system dilemma: which would be best?

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 4:53 pm

Hi everyone. I have been doing some reading about making a quiet computer, and this site has been one of the best resources for me.

I am looking to build a Digital Audio Workstation, and I need a ballance of both performance (overclocking ability) and silence.

So far this is what I have decided on for the internals:

Pentium 4 2.6C
ABIT IC7-MAX3
Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu
2x256MB OZC PC3500 Dual Channel Kit EL-DDR
Seagate 80.0GB S-ATA, 8MB cache
Seagate 80.0GB S-ATA, 8MB cache
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive

Now my dilemma is based on the case (and power supply/fans).

There seem to be two versions that I am trying to decide between:

A.
Antec Sonata (with power supply)

B.
Kingwin KT-424-BK Aluminum Black case w/ anti-shock
SEASONIC SUPER TORNADO 300W ATX
Panaflo FBA08A12L1A $11
Panaflo FBA08A12L1A $11

Option B would cost about $100 CND over option A. Would there be much of a difference in quietness between the two systems? How about airflow, and general temperature? Could I get away with changing the Seasonic Super Tornado with a Zalman ZM300A-APF 300W Noiseless PSU, or would that increase sound levels? And would a PowerSnooze Silencing Material Kit help in either situation?

Thanks for any opinions or comments you may have!

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:00 pm

Howdy chrono (chronotrigger????

)

Looks like a good set up. Personally, I think either option A or B looks good--although I think generally "B" is going to be more quiet. Were you to mod the PS that came with the Sonato, I think you'd be roughly into the same territory. Were you to get option B, you'd also want some fan controllers to undervolt those to seven volts....

Tough choice, in my mind. I think with effort, you could easily get the sonata just as quiet....so I guess the question is whether or not you want to pay for it, or take the time and effort to do it yourself.

Oh yeah--I think the general consensus is also that the samsung drives are a bit more quiet than the latest seagates, but it's hard to say as I'm not too keen on that information as of late.
Anyways, cheers.
jer

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 7:26 pm

Beyonder wrote:Howdy chrono (chronotrigger???? )
Tough choice, in my mind. I think with effort, you could easily get the sonata just as quiet....so I guess the question is whether or not you want to pay for it, or take the time and effort to do it yourself.

hi beyonder, thanks for the response!

what exactly could be done to the sonata to make it quieter?

I personally like the way the Kingwin looks more than the sonata, but if I could save money and get the same level of noise, I would definately go for the sonata.

Post by **Rusty075** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 9:35 pm

The super tornado is going to be much quieter than the Sonata's PSU.

Even if you go the Sonata route be prepared to either mod or swap out the PSU. (there's many, many threads on the sonata here, so I won't rehash any of it right now. Just go reading through them for ideas)

Aslo, 512megs of RAM is really pretty puny now a days. Especially for a DAW. I'd probably double that.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 5:22 am

Get rid of that Abit Max 3 whatever you do. It's got 2 noisy little 40mm fans on it, the NB cooling fan and that fan on that silly plastic tunnel. You'll always be trying to silence these so don't make a mistake up front.

If you want a kick-ass Canterwood board go with the Asus P4C800E-Deluxe, it's got a passively cooled NB and no other silly 40mm fans on it. If you're thinking of overclocking, otherwise go with the Intel 875PBZ for a fast, stable, passively cooled, non-OCing (well 4% OC-able

) board.

If you want to save some money ($50+USD) you could go with one of the Springdale boards instead. The Asus P4P800 is passively cooled and you can enable PAT in the BIOS so your performance will be equal to that of a full-on Cnaterwood board. Another great choice if you don't want to OC would be the passively cooled Intel 865PERL.

You really should have 1GB of RAM too.

As for your PSU/fan question, the stock Sonata PSU will by far be the loudest thing in your system. I'd definitely go with the Seasonic and Panaflos.

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 6:31 am

Thanks for the reply.

I was actually concerned about the fans in the Max3, and the Asus P4C800E-Deluxe was my alternative choice.

I read afew other threads regarding the Sonata, and it seems to me that the PSU is alittle loud.. if I were to replace it, I might as well just get the Kingwin/Seasonic/Panaflos for a few extra dollars.

You think 1 gig of ram is necessary? I have a gig of sd ram in my current computer, but I figured I could get away with using 512 on my new system. Perhapse I'll rethink that decision.

mahkum2 · Post by **mahkum2** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 8:48 am

Hi chrono
Have you considered AOPEN motherboards? They come with a feature called SILENTTEK to adjust fan speed. I've got an Aopen AK79D MAX (nforce 2) board and its Silenttek feature works as advertised. I am thoroughly impressed with it.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 1:13 pm

mahkum2 wrote:Hi chrono
Have you considered AOPEN motherboards? They come with a feature called SILENTTEK to adjust fan speed. I've got an Aopen AK79D MAX (nforce 2) board and its Silenttek feature works as advertised. I am thoroughly impressed with it.

Here's a big thread about Silenttek and there's been plenty of other posts about it in the forums (search for "silenttek") as well as an article about it on the main site.

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:13 pm

the silentek looks alright, but I can't seem to find it locally or on ncix.. i dont plan on ordering from other sites that charge huge shipping costs.

So I've decided on the ASUS P4C800-DLX.

As for the Ram, mentioned above, I dont think i can really aford good 1GB ram right now, so i'll probably just get the 512, and upgrade later if necessary. I can add an additional dual channel kit later I would imagine?

Here's my revised system:

Pentium 4 2.6C
ASUS P4C800-DLX
Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu
2x256MB PC3500 Dual Channel Kit EL-DDR
Seagate 80.0GB S-ATA, 8MB cache
Seagate 80.0GB S-ATA, 8MB cache
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
Arctic Silver III Thermal Compound
Kingwin KT-424-BK Aluminum Black case
SEASONIC SUPER TORNADO 300W ATX (NCIX)
Panaflo FBA08A12L1A (NCIX)
Panaflo FBA08A12L1A (NCIX)
Zalman Fan Mate 1
Zalman Fan Mate 1

I will also be adding these parts that are currently in my existing comp:

Abit Siluro GeForce 4 Ti4200
HP CD-RW
HP DVD-Rom

-
I can't really tell right now how loud the siluro is (masked by all the other noise), but based on some posts it appearently is pretty loud. I might need a zalman cooler or something for it eventually.

Will the 300W power supply be sufficiant?

Are there any other suggestions to making my comp quieter/better?

Thanks again

GamingGod · Post by **GamingGod** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:17 pm

check the asus page for ram compatibility, only some ram works and its very rare to find ram that works in all 4 slots

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 5:00 pm

you're right. the PC3500 is supported, but only for one pair in dual channel.

chrono · Post by **chrono** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 9:34 pm

Ok, so now I'm think of getting the Seasonic Super Silencer 400 instead of the tornade 300.

I noticed in the review it said that "Serial ATA power connectors or adapter are not provided." How would I go about using Sata drives with this psu?

(sorry for all the questions.. this is the first comp im actually making myself)

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 9:44 pm

chrono wrote:Ok, so now I'm think of getting the Seasonic Super Silencer 400 instead of the tornade 300.

There's also a Tornado 400, just to give you more choices

chrono wrote:I noticed in the review it said that "Serial ATA power connectors or adapter are not provided." How would I go about using Sata drives with this psu?

With one of these. Lots of other vendors. This just happens to be the first one google spat out.