New Pc Advice Looking for advice on my new PC

[rvalkass 5]

I'm looking at buying a new desktop PC before I head off to University (46 days and counting ). I'm spending around Ł700 and hopefully building it myself (I find them to be much more reliable and high quality, plus it's fun ).

So far, I've got the following spec:

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I'm aiming for a fairly quiet machine, so my main concern at the moment is the graphics card. According to reviews, that card can make quite a bit of noise. I've looked at fanless ones (mainly ASUS), but most are double-width (taking up 2 slots for one card) and the lack of dedicated cooling could cause the rest of the system to run hotter, and therefore cause the remaining fans to run faster.

Any general recommendations? Any specific suggestions for a decent, quiet graphics card?

[rayzoredge 2]

From your system specs and the video card that you selected, I'm guessing you want a very nice machine that can handle some gaming. The problem with anything that deals with gaming is heat, considering that GPUs have to work really hard to keep up the constant load. If you truly want a quiet PC, I recommend liquid cooling but ONLY because you want a quiet PC. I avoid it myself because I don't want to have to deal with the possibility of leaks, or having to change the liquid every 6 months to a year, or any other complications that always comes with newer things, but it has been done successfully many times, as proven by, well, everyone else.I don't have a specific solution right now... but once I get a lot of things that I need done myself and have a bit more free time, and if anyone else hasn't provided anything, I'll let you know what I can come up with.

[Saint_Michael 3]

Yeah getting a silent graphics card is a bit tricky, although they do exist juust being able to find the right one that balances out the power and the silence is a bit tricky. I did find an article at Tom's Hardware website about some silent graphics and the technology helping to make graphics run silent. I checked out the discussion forum on this particular article at it seems that the ATI Radeon X1300 makes that balances for power and silence, but if oyur going to go with Nvidia your better off getting a fanlass card and bulk up on the fans in your computer case to keep it as cool as possible. Also I checked out this website that list a few graphics cards that run silent so I check them out and see what users say about them on either newegg or tiger direct.

Edited August 11, 2008 by Saint_Michael (see edit history)

[rvalkass 5]

I'm hoping this PC will last me quite a while, and I need the card to be able to run Compiz/Beryl and a few games. I'm gonna be running Linux on this machine, and nVidia cards have generally had better Linux support than ATI ones, which is why I'm mainly looking at nVidia.

 

I've found the following silent cards at a variety of places:

512MB 8500GT - ?50

256MB 9500GT - ?42

512MB 8600GT - ?60

At the moment I'm leaning towards the 8600GT, which should be OK for what I need it to do. There is a 120mm fan in the back of the case, positioned directly above the expansion slots, so it should pull air straight over the card and keep it cool. It takes up two slots, but the heatsink is only covering a PCIe x1 slot, which I don't think I'd be using anyway.

[rayzoredge 2]

That's an interesting thing to see... a video card with just a heat sink.

 

The funny thing is that I just thought of one of my previous designs that included a VGA heat sink cooler by Zalman that could possibly do the trick with silent cooling while opting out of the possible mess that is liquid cooling. I'm not sure how you would incorporate it into your build, but if you need additional cooling, this cooler may do the trick and even comes with RAM heatsinks.

 

Watch that airflow.

 

As far as graphical capabilities go, the 8800GT would be a steal considering everyone is moving onto the 9000 and 200 series for NVIDIA and abandoning their older cards for newer ones. If you compare the benchmarks, the 8800GT is probably about 3 times faster than the 8600... and I've been seeing these cards for less than $100 USD. Then again, I don't know the noise levels of the fan on that thing, so maybe if you either keep the fan off and snag that Zalman cooler, you can get the performance of a proven higher-end GPU and the noise levels that you might be aiming for.

 

Personally, I can't see how anyone could be picky about noise by the decibel unless those occasional whirring sounds from noisy optical drives drive you nuts. Is it really worth the price tag and the considerations that you have to keep in mind when building a system? Am I missing something here?

Edited August 12, 2008 by rayzoredge (see edit history)

[onscreen 0]

Hmmm.. I would say opt for 9600GT instead if you can find a slient one. Try looking for Asus graphic card, if i remember correctly they have a slient model of 9600GT. Also do consider putting in a PCIE slot fan else you would get a heat pocket below the graphic card that would fry your graphics card memory.Like what RayzorEdge said, the higher the GPU speed is the more heat it generates. :)Update : i have gone through the list, its impressive Well picked parts. It should do you wonders. Any chance of changing the casing? If the budget isnt your limitation, i would go for Cooler Master 690 as it have huge internal space for good airflow and cable management.my 2 cents!

