Personal computing discussed

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Looking for Knowledge
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Thinking of a cube...

Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:53 pm

I'm considering building a system to go in my bed room. I got a new 42" panel t.v. for Christmas (coolest thing my wife ever did....besides marrying me of course. :wink: ) and am thinking it would rock to be able to browse, play games, whatever on it. I already have dvd players, ect, so the multimedia aspect isn't really a consideration.

So, I'm thinking.....
1. Small
2. Extremely quiet (For sleeping and so I can leave it on folding without my wife chipping her teeth about it)
3. Gaming graphics (Proc, ram, vid card)

With all of that to consider.....I'd like to stay between $300.00 - $500.00.
(Is this a pipe dream?)

Any suggestions?
Last edited by Looking for Knowledge on Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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muyuubyou
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:57 pm

Unless your wife has a really deep sleep, you'll have to focus on cooling. It ain't going to be easy to have a gaming system in a small case that is quiet enough to sleep near to it.
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ZooTech
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Re: Thinking of a cube...

Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:10 pm

Looking for Knowledge wrote:
(coolest thing my wide ever did)


Is your WIFE aware of your nickname for her? :-?

:lol:
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Looking for Knowledge
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:13 pm

muyuubyou wrote:
Unless your wife has a really deep sleep, you'll have to focus on cooling. It ain't going to be easy to have a gaming system in a small case that is quiet enough to sleep near to it.


How loud are those little things? Are you thinking I might need to consider water cooling?

She's a lite sleeper but I think my lap top's quiet enough, when the cd drive isn't spinning. However, my soho case, with it's 6 fans, would never work out.
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Looking for Knowledge
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Re: Thinking of a cube...

Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:14 pm

ZooTech wrote:
Looking for Knowledge wrote:
(coolest thing my wide ever did)


Is your WIFE aware of your nickname for her? :-?

:lol:


Heh....I'm on my laptop and those little keys are awfully close together.
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muyuubyou
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:31 pm

Water cooling would be nice. The problem is fitting the water cooling system and radiator in a small cube. The same for a big heatsink...

I think most PSUs are louder than some laptops. Even some graphx cards...

Most quiet small PCs I've seen weren't exactly gaming machines. Transmeta and VIA with onboard pffff :wink:

Is this small enough for you?

I doubt it...

Check http://www.silentpcreview.com . They may have something there...
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David
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:38 pm

I just messed around on newegg and got the price down to $515 without shipping. I'd suggest playing with a shopping cart 'till you get the price you want

It uses the Nfroce2 built in graphics, which you may not like.

Shuttle SN41G2
512 Crucial memory
2100+ proc
Seagate cuda 80gig HDD
Thermaltake Silent Boost
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muyuubyou
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:41 pm

Would you say that is quiet as a laptop? :-?
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sativa
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:44 pm

zerohex wrote:
I just messed around on newegg and got the price down to $515 without shipping. I'd suggest playing with a shopping cart 'till you get the price you want

It uses the Nfroce2 built in graphics, which you may not like.

Shuttle SN41G2
512 Crucial memory
2100+ proc
Seagate cuda 80gig HDD
Thermaltake Silent Boost


What is the Thermaltake Silent Boost? You should look @ the pictures of the SN41G2 to see the heatsink that it comes with.
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Starfalcon
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:03 pm

In a few months I am planning to get one for my mom, she really like the look and thinks it is really "cute". It should be a big improvement from what she is running now, the 1.0 athlon that I built for her over 3 years ago....
 
David
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:07 pm

lol, forgot Shuttles come with their own heatpipe cooling dealy. :oops:

Well, that drops the price another 20ish bucks.
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lex-ington
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:36 pm

I just built my sister a micro-ATX comp for her store in the bahamas using these parts. It's not the best you can do but it did cost $385 Canadian.

1. http://www.maxcooler.com/noname37.html
2. http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=KM4M-L
3. AMD-XP 2000
4. 512meg DDR-333
5. MAxtor 40-7 40gig HDD
6. LG DVD-Rom

I haven't been around laptops much but it is very quiet. It would probably be REALLY quite with just a big Heatsink (if that works)

I know you could do alot better than this, just an example of what's out there besides a cube.
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Looking for Knowledge
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:39 pm

Thanks for the input. I'm looking at a couple of base systems now.

http://www.mypcgoodies.com/mypcg/detail ... m=BI00200S

http://www.mypcgoodies.com/mypcg/detail ... m=BI00200V

Any idea why the AMD based one is more$$?

