Help Spec Me an Upgrade pls

Coln

Coln

Coln

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
238
Location
Scotland
Been running my old rig for a few years and it's time for a change to something a little more up to date.

Currently running this setup:-

Lian-Li PC60 case
Intel Core Duo E6600(775) @2.4ghz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2
Gigabyte 965P-DS4
4GB G-Skill DDR2
ATI Radeon 4850
Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS
250GB + 300GB Western Digital HDD's
NEC 20.1" monitor
Windows 7 64bit Home Premium
Enermax PSU
Lite-On CD-Rom and Pioneer DVR-109 (both IDE)

I've no need for overclocking, and i don't use the pc to play games any more (i use the Xbox 360) so the gfx card can go. Everything would still go into the Lian-Li. I bought some quieter fans a while back for the case, but there's still that 'pc' noise there when you come in the room, so i'd like it to be as quiet as possible too.

Rig is now used mostly for browsing and some moderate photoshop work, with the very occasional ripping and decoding and lots of mp3/flac listening too.

Was maybe thinking something along the lines of a decent HTPC setup, so would a Llano cpu/gpu be able to handle the stuff that i want with no probs?

Basically i think i'm looking for:-

Silent PSU
Mobo with DVI out, onboard gfx to handle what i want and decent onboard sound with optical out or hdmi for quality playback of music
Decent spec CPU (with or without onboard GPU)
Near silent CPU cooler
Gfx card not needed hopefully as with sound card
4 or 8GB DDR 3 memory
Smallish SSD for OS and most used files
BLU Ray drive
Couple of silent 80mm fans

I think that's about it really. Any feedback or anything i've missed out please ask and i'll update straight away.

Many, many thanks and sorry for all the questions, been out of the 'scene' for a while and been furiously browsing to catch up lol

Oh and i might also be willing to change the case if changing to 120mm fans would quieten things down more than the 80mm i have now!
 
Aha good question :) £300-£400 maybe, preferably less if i can keep anything thats already there like the case. Definitely keeping monitor (which runs desktop at native 1680x1050 btw) If the CPU needs changed then fine, keep the 2 x HDD's for storage.

Also sell the Radeon and soundcard to help a few ££'s

And just thinkg, to be honest i can do without the blu ray drive just now and use 360 or PS3 for that as i usually do, maybe add it later or something
 
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check the western digital site to see if you can locate any of there software to handle the acoustic sound of the hard drives, this should help quieten the hard drives.

for the fans you can get 120-80mm fan adapters so you can slot in quieter 120mm fans, or maybe invest in a fan controller.

do you have the processor running so it underclocks if its not in use, and only uses the cooler fan if it starts to get warm.

maybe replace the fan on your freezer 7 for a quieter one.

replace the graphics card with a slightly less powerful silent version.

i'd keep the sound card.

does the graphics card make much noise ?
 
check the western digital site to see if you can locate any of there software to handle the acoustic sound of the hard drives, this should help quieten the hard drives.

Downloaded HDDScan and enabled AAM on both drives, cheers for that :)

for the fans you can get 120-80mm fan adapters so you can slot in quieter 120mm fans, or maybe invest in a fan controller.

Will have a look and see if i can pick a couple of these up and a couple of Scythe 120mm Gentle Typhoons

do you have the processor running so it underclocks if its not in use, and only uses the cooler fan if it starts to get warm.

Not 100% sure, i remember enabling something in the BIOS to do with this when first building, will check. Fan seems to stay constant, no spinning up or down

maybe replace the fan on your freezer 7 for a quieter one.

Could do or plenty space i reckon for a larger CPU cooler like a Scythe Shuriken??

replace the graphics card with a slightly less powerful silent version.

i'd keep the sound card.

does the graphics card make much noise ?

So basically keep, the mobo, cpu and ddr2, get a silent gpu and keep the soundblaster. Hmm something to ponder on.

Many thanks for the reply
 
if you look to change the cooler check out the Gelid Tranquillo if it fits.

something else worth looking at is the hard disk "bungee mod", think theres a guide in the case forum.

it basically hangs your hard drive in your case (not as scary as it sounds honest :D) so it doesnt touch the case and it reduces vibration etc and so runs a bit quieter.
 
So on the other angle, would anyone recommend a Llano or i3/5 for something like this, just to take me into the present stuff a wee bit?
 
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