Maybe moving to the dark side..... (Dell)

DemonOfTheFall

I'm thinking about building a PC to run MythTV / MCE / SageTV / BeyondTV / whatever. Could do with advice on a good few things.

Main one is how loud are Dell PCs ? I can get a cracking discount on buying a new Dell, so building a homebrew is not an option As much as I regularly make my hatred for Dell apparent, i'm probably going to be hopping over to the dark side for this build.D
I've a few different options in mind. First of all is a bog basic Dimension 2400 and leave the PVR-500 card to do all the work. This would fall down on doing XVIDs for storage and on multitasking.
Next up is a Dimension 3000/5000 with a P4 2.8 or 3 ghz, for some added muscle. The 5000 claims to be quieter too, possible BTX design ?

Then there are the optiplexes. Theyre a fair bit dearer, and the only advantage they have really is BTX design for running quiet. I'd probably be better off buying a Dimension and quieting it down.

Is a dimension with a P4 2.8 in it loud? How about a Celery 2.4 ? My mate's P4 3.4 is a hoover, and i'd imagine is on the verge of overheating, going by the heat of the exhausted air. Do Dell still do proprietary PSU wiring and mounting ? Jamming a 5 or 7 volted 120mm fortron in a dimension is a definite option. Wouldnt be afraid of re-wiring an ATX connector either, since my dads an electronic engineer.

Last Q, do Dell use the standard mounting system for Heatsinks on Socket 478 / 775 ? A CNPS7000 would probably do fine cooling a 2.8 ghz P4 methinks.

If anyone has any experience with silencing a dell, or any advice, let me know please

Stephen

Most dells are very very quiet. I use an Optiplex SX at work and it is practically silent. So was the GX260 I had before it. A friend has a Dimension (not sure which one) - midi tower with a P4 2.8 and its pretty much silent too. The loudest noise source in it is the fan on the graphics card that he added to it after buying it!

DemonOfTheFall

Yeah, I have heard good things about the optiplexes. The case designs are easy enough on the eyes too, for something that will be in the sitting room. They even got a mention on SilentPCReview.com so must be decent... Problem is that theyre 20% (at least) dearer than dimensions

Chalk

if its going to be a pvr you may have aspirations of putting a graphics card in,
for connections to tv...

the 2400 doesnt have an agp slot, so will limit your options.
not sure about any higher models,
but make sure you find out.

monkeyfudge

I got a Dimension 5000 earlier in the year and I was very impressed with how quiet it was. It's not so good now since I added a graphics card though.

It is a pretty bulky tower though.

DemonOfTheFall

Hmmm, A PCI Geforce 4MX would do for the TV out. I have an AGP FX5200 sitting around but I wouldnt shed any tears if that stinker of a card didnt get used.

Can you fit a full height card into the small optiplexes?

Capt'n Midnight

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

Problem is that theyre 20% (at least) dearer than dimensions

try getting it through college or work and then hassle the salesperson - they have a fair bit of margin to chip into, remember you can add memory and get a bigger hard drive elsewhere,

DemonOfTheFall

Yeah, im already getting a whopping discount off of any dell system i want through work, dimensions included. Should be easier to haggle them down on the optiplex like you said though.

Only prob is that i wont be doing the haggling. I'll have to ask somebody else here to order it for me through the corporate account.... Might be a fixed discount structure.

Chalk

do what captn says and ditch the extrees.

you can get hard drives, ram and dvd recorders for almost nowt these.
even with a discount dell will overcharge.

in fact in lieu of giving a discount theyll probably try to just upgrade the parts for free.
make sure your by the phone to yes or no to whatever they try

DemonOfTheFall

No, i mean a REALLY good discount on what the stuff I order. So good that it is in fact cheaper to get the stuff from dell than to get it from komplett. This is because of VAT, company discount, tax and other stuff. were not talking 10% here...