My First AMD System

[lightiv]

Here is what I have come up with so far for my system. Please give your thoughts. Most everything here is suggestion from you all here and at AVSForum.

What case would you recommend to be the quietest and coolest. Also is the Corsair a good choice in memory.

Motherboard..................Tyan K8WE S2895UA2NRF (SCSI) (Dual AMD Opteron)

CPU w/Fan.........x2........AMD Opteron 244

Memory (1GB)...512x2...Corsair CM72SD512RLP-3200 512MB DDR400 PC3200

Hard Drive.........x2........HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 - SATA II

Video Card....................XFX GeFORCE 6800 GT 256MB DDR PCI EXPRESS W/ TVO & DVI - RETAIL BOX

Sound Card...................CHAINTECH AV-710 8 (7.1) Channels

Case.............................UNDECIDED

Power Supply.................Antec TRUE550 EPS12V EPS12V 550W Power Supply

 

[imported_Kensai]

Nice. An E-ATX board. I'll suggest the Lian Li V2000. Very nice case. I got two for myself. Slightly expensive though. Roomy though. ^_^

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Nice system. Id also suggest anything that fits E-ATX from Lian Li.

 

[lightiv]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Nice. An E-ATX board. I'll suggest the Lian Li V2000. Very nice case. I got two for myself. Slightly expensive though. Roomy though. ^_^

$240 @ newegg.com. It makes me light headed.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

These guys know what they're talking about
http://www.silentpcreview.com/index.php

Although I'm picking up a Lian Li, I don't recommend aluminium cases for sound or cooling. Steel is quieter, the heavier the better. The radiating effect of aluminium cases is minimal at best. And tons of little holes are harder to silence than a few bigger ones.

Seasonic makes some very strong, very quiet power supplies.

Newegg has this corsair xms 2x512 pack for less than 2 of those single sticks.
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450

The Hitachi may not be the quietest drive in town.

Good luck

 

[lightiv]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
These guys know what they're talking about
http://www.silentpcreview.com/index.php

Although I'm picking up a Lian Li, I don't recommend aluminium cases for sound or cooling. Steel is quieter, the heavier the better. The radiating effect of aluminium cases is minimal at best. And tons of little holes are harder to silence than a few bigger ones.

Seasonic makes some very strong, very quiet power supplies.

Newegg has this corsair xms 2x512 pack for less than 2 of those single sticks.
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450

The Hitachi may not be the quietest drive in town.

Good luck

Thanks for the info. The RAM for my mobo has to be Registered/Buffered.

 

[0roo0roo]

seasonic in hotdeals forum if i remember correcntly

 

[Promethply]

The quietness/loudness of a case is affected by the sum of all its components, especially the fans.

The CM Stacker has excellent airflow (cooling), and expandability, and with the supplied fans it is relatively quiet, and accomodates both ATX and BTX formfactors:

COOLER MASTER CM Stacker STC-T01-UWK Silver/Black Computer Case

 

[Operandi]

Promethply is right, case material is insignificant compared to what you put inside it. Steel or AL; it dosn't really matter, you're choice of componets could use some work though.

CPU heat sinks: Thermalright XP-90, or Zalman 7000ALCu if they fit. If not the Alpha PAL8150 + Panaflo M1A is the next best but more expensive option.

HD: For quietness go for Diamond Max 10's, Seagate 7200.8's or Samsung SpinPoint's.

Video Card: You will defiantly want to replace the stock heat sink. The best option is the Zalman VF-700.

Case: I would get the Lian-Li PC-V2100B

PSU: If you want quite you don't want Antec. Seasonic make some the best PSU's in the industry and the happen to be the quietest as well. check out the new S12 line.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: Operandi
PSU: If you want quite you don't want Antec. Seasonic make some the best PSU's in the industry and the happen to be the quietest as well. check out the new S12 line.

Have you tried the newest TruePower II series? Single 120mm fan rated at 23dba. I know people rave about the Seasonic PSUs like crazy around here, but w/ a $50 premium over the Antec PSUs, I don't think so.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: Operandi
PSU: If you want quite you don't want Antec. Seasonic make some the best PSU's in the industry and the happen to be the quietest as well. check out the new S12 line.

Have you tried the newest TruePower II series? Single 120mm fan rated at 23dba. I know people rave about the Seasonic PSUs like crazy around here, but w/ a $50 premium over the Antec PSUs, I don't think so.

No, but have you? Antec may rate it at 23 dBA but that doesn?t necessarily mean a whole lot. I've used several Seansonics they are the quietest PSU's you can get short of PSU cooled units, which are pointless anyways. Seasonic may expensive but they are better in all regards compared to your typical Antec, you get what you pay for.

 

[Baked]

And the same can be said about all the Antec Smart and True series PSUs I've used.

