Quiet media centre for my bedroom

[FrankJH]

REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST REMOVE
FS-045-SH Shuttle XPC SN25P Aluminium Barebones System - AMD 64 (Socket 939) (FS-045-SH)
£229.95 £229.95
CD-033-LG LG GSA-4167BAL 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-LG)
£22.95 £22.95
HD-024-SA Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)
£45.95 £45.95
KB-054-MS Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 Keyboard (KB-054-MS)
£14.95 £14.95
CB-054-GE Akasa SATA-2 60cm Silver Data Cable (CB-054-GE)
£2.50 £2.50
NW-074-NG Netgear WG111T 108Mbps Wireless USB2.0 Adapter (NW-074-NG)
£32.95 £32.95
Subtotal £349.25
VAT £61.12
Total £410.37

Already have an opty 144 and 1gb of corsair (do you think 1gb is enough for media centre?) as well as a copy of XP MCE 2005, mainly just for music - but might put usb tuner in at some point in the future. Also got a choice of gfx cards ( either a 7800GT or an X800 - hoping either of these will be quiet enough when in 2d mode after music has stoppped).

Do you reckon this is a decent system? Also which do you think would be better ( or neither)- performance wise - a wireless network bridge or the usb stick on the list above?

Any ideas or advice would be great - cant afford too much more money but might be able to add a little if necessary.

Thanks

 

[FrankJH]

Hi there,

I don't know how you define quiet, but to me that would not be a quiet system.

Just thought I'd let you know, but its all about how people percieve noise.

Thanks...

Do you have any ideas how I could make it quieter?

People in the SFF forum say there are 25P's and 26P's that are completely quiet in 2d with comparable hardware?

I am sticking with netgear because my router is netgear and in wireless tech I believe its best to stick to same manufacturer and they are both "rangemax" kit

I would love to be able to afford a x300 passive cooler, but as i already have the 7800GT / X800XL , hopefully these should be quiet enough in 2d - but I was after deadly quiet to be honest, as long as its only the graphics i could change this later i guess if it really bugs me

Will consider the upgrade in the spinpoint, was thinking they were all of the same range, but thank you

Thank you everyone, more advice would be great

 

[FrankJH]

thank you very much for your indepth reply, i really appreciate it

 

[FrankJH]

FWIW the spinpoints are quiet, I can't say I've ever heard mine. Whilst you can go further in the quest for quiet spinpoints IMO are not going to be something to worry about. PSU, Chipset fans, Case Fans etc. yes, spinpoints nope.

Yeah , its the assorted fans are my biggest concern to be honest.

If I have to get an x300 i will, but I will try both the options i already have first. I am hoping in 2d they will be ok, or at least to sleep thru it