New BIY PC, Advice requested

[Umfriend]

Hi all,

I need a new machine. It is supposed to be an upgrade from my current A64 X2 4400+ (2.2Ghz) with 2Gb DDR400 memory, a Geforce 6150 and a Quadra FX-240 (I think), so driving 3 screens.

It's mainly work related, SQL-Server for analysis of larger datasets (so far always less than 2GB per database in use), Excel/VBA. but I'd like to game a bit as well. In that respect, it needs to perform better than my laptop (Geforce 7400M) and my daughters PC (Athlon II X240, 4 Gb and a Geforce 130).

I want it to be *silent* and I'd like it to be cheap. Here's what I had in mind (apologies for lousy formatting):
Thing Product Price
Case Antec P-183 124.9
PSU be quiet! Pure Power BQT L7 350W 37.99

MB GigaByte GA-MA770T-UD3 71.9
CPU AMD Athlon II X2 240e (4GT/s) / 45W TDP 76.9
Heatsink SilverStone NT06-E v3 (passive) 34.99
Ram Kingston ValueRAM 4 GB DDR3-1333 Kit, Retail, KVR1333D3N9K2/4G 99.9

Gfx Asus EAH5570 SILENT/DI/1GD2 79.9
Gfx nVida Quadro FX240 PCI - passive, From current machine)


Hd-1 (Boot) Western Digital WD10EARS 69.9
Hd-2 (Raid 0) WD Velicoraptor 73GB - From current machine)
Hd-3 (Raid 0) WD Velicoraptor 73GB - From current machine)
Hd-4 500 GB as backup device - From current machine)
DVD From current Machine
Win 7 UK Pro 129.9
Total 726.28

Would this prove to be an upgrade from my current situation? Do I need DDR3-1333 or is DDR3-1066 sufficient given MB/CPU? Am I cutting myself short with taking a 770 based board?

[Jammrock]

The case is an excellent choice. I have a P180 mini and it's very quiet.

If you want quiet though all those disks won't help. I know this probably isn't in your budget but if you want quiet get a ~100 GB SSD for you boot drive, put all those drives in a NAS enclosure and stick it in a closet or another room.

The processor is a tough call. For SQL a quad-core will do you better, like the AMD Phenom II X4 905e (65W TDP), but for gaming, which is not good at multi-threading yet, the higher clock speeds are better.

The heatsink looks nice but you'll have to get a fan for it since the PSU is mounted on the bottom of the Antec P-183. You would only need an 800 RPM 120mm fan, which is very quiet.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=NT06-E&area=usa

An alternate is the Zalman line of heatsinks. They have good designs and are always very quiet as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110574+50001647&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&Subcategory=574&description=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

The 770 is a good board. I use one and haven't had any issues with it. The 880GX has some nice features on it, USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gbps, etc., but unless you plan on taking advantage of those techs in the near future it's not really worth it. Though it may be nice for future proofing.

RAM speed... may speed things up some in benchmarks but you probably won't notice the difference.

[TransformX]

The CPU I'd opt for would be AMD Phenom II X4 905e Deneb 2.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 65W Quad-Core Processor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103682

Yes, it's much more expensive, but you'll get much more from a Phenom, as well as being much more future proof.

edit: re Jammrock's post above me, the 905e will more than probably blow the 240 out of the water due to the much larger cache. In general, Phenoms are considered to be more powerful clock for clock than the Athlons, but I might be wrong.

As for gaming, the 5570 isn't really there..
For a bit more money, you could get something like one of these:
POWERCOLOR Go! Green AX5670 1GBD5-NS3H Radeon HD 5670
POWERCOLOR SCS3 AX5750 1GBD5-S3DH Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
GIGABYTE GV-N98TSL-1GI GeForce 9800 GT 1GB Silent Cell 256-bit GDDR3

[Evildead666]

I would also go for a larger heatsink if it is at all possible, or just add a fan.
As TransformX says, it will be near silent, and probably quieter than the HDD's...some ventilation is always best, even if its just a little breeze.

I would also go with a 5750, its a very capable card, and it also should be found in passive form, or near passive.

[KRSESQ]

With all those hard drives I suggest a more powerful power supply. 500 watts or better.

I like lots of overhead in the PSU dept.