 

[wisdomtooth]

I for one would wait for reviews on the TruePower II to come out before buying one.

I still remember the fiasco behind my decision to purchase a Thermaltake "Silent Purepower" without searching for reviews when in fact it turned out to sound like a moaning Frankenstein. :laugh:

Also, Antecs typically run at around 70% efficiency. Efficiency is one of the reasons why Seasonics run so quiet-- At 80% efficiency throughout its operating range, less waste heat is generated by the Seasonic so it can run with a slower fan for more quietness. It remains to be seen if TruePower II has improved on this, but it would be welcome news if it did.

I would stick with the Seasonic for now if quietness and cooling is important-- Seasonics are a known quantity at this time.

 

[lightiv]

Which model Seasonic do you recommend?

 

[wisdomtooth]

Our fellow poster on these forums Ribbon13 is also running a dualie Opteron I think. He uses a Seasonic S12-600.

HTH.

 

[lightiv]

Thanks for all of the advice. Here is the final system configuration to include cost and sources. I'm one of the original "Wounded Monitor Children" so I was concerned about ordering from Buy.com but that concern proved unnecessary as the motherboard is already in the mail and I have my tracking number. Way to go Buy.com. This motherboard was difficult to find in stock.

Motherboard.............$594.15.....Tyan - 8131 DP PGA940 MAX-16GB DDR SSI 2PCIE 3PCIX PCI GBE2 U320 SATA - S2895UA2NRF

CPU w/Fan.......x2......$499.64.....AMD Opteron 244 SledgeHammer 400MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache Socket 940 Processor

Memory (1GB)....512x2...$174.56.....Corsair CM72SD512RLP-3200 512MB DDR400 PC3200

Hard Drive......x2......$130.38.....HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 - SATA II

Video Card..............$409.....Leadtek PX6800 GT TDH 256MB DDR3/PCI-E/HDTV-Out/DVI

Sound Card..............$28.81.....CHAINTECH AV-710 8 (7.1) Channels

Case....................$275.....Lian-Li PC-V2000B Aluminum

Power Supply............$135.25.....SEASONIC S12-500 ULTRAQUIE_T 500W PSU

Total Cost: $2246.79

 

[wisdomtooth]

lightiv:

Atacom also has the S12-600 for $140 when I checked last night. Maybe you want to go for that.

HTH!

 

[lightiv]

Thanks for the thought. I order everything except the MOBO last night. The MOBO was ordered last Thrusday/Friday.

 

[Operandi]

Looks good but if you truly want a quiet system you'll want to change the stock cooling of the Opterons and 6800GT. As quiet as the Seasonic is it won't matter with loud CPU and VGA fans.

Also keep in mind you may want to swap out the fans in the Lian Li or at least under volt the stock Adda's.

 

[lightiv]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Looks good but if you truly want a quiet system you'll want to change the stock cooling of the Opterons and 6800GT. As quiet as the Seasonic is it won't matter with loud CPU and VGA fans.

Also keep in mind you may want to swap out the fans in the Lian Li or at least under volt the stock Adda's.

Do you have specific replacement ideas?

Thanks

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: lightiv

Originally posted by: Operandi
Looks good but if you truly want a quiet system you'll want to change the stock cooling of the Opterons and 6800GT. As quiet as the Seasonic is it won't matter with loud CPU and VGA fans.

Also keep in mind you may want to swap out the fans in the Lian Li or at least under volt the stock Adda's.

Do you have specific replacement ideas?

Thanks

Yeah, I listed some in my original post actually. For the 6800GT the best option is the Zalman VF-700. For your dual Opterons it depends on how much space you have access to. If they will fit the best options would be the Zalman 7000ALCu or Thermalright XP-90 with a 92mm Panaflo L or M1A. Otherwise the Alpha PAL8150 + 80mm Panaflo should have no problems fitting, its just a bit more expensive.

Also keep in mind the VF-700 runs at 12v stock, which isn't loud but isn't exactly quiet either, I would suggest running it at reduced speeds. You can use something like this to run it at a fixed 5v or what I've done with all the systems I build is tie the VF-700's fan into one of the CPU headers with a Y splitter. The CPU fan is thermally controlled so at idle both the CPU and VGA fans will be running at low speeds, and very low noise. During load both the CPU and VGA fans will ramp up as temp increases.

 

[lightiv]

I got the Lian-Li PC-V2000B case which I hope would give plenty of space but I guess I'll have to get the system put together to be sure of space.

 

[lightiv]

Wow I received the parts to my system and man the case (Lian-Li PC V2000B) is huge and those Zalman 7000Cu Led are big and heavy. The FedEx person should be bring the K8WE within the hour and I will start putting things together.

The case instruction fail to describe what the 7 black swivel things with matching silver screws are for. Can some one share.