[rvalkass 5]

The funny thing is that I just thought of one of my previous designs that included a VGA heat sink cooler by Zalman that could possibly do the trick with silent cooling while opting out of the possible mess that is liquid cooling. I'm not sure how you would incorporate it into your build, but if you need additional cooling, this cooler may do the trick and even comes with RAM heatsinks.

I don't really want to start modifying my hardware like that. I like the security of the warranty, and changing the cooling system would probably void that

 

As far as graphical capabilities go, the 8800GT would be a steal considering everyone is moving onto the 9000 and 200 series for NVIDIA and abandoning their older cards for newer ones. If you compare the benchmarks, the 8800GT is probably about 3 times faster than the 8600... and I've been seeing these cards for less than $100 USD. Then again, I don't know the noise levels of the fan on that thing, so maybe if you either keep the fan off and snag that Zalman cooler, you can get the performance of a proven higher-end GPU and the noise levels that you might be aiming for.

The 8800GT is a very good card, but about twice as expensive over here (around £100 new). It seems there are a few available with larger, slower-spinning fans, so they are cooled well and are still comparatively quiet. It's also quite a long card, but looking at the motherboard, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

Personally, I can't see how anyone could be picky about noise by the decibel unless those occasional whirring sounds from noisy optical drives drive you nuts.

Actually, now you mention it, the whirring noise on the current desktop PC in my house sounds more like someone drilling into masonry when it spins up That really is quite annoying!

 

Is it really worth the price tag and the considerations that you have to keep in mind when building a system? Am I missing osmething here?

I'm gonna be using this PC at University, and the accommodation is not exactly spacious. I tend to leave my PC on all day, and in my accommodation that could get a bit annoying if it is too loud. If it comes down to it, I'd pick performance over a slight increase in noise - I'd rather have a louder PC that I can use than a quiet PC I can't. As far as the graphics card is concerned, it will likely be the noisiest component of the PC, so I want to do my best to minimise the noise from it.

 

Hmmm.. I would say opt for 9600GT instead if you can find a slient one. Try looking for Asus graphic card, if i remember correctly they have a slient model of 9600GT. Also do consider putting in a PCIE slot fan else you would get a heat pocket below the graphic card that would fry your graphics card memory.

If I do get a fanless graphics card then I will need to take a serious look at the airflow to make sure I don't start frying things.

 

Update : i have gone through the list, its impressive Well picked parts. It should do you wonders. Any chance of changing the casing? If the budget isnt your limitation, i would go for Cooler Master 690 as it have huge internal space for good airflow and cable management.

The Coolermaster 690 was a case I looked at to start with, and it is an excellent case, but I eventually decided I liked the gloss black and silver look of the Antec Solo more.

[onscreen 0]

If so, i fully respect your choice on Antec Solo case. I have just did a quick search on the casing and found it impressive as well. Sadly it is hard to get my hands on the Antec casing here but from the reviews i read, many turns out positive with some-not-so-obvious flaws.All the best, mate!

[bluedragon 0]

Hi rvalkass, Nice specs. I would like to make some suggestions though. Judging by your config, I think you are planning to build a fast machine. I'll say, you should try to build a stable machine. I am using Asus P5Q motherboard and I dont think its too great. The motherboard temp rises to 45 degree celcius with almost zero load. I'll suggest you go for an XFX 680i SLi motherboard. You might think that P5Q has a PCI-Ex 2.0 and 680i doesn't but believe me, 680i SLi is a lot better and XFX has made that great motherboard. I find a lot of small usefull things missing on an Asus motherboard. Like they don't allow jack retasking on their sound card. Its a simple feature but yet very useful at times. You won't be getting a dual LAN port on normal Asus motherboard. 680i does have that, It even allows you to combine 2 different broadband to work as a single. besides these small problems, there would be a bigger problem for you Since you plan to run Linux on this machine , I couldn't configure slax to run properly on my machine. It doesn't recognize the sound card and the LAN. Plus , I was not even able to see my harddrives. Although I was able to run a live version of Ubuntu on this machine but that too with some glitches. Sound was not working in that too. lastly, For graphics card, I'd say you go for an 8800 series instead of 9600 series, since people generally don't see this but still, 9600 gt is a 256 bit architecture and 8800 is a 384 bit. It does make a difference when you use for gaming :PHope this helps

[rvalkass 5]

You won't be getting a dual LAN port on normal Asus motherboard. 680i does have that, It even allows you to combine 2 different broadband to work as a single.

