU cooler? Both are very good coolers but the Scythe Mugen 2 has the advantage of being less expensive.

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Post by MikeC » Sat May 29, 2010 1:05 pm

BasariStudios wrote:Someone also sugested Seasonic X-650/750, Semi-passive PSU fanless/noiseless over the TX750.
And also some Scythe PSU over the NOKTUA, anyone any light on this?
The TX750 is NOT recommended. It was not tested because it runs >30 dBA/1m at idle -- beyond our definition of quiet. The Seasonic X series are at the top of the heap -- 80+ gold, passive (silent) operation to ~200W load, etc.

I presume you mean Scythe heatsinks? Some of them are excellent, but so is the Noctua. Scythe generally offer better value and I prefer the sound of their fans, but the Noctua mounting is much better. Mugen 2 is a good alternative, and it's one of the few SCythe that has abolt-through mount. See recommended HS.

I also suggest staying away from Seagate 7200rpm drives -- they are noisier than most other brands, especially in seek. Samsung and WD are generally quieter. The Seagate 5900rpm drives are quite quiet, quieter than most 7200rpm drives without as big a performance hit as the super quiet 5400rpm drives from Samsung and WD. See http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Hard_Drives

You don't mention case -- it's important. Recommended cases

Finally, you might consider a smallish (80gb or less) SSD for the OS and programs, in combination with a big 5400rpm drive for data -- it's the value solution for speed + capacity.

BlackWhizz
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Post by BlackWhizz » Sat May 29, 2010 5:25 pm

BasariStudios wrote:These are the 2 things left: Case and an Optical drive...i want also a little at least good looking case, not completely dumb. Antec?

Thanks you.
Fractal Design Divine R2
Lian Li A05(B) with optional top for extra ventilation or fan mounted on top / Lian Li A06F(B)
Antec P18x/ Antec Solo

Optical. How mch do u use it. I have good experiences with Samsung, Liteon and Sony/NEC Optiarc. The last one is the most silent drive.
BasariStudios wrote:Someone also sugested Seasonic X-650/750, Semi-passive PSU fanless/noiseless over the TX750.
And also some Scythe PSU over the NOKTUA, anyone any light on this?
The X650 will be more than enough for your system and at idle the psu's fan will not ramp up (if you have no hot components under your psu).

Noctua vs Scythe. Scythes Mugen 2 is also a great cooler. But the Topicstarter wanted to choose between Notua or H50. The Noctua is the most silent cooler of the 2.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sat May 29, 2010 7:50 pm

Hello all and Thank YOU all...untill next week untill when i start ordering i KNOW i will be annoying.
To me this is not just someone responded and go buy it. Your responds are very valuable to me and
as a factor i started changing the list of components based on your responds. I apologize ahead if
this is all annoying since the more i ask the more confusing it gets. I will start again now:
Based on responses on 2 forums the Corsair H50 is out, TX750 is out. And instead of narrowing down
i think the list got bigger...lol...i should be more specific:

1. Someone mentioned to me to use Gigabyte GA-X58A UD3R as a better but cheaper board, due to USB3
and few other things. I read and by specifics on paper sounds way better then PST SE but what about real world.
I have no problem, i would go for the GB MoBo but i dont know if that would actually change all of my components
and then bring me at the begining again, if it is better and the components can stay the same as i am now i would
go for that MoBo...at least USB 3 in there and few other Faster things then P6T SE.Or if i want same specs on
ASUS as on GB then to get this one ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX which
is similar or same to GB's specs but ASUS.

2. People already told me to drop down to I7 860 so i can save some money and also cheaper MoBo, saying that
speed and performance is almost the same but needs less cooling. I would still like to stick with I7 930.

3. Also the RAM was mentioned, it was the G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600,
being around 40-50$ cheaper then my first Corsair Dominator choice...50$ to me wont make
difference if the first choice is still better.

4. Of those names for cases here the best i like is the Fractal Design Divine R2, i love it but where the hell can
i buy one, they are not that expensive either but i dont seem to find them to actually buy one.

