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rpgs rock dvds
My objective was to build a very quiet PC, with above average power/
speed.
Components:
Case (Antec P182)
PSU (Corsair, 520W, 520HX)
Mobo (Asus P5K Premium, Black pearl edition, socket 775, P35
chipset)
CPU (Intel Wolfdale E8400, 3ghz)
CPU (cheap Celeron, replaced this when E8400 became available)
CPU cooler (ThermalRight, U-Extreme-120)
CPU fan (Noctua case fan, 800 rpm)
Graphics (eVGA 8800GT, not factory oc'd)
Graphics cooler (ThermalRight, HR03GT)
Graphics fan (Acoustifan, 92mm)
HDD (Western Digital green power, 500gb)
HDD cooler (Smart Drive 2002c)
ODD (Samsung Writemaster DVD)
RAM (Kingston Hyperx 800mhz, DDR2)
Cleaning (Artic Silver 2 bottle kit, used when stock coolers were
removed)
Sound (Creative X-Fi extreme gamer)
Re noise: My new PC sits about 50cm away from me, it sounds like a
small desktop fan on it's very lowest setting. The results are good.
Idle temperatures: CPU 22, GPU core 39, HDD 29, System 26
Run some reasonably demanding apps: CPU 30, GPU core 45, HDD 31,
System 30
Re temps, replacing all stock coolers was difficult (for a noob) but
worth it.
Component comments:
Case ~ big & heavy, awkward PSU install, not easy for 1st time noob,
good fan placement.
PSU ~ quiet, not cheap.
CPU cooler ~ staggering performance, difficult install for a noob.
I'm just using it with a Noctua case fan running at 800rpm, and temp
is excellent. I run "DOSBox" and hit high CPU load, and cannot get
CPU to rise above 30C.
Graphics cooler ~ very good performance, takes up space, fiddly
install for noob.
Wolfdale CPU ~ have I got this installed right? - I don't sense
great improvement over Celeron which incidentally represents superb
value for money ATM.
Mobo ~ silent fanless design, lots of oc'ing options, not cheap,
slow website, no phone support, emails answered between 2-4 days.
RAM ~ not cheap, shows up as 667mhz on mobo POST even though it's
advertised as 800mhz. (Fixable via oc'ing most probably)
Noctua fan ~ constant ticking sound, can just hear when PC case is
shut.
8800GT graphics ~ ok, nothing outstanding, runs nZone nVidia demos
noticeably slowly. (Bought non-oc'd version)
HDD ~ Very quiet and quite fast.
DVD ~ Not too noisy, most of the time. Re noise, it's far from
perfect.
HDD cooler ~ very good noise surpression and cooling.
X-Fi ~ MP3s sound "detailed and lively".
Graphics fan ~ almost soundless at 525rpm, and just fine for non-oc
8800GT + ThermalRight HR03GT.
I'd recommend all of these (best first):
ThermalRight CPU cooler, Celeron CPU, Smart Drive 2002c, WD HDD,
ThermalRight graphics cooler, Creative X-Fi, Acoustifan graphics fan.
I'd recommended all of these, but IMHO they're not perfect (best
first):
Antec case, 8800GT (non-oc), Asus mobo, Samsung DVD, Noctua fan,
Kingston RAM.
I wouldn't recommend the Wolfdale CPU, although perhaps I'm missing
something. (I did flash the BIOS BTW.)
Don't get mad if there's something you disagree with - I'm just a
noob, these are just my own humble thoughts, I may have made some
mistakes, ignore everything if you like.
Build time: 8 lots of 3 hours.
Regards, Robert.
speed.
Components:
Case (Antec P182)
PSU (Corsair, 520W, 520HX)
Mobo (Asus P5K Premium, Black pearl edition, socket 775, P35
chipset)
CPU (Intel Wolfdale E8400, 3ghz)
CPU (cheap Celeron, replaced this when E8400 became available)
CPU cooler (ThermalRight, U-Extreme-120)
CPU fan (Noctua case fan, 800 rpm)
Graphics (eVGA 8800GT, not factory oc'd)
Graphics cooler (ThermalRight, HR03GT)
Graphics fan (Acoustifan, 92mm)
HDD (Western Digital green power, 500gb)
HDD cooler (Smart Drive 2002c)
ODD (Samsung Writemaster DVD)
RAM (Kingston Hyperx 800mhz, DDR2)
Cleaning (Artic Silver 2 bottle kit, used when stock coolers were
removed)
Sound (Creative X-Fi extreme gamer)
Re noise: My new PC sits about 50cm away from me, it sounds like a
small desktop fan on it's very lowest setting. The results are good.
Idle temperatures: CPU 22, GPU core 39, HDD 29, System 26
Run some reasonably demanding apps: CPU 30, GPU core 45, HDD 31,
System 30
Re temps, replacing all stock coolers was difficult (for a noob) but
worth it.
Component comments:
Case ~ big & heavy, awkward PSU install, not easy for 1st time noob,
good fan placement.
PSU ~ quiet, not cheap.
CPU cooler ~ staggering performance, difficult install for a noob.
I'm just using it with a Noctua case fan running at 800rpm, and temp
is excellent. I run "DOSBox" and hit high CPU load, and cannot get
CPU to rise above 30C.
Graphics cooler ~ very good performance, takes up space, fiddly
install for noob.
Wolfdale CPU ~ have I got this installed right? - I don't sense
great improvement over Celeron which incidentally represents superb
value for money ATM.
Mobo ~ silent fanless design, lots of oc'ing options, not cheap,
slow website, no phone support, emails answered between 2-4 days.
RAM ~ not cheap, shows up as 667mhz on mobo POST even though it's
advertised as 800mhz. (Fixable via oc'ing most probably)
Noctua fan ~ constant ticking sound, can just hear when PC case is
shut.
8800GT graphics ~ ok, nothing outstanding, runs nZone nVidia demos
noticeably slowly. (Bought non-oc'd version)
HDD ~ Very quiet and quite fast.
DVD ~ Not too noisy, most of the time. Re noise, it's far from
perfect.
HDD cooler ~ very good noise surpression and cooling.
X-Fi ~ MP3s sound "detailed and lively".
Graphics fan ~ almost soundless at 525rpm, and just fine for non-oc
8800GT + ThermalRight HR03GT.
I'd recommend all of these (best first):
ThermalRight CPU cooler, Celeron CPU, Smart Drive 2002c, WD HDD,
ThermalRight graphics cooler, Creative X-Fi, Acoustifan graphics fan.
I'd recommended all of these, but IMHO they're not perfect (best
first):
Antec case, 8800GT (non-oc), Asus mobo, Samsung DVD, Noctua fan,
Kingston RAM.
I wouldn't recommend the Wolfdale CPU, although perhaps I'm missing
something. (I did flash the BIOS BTW.)
Don't get mad if there's something you disagree with - I'm just a
noob, these are just my own humble thoughts, I may have made some
mistakes, ignore everything if you like.
Build time: 8 lots of 3 hours.
Regards, Robert.
