Silent PC Build

Robertr

HiAll,

Trying to build a near silent PC for as little as possible but nothing too slow. Here is what I have at home:

Motherboard: INTEL D955X BK EXTREME MOTHERBOARD
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Case: Zalman Fatality Champion (replacing fan with below)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty 7.1 Champion Series Soundcard - Retail



Going to buy:

Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120A CPU Heatpipe Heatsink
Memory: OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
Graphics Card: Asus GeForce 8500 GT 256MB DDR2 DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Hard Drive: Samsung T-Series HD501LJ 500GB SATA-II 3 Gb/s Hard Drive
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-182MRSMN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWr
Fans: Noctua NF-S12 800 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan#
Power Supply: Zalman ZM500-HP Heatpipe Cooled 500W Modular PSU
Fan Control: Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus Black Multi Fan Controller

Total Cost of new components: €535.00


Could I do any better? This should be almost silent right?

nibble

Well don't get a 8500 anyway, they're just bad. Get an 8800 or if you don't need DX10 something along the lines of a NV7900/ATI1950 series card. On the PSU get a Corsair HX520, it has a fan indeed but a really quiet one. Get a Scythe S-Flex or Zalman ZM-F3 for a fan, the noctuas aren't really great especialy on a heatsink.

Robertr

THe 8500 is the best card I could find with no fan. Will be sufficient for my needs. Don't think the Corsair would be as quiet as the Zalman. The same goes for the fan which is for the case exhaust, not the heatsink

dazftw

Why are you building new when you already have a great machine? That machine you have now must not be that loud with watercooling? Or are you building for someone else?

Is this going to be like a home media centre pc?

8T8

Dabs sell an XFX 8600GT with passive cooling if you need it.

As for everything else looks alright if space is available you can get enclosures for the HD's that will muffle the noise from them or kits that reduce vibration.

In regards the DVD that has the potential to be the most noisy but Samsungs drives are generally quiet but to be 100% in control of it you need a Plextor drive {e.g PX-810} and the Plextools Pro XL software which allows you to govern the speed in the drives firmware so the drive is quiet at all times even when booting the PC.

L31mr0d

can't really fault your build, but like 8T8 said, your noisiest component will now be your optical drive and HDD.

Get a HDD that supports AAM (Automatic Acoustic Management) and use the "hitachi feature tool" to adjust the harshness of the seek noise. Also get an optical drive that allows for performance and quiet operation.

Use rubber mounts for the fans and maybe try suspending the HDDs to reduce vibration noise.

tomcollins97

Just curious Robertr, why do you need a silent PC???!!!:D

nibble

tomcollins97 wrote: »

Just curious Robertr, why do you need a silent PC???!!!:D

Blasphemy:p, what kind of question is that? Have you never sat there listening to those noisy fans and clicking disks and thought wouldn't it be so much better if I could hear myself think? To be able to browse boards in silence, it's no insignificant thing pc silence.

mathias

Just curious Robertr, why do you need a silent PC???!!!

Not a HTPC question that ?

It needs to be as quiet as a mouse if its going to sit under your TV and not detract from the viewing / listening experience.

An 8800 as posted by someone else above is a gamers card , and they sound like jets taking off , replacing the cooler with a quiet one is no small job either.

No , for a HTPC fanless graphics are a must , the fewer fans in there the better , water cooling is not an option either as the pumps can be noisy as hell and some cooling systems sound like coffee makers anyway.

I built mine with the 8500 , fine for watching movies and the like , and used a Zalman case with quiet fan replacements , its inaudible in operation and I have no complaints , its not for games after all. That just doesnt work in the main living room , no way will your other half sit there and watch you play crysis , or Bioshock.