Someone recommend cheap, quiet PC please!

Hi guys,

I'm after a cheap as chips silent PC. Was thinking about the VIA C3? Spec needs to be as cheap as poss, don't need a special vid card (can use onboard), don't needed masses of memory, want a small but silent HDD.

Don't want any case fans - don't need CD drive, just floppy will do.

BTW - why isn't there a for sale section where members sell their PC stuff? :S Or am i missing something?

Anyway if anyone can recommend Case/PSU/CPU/Memory/HDD whack it down! Was thinking an old Shuttle? Don't know how quiet/cheap they are!

Thanks in advance!

There is a for sale section - it's under Hexus Smart Shoppers (right at the bottom of the page).

Do you have a rough budget? Can tell if you need to find used items or new ones.

I don't know much about the VIA kit or the Shuttles but can help with other recommendations.

Hi there!

Well there are a few on eBay going for around and under the £100. Probably used is going to be best for what I want.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ITX-EPIA-M1000...QQcmdZViewItem

Spec doesn't need to be as good as that!

Main requirements:

- Low power useage
- Cheap
- Silent as possible!

I'd rather have a silent PC rather than a faster one.

You might want to check out a basic Dell PC. The cheap ones are very cheap and we have some here in the office and they are practicaly silent.

Really want a VIA CPU as they run with a lot less power and much cooler than an Intel or AMD processor.

Also, would like it to be a small design case! =]

I have a VIA EPIA 5000 fanless with the 533mhz CPU in a Cubid 2688 case. I have no fans at all and the only thing making any sound is the 2.5" hard disk (which I still find irritating but haven't tried to quiten yet) Haven't had any problems with het, it runs very cool & quiet.

These go pretty cheaply on ebay I recall but the 533mhz proc isn't very quick. Mine runs XP Pro with web services and a web site but is regularly struggling to cope with peaks.

Would you be looking to sell it mate?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ytrebil

Would you be looking to sell it mate?

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Bad timing I'm afraid - I am looking to upgrade but don't have the cash at the moment.

There are some new, faster VIA boards becoming available now so you might see a few more of the older ones coming up at good prices.

Okay thanks mate. Just trying a checklist of what hardware makes a PC's noise...

- Case fans
- CPU fan
- Hard drive

Anything else?

I assume with shuttles, being only 1 case fan, it is pretty quiet and it doesn't use a CPU fan - what is a good quiet hard drive?

There's a good source of discussions & reviews on keeping it all quiet at http://www.silentpcreview.com

Does the shuttle really not use a CPU fan? I thought they generally came without a CPU and you added one and your chosen cooler? Is this a specific product you're talking about?

I read up on Shuttles (SFF) ages ago but from what I remember, they use some ICE system which is a way of cooling the CPU using a clever heat transferring system and a single exhaust fan which aids cooling the CPU.

Maybe if you used a VIA CPU in a Shuttle you might not even have to use the single case fan??? No idea!

I have a Shuttle SK21G on my desk. I think it is the cheapest Shuttle currently available, and with a Sempron 2600 CPU and the Cool-n-quiet turned on it is very quiet.

Noise sources are:

92mm temp sensitive cooling exhaust fan (pulls air through the CPU heat pipe radiator as well).
PSU fan, I think that is 40mm and is right in the middle of the pc.
Hard drive.

Quietest hard drives around are Samsung.