Good day, all! I have acquired a Pentium 4 2.6C and wish to build the quietest possible system based around this chip, on a budget. I am willing to underclock the chip (ie run it like FSB100 and 1.3GHz and with lowered voltage, for silent cooling); it was a gift anyway. Would like a recommendation as to the best set of equipment (hopefully dead silent if there is, or if not, stuff that can easily be made as close to dead silent as possible, using only minor mods--ie no dremel), and what hard drive would be basically dead silent (if there are any; I'm not personally very experienced with the latest 5400rpm drives, dealing normally with extremely high-perf stuff). Performance is secondary to silence for this build; I have my monster rig for gaming anyway.
So far these are my preliminary choices:
Intel P4 2.6C
Evercase ECE4213S--$22, can't really go wrong and I'm putting it where noone will have to look at its ugly mug anyway
Asus CD-S520 CD reader--supposedly quite quiet
Maxtor 6E040L0--single platter, single head, lower profile, FDB and supposedly super quiet
2 pieces of 512MB PC3500 PNY Verto--have it laying around, might as well use it
MSI 865P Neo MS-6742-020--865P, passive cooling, ICHR5, only $86
Zalman ZM300A-APF or Fortron FSP350-60PN PSU--supposedly among the quietest going on right now, and I'm leaning towards the Fortron 'cause it's cheaper but personally haven't used either. Anyone know how they compare specifically in terms of noise?
Connect3D Radeon 9200 card--passive cooling. The 9200 is my choice because it'll probably be the cheapest card that works with the DVI-Component adapter I have coming in, and its passive cooling obviously is silent. I'm trying to come up with a silent air-cooling solution for the CPU, although for the time being I have a Cooler Master Jet 4 that's just sitting around as well.
I have been seeking the VGA Silencer, but cannot find a dealer either.
I'll be looking into cases with better passive cooling features as well as active cooling, "options," per your advice. Since this purchase won't be for two weeks, I've time to do so. The main appeal of that case is the $22 price tag, hehe. I have a whole bunch of relatively-quiet-at-full-12V cheap 80mm fans laying around (relics of my case flow insanity days) and I'll try comparing them through a fan controller with 120mm fans, also through a fan controller, to see what works better (before getting the case). I just need to figure out what fan controller to get; my Aerogate I is serving 24/7 duty in my power rig. I have a Vantec Nexus NXP-201 that I'm not using but its obnoxious buzz is the last thing I need on my silent rig project. Anyway I do concur with one person here that no fans is still best, and if I can get away with that, I will. And where can I buy Panaflows with the power plugs?!?
I have also considered single-platter 7200.7s by Seagate as well as single-platter 7K250s by Hitachi. I just need to get my ears on the Hitachi, some place. I have one of those Barracudas in my dad's rig, which is quite quiet except for a single noise, which I have yet to determine either to be CPU HSF, PSU or hard drive. It's got an Antec Truepower 330, which I doubt to be the sound I'm hearing, and I'm thinking it's either the CPU HSF or the hard drive, even though I didn't think that drive was supposed to be audible in that way.
The CNPS-7000A-Cu is most definitely on my short list of possible HSFs for this project, as well as a Thermalright SP94 with some sort of silent fan setup (something already quiet, through a fanbus). I'm curious about water cooling but also keep in mind that I am trying to keep this within a budget. I'm also wondering if a water cooling setup that has such quiet active cooling through its radiator will work any better than a **** good quiet air cooling setup, and doesn't the pump make noise too?
Getting a better motherboard with undervolting option is also under consideration. Can anyone recommend a decently priced Intel-based, HT-capable mobo with good o/c options whose northbridge cooler is mounted via pins (not epoxy)? I'm looking at the ABIT AI7, since it appears to fit my need but if anyone can figure out something under $100 it'd be pretty nice.
If anyone has any suggestions or addins, please let me know! Somebody has told me that the 9200s don't accept the DVI-Component dongle; can anyone else verify if this is true or not? He also recommended a 7500 instead, but are there any 7500s with SECONDARY DVI outputs? I'll probably be making my purchases some time in two weeks for the most part, since I don't have the money yet until next Monday, and I like to purchase from the area's computer fairs, which happen only during weekends; they're real cheap especially good if they have what you're actually looking for. Anyone in the Tri-State area (NY/NJ/CT) check them out at www.tri-statefairs.com.
