Couple questions for new hardware

[neiroatopelcc]

Hello.
My best friend and I are planning an upgrade of our computers.
My friend wants his computer silenced in the process however, and I don't know much about that.

First the facts

His specs:
Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI
P4 3.0
Sapphire 7800GTX
2x1gb ddr2 kingston value
chillinnovation 500w psu

His upgarde:
e6400
biostar 8800gtx
thermaltake graphics psu thingy

My specs:
Asrock 939SLI-esata
A64 3500+ (venice)
xfx 7900gt
2x1gb ddr400 kingston value
thermaltake purepower 680w

my upgrade:
opteron 170
biostar 8800gtx
tuniq tower 120

So here are the questions...
1) is it possible to use passive cooling on a conroe? or will he need the thermalright hr-01 + a fan ? (or another option)
2) is there an effective (and silent) aftermarket cooler for the 8800 chips yet? or how much noise do the stock ones make anyway?
3) does the tuniq tower come with the fan, or not? the specs on newegg say fan controller included, but doesn't mention anything about including a fan...
4) is the hr-03 cooler for sale anywhere? (that new thermalright graphics cooler thing ; it isn't on newegg)

 

[dasickninja]

1) is it possible to use passive cooling on a conroe? or will he need the thermalright hr-01 + a fan ? (or another option)

Silent cooling is quite possible with Core 2's.

2) is there an effective (and silent) aftermarket cooler for the 8800 chips yet? or how much noise do the stock ones make anyway?

I'm thinking the ones from the 7XXX series would work. I could be wrong though.

3) does the tuniq tower come with the fan, or not? the specs on newegg say fan controller included, but doesn't mention anything about including a fan...

I believe yes.

4) is the hr-03 cooler for sale anywhere? (that new thermalright graphics cooler thing ; it isn't on newegg)

I don't know. I'll leave that for someone else.

 

[tool_462]

One thing I noticed. Your friend isn't upgrading his Gigabyte GA-8N-Sli mobo, but it doesn't support C2D cpus. It is an Nforce4 chipset which (sadly) won't run a C2D.

Instead of getting the Thermaltake VGA PSU, I would recommend using that money and getting a new high quality PSU. Chillinnovations doesn't sound too good to me, maybe they are but I have just never heard of them.

FSP, Seasonic, OCZ, Enermax, Antec, Silverstone, Hiper, Thermaltake are good brands, I probably missed some but someone else can add if you are planning on going the route I suggested.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

his board doesn't support it? I wasn't aware of that in fact. I just assumed it did, cause it's one of the few board certified for gx2 .... anyhow, on newegg there was a combo option with some biostar board I believe. I have no idea how bad or good a biostar board is (don't believe they're retailed in denmark at all), but I suppose as long as it isn't matsonic, pcchips or ecs it'll be okay.

As for his PSU I don't think your worries are justified. Chillinnovation are a danish brand, but they're known for their silent operation. I know it doesn't have the pcie power or modular plugs, but it does have sufficient power on the 12v rails to run. Besidse, a proper thermaltake psu costs at least another $100 - and we're already stressing the budget by investing a total of 2 grand ... +tax and fine if the package gets caught in customs (being relayed by a friend as a private package).

Anyway thanks for the feedback both of you.


Edit: actually I'm no longer sure about the psu thing. Can someone more knowledgably tell me if it is okay? (provided a thermaltake takes care of graphics power)

specs:
http://www.chill-innovation.com/cp510a-specs.asp

 

[cmptrdude79]

While it is a shame that it doesn't have the 6-pin PCIe plug, it does claim 25A on the +12v rail. While this would not be as good as dual 12v rails, which is the ideal, it does appear to have enough capacity to drive the system you're looking at quite handily.

Here is the link to the actual specified outputs of your power supply. As long as you're using the Thermaltake unit to drive your graphics, you shouldn't have any problems.