Kevin

[Umfriend]

Thanks so far guys!
- A NAS is not an option, the two RAID drives are what I have my DBs on, no? Besides, I like cheap.
- A more powerful CPU? I assume the 240e would already be a significant upgrade for me? I like the 45W and save the additional 80 bucks.
- Not sure I understand the point about the PSU being mounted at the bottom. Why would that make a passive CPU cooler a bad idea?
- I realise the 5570 isn't exactly top-notch but compares to a GF130 or GF7400M?? THat's what I would be playing on now.
- I thought HDs used about 10W max? 45W CPU, card, donnow, 50W? Can't see this getting over 200W, am I wrong?

Thx on the memory, I might go for DDR3-1066 if it's cheaper then.

The case would in any case use a 120mm fan or perhaps even two (although, if temps stay low I'd turn m off as well.

[VJ]

I'm a huge fan of Noctua coolers and fans: http://noctua.at . The are dead silent.

[Umfriend]

Them is expensive, no? Can't be more silent than passive I'd think (although it might make the case fans obsolete perhaps?)

I am now wondering whether I should go for a P180 case. Could save me another 45 bucks (why is the black one more expensive than the white one anyway) and should be able to house all HDs..

[VJ]

Be careful when going fully passive: most passively cooled components "assume" some airflow over them (best proof is the fact that Asus supplies a fan with some mainboards, to be placed on a particular heatsink when the cpu is watercooled or passively cooled to prevent the component from overheating). So if you use all passive components and no airflow whatsoever you risk creating pockets of heat on some places in the case (this may be less if the case is open at the top, as you would get some natural convection, but that effect is limited).
So you may need casefans, just to create some airflow - even low speed could suffice - and as those will be the only sources of noise in the case, you might as well get the quitest ones around.

In my "lost" i7, I had 3 Noctua casefans (speed controlled by the mainboard) and a Noctua NH-U9 (fan also speed controlled by the mainboard). It was dead silent, I never even had the cpu fan spin up faster as the heatsink was so effective.

Jörg

[Evildead666]

VJ has it on the nail.

Nearly all passive components assume case airflow.
Overheating, or running at consistently high temps will kill HW...

Just an example : My old 8800GTS-640 that I had OCed for ages at 80% fan speed, just died at a friends house.
I reflashed it to stock speeds, and he wanted the fan quiet, so left it at stock controls.
Lasted 8 months.

Have given my old 4870 (flashed back to stock - again) and will be seeing if that dies at stock speeds...
Temperature is everything.

I have a high airflow case, and fans, and all is well.
I am also finishing a much quieter 24/7 PC for everything but gaming due to the noise

[Umfriend]

Well, the case would use at least 1 120mm fan, so some airflow would be present. Moreover, the parts I'm taking don't use a lot of power, right? I would monitor temps in any case and increase some flow if needed.

[Jammrock]

The heatsink you mentioned is not a true passive device. If you look at the link I posted it shows that it's designed to be mounted under a PSU to provide some good airflow through the fins.

The PSU is on the bottom for two reasons. 1. the PSU is generally the heaviest part of the computer, mounting it at the bottom gives your case more stability. 2. PSUs are often noisy, putting it at the bottom puts it farther from your ear. There is also a partition that separates the bottom from the top, blocking additional noise. So put all your loud stuff down there if you can.

Another P-183 note, make sure your PSU has loooooong cables. Most mobo's have their power connector near the middle or top of the board which means a short cable won't reach.

If you are doing heavy DB stuff you want a Phenom II quad-core. The $80 and 20W are well worth it.

A lot of consumer NAS devices have iSCSI capabilities. You can create a LUN and mount it as a drive, which SQL will treat like a local physical disk. They are more expensive though. About $400 for an empty NAS w/ iSCSI. Synology is the best bang for the buck in this market, with QNAP being a more high-end version.

http://www.synology.com/enu/products/index.php

http://www.synology.com/enu/products/features/iSCSI.php

http://qnap.com/Products.asp

Oh, and I think a 350W will be enough, even with the quad core. Your power supply should only reach 80% capacity at maximum load or the power starts fluctuating too much. With most designs at least. 65 CPU (or 45 W), 40 W for the chipset, ~55 W max for the GPU, 5-20 W total for your drives, plus another 20-30 W in misc items (guessing there). You're looking at a max of ~200 W if those numbers I found online are right. 350 W will be more than enough, even if you get the quad-core and a slightly beafier card. I have a Phenom II 920, 8 GB RAM, 6 HDDs, and an ATi Radeon 4830. At idle I run about 180-190 W (according to the APC software), and jump up to ~250 W during gaming.