New system - quiet & reliable?

cb7

cb7

cb7

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13 Sep 2006
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I'm looking at building a PC in the near future. My main requirements are 24x7 reliable operation and quiet operation. I won't be overclocking or playing any games - the machine will be used for programming and
database work.

My current list of components is as below:

Asus P5B (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 DUO E6700 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.67GHz (1066FSB)
Phantom 500W Hybrid Fan Silent ATX2.0 PSU
Antec P180 Advanced Super Midi Tower Case
Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler (Socket 478, 754, 939, 940, LGA755)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
XFX GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)

I've little recent experience of building a PC and would appreciate any comments on my selections - Specific

questions I have in my mind un-answered are:

- Will the Ninja fit onto the P5B motheboard?

- Will the cables from the PSU be long enough in a P180 case.

- I've no idea re memory - I just picked the GeIL above because it said PC6400 - Is this a good choice?

- Again with the graphics card - I picked this one because it's passively cooled - Again is it a good choice?

- I'm hoping to run the Ninja without a fan attached and hopefully only using the rear or top exhaust fan - Will this be practical/stable?

- Is there anything missing (bar a CD/DVD drive)

Many Thanks in advance

Chris
 
Nice spec.

The Ninja is a big old cooler and if you don't want to overclock the Arcric Freezer Pro might be better for you.

It's very quiet, easier to fit and it's cheaper ;)

Everything else seems fine..... but IMO the e6600 is better value for money.

Lovely choice of case - It comes with 3 fans and they have low, medium and high speed settings.

Your rig should be fairly quiet.
 
Thanks for the reply - The reason for picking the Ninja was the lack of a fan and therefore hopefully noise.

Chris
 
Hi, your spec it pretty similar to mine...

The P5B will be fine in the P180, I also have a passive 7600 GS and as I'm not using it for gaming either it does the job. Not 100% on the ninja but I think it'll fit ok, I find the inside of the P180 can get fairly hot though so you might want to use both the top and rear fans, if you put them on the lowest setting they're pretty much silent anyway.
 
I'm running a similar set up (p180, ninja plus, geil 6400), here are my thoughts:

You'd probably want to run the ninja with the fan on it. Without the fan it would probably just about be okay, but I definately wouldn't want to risk it under any kind of load. Also, if you're not using the ninja's fans then you'd need to disable the p180's fans because on the lowest setting they make a similar amount of noise. I don't have the power LED plugged in on my case and I have trouble telling if my PC is turned on or off - this is with the ninja fan on and the 2 of the p180 fans on the lowest setting. I do have a fish tank in the same room though, nevertheless it is very very quiet.

The geil memory is excellent but I'm just curious as to why you would get performance memory if you aren't going to overclock? Why not save some cash and get some cruical or corsair value stuff?
 
Thanks for the replies - If I was going to put a fan onto the Ninja I would be tempted by a cooler with a fan built in (something like a Zalman CNPS9500) .

The thing which put me off this cooler was the bit in the description which reads "Ultra-quiet PWM fan for automatic fan speed control based on CPU temperature". This only put me off because I don't know what it means! i.e. Does it just 'work' or does it need attaching to the Motherboard to read the temps and if so will the P5B be compatible?

re the memory - I didn't have a clue which to buy but the GeIL mentioned PC6400 and the price seemed resonable.

Thanks
Chris
 
The Geil memory is great, better than what you'd need but since it's not much more expensive that the basic stuff then it's not a problem. AFAIK the Zalman cooler just needs to be plugged into the motherboard like a normal CPU cooler, then it will just work. The Ninja is a superior cooler though, why go for that ahead of it?
 
My original choice (and probably still is having read a bit more about it) was the Ninja - the comments higher about having to have a fan attached to it got me into thinking of alternativies.

Does anyone know if a E6700 will be fine with a Ninja and no fan? I suppose the answer in any case would be to force more air through the case via case fans.

Thanks
Chris
 
The Ninja really does need a fan attached under load, but it's one of the best heatsinks to use with low-rpm, low-noise fans because the wide fin spacing means that it takes hardly any fan power to push air through.

I use the 120mm fan which was supplied with the Ninja, undervolted so it runs at about 800rpm, and it is virtually silent but brings my CPU temp down by at least 10 degrees compared to fanless. I've heard that even better results can be achieved with a higher quality Papst fan.

It seems counter-intuitive to put a fan on a "fanless" heatsink, but once you have a Ninja in your system, it is the best place to add a fan in terms of the cooling you will gain for minimal noise.
 
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Another voice to say that you need a fan on the Ninja, and also don't be concerned with the noise. Even running the fan at 12v it is very quiet.
 
Thanks for the replies - just discovered that the Ninja isn't in stock (here or anywhere else) and Scythe say they'll be at least another two weeks before stock is available again (waiting for an AM2 version) so it's back to the drawing board re a cooler - any quiet alternatives anyone would recommend?

Thanks
Chris
 
I've been having a further browse - the choice is coming down to either waiting till the Ninja is back in stock or replacing the E6700 with a E6600 and putting the money saved towards a Zalman Reserator2.

The latter maybe the quieter option but I've doubts about the noise generated by the pump (which isn't mentioned anywhere so could be silent/very quiet) and whether it will run reliably 24x7.

Chris
 
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