NEW COMPUTER
Nov 15, 2001 at 1:52 AM Post #77 of 95
What acidtripwow was suggesting assumes that whoever is using the computer knows little or nothing about properly putting the components together. Otherwise, getting the components as described for that system as described in that SharkyExtreme article clearly gives you waaaaaay more bang for the buck.
 
Nov 15, 2001 at 2:12 AM Post #79 of 95
And for maximum gaming performance, companies such as Falcon Northwest and Alienware (both of which specialize in gaming PCs) configured Windows so that nearly all of those Startup items are disabled every time you start Windows.

Those companies generally use Asus motherboards - which may explain why their systems are somewhat more expensive than other brands' PCs with the same components save for the motherboard.

And their warranty service - though they offer only depot repair service as standard (rather than onsite repairs), they sweeten that depot service by offering to pick up your PC themselves, saving you the hassle of shipping it out yourself. Optional onsite repair service - if they offer any - will cost extra.
 
Nov 15, 2001 at 3:34 PM Post #80 of 95
First, I would like to thank all of you for your help. It was greatly appreciated.
Here is what I am going to order.
Monitor - Sony CPD-G400
Case - Tornado 3000 with fan upgrade, and ATX 300w power supply.
Motherboard + CPU - Biostar M7VIB DDR AMD ThunderBird socket A 1.4 ghz 266 FSB with CoolerMaster DP5 fan/heatsink.
Graphics card - ATI RADEON 8500 64mb DDP AGP.
Sound card - Yamaha LSI
Hard drive - Western Digital 60gb 7200 rpm with 2mb cache buffer.
Memory - 512mb PC2100 266mhz.
Modem - 56k U.S. Robotics
Software - Windows 2000 Professional
Hope I did OK? Thanks, Guys!
 
Nov 15, 2001 at 4:45 PM Post #81 of 95
I don't use the ATC200 any more. I have made a quiet PC in a 4U rackmount case lined with dynamat, everything mounted with rubber bushings. It's almost too heavy to lift comfortably but it does look a lot better and when the doors are closed it looks more like a power amplifier than a PC.
 
Nov 16, 2001 at 10:59 PM Post #83 of 95
You might want to swap the CoolerMaster heatsink for a Swiftech MCx62 (where x can be either 2,3, or 4, the higher the better but also more expensive). I know that the MC462 is considered one of the best heatsinks ever made, with a solid copper base and aluminum pins for heat dissipation. I'd replace the LOUD stock fan with something quieter tho, perhaps a maglev fan... (hey, if you can afford the $80 for the heatsink...)
 
Nov 16, 2001 at 11:10 PM Post #84 of 95
If you pay 80 bucks might as well get an active peltier cooling unit... Also made by swiftech. Actually its probaly not worth your while unless yuor power supply is massive since this peltier cooler draws 70-75 watts of power. I'd say you need 400 watts or more.
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 1:03 AM Post #85 of 95
For users not concerned with getting the last few MHz out of a radically overclocked chip the Peltier coolers are probably a lot more trouble than they are worth. Condensation on the refrigerated side of the device can destroy your mainboard. Then there's the power requirement - a Peltier can require from 35 watts upward (I've seen one insane 120W unit) and that might mean you have to pay more for a bigger power supply. Peltiers are for dedicated and experienced overclockers only, and it's difficult to show that the cost of the peltier, power supply, other materials (caulk etc.) and time is less than simply buying a faster CPU. Once upon a time there was the famous Celeron 300A which could be overclocked to 450MHz reliably, but gains are not so dramatic now.

If quiet is what you want the Noisecontrol Silverado is a great choice - very, very quiet, and a good performer too - see the Tom's Hardware heatsink roundup. You might have to order it from Germany but they delivery quickly and are reliable.

The MC462 is good, but as has been pointed out is quite noisy and I can tell you from experimentation that it stays noisy with any fan for the same reason that a stamped metal fan grille is noisy - there is a lot of resistance to the air flow. Also the method of mounting is a little more involved than the usual heatsinks, four screws attach through the AMD-specified mounting holes in a socket-A mainboard. If you will have to move the computer the MC462 is NOT for you, it is far too heavy to be swinging froma mainboard subject to sudden shocks. I have a MC462 also but it has been sitting on the shelf with all the other also-rans since the Silverado arrived.

Current heatsink inventory:
MC462
Kanie Hedgehog
Blizzard solid copper
Alpha PEP66

I can't remember all the ones that have been tried and then re-sold or discarded.
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 1:58 AM Post #86 of 95
The peltier cooler from swiftech supposedly doesn't have the problem with condensation because of it's design. I dont know that for sure but a review I read claimed such. If you are spending 80 bucks you might as well get the be all end all of cpu coolers.

I have personally found coolermaster coolers to be very efficient with slower and thus quiter fans. The heatsink I have now (thermalright SK6) really requires a fast and powerfull fan although the temperature on my 1200 athlon MP is only 37 deg celsius under full load for many hours w/7,000 rpm fan.

Just a warning to people w/ dual processor computers, i wasnt thinking when I bought my fans and I got some YStech 7200 rpm fans... Now singularly it wasnt THAT bad but when you put them together the vibrations phased in and out and that caused the most horrendous patterning of annoying noises that I have ever heard come from a computer... The noise grated my nerves so horribly that the mere thought of turning my computer on was sort of like the moment before grating my nails on a chalk board. Now I've got a couple of thermaltake fans and they are much better for noise althought they only run at 4,800 rpms.

I personally believe that noise takes precedence over raw performance in the arena of cooling.

aeberbach, have you seen the new heatsink coming out made by dynatron? It's a solid block of copper that they machined many thin fins out of. It supposedly beats any heatsink on the market.
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 5:59 AM Post #88 of 95
Quote:

Originally posted by ai0tron
Just a warning to people w/ dual processor computers...when you put them together the vibrations phased in and out and that caused the most horrendous patterning of annoying noises that I have ever heard come from a computer...


You got any samples, MP3's, .wav's? One man's noise is another man's sample source...
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 6:16 AM Post #89 of 95
Right now I have an Alpha 28-dB heatsink/fan combo on my Athlon 1.33 GHz (Asus A7V133 mobo). That's not the loud part, and it seems okay. Yes, as I said, I need to replace the power supply fan. I'm not interested in Peltier coolers because I certainly don't want a more-powerful power supply. It'll be more expensive, and the fan will probably be louder.
 
Nov 17, 2001 at 5:37 PM Post #90 of 95
ai0tron would those be the heatsinks formed from a solid block by shearing up successive slices of copper into fins? Reviews show that these work OK but it is not the performance improvement hoped. In any case until the Silverado stops cooling adequately I won't be changing. (yes it is that quiet! In fact an IBM 75GXP drive that I have in an external firewire enclosure now makes more noise than the entire computer)
 
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