I can't see myself ever actually needing 2 LAN ports - it's one of those features people always want, but never actually use

Since you plan to run Linux on this machine , I couldn't configure slax to run properly on my machine. It doesn't recognize the sound card and the LAN. Plus , I was not even able to see my harddrives. Although I was able to run a live version of Ubuntu on this machine but that too with some glitches. Sound was not working in that too.

I've generally considered ASUS to be fairly good in making their products work well with Linux, but you've made me look deeper into some reviews, and it appears that the P5Q series of boards are not particularly Linux-friendly (despite the fact they use Linux for the fast boot up feature). I've always liked ASUS stuff, so I'd rather stick with them if possible, but I shall certainly take a look at the board you suggested.

lastly, For graphics card, I'd say you go for an 8800 series instead of 9600 series, since people generally don't see this but still, 9600 gt is a 256 bit architecture and 8800 is a 384 bit. It does make a difference when you use for gaming

I can get a 384MB 8800GS card for about the same price as the 9600GT I picked originally. Which one offers the best value for money, and best performance?

[bluedragon 0]

 

Thanks for reading all that

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

here's a direct link for 8800 GT

 

Dont go for a GS version. Wait for price drop if you have to

 

This is one card thats worth every penny

 

 

as for 9600 GT, I would recommend it. Its not even performing as close to 8600 GT in many cases

 

I'll Say you go for an 8800 GT .. Its the best buy if you can get your hands on it

 

You can also consider 8800 GTS if you can find it. This version was better performer than the GT version. In many cases it could be compared to a GTX

 

 

I am writing all of this since I have a good friend who is stuck with 9600 GT. I don't want another friend making the same mistake that he made

[Stridr 0]

I really find that computer worth investing in, but personally I find DIY computers better.

[williamm 0]

I think you have a good computer going there, but i wouldn't play to much hard core games on that intel, It will most likely to over heat. If you clock it to much. Thats why i have a student computer that i built and then my gaming computer lol so much easier and don't have to worry so much about it. I think everything else is awesome though. I would go with the Nvida 8800 gt you will be amazed with it.That's the video card that i am working for right now. so that i can play crysis. I got that game for a graduation pressent and came to find that that i couldn't play it because of my video card. That sucks let me tell you lol.

[rvalkass 5]

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

here's a direct link for 8800 GT

 

Dont go for a GS version. Wait for price drop if you have to

 

This is one card thats worth every penny

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Graphics-Cards-Nvidia

 

It's only a 256MB card though, and the Zotac has a higher core clock speed. However, I agree with you that many reviews say the 8800 series is better than the 9600 series, so I'll certainly look into the card I linked above. The prices of everything else have dropped, so I can afford that little bit extra on the graphics.

 

I really find that computer worth investing in, but personally I find DIY computers better.

I am building it myself, if that's what you mean by DIY. Hence all this discussion of the components

 

I think you have a good computer going there, but i wouldn't play to much hard core games on that intel, It will most likely to over heat. If you clock it to much.

I'm probably not going to overclock the system - too much heat, and I'm aiming to be as quiet as possible. As for hard core games - I'm running Linux Depending on how far WINE gets with getting games to run, hard core games are not likely.

 

Thats why i have a student computer that i built and then my gaming computer lol so much easier and don't have to worry so much about it. I think everything else is awesome though. I would go with the Nvida 8800 gt you will be amazed with it.That's the video card that i am working for right now. so that i can play crysis. I got that game for a graduation pressent and came to find that that i couldn't play it because of my video card. That sucks let me tell you lol.

I still have my laptop, but if I find that I don't really need it, then I may well sell it to another student

[bluedragon 0]

Just a friendly reminder. Take care with the power supply with this card. Although this looks like any other card but 8800 series is a power hungry series. Although you've chosen a 520W corsair but to be on the safe side try looking for something around 750watt or a 1000watt modular. That will make your system future safe. since in case you put up more drives you will need extra power. as far as I know , the processor you've chosen E8500 is based on 45nm technology so it must be using around 100 watt approx or may be lessand the graphic card will use up around 200-300 watt when its working in full throttle.So that works up to 300-400 watt on just two things. If you are planning to put up may be another 8800 series later in SLI or may be 3-4 drives later. 520 would be less for your purpose. Otherwise, It should work fine.

Edited August 27, 2008 by bluedragon (see edit history)