Help me build a totally silent small pc

C

chapin_Fourlife

Gawd
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
592
I got a slimline s3220n about a month ago and it has been just issues with it, and itmakes alot of noise on full load
so I want to build a totally silent as possible mini pc
I mostly just surf the internet, word processing and play hdtv movies once in a while, and playback mp3's
but I dont want it to be slow since I usally have a few windows up at the same time
and my budget is $600

one last thing it has to be energy efficient

Things needed

-mobo with built in sound card and video card
-ultra quiet case
- no wifi needed
-Dual core processor does't matter intel or amd
-TV and HDTV turner
-Energy efficient
-4gb of ram
-Fast
-Silent as possible
-Portable
-Stable
 
Please answer the following questions or we can't help you:
- What exact parts do you need for that $600 budget?
- What features do you need in a mobo?
- What else besides internet browsing and watching HD movies do you do on your PC?
- How much storage do you need/want?
 
It doesn't matter if it's AMD or Intel but it has to be dual core
and energy efficient and having a hdmi would be a plus on the mobo
and basically I do word processing once in a while, and playback mp3s, and some video games but not to much since I xbox 360 :)
storage would need to be more then 250gb
also it would be cool to have 4gb of ram

But I really want it to totally silent as possible


thanks for the help

Danny Bui said:
Please answer the following questions or we can't help you:
- What exact parts do you need for that $600 budget?
- What features do you need in a mobo?
- What else besides internet browsing and watching HD movies do you do on your PC?
- How much storage do you need/want?
Click to expand...
 
Fast, silent, SFF. Choose any two :)

(Looks like you're choosing silent + SFF. And why 4GB if you're mostly doing word processing and MP3 playback?)
 
Gonna quote myself since you apparently didn't see the question:
Danny Bui said:
Please answer the following questions or we can't help you:
- What exact parts do you need for that $600 budget?
Click to expand...

All we know so far, in a roundabout way, is that you need a mobo, CPU, TV Tuner and RAM. Do you need a case, PSU, OS, floppy drive, RAID card, sound card, wifi card, etc? Please be more specific.
 
I'll assume you don't have any old parts to swap in and you're going for a super quiet HTPC type build.

Antec NSK3480 - Review @ SPCR Smallest case you can stuff everything in without sacrificing on noise and cooling
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H - Best 780G based mATX board currently available imho. IGP capable of fully accelerating HD movies. Can pass audio over HDMI or SPDIF
AMD Athlon X2 4850e - 45W TDP low power and easy to passively cool
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B (in passive mode) - Yes it will fit (just barely) inside that case
A-DATA 4GB - Or get whatever cheap DDR2 you can get ahold of
Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB - Very fast, quiet, and energy efficient drive thanks to new 320GB platters
AVerTV Combo PCI-e ATSC/NTSC/QAM HDTV Tuner Card - More Info great HDTV tuner card that does QAM and only 1 of 2 that will work in Vista Media Center afaik
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - Inexpensive and very highly regarded DVD burner. Add a Blu-ray drive if you want to play HD movies


That takes you right up to $600 altogether and does everything you want. Only 2 fans in the whole system (PSU fan + rear case fan) so it will be virtually silent. If you're really anal you could swap out the Tricool case fan for an even quieter Scythe 120mm. All you need is a Blu-Ray drive to play HD movies.

The system is very similar to the SPCR Stealth 100 system albeit with some newer and higher performing components. Main acoustic differences being the Scythe S-Flex SFF21D rear case fan (I'd recommend making the swap) and the Corsair PSU. You can swap the fan in the supplied Earthwatts PSU if it's too noisy for you but personally I find it's plenty quiet for me.


If you want to game as well, I'd go Intel instead. Best bet probably would be ASUS P5E-VM HDMI + E7200 and undervolt the CPU as much as possible. GPU obviously up to you. But you'd need to up your budget another $200-250 to make it happen.
 
I recommend going with Toaster Oven's recommendations. That's pretty much what I was about to recommend. It fits every single requirement of yours.
 
Calroth said:
Fast, silent, SFF. Choose any two :)
Click to expand...

Fast, silent, SFF, cheap. Choose any three :p

I'm following the path of the first three, eventually it'll all be in an Antec mini P180 and watercooling on everything, I suppose the bill will run me ~$1500USD, which from my perspective isn't cheap but it's good value.
 
Okay, first there is no such thing as totally silent as possible. It is either totally silent, or it’s not.
FzerozeroT said:
Fast, silent, SFF, cheap. Choose any three :p
Click to expand...
Hehe, that’s almost what I was going to say, except it was going to be “any two.” ;) Mine would qualify for the first three, if I changed the fan in my PSU.

Toaster Oven has basically the perfect build. Not sure how quiet Samsung drives are, but I would recommend an LG burner.

If you truly want totally silent and portable you could use a miniITX board, DC-DC power supply with an AC/DC power brick and SSD or CompaqFlash for storage. The drive would be slow though and anything faster would blow your budget out of the water. You could also sub a laptop drive, which are extremely quiet. Check www.logicsupply.com for PSUs that would work.

Realistically, your budget and portability is impossible with a monitor. What are you going to do about a monitor?
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Okay, first there is no such thing as totally silent as possible. It is either totally silent, or it’s not.
Hehe, that’s almost what I was going to say, except it was going to be “any two.” ;) Mine would qualify for the first three, if I changed the fan in my PSU.

Toaster Oven has basically the perfect build. Not sure how quiet Samsung drives are, but I would recommend an LG burner.

If you truly want totally silent and portable you could use a miniITX board, DC-DC power supply with an AC/DC power brick and SSD or CompaqFlash for storage. The drive would be slow though and anything faster would blow your budget out of the water. You could also sub a laptop drive, which are extremely quiet. Check www.logicsupply.com for PSUs that would work. Realistically, your budget is impossible.

What are you going to do about a monitor?
Click to expand...

a better place to find DC/DC PSU's is here

http://www.opussolutions.com/

used the 150w in my car Oo
 
winner:

http://www.tranquilpc-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Motherboards.html /w pico itx psu. rest of components is up to you....(just ditch the stock cpu hsf for a passive copper slug)...

D945.jpg



edit : wait you said you need dual core, then i would say e7200, scythe ninja w/ tr blot thru kit, and that should be able to run you passive w/ a good undervolt.
 
Thanks for the advice guys
I already have a 22 inch LCd monitor

I'll look into modifying my slimline or building a new system with the specs Toaster Oven gave me
 
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