[Genetic]

I know now how important is the Power supply for a computer as a music source.

I'm planning to build a mainly music PC quiet system and the Phantom 350 seems, after much reading, to be the one I will buy. Please keep in mind that this PC will be an audio first and image distant second system.

Is the 350 could be a risky move on my part if (sorry it's in complete logical desorder):

1) I plan to get the Antec P-180 case with only 2 fans in operation. I wont install the third one since I have read that the one on the case top is the noisiest (I only hope I will be able to find Nexus 120mm fans in Canada.....

),

2) I will go AMD on this one,

3) I will use 2 soundcards, (E-mu 1212m and Chaintec)

4) I wont run power hungry applications,

5) I will use my Apple Cinema Display monitor,

6) Being not much of a video/gamer kind of guy I will probably try, on rare occasions, some DVDs (using a Plextor). Unless I'm completely erroneous I think that all video cards are quite equals about their DVD playback ability.

7) I will store a lot of music and will buy 4 HD (250g Samsung) to manage all that info, (500g are a bit pricey at the moment),

8) I'm realy sick of looking for connections under my desk. I know I'm asking a lot of my future PC, but for once I would like to put it directly on my desk (dont worry my desk is a modular kind and run around the entire room with the door as the only exception...

).

So what do you think about the fanless Phantom 350 for my user profile?

Many thanks in advance,

Amicalement

Dany

 

[lan]

Will you be trying to go as silent as possible with this PC? Here are some thoughts

0) Price difference between phantom and a 120mm based one is quite something. It's enough to offset difference of using 500gb harddrives? How will these harddrives be used? RAID?

1) I'd use only one case fan and the fan based PSU. It's the same amount of fans as 2 case fans and none in PSU

2) Can you wait for Intel Core 2 Duo? You could either run that or slow athlon 64 fanless.

3) why the chaintec?

4) audio encoding is power hungry since it uses the CPU but yeah it won't be done so often.

6) some video cards play back dvds better than others. It mostly relates to deinterlacing.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan Will you be trying to go as silent as possible with this PC? Here are some thoughts 0) Price difference between phantom and a 120mm based one is quite something. It's enough to offset difference of using 500gb harddrives? How will these harddrives be used? RAID? 1) I'd use only one case fan and the fan based PSU. It's the same amount of fans as 2 case fans and none in PSU 2) Can you wait for Intel Core 2 Duo? You could either run that or slow athlon 64 fanless. 3) why the chaintec? 4) audio encoding is power hungry since it uses the CPU but yeah it won't be done so often. 6) some video cards play back dvds better than others. It mostly relates to deinterlacing.

Thanks lan,

Now the part that was afraid of...trying to sound not too «techno moron»...

Since the PC will be at ear level on my desk I'm shooting for the best I can do in reducing noise.

0) I thought that all PSU fans were louder than an excellent case fan like the Nexus.
The hardrives will be 2 for the original info and 2 for back up. I could be very happy if I can find a way to used them in the more silent possible way. I'm afraid you will tell me that 2 X 500g is a quieter solution than 4 X 250g? If so I will do it.

1) I will try to find a realy good PSU with fan (like the SilentX). Are they getting noisier when they get more powerfull? 350W---»500W...

2) If the Intel core is available by the end of august I could wait for it. I suppose they will be more silent that the existing AMD? In that case I'll wait a few more months.

3) The E-MU will be the main card and the Chaintec will be to have fun with a California dac I have in storage.

4) On the contrary I have a great deal of CDs to put in there. And the CD stock is constantly evolving. In definitive the encoding part will be a very frequent operation with dozens of CDs each time.

6) I will be on my gard about that part.
Deinterlacing...

I will ask for a card that can do it well. Thanks.

Thanks a lot.

Amicalement

 

[Sycraft]

For the P180, a fanless powersupply isn't a good idea. Your harddrives and powersupply are isolated in a seperate chamber. It relies in part on cooling comming from the PS. If you have a fanless PS that just blocks the flow of air, I suppose it still might work with a fan installed (though I found the HD cables ran in to the fan). I would look at a NeoPower HE instead. They have a quiet, slow spinning fan.

The real trick is just to get a motherboard that supports a lot of vairable speed fans and have it control them. That way, when the system is idling the fans will do little and make little noise, however the cooling is there if it's needed. Playing music would count as idling, by the way, it uses little power. DVD playbackw ill kick things up a bit and generate more heat.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sycraft For the P180, a fanless powersupply isn't a good idea. Your harddrives and powersupply are isolated in a seperate chamber. It relies in part on cooling comming from the PS. If you have a fanless PS that just blocks the flow of air, I suppose it still might work with a fan installed (though I found the HD cables ran in to the fan). I would look at a NeoPower HE instead. They have a quiet, slow spinning fan. The real trick is just to get a motherboard that supports a lot of vairable speed fans and have it control them. That way, when the system is idling the fans will do little and make little noise, however the cooling is there if it's needed. Playing music would count as idling, by the way, it uses little power. DVD playbackw ill kick things up a bit and generate more heat.

Thanks Sycraft,

Seems that the fanless powersupply is getting the KO...

I will look into the NeoPower PSU solution as well.

Thanks,

Amicalement

 

[lan]

Yeah having it sit at ear level is a bit of a challange noise wise. Have you visited the silentpcreview.com forums?

The loudness of the PSU fan still depends on it's stability and frequency of the noise.

The Samsung 250GB harddrives are pretty cool and quiet (I have one). If it were me, I wouldn't have too many harddrives inside the computer but have them in another room.

1) You don't really need a better PSU 350W is fine for your computer. That is enough for mine and I have faster running CPU and video card.

2) The intel new core 2 cpus generate less heat so should require less cooling solution.

6) Look for a cheap fanless ati or nvidia card with the nice deinterlacing capabilities. For nvidia now it is the 6600 series with Purevideo. I don't remember what the ATI equivalent it.

--lan

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan Yeah having it sit at ear level is a bit of a challange noise wise. Have you visited the silentpcreview.com forums? The loudness of the PSU fan still depends on it's stability and frequency of the noise. The Samsung 250GB harddrives are pretty cool and quiet (I have one). If it were me, I wouldn't have too many harddrives inside the computer but have them in another room. 1) You don't really need a better PSU 350W is fine for your computer. That is enough for mine and I have faster running CPU and video card. 2) The intel new core 2 cpus generate less heat so should require less cooling solution. 6) Look for a cheap fanless ati or nvidia card with the nice deinterlacing capabilities. For nvidia now it is the 6600 series with Purevideo. I don't remember what the ATI equivalent it. --lan

Yes I did read many articles published at SilentPCreview. I wont pretend that I can make a much wiser choice but it was enough to learn thay many salepersons in PC shopps are charlatans. I had many contradictory advices in the same visit on the same floor.....

1) I wont try to make things worst with a run for a bigger PSU.

2) Everybody was so enthousiast with the AMD solution that I never took time to read for new Intel products line.

6) Sounds....no it's looks great....

I certainly will search for these nvidia cards.

Time is not a problem, my PC will go back to my university/boss/tyran at the summer end. About the time table to complete the PC, I'm realy ashamed to admit that I have a nice Head-Fier who took time to mod my E-MU and I still dont have any clue on how good it sound...

Again thanks for your time lan.

Amicalement

Dany