5. Cooling, i guess i would stick with Noctua, someone told me if i plan to OverClock to actually get the Noctua NH-U12DX
over the NH-U12P SE2...lets stick with Noctua but only this 2 as a choice...

6. The biggest problem is HDDs, i CANNOT use anything less then 7200RPMs and at least 32 MB cache...originally i was
planing to go 10000RPMs since HD is not ONE but THE MOST important component to me here, speed and space,
it cant be less then 1.5 TB at least and 7200RPMs...i have to sacrifice that and live with it. As for the System only i can
probably get an 80GB SSD if its enough for the System but i still think a 160GB SATA can do it as a Main HDD.

7. The GFX Card, someone mentioned this to me
POWERCOLOR SCS3 AX5750 1GBD5-S3DH Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
but when i see the ATI RADEON in there kinda scares me, its like 60$ more also...but Passive.

8. I will go for one of the SeaSonic X650/750, probably the 750...unless i change motherboard and then
every component starts to change too....uuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

9. Optical...i dont know, a normal use i guess, sometimes doing some back ups on DVD sometime never touching
it for weeks or months...i just have bad experience with Pioneer.

10. I would also need a good FireWire PCIe or whatever card with TI controllers, dont wanna use on MoBo.

Bottom Line, i think we are getting somewhere and i thank you all...i would like to hear again what Mike and Black
have to say on all this...i dont know, i am so confused but you guys also know how all this works, its not easy to
just read something and go buy it...i still have few more days...actually everything is based on the forums now
(mostly this one) when i start purchasing, i am ready for almost a month and cant wait.

As i said so its easier for you to understand, its gonna be used as a ProAudio PC with 2-3000$ ProAudio cards,
i will game one it once in a while games as CallOfDuty and Battlefield and some Strategy games, i wont mind
stretching few hundreds of $$$ either or 100-200$ up and down of curent components...i would like it to be
quiet but i wont demand extreme, i'd rather have some Noise but have better performance.

Thank you very much again.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sun May 30, 2010 11:25 am

I guess this is the only place i can buy the Fractal Design from:
http://www.ncix.com/

BlackWhizz
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Post by BlackWhizz » Sun May 30, 2010 11:53 am

