I built my pc. I am rebuilding my pc.
Most important to me NOW (after building).... BUILD around "quiet" parts.
www.silentpcreview.com <-- very good site with messaage board
www.endpcnoise.com <-- where you can purchase quiet pc parts.
There are some others too but i forget. SilentPCReview is really good though. My machine is fairly quiet at first "hear" but when your sittin next to it for longer then 5 minutes you begin to hear these turbo engine fans with loud vibrating aluminum case etc. And I took a lot of measures to quiet it down and its like a lost cause I just simply bought a loud case. Obviously I didn't do enough research.
There are cases designed to be very quiet plus absorb noise. Go with Antec for your case is my best suggestion! You can always also build a nice wood case to surround for your computer case and line it with foam to help even absorb MORE noise. Thats what I'm doing. As with a rack mounted case I dont really seeing that happening. See I need my stuff to look good and run good. Now I learned I needed it to be quiet and cool. Hense "rebuilding my computer"...
The antec P150 is a great case but has a faulty powersupply in most cases. (been reported all over the net. but antec will send you a new one people have been saying.) Plus you could always purchase a new powersupply as well.
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81500
See first I wanted to build a "cool" pc with some lights etc. I did but it's too loud...
The absolute best case for building a silent (or quiet) pc is supposedly the (
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800 ) Antec P180. I would go with
the P150 personally but its white. I want black. I'm going with the next best thing. The Sonata 2 (
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15139 ). The sonata aint the prettiest but it does what its suppose to.
Definitely build a "good" pc with good parts. But don't ignore the quiet factor. I made that mistake. I also did not get parts that were listed as combatible. (never knew to check). Make sure your motherboard and video card are listed as combatible. Thats what I have had the BIGGGGEST issues with.
Other then that take everyones advice from here and silentpcreview.com. Everyone can help you build a powerful quiet pc.
I mean I been through all this and I'm stuck between the P180 and the Sonata 2 by antec. There is a company that actually makes precut foam for the inside of the sonata & sonata 2 (the p150 comes prefabricated with foam for insluating ) so I forsure am insulating the inside.
Biggest thing I've learned is dont do a case with a top or side fan! You want air in the front and out the back. Its the quietest and easiest. PLUSSS you want a 120mm fan on the back for sure! Cooling is a factor for sureee... They sell very silent ones... do your research at silentpcreview.com. You'll find lots of info.
Do NOT go with celeron procesors. I went with a 3.2 celeron with 1gig of 133 ram and a $35 motherboard from axper. STAY AWAY FROM AXPER! Its some company based in like china that has NO support! My computer isnt so slow, its fast, just not fast enough for an impatient person like me. I had a 1.7 athlon processor with the same gig of ram and it was speedy. I was ok with it. That boggles me but i guess thats the difference.
Athlon and Intel does not have the same speed measurements. So a pentium 3.2 will be different then a athlon 3.2 as I demonstrated.
Thats all I have to say really. So lets recap. haha.
You need to consider these factors when building a computer. Building it quiet, powerful, and keeping it cool. Oh also, don't sacrafice on powersupply as people will tell you. Powersupplys are probably one of the loudest components so check endpcnoise.com and silentpcreview.com.
YESSSSIRRRR
Hope you appreciate my long rambling post. haha. It's what I've learned form my first build. The more research = the less money wasted on purchasing wrong stuff and having to learn the hard way.
