Greetings,

I'm looking to build a new gaming system and have been reading through the forums for ideas. I think I've come up with a build but I'm looking for some feedback. I do not need a top level gaming system but I would like to still build something solid. Since this system will be in our Great Room it needs to be as quiet as possible and since my wife will be using it too it needs to be stable. I would also like to leave some room for expandability and keep it around $1000. If anybody has any suggestions on substitutes that will help make it even more quiet I would appreciate it. Anyway, here is what I've come up with:

Case: NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] %2bTEMPEST

CPU: Intel Quad Q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017

Video: VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 50%2b512MB

PS: Bgears Be Quiet! Straight Power BQT E5-700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 21&x=0&y=0

MB: ASUS P5Q-E LGA 775 Intel P45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] otherboard

Memory: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145184

Storage: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] KS%2b640GB

Thanks in advance for any help!

I would start for swapping the CPU for a E8400/Q9300/Q9450.
The 45nm chips will use less power, generate less heat, and let things run cooler which means your fans can run slower.

For the case...if you want to stick with NZXT the Hush is pretty nice, my friend owns one, and has no complaints besides not knowing if its on sometimes. Another friend of mine has an Antec P182 and that thing keeps quiet thanks to its triple layer side panels and front door.

For the Power Supply, check out the PC Power and Cooling 610w Silencer. It's a little pricey, but it will certainly last the extent of its estimated lifespan while keeping damn quiet throughout.

Aside from those two things, your build is pretty good, generic to say the least. A Fan controller might help with the sound--lower the rpms when the wife is using the computer--raise 'em when you turn on your games.

HSF?

You can save on that power supply. Here are your needs:

450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon [...] ments.html

Optical drive?

I think everything looks good but I would change your memory to this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731
It has better timings at a lower voltage.

As evongugg said you need an optical drive and as skittle said if your planning on overclocking you will need an after market CPU cooler

Thanks for the quick responses and I am definitely looking at the different options suggested. I haven't really thought much about the HSF as of yet so suggestions are definitely welcome. I'm not to worried about the optical drive as the games I play tend to run from the hard drive. So I'm probably going to go with something pretty basic there. Thanks!

The pc power and cooling sliencer 610...is very quiet...I just put one in my brothers machine...very solid psu....
If you need performance with no noise...you could look at liquid cooling...

If you're going for a 4850 and you want it to be quiet you'll have to replace the stock HSF. They get really noisy when you turn the fan up to 60% or higher. I replaced mine with an Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 V2 which is fanless and it cools better than the stock cooler and is silent since there's no fan. They're around $25 - $30 depending where and when you buy.

Heatsink suggestion:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233019

XIGMATEK ACK-I7751 Retention Bracket - Retail

don't forget to order the retention bracket because push pin mounting sucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 67-12.html

Top 5 heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 67-12.html

Stay away from cheap optical drives. I've bought some drives on price alone and they are noisy and a lot of them after 6mos-1yr start having problems like the drawer not opening. A good optical drive is only a few dollars more and will pay for itself in less annoyance. I have the Pioneer DVR-215DBK and it's a great drive for under $30.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] t=celebros

Seasonic S12 series are extremely quiet PSUs. Use them in my PCs.

If I listen closely to the noise coming from my HTPC, I hear my two Scythe 92mm intake fans which are running at 5v instead of 12v. The RPM of those fans is probably about 800 - 1,000; I haven't check in a while.

Not sure if the the case is big enough, but I would attach the Arctic Cooler S1 passive heatsink in the Radeon 4850. The 4850 is not listed as officially supported, but user reviews definitely states the S1 is compatible with the 4850.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186016

In general I would go with one of the Q9xxx CPUs since they run cooler and uses less electricity.

As for the CPU HSF, I currently have the Tuniq Tower in both of my PCs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154001

However, I didn't bother with the 120mm fan it came with. Instead I used spare Yate Loon 120mm fan running at full speed.

http://www.svc.com/d12sl-12-or.html