I suggest the antec Sonata, the Power supply fan will decrease in speed as the system run's cooler, so if your underclocking you basically won't hear it. I'm not all for the idea of a no fan setup, then you'll hear the Hard Drives better (those bug the **** outa me) but rather get a fan that is "pleasant" to hear. I've got a Vantec Aeroflow setup with the fan speed turned down just to where a slight whizz sound is cut out.
Your best option tho is to put the computer somewhere else entirely (closet for example) with some external cd-rom drives
If you want a really silent case, and don't have two left hands, you could build your own case from MDF.
I remember seeing a great homemade case a while ago, which was basically a regular case with really long padded inlet and outlet vents (done by zigzagging the vent channels, see illustration). The maker had estimated the needed sectional area of the vents, built in a door for the drives, and the result was a great looking, almost featureless case, with small slots for air intake and exhaust.
Only I've lost the link you see. I've been wanting to build such a case, and I've been looking for the page all night, but I can't find it anymore. Guess I'll have to wing it from what I remember.
zalman is awesome for silent rigs.
not that i understand why anyone cares about how silent your rig has to be...i just turn on my tv or play some music. i dont think i'll ever understand...
zalman makes a heatsink ONLY vga card. dont remember what. but check out their site.
From my experience, I would go with Seagate over Maxtor in this case - the Seagate's tend to be quieter.
If you can find a Radeon 7500 they do support "Hydra-vision" and offer VGA/DVI outputs. In regards to the Radeon 9200 - what do you mean by "DVI -> Component dongle"? Are you trying to run this into a television or A/V receiver?
Originally posted by ConfusedAlien zalman is awesome for silent rigs.
not that i understand why anyone cares about how silent your rig has to be...i just turn on my tv or play some music. i dont think i'll ever understand...
zalman makes a heatsink ONLY vga card. dont remember what. but check out their site.
What about lighting system control comps, they run during plays and stuff... need quiet.
Ya could always get a P43.2GHz and underclock it to 800MHz
Raddy 9200's are a good choice, yea...
I have never found HDDs to make much of a noise unless they are defragging or sumthink... just put a silencer on the HDD if ya can get one.
Came to Quiet PC... a place i wouldnt buy from, but just for an idea:
i wouldnt get the 9200 for several reasons.
1. its a crappy card
2. its an attempt at updating the 8500. and it failed.
3. its a 9000 series card, meaning that it should be dx 9 compliant. but its not.
4. it blows.
so there you have it. get the 8500 or a zalman ti4200.
this is, of course, if you dont need a fast computer. however, i have to think a p4 2.6c would even lag b/c of the ti4200. you could underclock to lose additional heat, of course. i could give you my um, p3 800 which only has a hs and i'll trade for the 2.6c lol
i just found this at zalman: ZM80A-HP (www.zalmanusa.com)
or try thermaltake. i looked around once and they have this one crazy lookin two piece.
lol i got an idea. why dont you get extra long cable dongles, and just keep your comp far away, and have your moniter, mouse and keyboard? lol
Well actually I already have a 9800 in my power rig, so yes I don't need any performance at all from this new P4 machine; it's all about silence. Actually it's a project specifically to build a silent rig. My power rig is a Barton 2500+ at 2331MHz 1GB PC3500, Radeon 9800 and a Seagate Cheetah 15K.3. BTW The reason why I was looking at a 9200 is because it has a secondary DVI output that I figured would accept the ATi DVI-Component video output dongle. As it turns out, the majority of people are telling me that it doesn't work with 9200, so I'm going to probably use a 9600 instead.
-Ed
PS BTW Yes I am running this out to a TV with component video input.
Actually I'm a HUGE Matrox fan. Their filtering is second to none; nothing runs high-res with high refresh better. I do a lot of desktop publishing and rely specifically on Matrox stuff for it.
Do they make a card that has Component Video Output? If they do, I'd love to know about it.
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