Legit Reviews

It's been a while since I've delved into AMD's offerings, but my Dad has a need for quad-core box for audio editing and production. If going the AMD Phenom route is cost-effective, then I'm sure he'll want to save some coin. His budget is about $1,100 or so, and he doesn't need anything fancy for graphics.

The catch is that it needs to be near silent.
I'm completely open to suggestions on both AMD and Intel's offerings, as I really don't know what chipsets will be best.

Intel trumps AMD's offerings hands down. The Phenom simply isn't worth it atm.

If you want to keep the budget down, get my rig in sig. However, switch the CPU out for a Intel Quad Core 45nm, such as the Q9450 or Q9550. My rig costed me around $700 CAD after taxes and shipping. So if you were to get more or less the same parts at these prices, it should cost you just around $800. It can be a pretty nice folding rig as well.

I bought all my parts when they were on sale at NCIX. Not sure if Newegg has these kinds of sales, but yea....you can get crazy builds for only $800.

I find my rig to be pretty silent....the only noise that I'm hearing is the case fan that I got from before, and possibly the CPU/GPU, most likely my GPU.

Okay well, I actually just talked to him and his words are "I'd rather go with Intel anyway" when I told him AMD might be cheaper.

Whats a good chipset for those who just need stock clocks with good performance? He will not be overclocking at all.

I would suggest a P45 board. Based on the P35 chipset but shrunk down so it will produce less heat (and use less power).

For tips to silence a PC, you can't get much better than SPCR. General tips would be undervolting the fans to 7v (or less), after that, the most drastic difference you can make would be to suspend your hard drives.

Here is what I would spend the bulk of the budget on (I dont have a newegg account so can't show you the wishlist directly):


Subtotal: $951.92

And with the money left I would get a really decent large/quiet heatsink and some slow (quiet) fans to replace all the Antec stock ones.

Dan

Don't forget the case for sound-proofing, I'd HIGHLY recommend the Antec Solo (as long as there's no rebate!! ).

I literally cannot hear mine running even with the fans on high!

Jack

Some changes to Dan's suggestion:
Case: Antec P182 - $120 (cheaper than the P180 and has free shipping)
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer 370W - $51 (with coupon: save15, more than plenty for a build with low-end graphics)
GPU: Fanless GPU - <$60

If this is for professional audio editing, then one thing you might want to research on is sound cards. This could actually cost you $150~180.

unfaithfulsfan wrote:Don't forget the case for sound-proofing, I'd HIGHLY recommend the Antec Solo (as long as there's no rebate!! ).

I literally cannot hear mine running even with the fans on high!

Jack

Saw that you mentioned the Solo and Newegg has them for &49.99 with this Promo code; EMCBACBAK

No MIR's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heck, if he can get the Antec Solo for that low, kind of a no-brainer. I still like the looks of the Antec P182, though.

Thanks, we're going to sit down and figure out what the hardware compatibility restrictions are, if any, for the build.

Already pretty much decided on the Noctua NH-U12P for the HSF, as noise is a BIG factor in this. Hard to beat 16db for a good performing HSF. There's much research to be done yet, but this gives me a good idea what to look for! Thanks guys!

(BTW, I start my new job tonight :D )

if you want a silent pc than make sure that everything thats connected to the case has some kind of vibration dampener (save things that dont move like the motherboard) if you really really want a quiet pc than a lot of stuff wont be availible at the egg. i would recomend a p45 as well, but they can be had much cheaper than the one dan linked (hes just putting in a plug for asus ) also, to save money from buying super silent fans i would recomend buying cheap yate loon fans and getting a good potentiometer based (not variable resister as they only have a few settings) fan controller. if you want a silent graphics card i would recommend going with something low end and throwing a higher end enthusiast level cooler on it but without the fans. Good luck!

martini161 wrote:and getting a good potentiometer based (not variable resister as they only have a few settings) fan controller

Um...a potentiometer is a variable resistor is it not? I agree though, you don't need expensive Noctuas if all you're trying to do is build a decent, quiet system for audio editing, you just need to turn down some far cheaper Yate Loon fans and get a big ass heatsink. The only place I see a reason for Noctuas is in a higher end performance rig who's owner is obsessed with the noise level (Dan...)

no, ussaly a potentiometer can be set to anything between to values (based on the rotation of the dial) and a variable resistor can only use a few set values (or steps if you will)

Uh, my knowledge of electronics is somewhat rusty (been a while since my basic electronics class), but as I recall, a potentiometer is a variable resistor.

Well Wikipedia isn't very clear on the subject:

Wikipedia wrote:Variable resistors, adjustable by changing the position of a tapping on the resistive element, and resistors with a movable tap ("potentiometers"), either adjustable by the user of equipment or contained within, are also used.

But it sounds like martini may be right...dammit

J/k, gotta learn something new everyday

the 10k potentiometers i am using can hit basically any value your hand is steady enough to hit(mine is used to adjust the contrast of a LCD screen); when a pot with two terminals that are used, it acts as a variable resistor, but this is not the case in a linear taper potentiometer(whose resistance is proportional to the distance between the contact and a lead, or, what i'm using.)

so sometimes it is considered a variable resistor, other times not, it depends on the type of potentiometer

edit- but yeah, martini is right

my dad was supposed to be getting the money for this build through a guy who runs a computer shop, working on his databases, etc.
but the guy is trying (in my opinion) to lowball the value of the work with a low-end Phenom rig. not customized, and definitely not silent. More to come soon, I'd rather us just buy the parts and build it ourselves than take a pre-built machine.

Sounds like the guy threw some stuff together from what he had laying around. Definitely sounding shady!

Alathald wrote:But it sounds like martini may be right...dammit

woah, the guy who has a degree in electrical engineering is right???? NO WAY!