HTPC - Quiet and fast

[daneiljacks0n]

Hi folks, i've spent that last few months researching for my first pc build.
I intend to build a multi-use pc for the living room so must be firstly quiet and secondly fast, so i've selected some passivley cooled components and others with overclocking potential.
I will run win xp and already have monitor/ keyboard/ mouse but no other spare components.

My main queries relate to the PSU and memory towards the end of this post but any advice on all other aspects of this post would be appreciated.

So, without further ado this is my comprehensive spec list (with links to uk retailer and approx £):

CASE £91 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=383007) Silverstone SST-LC20B Black - looks like being able to achieve good air flow.

CPU £276 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=337800) AMD Opteron 64 170 Socket939, Denmark Core, very good reports on overclocking potential (2.8GHz on air) here (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17529129&page=1&pp=30) and low tdp (35W) here (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17568372&page=1&pp=30)


CPU Cooler £14 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=340993) Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro

System Hard Drive £100 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=90706) 74 Gb Western Digital Raptor - fast (will be mounted in 5.1/2" bay on rubber dampers to quiten mechanical vibrations)

Storage Hard Drive £53 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=247245) 250 Gb Samsung SpinPoint P120 - quiet


Motherboard £98 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=225008) ASUS A8N-SLI/PREMIUM NF4 SLI, S939 - reportedly a good overclocker

Will use on-board sound at the minute, may upgrade later.

Graphics Card £92 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=368284) XFX 7600GS XT - passively cooled

DVD R/W £25 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=356212) Pioneer DVR-111DBK Black

PSU £40 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=154675) 400W Akasa Ultra quiet aPFC PSU - would this power my dual core system including graphics card or should I use a 420W Tagan Whisper aPFC UltraQuiet (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=138558), or any others?

DDR Memory £153 (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=291360) would this satisfy my overclocking requirements or should I go for any others?

And finally i've read a good report for this Dual Channel digital TV card £91 (http://www.broadbandstuff.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=558) the Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope i've not left anything out.

Dan

[daneiljacks0n]

I omitted to mention I aim to use 2 Akasa Amber Case Fans (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=268277), the 92mm for intake at the front left corner and the 80mm for exhaustat the rear right (above mobo I/O plate).

[Alaron]

Welcome to PCMech.

As it is your build is fine. I do have some suggestions.

Samsung drives are not the best quality. I would switch it for a Seagate or Western Digital with a 16MB cache.

I'm not sure of the quality of Akasa PSUs, but Tagans are excellent.

As for overclocking, I would avoid it for now. For a living room computer, stability is most important. Everything running stock will be plenty powerful for whatever you throw at it.

But it you're set on overclocking, the CPU and RAM you chose will work fine.

[jfk]

Unless you utilize water cooling, it will be tough to make a PC that is quiet AND can be overclocked (very much). An air cooled PC, to achieve maximum overclocks, WILL need some air movement over it. Move more air=more noise. A lot will depend on how tolerant you are. I overclock and expect some increased noise as a result on air. Currently, I am using a Thermaltake Venus which can get noisy (can be VERY noisy). I have a nice lapped Thermalright XP-120 to go into my PC as soon as I add a dual cory Opteron (in fact, the same one you are using). Just don't expect maximum overclock AND minimum noise on air....it just isn't going to happen. Sorry, just a comment after reading your specs. I totally agree with Alaron on the rest, though overclocking can be ssssssoooooo tempting!:)

[daneiljacks0n]

Thank you both for your comments, very much appreciated - I'll check the 2 HDD's suggested and see which is quieter.

Regarding the overclocking, I don't want to push it as far as it'll go for the exact reason you mention. Although I may try this burn-in (http://www.cpcff.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4383&highlight=burn) method to help undervolt the CPU, which should help keep things cool.

I'm happy that it'll be fast enough at stock speeds as it seems that it's the luck of the draw on the overclocking front anyway, some CPU's are better than others so I'll just have to see how it goes, as fast as possible with the most tolerable amount of noise I guess.

Thanks again.

[Kareeser]

If you overclock, there reaches a certain point where you'll have to get a better HSF, which means more noise.

If possible, try to get a case with 120mm fans, as they run slower, but can move the same amount of air (less noise)

[daneiljacks0n]

Wise words thanks. The case I want has to be desktop profile to fit into my tv stand/ cabinet and unfortunately the Silverstone case above will only take 92mm intake and 80mm exhaust fans (unless I modify the side panel for a 120mm exhaust fan!). Although I take your point about the 120mm HSF and I'll check out JFK's Thermalright XP-120.

Cheers, Dan