Quiet New Build

[Bill_42]

Am planning to build a fast and quiet system very soon. I have already
bought an ANTEC SOLO case and an ANTEC TP-550 power supply (too big? loud?).
My case has a 120 MM 3-speed case fan with room for 2 additonal fans in
front of where the HDD's go.

I don't play any "real" games--though I play the occasional adventure game
such as Myst. Besides "the usual stuff", I do some development in Java and
C++ using resource heavy IDE programs. I'll use Windows XP and Linux for
now, and install Vista later.

I am planning to get

Core 2 Duo x6600 CPU (and start off with the "box" heat sink).
Gigabyte GA-965P DS-3 motherboard
Gigabyte 7600GT-Silent Pipe II (no fan!) graphics card
Creative X-fi (maybe)

For hard drives, I was considering the Western Digital Caviar (Sata II) 250
GB
and the Seagate Barracuda (Sata II) 320 GB.

The impression I've obtained from web browsing (which may or may not be
accurate ) is that the Seagate drive is much hotter and the Western Digital
drive much louder.

I am considering getting the Seagate Barracude HDD and a 3 speed fan for the
front of the case--does this seem like a reasonable decision or am I likely
to encounter heat problems? As I understand it, an additional case fan can
even affect the cooling of the fanless graphics card (which is supposed to
draw air in via convection from the rear of the case).

By the way, do the fans in the power supply (2x120mm here) help to draw air
from the case?


I would welcome any comments or feedback that may be helpful! I could also
use advice regarding choice of RAM--it seems that 1.8 volt RAM is strongly
preferred by these motherboards. It's easy enough to go to Crucial or
Corsair, but perhaps there's reliable less expensive choice?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Rod Speed]

Am planning to build a fast and quiet system very soon. I have
already bought an ANTEC SOLO case and an ANTEC TP-550 power supply (too big? loud?). My
case has a 120 MM 3-speed case fan with room for 2 additonal fans in front of where the
HDD's go.

I don't play any "real" games--though I play the occasional adventure
game such as Myst. Besides "the usual stuff", I do some development
in Java and C++ using resource heavy IDE programs. I'll use Windows
XP and Linux for now, and install Vista later.

I am planning to get

Core 2 Duo x6600 CPU (and start off with the "box" heat sink).
Gigabyte GA-965P DS-3 motherboard
Gigabyte 7600GT-Silent Pipe II (no fan!) graphics card
Creative X-fi (maybe)

For hard drives, I was considering the Western Digital Caviar (Sata II) 250 GB and the
Seagate Barracuda (Sata II) 320 GB.

Samsungs are quieter.

The impression I've obtained from web browsing (which may or may not be accurate ) is
that the Seagate drive is much hotter

Much is overstating it a tad.

and the Western Digital drive much louder.

Samsung is quieter than both.

I am considering getting the Seagate Barracude HDD and a 3 speed fan for the front of
the case--does this seem like a reasonable decision or am I likely to encounter heat
problems?

I'd use a Samsung and no fan there.

 

[Clint]

I've got the Seagate SATA 320 (7200.10), and I wouldn't consider my drive to
be quiet, unfortunately.

Clint