Does this PC combine power with acoustic bliss?

[gentrinity]

Hello everybody, Im about done configuring my system, I basically wanted several things;

1.) A fairly high end system
2.) Reasonably priced
2.) Capable of stable overclocking
3.) Very silent
4.) Multi-Purpose system (TV, Photo, video, 3D, development, gaming)

Based on those needs, I have produced the following;
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 $146.99

Core 2 Duo E6400 $224.00

SAPPHIRE 100168L Radeon X1900XT 256MB $249.99

OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB DDR2 800
$269.99

Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 10,000 RPM (OS Drive) $269.99
(I Plan on getting a second one after a two or three months for RAID 0)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB 7200 RPM
(Storage Drive) $94.99

Antec Performance I P180B Black $114.99

SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply $94.99

SONY SDM-P234/B 23" 16ms Widescreen LCD Monitor $748.99

KWORLD ATSC-110 Digital / Analog HDTV Tuner $68.00

Cooling and Noise Reduction:

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler Heatsink
ARCTIC COOLING Accelero X2 VGA Cooling Fan Replacement X1900XT Fan
Spire Acoustic Absorption Mat Noise Reduction

Do these products produce the cooling to satisfy a light to medium overclock, as well as produce very low noise levels?

If someone can recommend better cooling solutions that are quieter, other than water cooling, id love to hear them.


By the way, I dont know whether i can instal the silverstone and the antec noise killer on the psu at the same time, could someone please comment. Thank you!!!

 

[gentrinity]

Sorry to bother everyone with the bump, but Im ordering the sistem tonight and I would really appreciate any comments on this systems ability for cooling and most importantly NOISE LEVELS.

Thanks alot!!!!

 

[Shap]

I'd really suggest consulting silentpcreview.com for recommendations. They have very thorough reviews with noise and power measurements.

You can also check out my post here, as I seem to be a wannabe silencer like you.

To answer your post though, I'd recommend changing the PSU to a Seasonic S12 600 or 500 watts, since these are considered the most silent PSUs there is, without any need for modding.

 

[gentrinity]

already ahead of you

 

[quantumsheep]

If you want silent DONT GET A 10,000RPM DRIVE!!

Those things are louder than a speedin' train!

 

[gentrinity]

THe way I look at it is that the raptor will be noisy but I plan on dampening that area of the case the most.

If you notice, the P180 has a compartment at the bottom for HDs which puts its far away with plenty of insulation from the two exhaust fans at the top corner.

I want that HD, cause I plan on doing some rendering, so I would actually prefer recommendations for noise reduction, rather than changing HD.

Thanks alot!!!

 

[jorbor36]

dont get sounds absorbtion mat, just buy a few nexus 120mm fans and replace the tricools. Put the raptor on foam to quiet it down and use a sythe ninja with a low speed fan for cpu cooling

 

[gentrinity]

i like your recommendations but where would I go about buying these products?

and Im not lazy, im actually working and cant start looking for these things, so I would really appreciate your help, especially with the foam for the raptor, since I havent heard of that yet, thanks alot!!!!

 

[Morganz0r]

The raptor won't be too loud unless you are defragging or writing. It's idle is relativiley quiet, but when you defrag make sure you have some mp3s playing really loudly, or just go outside, sounds like it's going to break apart.
I have the arctic cooler 7.
It's not the best, but will hold me until I fork over the cash for a WC.
It's only about 30 bucks and my 6400 is at 38c idle clocked to 2.8
I have heard great things about the sycthe.
http://www.petrastechshop.com/12scdfcafan4.html
barely audible and good airflow
the downside is no pretty lights.
Nice system man! Steal on your x1900xt.

 

[gentrinity]

Well, first off, Im planning on installing the acoustic dampeners, and heavily around the HD area, might go three layers, also might put in a thin layer of foam to muffle it. The plastic rubbers to screw on the HD will also help. Second, the I will place the HD in the bottom compartment which should help keep it relatively quiet. Either way, I am willing to sacrifice the noise level for the kind of speed the HD will give me, especially considering I plan on installing a second one for one hell of a RAID 0 in a few months.

Thanks for the advice, I cant wait to get this system.

 

[mark8987]

Raptors aren't that loud, and in the P180 case you can only hear them bearly when they are seeking.

Whether going to Raid 0 is a good idea is another issue....

 

[rwpritchett]

i like your recommendations but where would I go about buying these products?

and Im not lazy, im actually working and cant start looking for these things, so I would really appreciate your help, especially with the foam for the raptor, since I havent heard of that yet, thanks alot!!!!

You can find the nexus fans at:

www.coolerguys.com

They also have an entire section called "Noise Dampening/Alls Quiet" under the Accessories menu.

 

[tool_462]

Heh, yeah and don't turn this thread into another Raptor's in RAID 0 one either There are plenty of those around.

 

[djplanet]

The Accelero X2 is a good, quiet fan. Just make sure that you set it to run at 100%. For some reason it doesn't get any louder than at auto, but doesn't cool as well as stock at auto.

If leaking scares you from water cooling, I understand that. But if radiator noise is what's getting you down, you could try Zalman's Reserator or Thermaltake's Rocket, fanless liquid cooling (It does entail a towering passive cooler next to your case though).

 

[rwpritchett]

Here's a HDD silencer that claims to reduce noise output by 95%



Logisys Hard Drive Silencer

 

[gentrinity]

@rwpritchett

Wow, thanks for that web site, ill be sure to consider that HD silencer, however I ask the folloing question, wont having the HD in the 5.25 bay put it away from the cooling system? Cause ill have fans directly blowing on my HDs which will keep them cooler if theyre on the bottom compartment of the P180. Is there any way to get a fan to blow on my HD if I have it in the top bay? I wouldnt want to pay the price of a hot running HD for a few less dbs, especially since I plan on doing rendering.

If you can think of something to solve this problem, im all ears and would trully appreciate your help.

@djplanet

Leaking, and the extra added expense.

 

[jorbor36]

@rwpritchett

Wow, thanks for that web site, ill be sure to consider that HD silencer, however I ask the folloing question, wont having the HD in the 5.25 bay put it away from the cooling system? Cause ill have fans directly blowing on my HDs which will keep them cooler if theyre on the bottom compartment of the P180. Is there any way to get a fan to blow on my HD if I have it in the top bay? I wouldnt want to pay the price of a hot running HD for a few less dbs, especially since I plan on doing rendering.

If you can think of something to solve this problem, im all ears and would trully appreciate your help.

@djplanet

Leaking, and the extra added expense.

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus120mm.html is where you can get the Nexus Fans, super quiet.

http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/Scythe-NINJA-PLUS-RevB-6-Heatpipe-CPU-Cooler-SCNJ-1100P-p-16456.html
theres the Sythe Ninja, you can don't really have to use the fan if you don't OC

And for the foam, I just used foam that came with my ipod. I'm sure you can get some packing foam or something, just make sure it has airflow.

With the p180, put the harddrive in the lower chamber, and turn the fan to tricool fan to low (or get a nexus fan) and that should be enough airflow to cool your hard drive and make it so you PSU's fan doesnt ramp up.

If you dont want to spend time finding foam get this
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/novibes3.html
It suspends your hard drive in rubber bands, it quiets down its idle and seeks noises.




See, my current comp is crap, so im gonna build a computer very much like the one you have planned with the p180 case.