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About LinkBacksThe Antec P-180 has about 1.5 - 2 cm of clearance between the door and the floor, so if the case were to sit on thick carpet you might have a problem opening the door, but it will be OK on thin carpet.
The Antec P-180 has about 1.5 - 2 cm of clearance between the door and the floor, so if the case were to sit on thick carpet you might have a problem opening the door, but it will be OK on thin carpet.
Silent there's a challenge - I had an idea about drilling a (biggish) hole in the wall to pass monitor, keyboard, mouse and external CD/DVD drive cables through, so the base unit was in another room, unfortuantely the idea was ditched due a threat on my liveOriginally Posted by herulach
... one day
maranatha thanks for the info.
Nice choice of components, it won't be "silent" but it might be as quiet as a regular DVD player, which for me would be quiet enough.
I'm also a big fan of the Samsung spinpoints having used one for my brother, and would make them a requirement for any PC over the next year (until something better comes out i guess). My particular home PC is a little noisy (comparatively) due to 3 hard drives spinning away together, particularly my 3-4 year old Western Digital.
Enjoy, and let us all know when you have built it!
- Another poster, from another forum.I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
System as shown, plus: Microsoft Wireless mobile 4000 mouse and Logitech Illuminated keyboard.
Sennheiser RS160 wireless headphones. Creative Gigaworks T40 SII. My wife. My Hexus Trust
The last PC i built was Athlon 2500, saphire 9800pro, 2*512mb pc3200.
- But the point is, with a decent heatsink/fan on the cpu, and a silent cooler on the Gcard, the noisest thing the case by far is the PSU, which is antec sonata special.
This PC Althon 1800+, saphire 9600pro, 2*256mb, and its even quiter.
- Stock H/S with the fan at 7v, and it still keeps the cpu at 45c full load (folding)
- And again, i used the Zalman fanless gpu and north bridge cooler, and the nexus nx3000 psu.
pop over to SPCR and have a read of some of the stuff there doing.
Daniel
Some good posts.
To get the two settings that the OP is after I would recommend always looking for technologies such as AMD's cool n quiet.
While primarily designed to reduce power consumption, they also have the effect of reducing heat, which in term reduces the need for cooling and thus fan speed.
The case is another obvious component of choice - don't be put off by cases with fans, just make sure they are as large as possible - 120mm if possible.
GFX card wise - consider the leadtek 6800gt tdh - it has a non standard cooling system that's much quieter. Otherwise just look for cards which have seperate 2d and 3d modes.
Finally you really want some kind of monitoring or fan speed control. Asus gfx cards have a very cool utility called smart doctor which allows you to set several different conditions on fan speed - so the fan is only spinning as fast as it needs to - it made my computer virtually silent.
Speedfan is another great app that allows you to monitor and program fan speeds accross your whole system in software.
Alternatively, you could try some of the hardware fan controllers like products from enermax - linking your system fans into this kind of thing means you can have a dial or set of buttons on the front of your computer that allows you to manually control the cooling. So you could dial it down when browsing, and up when gaming.
But in any case if you make sure that all of your components with fans have some measure of adjustability (automatic or otherwise) - that means CPU, PSU and GFX card usually, you will achieve a good measure of reduced noise when possible.
So in conclusion, the key to adjustable computer noise is the speed (and noise) of the fans. This in term is related to the cooling of components the need for which is controlled by both usage of the component and efficiency of the cooling solution. And yes, you can definately have your cake and eat it.
PS: in my case the gfx card is by far and away the noisiest component. Hopefully this will change when I plug in the leadtek 6800gt..
PPS: don't forget the difference between noise and noticable noiseThe loudest component in my case is probably actually the PSU or case fan, but I can't hear them because they're both low pitched, whereas the high pitch gfx card fan I can hear a lot.
Last edited by kalniel; 10-01-2006 at 11:57 AM.
It depends on what you mean by "quiet" ie whether you're talking about essentially "silence" or simply reducing the noise of an average PC system.
If you want silence+performance, you really need to go think very carefully about the components you choose - basically passive everything including PSU (Antec Phantom, Silverstone 30NF), graphics card (Asus 7800GT passive), CPU cooler (Scythe Ninja) and in particularly how you implement those components as well as other steps such as drive suspension and dynamic fan, voltage etc control (ie fans off when idling, fans increasing with under load) through a T-Balancer fan system or Asus Q-Fan etc.
Bear in mind that some of the components previously suggested in this thread aren't really suitable for a genuine "silent" system - they're really for quietening an average system. Also most Opterons don't support Cool 'n Quiet (unless used with a particularly obscure motherboard), so you won't have the benefit of dynamic over/underclocking.
Last edited by davidstone28; 10-01-2006 at 02:03 PM.
Well in the very clear words of the OP:
I take that to mean he does not mind fan noise when the computer is running fast during game play, but wants it to be quite when he's not.
