Advice on my system before I pull trigger. Bottlenecks? Hmm.

[MarcusAurelius]

I am getting ready to purchase the hardware for my new system. Priorities for it are silence (video card) and performance.

Here it goes..

P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard $277
e6600 Processer $360
Corsair 2x2GB DDR2 800 6400c4 $298
Asus EN7600GT Silent video card $204


This is obviously the guts of the system and is at about $1150 dollars. I mean is this a good system for the money. Great Performance Per Dollar machine??????? I want it to last and I know that this is hard to do with computers, but just need some advice.

I will be using this computer for e-mail, internet, applications, and the more intense stuff would be playing the latest games and video editing and/or rendering. Please let me know what you guys think. I am so close to buying everything, but a bit hesitant. I wish this would be a good upgrade path for future hardware. I think I could use the ram again in the future as DDR2 might be around for a while. Please let me know. Thanks

 

[shadowduck]

Asus EN7600GT Silent video card $204

The price on that video card is way way too much. You can find 7600GTs for $60-70 less than that. Hell, you can find x1800 and maybe even a X1900GT for that price. Find a better video card.[/quote]

 

[MarcusAurelius]

What is wrong with the card? It seems to be the best silent card available (fanless) and based on reviews it could handle alot of the latest games. Although the video cards you recommended have fans, are they pretty good with their sound? I just don't want a loud PC. Let me know what you guys Think.

Budget for card = $275 MAX;

 

[DaveUK]

If quietness is your thing, then I have a few more suggestions for you:

- Antec P180 case (if you are replacing one, that is)
- Scythe Ninja plus cooler with a 120mm Nexus fan mounted on it (quietest air cooling solution on the planet, I wouldn't try running it fanless)
-Zalman In-line fan voltage regulator to drop the Nexus fan voltage to about 7v

mmm... quiet...

 

[MarcusAurelius]

If quietness is your thing, then I have a few more suggestions for you:

- Antec P180 case (if you are replacing one, that is)
- Scythe Ninja plus cooler with a 120mm Nexus fan mounted on it (quietest air cooling solution on the planet, I wouldn't try running it fanless)
-Zalman In-line fan voltage regulator to drop the Nexus fan voltage to about 7v

mmm... quiet...

I currently have a P180B Case (the black one) and I like the idea of the Ninja Coolors. I have heard good things about the Zalman CPU Coolers as well. I think I am just scared on the noise of the video card, but others have mentioned on aftermarket coolers for the video cards. I just hate noise. Sad to say, but I probably would rather have less video capability than have the noise to go with it.

Thanks

 

[shadowduck]

The case will really muffle the video card. My machine is barely noticeable when its running (I have a P160 case). ATI cards are a bit louder than nVidia cards, but there are aftermarket coolers that run really nicely.

 

[DaveUK]

I currently have a P180B Case (the black one) and I like the idea of the Ninja Coolors. I have heard good things about the Zalman CPU Coolers as well.

Sounds like your setup is right on track with the P180. I'd choose the Ninja Plus with a Nexus fan regulated at 5v anyday.

It will run quieter (slightly) than the Zalman at a low voltage, but offer significantly better temperatures. The Ninja simply offers superior heat dissipation than the Zalman - which doesn't actually cool all that well at its lower fan speed setting.

Of course, you could use the (already good) 120mm fan that comes with the Scythe; but then again if you are after the quietest-of-the-quiet then you might as well get a reputed fan - and the Nexus is the best according to SPCR... and don't forget the fanmate voltage regulator

 

[jaguarskx]

What is wrong with the card? It seems to be the best silent card available (fanless) and based on reviews it could handle alot of the latest games. Although the video cards you recommended have fans, are they pretty good with their sound? I just don't want a loud PC.

If you are adamant about noise from the GPU, then don't consider any of the ATI X1800's or X1900's. They are powerful cards, but they are also power hungry and noisy when stressed. The ATI GPUs spins up very fast and "loud" upon turning on the PC. However, the fan noise will quickly die down and remain pretty quiet until you start playing games. Once you stress it with a game you will definitely hear the fan. It's not annoyingly loud, but if you want a near silent PC, then it will be annoying.

You can opt for the 7900GT if you want a more powerful GPU, but you should cool it with the Zalman VF900 HSF which is pretty quiet from all the reviews I've read, but it is definitely not silent.

As for the Scythe Ninja, it has been discontinued. You will have a very hard time finding one from an e-tailer. But you should be able to find it on e-Bay. The Ninja has been replaced by the Scythe Infinity which is even bigger and more expensive. Either one should be good enough to passively cool a non-overclocked E6600.

Are you buying any other components?

 

[Talon]

I agree with the above poster about getting the 7900GT looking at your budget. The Zalman cooler is great for low noise and also the Kuformula VF1 Plus is excellent on low to medium settings. Just check case clearance as the fan is sidemounted (cross-flow).