The Sound of Silence: Building a Quiet PC

[PCC-Jon]

Summary:
It's easy enough to make a fast computer...what's not easy is making a PC like that quiet! It can be especially difficult since the components tend to run hot. The key is finding the right balance between performance, optimal cooling, and quiet. This article will show how you can have a system that roars with power but not noise.

View the entire article: http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=21

Post your discussion here!

[Fabrizio]

Why is not possible to choose an Antec's case in the 'Build your quiet PC' page, even if in the article you say that it is between the best cases for silence performances? And why, when I choose it in the 'Build your gaming PC', it's not possible to choose an additional 12mm fan to add?
Isn't the Thermaltake Tsunami more noisy because of the three fans it has in total?
I saw an MSI 6600 GT that looked like it had a special and bigger fan than usual, do you know it? If yes, is it more quite? Is there a 6800 Gt with a similar feature? Wouldn't it be cheaper than buying too Arctic coolers (that cost very much!)? And is it possible at all to mount two Arctic coolers in an SLI configuration?

I know that it's a lot of questions, take your time! :-D

[Paul]

We will be adding new antec cases to that page late May/June. You should be able to add as many 120mm fans you want, otherwise just add it to your notes you would like to order more. The Tsunami and any other aluminum case with 120mm fan mounts are comparable in noise levels when using the same fans at the same speeds. The side fan on the Tsunami is optional to use. Yes the msi 6600 gt is a little quieter than most but I would still not consider it quiet. Yes you can mount two artic coolers in sli, we do it all the time. For a 6600gt I think the gigabyte fanless heatpipe 6600gt would be the quietest stock.

[Fabrizio]

Is the new Phantom 500w enough for an Sli system? Isn't it a more powerful one required?

If yes, what would be the most silent?

Thanks

[TheMattrix]

Well, I'm running 2 hard drives, an overclocked 9800pro, and a P4 2.4C running @ 3.3 GHz on a 350W PSU, so I should hope 500W would be enough (as long as it's a quality power supply). Correct me if I'm wrong though.

[Paul]

The Antec Phantom would power an SLI system fine as long as the airflow in the case was designed properly. However the antec phantom only comes with one pci express power plug for a video card included, so an adapter would be necessary that would take up a couple molex power plugs.

[Fabrizio]

Hello,

just wanted to ask how noisy are the ATI cards. From pictures I saw it looks like they have much bigger heatsinks than nVidia's, are they quite too, or one still has to pair them with some other kind of heatsink?

Thanks

[PCC-Jon]

They are quieter stock than nVidia, but still not good enough that I'd think of them as quiet. We do have a full line of HIS Excalibur ATI cards though, that use Arctic Cooling heatsinks for very good noise levels.

[Fabrizio]

Thanks for the reply :-) ,