[Deadfan]

Hi, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a new computer system. Toyed with the idea of building my own, but I just don't have the time and expertise. So, I ordered a system from JNCS.com using their online configure feature and some advice on the phone.

We want this desktop system to use as the main computer at home with my wife using it for web, email and light word and excel. I would use it to access my work through a VPN. I want to store all my music in FLAC format and we want to store family pictures, etc.

As far as listening, I have a bunch of mid-fi/vintage gear, along with a IAudio X5 with Ety4p and Allesandro MS-1 (thwanks Head-Fi) and am migrating slowly toward computrer as a source. For now, though I am only intending to use the PC to store and manage mucis. I figured I could buy a good sound card and monitor later as needed. Note: the guy from JNCS said that the motherboard has its own sound--is that right?!

So, I was hoping to avoid just buying a Dell in favor of some better, quieter components.

I'll list the components below to seek thoughts/recommendations or warnings of "don't buy that!!"

Another Q: I thought I wanted a first hard drive for the op system and other software with a second hard drive for storage. The guy suggested that I just get two 250gig drives and have everything saved to both. What do you think about that?

Here are the components and thanks in advance:

Warranty: 3-years on all system components
Case: Antec Sonata (latest version)
Motherboard MFG/Model: Asus A8N-SLI Premium
CPU Type/Speed: AMD Athlon64 XP3700+; Athlon64 and FX, 939-pin, also X2 Dual-core
Chipset: NVidia nForce 4 SLI
PCI Slots: 3
Video Type: PCI Express x16, or dual SLI PCI Express X16 slots running at x8
Note: All PCI Express cards supported in single video card mode
Two Identical SLI-Ready PCI Express cards supported in SLI mode
5 5.25inch Drive Bays
1 80mm Fan
1 120mm Fan
Audio In/Out
Memory Usage: DDR 3200 (Paired); 1 Gb DDR Kingston PC3200 (2x 512 Mb)
Drive Support: 4 SATA (RAID), 4 EIDE (33/66/100/133), 4 add'l RAID SATA (Silicon Image)
Onboard:
- Sound Realtek 850 (8 channel 7.1)
- USB 2.0 (4 on-board + 3 headers for add'l 6)
- Marvell PHY Network 10/100/1000
- Nforce-4 10/100/1000
- Firewire (1394a)
- Serial ATA, SATA-RAID
Power Supply: CoolerMaster Realpower 550 Watt (ps-cm-atx-550)
First Hard Drive(s): 2 Seagate 250 Gb SATA (NCQ)
1st CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On DVD-ROM (Black)
2nd CD/DVD Drive: Lite-On CD-RW, DVD-RW, Black
Video: MSI 6600GT 128mb PCI-E
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Pro (Installed; includes CD&key)
Floppy Drive: yes
Notes: This version has a heat-pipe from the northbridge to the heatsink on the voltage regulator. It does not require a fan on the northbridge. It also uses software switchable SLI mode, does not require the hardware switch technique that the A8N-SLI Deluxe uses.

Cost: $1600

 

[sgrossklass]

First off, that system is, err, a bit oversized.

