[slinkelist] Recommendation for quiet PC?

[kgeoffrion]

Dylan,

I had just started looking for a new system when I saw your reply.  Maybe
building my own system does make the most sense -- none of the commercial
systems seem to have exactly what one would want.  I glanced through the
HTPC forum.  It looks like there's some interesting experiences and
information available there.  Quick question: have you found any one source
of components better than average?  Or, do you buy each piece whereever you
can find the best deal?

Thanks for your feedback!

Ken


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dylan Ginsburg" <Dylan.Ginsburg@OneSoft.com>
To: <slinkelist@nirvis.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 2:00 PM
Subject: FW: [slinkelist] Recommendation for quiet PC?


> Are you willing to build it yourself or are you only interested in
> prepackaged PC's? If you are interested in building it yourself I can give
> you some pointers.
>
> First, there is a lot of discussion on this topic over at the HTPC forum
at
> http://www.avsforum.com . I suggest searching the forum for past
> discussions.
>
> There are 5 components that make noise in a typical PC. Here are my
> suggestions:
>
> Antec black desktop case. Antec power supplies are quiet with a variable
> fan. The case is about the size of a large receiver and it doesn't look
out
> of place in an audio equipment rack. Be sure to get a floppy and CD/DVD
with
> a black bezel.
>
> Golden Orb CPU fan. Some people have also tried underclocking their CPU's
> and using passive cooling. I don't know if they've been successful. If you
> feel like being really geeky you could go all out with some sort of water
> based cooling solution that should be nearly silent. But that's pretty
hard
> core.
>
> Quantum LCT15 or Samsung V10200 series hard drives. These drives are
> specifically engineered to be quiet. Don't overlook the importance of
> getting a quiet hard drive. While they may not measure as high on the
> decibel meter as the fans, I find some drives produce a high pitched whine
> that is more obnoxious than their SPL reading would suggest. Even though
you
> only need a 3 GB drive I strongly suggest that you not pick up an older
> model. All of the drive manufacturers have made great strides in just the
> past year or two in quieting their drives.
>
> If you want a modern video card then I suggest the Geforce2 MX because it
> only requires passive cooling (no fan). There are models with s-video
> output. If you don't care about 3D graphics and want to save some money
you
> could pick up any number of older video cards on ebay. I'm partial to
Matrox
> 2D cards myself but I've payed attention to video out so I don't know
which
> cards may have offered it.
>
> I don't know much about relative volume levels of CD/DVD drives. A lot of
> people on the HTPC forum - including myself - use the Toshiba black DVD
> drive. It's quieter than a lot of the newer high speed CD/DVD drives and
it
> looks good in a black case. This drive is not made anymore but you can get
> it at http://www.overstock.com . If this computer is going to be on a home
> network you could even consider skipping the CD/DVD altogether. For the OS
> installation you could temporarily put the new hard drive in one of you
> other computers and copy the entire Windows CD onto the drive. From then
on,
> you can just access a shared CD on another computer when you need it.
>
> -Dylan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Schaffer [mailto:j.schaffer@snet.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 2:43 PM
> To: slinkelist@nirvis.com
> Subject: [slinkelist] Recommendation for quiet PC?
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I was wondering if anyone could recommend a model of PC that is
> particularly *quiet*. I need to operate it on my living/listening
> room, and really want to keep the noise level to a minimum. The
> machine will be dedicated to running CDJ, Timbuktu (remote control
> software), and occasionally IE.
>
> Here's a kind of a target configuration:
>
> Absolute minimum:
>
> Cost < $1,000
> Quiet!
> Small (desktop or tiny tower)
> 500MHz or faster
> 96MB RAM minimum
> 3GB Hard drive minimum
> CD-ROM drive
> Video card to support 1024x768 or larger in True Color
> 10/100Base-T Ethernet
>
> Highly desirable:
>
> Cost  closer to $500
> Windows 2000
> Video out (or PCI slot to add) for TV connection
> Digital Audio input/output (or 2nd PCI slot)
> Serial (or USB-only for $100 less)
> FireWire (IEEE 1394) port
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Jeff
>
>
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