BasariStudios wrote:Hello all and Thank YOU all...untill next week untill when i start ordering i KNOW i will be annoying.
To me this is not just someone responded and go buy it. Your responds are very valuable to me and
as a factor i started changing the list of components based on your responds. I apologize ahead if
this is all annoying since the more i ask the more confusing it gets. I will start again now:
Based on responses on 2 forums the Corsair H50 is out, TX750 is out. And instead of narrowing down
i think the list got bigger...lol...i should be more specific:
Youre welcome :) Its great to have someone discussing and thinking instead of just doing it :)
1. Someone mentioned to me to use Gigabyte GA-X58A UD3R as a better but cheaper board, due to USB3
and few other things. I read and by specifics on paper sounds way better then PST SE but what about real world.
I have no problem, i would go for the GB MoBo but i dont know if that would actually change all of my components
and then bring me at the begining again, if it is better and the components can stay the same as i am now i would
go for that MoBo...at least USB 3 in there and few other Faster things then P6T SE.Or if i want same specs on
ASUS as on GB then to get this one ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX which
is similar or same to GB's specs but ASUS.
I dont get your pouint? Gigabyte or Asus board? Both are good. Both perform really well. I have both experiences with S775 Gigabyte and Asus boards. Both are just damn good boards. If your not going to overclock extremely (just looking for a good 24/7 clock) get the cheapest one :)
2. People already told me to drop down to I7 860 so i can save some money and also cheaper MoBo, saying that
speed and performance is almost the same but needs less cooling. I would still like to stick with I7 930.
True, if i would go high end i would get a 1366 board too. Much higher memory bandwith which is just much better with memory intensive tasks like video/audio editing.
3. Also the RAM was mentioned, it was the G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600,
being around 40-50$ cheaper then my first Corsair Dominator choice...50$ to me wont make
difference if the first choice is still better.
Dominators are for memory OC-ers. I strongly suggest to go for a real brand. Gskill produces great memory but Gigabyte boards are a little more icky on memory. That way you can better get some Kingston/Corsair sticks. you can try some cheaper Corsair DD3 if you want. They do their job too as long ur not overclocking the f*ck out of it.
4. Of those names for cases here the best i like is the Fractal Design Divine R2, i love it but where the hell can
i buy one, they are not that expensive either but i dont seem to find them to actually buy one.
You'll have to research that for yourself because i live in Holland so i dont know.
5. Cooling, i guess i would stick with Noctua, someone told me if i plan to OverClock to actually get the Noctua NH-U12DX
over the NH-U12P SE2...lets stick with Noctua but only this 2 as a choice...
That noctua cooler can cool your i7 perfectly fine with a slight overclock. I would just get the NH-U12P SE.
6. The biggest problem is HDDs, i CANNOT use anything less then 7200RPMs and at least 32 MB cache...originally i was
planing to go 10000RPMs since HD is not ONE but THE MOST important component to me here, speed and space,
it cant be less then 1.5 TB at least and 7200RPMs...i have to sacrifice that and live with it. As for the System only i can
probably get an 80GB SSD if its enough for the System but i still think a 160GB SATA can do it as a Main HDD.
Hmm, what about a decent (hardware!) raid controller and some Green Power disks? In Raid5 ofcourse. It is expensive. But it will perform damn good.
7. The GFX Card, someone mentioned this to me
POWERCOLOR SCS3 AX5750 1GBD5-S3DH Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
but when i see the ATI RADEON in there kinda scares me, its like 60$ more also...but Passive.
Your not gaming or just play older games? Stick to that passive GT240.
8. I will go for one of the SeaSonic X650/750, probably the 750...unless i change motherboard and then
every component starts to change too....uuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh.....
Why? That Seasonic will work on every ATX board? And 650 is plenty of power for your system.
9. Optical...i dont know, a normal use i guess, sometimes doing some back ups on DVD sometime never touching
it for weeks or months...i just have bad experience with Pioneer.
Get something cheap then? My NEC works great for like 3 years and its still going strong. I burn like 5 dvd's in a month.
10. I would also need a good FireWire PCIe or whatever card with TI controllers, dont wanna use on MoBo.
Google is your friend.
Bottom Line, i think we are getting somewhere and i thank you all...i would like to hear again what Mike and Black
have to say on all this...i dont know, i am so confused but you guys also know how all this works, its not easy to
just read something and go buy it...i still have few more days...actually everything is based on the forums now
(mostly this one) when i start purchasing, i am ready for almost a month and cant wait.

As i said so its easier for you to understand, its gonna be used as a ProAudio PC with 2-3000$ ProAudio cards,
i will game one it once in a while games as CallOfDuty and Battlefield and some Strategy games, i wont mind
stretching few hundreds of $$$ either or 100-200$ up and down of curent components...i would like it to be
quiet but i wont demand extreme, i'd rather have some Noise but have better performance.

Thank you very much again.
Haha thanks :) Appreciate it.

Those games are easy for that GT240.

And that system will be quiet. Just replace those tricools. They produce too much noise for the airflow. I would suggest replace the outtake with one of the fans delivered with your CPU cooler and get another noctua as front intake to get a breeze of air over your passive videocard.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Mon May 31, 2010 6:08 pm

Thank you sir!...:
I dont know, we in the music world sometimes are just funny people and most
of the times just stick to something and nothing else exists anymore besides
that, like in this case the ASUS Board, the Corsair RAM, the TI Controllers and
also staying away anything to do with ATI and VIA...why i dont know but that
has always been the case since i remember. I guess in the next few days i will
have to reread everything, think a little and then create the final list.