-J

 

[tool_462]

ONLY if the extra Thermaltake PSU is used will it be enough. 25A is pretty low for a single 12v rail to power such a powerful system. Even my lowly Ultra PSU has 35A on a single 12v rail.

 

[Fluke101]

4) is the hr-03 cooler for sale anywhere? (that new thermalright graphics cooler thing ; it isn't on newegg)

If you're in the US, they are in Stock here (48 USD):

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thhr.html

and I think here (50 USD):

http://www.svc.com/hr-03.html

If you're in Canada, you can pick one up from Direct Canada (47 CAD):

http://www.directcanada.com/search/?kw=hr-03

I got mine yesterday - haven't fitted it yet but it looks awesome. Kind of like a spaceship - I was playing with it in bed last night - PEW PEW PEW. If my girlfriend didn't think I was a complete geek beforehand, she definitely does now. Anyways, I have no complaints about the build quality. Should do wonders replacing the leafblower on my X1900XTX...

 

[Talon]

ONLY if the extra Thermaltake PSU is used will it be enough. 25A is pretty low for a single 12v rail to power such a powerful system. Even my lowly Ultra PSU has 35A on a single 12v rail.

This is exactly right. Your PSU is only good enough with that extra GPU PSU.

To add a little to a couple of your other questions.

It is possible to take a high-end cooler (read BIG) and if you're running stock not overclocking you can usually run most big heatsinks with conroe without the fans. Its been tested by at least two sites but can't remember who. If you're overclocking you definitely want to go for a good heatsink with a big fan with slow rotation. Will keep your sound low and still cool sufficiently(watch your temps).


I don't believe there is an aftermarket heatsink/fan combo for the 8800GTX yet (could be wrong but haven't heard of one). But some should pop up soon. As far as the stock noise goes I've heard numerous reports saying its equivalent to the 7900GTX which is more quiet than your friends 7800GTX. Based on reports I've read I would assume therefore the 8800GTX will be quieter by at least a little than what he currently has.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

Thanks for all the replies. We'll look into the option of another psu. Maybe I can get another demo model from the retailer I deal with at work.

How would the noise of the 8800gtx be compared to my xfx 7900gt (the noisiest thing in my computer - and I use a raptor for system disk, and have 6 80mm fans)

 

[neiroatopelcc]

One thing I noticed. Your friend isn't upgrading his Gigabyte GA-8N-Sli mobo, but it doesn't support C2D cpus. It is an Nforce4 chipset which (sadly) won't run a C2D.

Actually just checked. According to this link it should support it?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2173&ProductName=GA-8N-SLI

 

[dasickninja]

Not necessarily. The Core 2 duo requires a different VRM than that for the Pentium or Pentium D. If you had a board that supported the Core 2 Duo it would be backwards compatible for the LGA775 family but usually its not the other way around.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

what's vrm?
anyway, if the e6400 is in the supported cpu list, it has to be true. gigabyte isn't a company that messes up often after all

 

[Fluke101]

I think Ninja may have been reading the bullet points at the top of the link you provided Neiro:

"1. Supports LGA775 Intel® Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 processor FSB1066 with HT technology"

- hence the logical statement about backwards compatibility.

Ninja - further down is a list of supported CPU's, and the C2D's are all on there. I guess they must have added support for them later.

VRM is a "Voltage Regulator Module" btw:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrm

 

[dasickninja]

Cool, I've been wrong before. Nothing new there. Thanks for the correction.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

Cool, I've been wrong before. Nothing new there. Thanks for the correction.

Actually you're right and we're wrong!
The cpu support list is confusing. Basicly what one has to do is look at the right side column at the row of the processor you want, and see what bios version is required. All conroes are listed n/a .... which means no bios available ....

Anyhow, we've switched the motherboard for a new gigabyte 765 ds4 now, and as soon as we find someone who has an american creditcard we'll order the last parts.

 

[Fluke101]

:lol: .

As Ninja said: "Cool, I've been wrong before. Nothing new there. Thanks for the correction."