Case: Seems to be popular, but needn't be the best. Read what the guys on SPCR have to say about it.
CPU: The slowest Venice core Athlon64 would still be plenty (while running cooler). Don't remember what that is - 3000+, 3200+? Which cooler do they intend to use? You want something quiet, of course.
Graphics: Passive cooling would be important, and analog signal quality if you still got an oldstyle CRT (hint: a good 19" or 20" widescreen LCD no longer costs a fortune these days; OIC, you wrote you may want to buy that l8r), gaming performance certainly is not. Performance wise, a mere X300 SE would do for your purposes.
Board: Bit oversized too, but nice. No nasty chipset howler, thankfully. Don't bother with the onboard sound (a standard feature these days, btw), better get a Revo 5.1 or 0404.
Memory: 1 gig seems like a good size these days.
PSU: 550 W seems like a touch oversized. A *good* 350 watter should also do, perhaps a Seasonic SS-351FT/HT.
Harddrives: How many 3.5" drive bays does the case have? If it's 5, you could install a 74 gig Raptor and two quick 250 giggers (Hitachi T7K250, for example, like I have) with enough space in between, in case of less bays you may want to look at a WD4000KD or 7K500 (the fastest current 7200 rpm drives and quicker than even the Raptor in some applications) with a 250 gig Hitachi, Seagate or Samsung for "backups" (a real backup is something that resides in a secure location outside your comp and can be restored if needed). For optimum quietness, harddrives should be decoupled.
Opticals: Inefficient setup. A good DVD burner should do. The current NECs seem to be pretty good again, LGs aren't a bad choice either. Lite-On is better known for noisy drives.
Floppy: Can be helpful enough in some situations that it's definitely a good idea to include one.
Fans: It might not hurt to know which ones.

Incidentally, this is what I use for music and everything else:

Siemens Xpert case with fan-modded 110 W Astec PSU (used to house a consumer vomit box), Asus P2B-D rev. 1.06 PCBA D03, 2x PIII-667 FCPGA @ 500 MHz (with smallish passive coolers) on modded MSI 6905 Masters, 704 MiB SDRAM, 250 gig PATA Hitachi T7K250 plus Samsung SV0802N on Promise Ultra100TX2, LG GSA-4040B on onboard IDE, 2x Terratec Aureon Sky (one flashed to Prodigy), Intel PRO/100 S Desktop NIC, one AC Fan Pro TC 80 mm case fan. Sure I could use some more horsepower (for Audacity and FLAC and LAME, mainly), but (a) I'm too broke for a new comp (particularly since I'd like to gual dual again, which would mean dualcore), (b) the new comp would have to be just as quiet if not quieter and (c) it preferably should not draw signficantly more energy (and *that* would collide with dualcore and the efficiency of current PSUs at low load).

 

[Deadfan]

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I reviewed the info you suggested and spoke with the guy at JNCS and came up with at least one change. This process is a little challenging in that I really don't have time to learn it and build it myself, but wanted to take some steps toward better quieter components. I'm thinking I'll likely end up using this system as a starting point, and swap out components as my needs change.

So, I expect to use this computer for very basic home computing; music management, storage and some listening; picture management and storage; and some modest gaming (I don't do gaming but my kids are 5 and 8--so it's coming). In other words--I don't need to be too extreme.

I also got a reply from a post on SPCR that I am considering: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=27190

In terms of the case, JNCS said they could use the Antec P-150 or 180. The planned Antec Sonata II would come with it's own 550 watt [i think]? power supply that he said was relatively quiet. Should I push for the 150/180? He suggested that the only downside to Sonata II might be the lack of cooling for a high end video card.

CPU: He recommended I stick with the Athlon64 3700, but agreed to remove the small noisy fan in favor of a larger, slower fan (Coolermaster hyper48). I hope that helps.

Graphics: He agreed to switch to a passively cooled 6600GT. He said the 6600GT is a good gaming card for our needs and will retain some flexibility going forward to be able to play a game like Madden for example.

Monitor: I'll check out a nice LCD in the near term.

Soundcard: I'll probably buy a nice modded card from a head-fier.

Opticals: I probably would never copy disc to disc, but the guy suggested that there may be times when two disc drives would be operating. What's recommended here?

Any other thoughts welcomed. Thanks! Mike

 

[fjf]

I second the recommendation to lower your CPU if you are not an extreme gamer; faster CPUs require more cooling, more fans, more noise. Go down to 3000-3500, more than enough power and a lot cheaper. Get the P180 case, a thermalright XP90 cooler for the CPU with a silent fan (90 mm nexus, panaflo, papst or similar). Finally, get a seasonic power supply S12-430. In http://www.silentpcreview.com/ there is a lot about silent computing.