Thanks

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Mon May 31, 2010 10:04 pm

I guess this will be the final list -Case and RAM since NEWEGG dont have them:

Image

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BlackWhizz
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Post by BlackWhizz » Mon May 31, 2010 11:20 pm

Good lookin list. PSU is overkill but it is silent ;)

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Post by MikeC » Mon May 31, 2010 11:50 pm

Those Seagate drives ain't quiet -- but I already said so.

Neither is the Corsair TX750 -- again, said so.

750w is overkill... but it's your dough.

No idea about the liteon, but Samsung, LG and Asus have been decently quiet for me -- esp if you use software to slow the 24X (of whatever x) speed.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Tue Jun 01, 2010 1:31 am

Thank you guys, let me clarify, the TX750 was put by mistake there since you
can see there is 2 of them...now, the S X750 is around 190$ which is a lot of
money and you guys say its overkill...the X650 is like 10$ cheaper...is there
anything else that i can get by cheaper? Please?
The only thing that is left is the RAM, Corsair or G. SKill...i will probably overclock.
Mike, on the HDDs i already explained, i might just switch the 180GB HDD to
and SSD same size, the other one stays the same. Optical is not important
since i can change it if i dont like it.
That list on top should be final i guess, i just added 2 more things to it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116762
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119150
The Cooler Master Case is something i really love for this setup to be in, it
looks even better then my G5. I would start ordering the next few days and
now all i am waiting is for someone to shed some more light on my RAM and PSU.

Mike, since i have no way of avoiding the HDDs, would it be quieter if i went
with some higher end WD driver? Also please says something about PSUs...

And to make things easier here is a final list in order and more clear:

1. COOLER MASTER COSMOS S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case $169.99

2. ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard $219.99

3. Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601930 288.99

4. ASUS ENGT240 Silent/DI/1GD3 GeForce GT 240 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card $104.99

5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3160318AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $37.99

6. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $99.99

7. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $174.99

8. Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler $74.99

9. RAM (Corsair or G.Skill)

10. PSU (Seasonic X750 Silent or ?)

11. LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM $22.99


Thank you very much.

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Post by MikeC » Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:08 am

Yes, WD or Samsung 7200rpm drives are quieter. Especially during seek/write.

Yeah, if there's only a $10 difference between the 650 and 750w... You might also see if one of the Enermax 80+ gold 500W units is available. See review in psu section. It was only in the EU when it was reviewed a month or so ago.

Don't know whether that Cosmos is a quiet case or how amenable it is to getting quiet. Despite requests for samples, Coolermaster never sent one our way, and considering they send us lots of other stuff, I suspect they did not think it would fare well in our review.

BlackWhizz
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Post by BlackWhizz » Wed Jun 02, 2010 7:52 am

From my experiences you can better rplace these drives:
5. Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3160318AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $37.99

6. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $99.99

By WD or Samsungs. I suggest Samsung because they make a more natural wooshing sound when running. That way they dont irritate you that much. Spinpoint F3's are damn fast drives for the price and they sound damn quiet too.

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:32 pm

Thanks guys, i already ordered the WD Green Caviars. Other things are left,
i changed few of the things, i might even end up on 860, i dont wanna be
future proof since to me dont make sense now building a 1600$ system and
then 8 months later buying new 500$ 6 Core CPU. This way i'll build this
system rock solid and stay on it. 860 is good too, same power, TurboBoost,
i save on the MoBo, less heat and many other things. Everything else will
stay the same except the Mobo which will probably be the P7P55 LX and
also the PSU probably in the 500 somewhere, if i find an EnerMax.

Thanks

BW, i might PM you one of this days...if possible?

BasariStudios
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Post by BasariStudios » Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:22 pm

And i guess this is my final list besides the Case which is still the only issue
left to me, i will have to look for some more options:

Image

I think that would do for me, moving around too much sux too, it just annoys
the hell out of people and also i get more confused and end up getting the
wrong components...i always believed in the First Choice...lol.

Thanks

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Post by dev » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:02 am

Why would anyone choose to fill their case with NF-P12 is beyond me. These fans have absolutely nothing over cheaper quieter fans like Nexus, Gentle Typhoons or Gelids. Even the very cheap Slip streams are a very good choice if you plan to use them below 1000 rpm.