Kalniel - you misunderstand the point. He talks about having a "quiet PC" to surf the internet. The question I was asking was whether by "quiet" he meant silence or simply quietening an averagely loud system at idle. Not that you'd know what quiet is, let alone silence, if you're running a stock GPU fan.
Last edited by davidstone28; 10-01-2006 at 06:44 PM.
Just to clear up what I'm trying to get feedback on building a system that has 2 running modes:
1 QUICK: If I spend a grand plus on a P.C. and I'm playing a game my system should be 'doo doo' off a stick quick, irrespective of the noise producted - sorry hardcore quiet peopleI won't quite make the club. I know I notice less around me, including backgroud noise (like someone knocking at the door, err the phone opps), when I play games.
What can be done within reason (read cost) to make it quieter I'll do.
2 QUIET: When I am read (surfing) I get distracted by the noise of my current system (and dripping taps). Using my very old computer, see spec on first post of this thread, which is very slow but 'relatively' to current system very quiet, surfing is not too bad on it - people are right when they say you do not need a powerful P.C. to surf.
You need less processing power to surf, so if you can underclock the system to make it quieter.
There will be somethings that will make the system quieter at both 'settings' CASE, FANS, PSU etc. I was interested to see what people do, if anything, when they do not need the processing power to make the system quieter. ... I was hoping someone had an add on box with a HI LO lever that would ...
I understand the difference between quiet and silent. I intentional used quiet if I didn't I should have ... btw I have a silence button ... the switch on the PSU
Something like this should do you, the cost adds up though, although its my next investment when i get paid again.Just to clear up what I'm trying to get feedback on building a system that has 2 running modes:
1 QUICK: If I spend a grand plus on a P.C. and I'm playing a game my system should be 'doo doo' off a stick quick, irrespective of the noise producted - sorry hardcore quiet people
What can be done within reason (read cost) to make it quieter I'll do.
2 QUIET: When I am read (surfing) I get distracted by the noise of my current system (and dripping taps). Using my very old computer, see spec on first post of this thread, which is very slow but 'relatively' to current system very quiet, surfing is not too bad on it - people are right when they say you do not need a powerful P.C. to surf.
You need less processing power to surf, so if you can underclock the system to make it quieter.
There will be somethings that will make the system quieter at both 'settings' CASE, FANS, PSU etc. I was interested to see what people do, if anything, when they do not need the processing power to make the system quieter. ... I was hoping someone had an add on box with a HI LO lever that would ...
I understand the difference between quiet and silent. I intentional used quiet if I didn't I should have ... btw I have a silence button ... the switch on the PSU
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/...ntrollers.html
herulach could you please let me know how this goes if you do get one. Does your system currently make some 'annoying' noise even with the watercooler?
... shame about not having a 'lever' control though
If anybody has a bad word about the P180 case post now... I think I'm going to get a CASE, PSU and a couple of FANS soon. Do a 'pimp my ride' on my current system i.e. it should look good but under the hood is a piece of junk. I'll put the new 'engine' in when I have some cash.
Its all done in software, so in theory theres no need for one. The only desperately annoying noise is the CD spinning up, that controller is more so i can monitor water temps than fan speed.herulach could you please let me know how this goes if you do get one. Does your system currently make some 'annoying' noise even with the watercooler?
... shame about not having a 'lever' control though
If anybody has a bad word about the P180 case post now... I think I'm going to get a CASE, PSU and a couple of FANS soon. Do a 'pimp my ride' on my current system i.e. it should look good but under the hood is a piece of junk. I'll put the new 'engine' in when I have some cash.
I used to have a T-Balancer (digital version). Phenomally adjustable but setup, calibration, and creating the right fan profiles takes bloody forever to get right. Excellent if you have the time and are technically minded but definitely not for noobs. The case also tends to turn into cablegami with fan sensors and wires everywhere. The software was also a bit rough around the edges, though I'm not sure if they've brought out new revision since I had it.
I found details experimental quiet P.C. I'll be stiring clear of this ... someone might want to give it a try... it just too crazy.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/..._out_the_fans/
Get a Dell? They're near silent.
I would be happy to recomend a Dell to anyone (especially one of the cheep models for surfing) my brother has one great value. Unfortunately I do not practice what I preach
Any road an update and a lesson/reminder for everyone:
I have taken deliverly of a P180 case and a Seasonic S12 430W PSU, due to finance issues (Christmas) I cannot buy anything else until March.
I've just transplanted 'my system' into the case very tricky for thumble fingers. Any way got the motherboard screwed in, went to fit the power cable - the M/B has a capacitor jamed next to the power connecter the little clip on the Seasonic is a few millimetres wider than my current PSU and does not fit - lesson connect everything before screwing anything down
I really want to check the PSU works does so I know it's not DOA, I might rip open my really old pc and see if the M/B has an ATX PSU connector, I'm fairly sure it's AT. Does any one have any suggestions on testing a PSU without a M/B!?
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