In response to muyuubyou's question concerning the size of that system, I'm thinking that I might even look at building a small tower unit. The size I'm looking for doesn't really HAVE to be shuttle size, it could just be a mini-atx with a couple of drives. Would this make things easier to find and price? Even a little desktop, on it's side, might work.
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muyuubyou
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:41 pm

lex-ington wrote:
I just built my sister a micro-ATX comp for her store in the bahamas using these parts. It's not the best you can do but it did cost $385 Canadian.

[...]

I haven't been around laptops much but it is very quiet. It would probably be REALLY quite with just a big Heatsink (if that works)


Hmmm micro-ATX doesn't make good friends with big heatsinks I'm afraid.
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muyuubyou
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:47 pm

Looking for Knowledge wrote:
In response to muyuubyou's question concerning the size of that system, I'm thinking that I might even look at building a small tower unit. The size I'm looking for doesn't really HAVE to be shuttle size, it could just be a mini-atx with a couple of drives. Would this make things easier to find and price? Even a little desktop, on it's side, might work.


That would be easier. Whatever you do keep this in mind: busy stores aren't the best places to measure how noisy a system is...

Be sure to get a quiet PSU, and check there is space for a big HSF in the case.
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Looking for Knowledge
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Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:50 pm

Are there specially sized video cards for small form pc's?

I'm noticing that a lot of the systems I'm looking at have very small agp/pci openings in the back.....and I'm wondering if an ATI 9700pro will fit.
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muyuubyou
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 4:44 am

Yep the 9700PRO won't fit in many cubes.

This is from wednesday's shortbread: http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=119

Not many of those HSF will fit a cube either. Not sure if any of those can qualify as wife-sleep-proof ;)

Check those recommended HSF here

Some can actually fit some cubes.

Check the system I sent you before (this)
This is the quietest desktop I've actually "heard" ;)
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lex-ington
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:52 am

The case I used is actually very sturdy and heavy for a system so small. The HSF that came with the XP is very quiet inside that case and there is lots of room. (I wish I had taken a pic when I had finished.) It's the size of those Mini Dell/Compaq desktops.
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Looking for Knowledge
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:16 pm

muyuubyou wrote:
Check the system I sent you before (this)
This is the quietest desktop I've actually "heard" ;)


Thanks for all your help.....the price on that pre-built system is a bit high, for me anyway.

I think I can piece together fairly quiet micro atx system. IIRC Antec has a quiet (as advertised) psu for those size systems. They even have a micro case/psu for right around $100.00.
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lex-ington
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:42 pm

there might be something here that you like: http://www.directron.com/cases---case-fans-micro-atx-cases.html
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drfish
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:52 pm

Two links from Tom's:
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20031209/index.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20040107/index.html

My current (feasible) media box wish:
Biostar Mobo - N82E16813138233 - $51.00
Athenatech Case - N82E16811190017 - $59.99
80GB 7200 RPM WD HD - N82E16822144122 - $74.99
256MB PC2100 RAM - N82E16820141502 - $36.00
Athlon XP 2200+ - N82E16819103334 - $75.00
Silver CD-ROM drive - N82E16827151028 - $14.99
Total - $311.97 (old prices, didn't check again before posting)

I'd also be throwing the AIW VE that I have in my current media PC into the system above...
 
mstrmold
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Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:19 pm

First off, a 9700Pro fits just fine in a shuttle box. I have an SN45G with a 9700 pro and I did not need to modify anything. Now, if you get an AIW, then you will need to make modifications to the back plate slot in order to clear the Coaxial connector at the top of the video card.

Second, let me say that the box is extremely quiet for a nice high end gaming box. Not quite laptop quiet, but still very nice. My den has hardwood floors and my old box would sound like a hair dryer going. The difference was night and day.

As far as getting all of that under $500? Not sure about that...

I believe with the reserch I did when making the decision to go to SFF was that ITX had too many limiting factors (processor selection, low power power supplies, etc...) that turned me off to the concept of ITX.

Good luck

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