Secondly the U12 is not a good heatsink for a passive or semi-passive setup. Why not fork the extra 10$ for a NH-D14 and at least you'll know you've got the best. Megahalems or Venomous X plus any decent fan are superior solutions also.

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Post by BasariStudios » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:08 am

Hello Dev, i was originally thinking of the NH-D14 but few people told me that
i was overkilling it, since that HS is 1333 marked. I dont really have problem
with throwing 10 bucks extra for better performance...lets see if someone
else says something. What do you think about the whole system in general?

Thanks

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Post by MikeC » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:44 pm

With the stock fans, the DH14 is noisier than the U12, and BasariStudios never said anything about passive cooling. The i7-860 only has 95W tdp, so why bother with an overkill HS that's going to take more work to silence? The flip side is that perhaps the DH14 with a single 14cm fan run as slow as it will go could be cooler and as quiet as as the smaller hs. Then you have a spare 12cm fan to play with.

I agree tho that the Noctua fans are expensive and not significantly better than elcheapo Yate Loons when both are slowed to say 6-700rpm or less.

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Post by dev » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:15 am

Cleverly undervolted his cpu would most likely run passively under the NH-D14. Selling the stock fans should sweeten the deal.

On the other hand a Megahalems or a Venomous X with any decent fan are great choices. IMHO Noctua is making a big mistake by bundling fans with their heatsinks. If they would sell their products without fans at decent prices theres a good chance they would turn in quite a good profit. I'm sure people wouldn't mind paying 50$ or less for a NH-D14.

Edit:

http://lab501.ro/racire/studiu-privind- ... -ifx-14/15

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Post by MikeC » Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:53 am

In this instance, there's little or no acoustic benefit in running the CPU hs fanless, which has the potential of accelerating heat-related wear of motherboard components in the VRM and/or NB. It's only in systems where removing it would eliminate the last or only significant source of noise that fanless CPU cooling makes sense. For example, in a system where the video card and PSU are fanless, and SSDs are used. Even then, in a higher power system, keeping at least one slow spinning fan is still way safer, thermally. In this system, with dual HDDs, fanned video card and PSU, encouraging fanless CPU cooling does not compute.

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Post by BasariStudios » Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:53 am

Thanks guys, i appreciate your answers and inputs, most of the system i actually
based on Mike's responses. Whats i chosed or said is not the LAW and i will still
probably change if it saves me money and dont lose performance. I dont necesarilly
have to go Noctua Fans or even Noctua HS if something cheaper can do the same.
I went for that mostly cuz of good reviews but saving few more dollars would allow
me to put money towards other crucial things.

Thank you

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Post by BasariStudios » Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:49 pm

This is IT...and now WHAT? ...LOL:
Image

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I've never built a complete PC but i exchanged, upgraded HDDs, ODDs, RAM,
FANs and stuff, have some clue about but i am affraid now...do i start it
on my own or should i just bring it somewhere? GS want around 400$ for
building and installment of the OS...plus some diagnostics and i have few
private PC stores that would do it for around 130$...i wanna give it a shot
but it scares the hell outa me...lol.

Thanks

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Post by ilovejedd » Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:01 pm

BasariStudios wrote:i wanna give it a shot
but it scares the hell outa me...lol.
Don't be. I know it seems daunting at first, but it's kinda like piecing Lego's. After the first one, you might actually find building PC's pretty addictive and you're trying to find reasons for building another one which you don't really need. :D

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Post by BasariStudios » Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:54 pm

Ehehehehe...i always end up like that, first of being scared to do something
then i end up doing it every day, lol. Ugh...as curious and eager i am i am
still scared...I might give it a try but as someone said, it all comes down to
the last second when you have to switch the POWER ON...lol...if nothing clicks...lolz.
I guess i should just give it a go, if i fail i can still bring it in somewhere.
The biggest thing and task that scares me is isntalling the CPU and the Cooler.


Thanks

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