New Quiet PC

[Oldjim]

I want to build a new PC with 64 bit support so that it will not need upgrading for a long time. The difference is that performance is not a factor as the present XP1700+ more than meets the requirements (no gaming at all).
The thing I want is it to be quiet. Is there any better option than a socket 939 3000+ venice processor with a big cooler and slow speed fan.

[Rondog]

3400+ with water cooling, if you after silence.

[GrahamGarside]

The winchester is actually slightly better for temps because it's not based on a strained silicon process, so if you aren't bothered about overclocking, then a 3000+ would be the best choice, though not by much, they are usually a bit cheaper as well, a venice will still suffice though.

If I were building a quiet but reasonable spec system I would go for

Winchester 3000+
ThermalRight XP-90C
Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra or Epox EP-9NDA3+
Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Cooler
Antec SLK3000B
2x Nexus 120mm Orange case fans
1x Nexus 92mm Case fan (for the XP-90C)
Enermax Noisetaker 370W EG375AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU
Samsung SpinPoint P120 SATA HD (up to 250GB)

Now the video card is a trickier affair, you can silently cool any card in 2D mode, and keep even a top end card cool but reasonably quiet during 3D mode, it all depends on your needs. If you aren't bothered about 3d performance then I say go for a Geforce 6200 TC if you go PCI-E or 6200A if you go agp, both can be found with passive coolers, both are great 2D cards with quite powerful video functions, and both can handle some games

If you want 3D then it's a toss up between an X800XL or 6800GT and a Zalman VF700-Cu to go on it, the X800XL is the cooler GPU, but like I said, any card can be cooled silently in 2D mode.

[Staz]

If you want cool and quiet then a pentium M would be a good way to go. Only problem is that the only mobo that I know of for it is an AOpen and it is like $300 and has onboard video and no advanced graphics slot of any kind.

I have heard that Tom's Hardware did a review of an adapter to run a Pentium M on a socket 478 mobo but I haven't read it yet.

Those options aside, I would think that a high quality case designed with quiet in mind as well as a socket 939 cpu and either a Zalman or Thermalright cooler that uses a 120mm fan would be your best bet

[GrahamGarside]

The pentium M is the best option for a quiet power pc, but it's not without complications.

Yes it does only pump out 30 or so watts vs over 60W for a winchester, but the cooling options on the available boards are very limitted, it is possible to mod zalman and thermalright heatsinks to fit, but still a pain. Plus you limit your self to mATX AGP boards, which are fine for simple HTPC or day to day computing

Then there is the price, not bad value for the performance, but not cheap.

It's perfectly possible to build a 'silent' A64 system, a 3000+ runs very cool, and can likely stand to be undervolted slightly, meaning a good heatsink needs only a minimal amount of airflow

[bypolar]

Well a silent pc is surly possiable today . There are 2-3 fanless powersupplys. Thermaltake,coolmax,Antec,silverstone.

There is one completly passave Heatsink for the K8 platform,That I know of. The Thermaltake Sonic tower.

Motherboard with a passive chipest heatsink, A video card with a Passive heatsink there are Plenty lowend cards , and there are also plenty of heatpipe conversions that are fanless for cards that require better cooling.

A case with a single rear 120MM fan would be the only airflow device you should need.

[GrahamGarside]

As ironic as it sounds, silent/passive gear isn't usually the best choice for a silent system. A passive psu still pumps out heat and needs airflow, so you still need case fans. Now whether you can get those case fans quieter than a casefan/psufan combo is a differant story, but for the most part, a good efficient psu like a seasonic or enermax can be cooled effectively and quietly with their fans and minimal case fans

Passive heatsinks are the best option for northbridges, they are just too small to cool effectively with a fan.

Cooling Athlon64's and P4's passively also isn't a great idea, in fact cooling a prescott passively is insane. They still need case airflow, and for the sake of a slow 5V fan you won't hear anyway, it's not worth going passive

[Oldjim]

Thanks for the replies.
I did think of the Pentium M or the Turion but decided it was too complicated.
The reason I suggested the Venice is the improved memory controller and SSE3 support. However I didn't realise the Winchester ran cooler, infact this review says the opposite http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_venice/7.shtml.
For the power supply I will probably go with the Tagan as in my main system as I am very happy with it and it is dead silent.
For the gpu I have two options - stay with the present Radeon 7500 or transfer my Radeon 9800 and get a 6600GT or better to give Shader Model 3 support - one way of getting a better graphics card.
I didn't realise Antec did such a case with 120mm fan support - that is a good suggestion.
I was tempted with the XP90-C or XP90 but I am very happy with my Zalman and it is so easy to install and remove. However for silent operation I would need to run the fan at about 1900 rpm which should not be a problem as I will not be overclocking.
At the present I do not think I could go with the EpoX because of the reported problems with running two sticks of memory at 1T with a Venice cpu.

[GrahamGarside]

Tagan are ok, but you will have much better luck with a seasonic or enermax as they have a higher efficiency.

A 6600Gt would be the better option for cooler running, though the stock coolers are typically poor, a zalman VF700 would do the trick nicely

[Oldjim]

I agree that a 6600GT would be better (probably the Galaxy Glacier GeForce 6600GT as it is one of the quieter ones) but I would want it in my main system so that I can play "Half Life 2 The Lost Coast" properly when it comes out hence the 9800pro transfer option. However I have yet to find a good reason to replace the Radeon 7500 which seems to meet the requirements for word processing/spreadsheets and photo/graphics work using Photoshop and has a tiny little fan which is probably relatively quiet.
I will certainly look at the psu's you suggest as the Enermax has really good outputs on the 12 volt rails.
My experience in cooling/quietening my existing system has shown that the most difficult part of a quiet system is the case ventilation. I needed to heavily modify my existing case to reduce the air restrictions from the grills as this created most of the noise from the SilenX 120mm case fans which are themselves very quiet. Hence I appreciate your suggested case.

[GrahamGarside]

Stock case grills are one of the big culprits of turbulence noise, without an aerodynamic shape to follow, the air gushing over them creates a lot of noise while at the same time restricting airflow, meaning things aren't being cooled as well at a given fan speed

A 7500 could also be cooled passively no problem, it would only need a small heatsink, the problem with the coolers on cards like that is it's cheaper to go for a crappy heatsink and tiny fan than a reasonable heatsink
I've a 7000VE which only has a small passive sink on it, and it's barely warm to the touch

I'd say case and cpu cooling are the easy parts, you just need slow fans. The psu can be tricky, as they use temp conrtolled fan controllers which are often way too cautious and attempt to keep temps in the 40-45°C range in an enermax it's a simple matter of disconnecting the temp sensor from the heatsink so it doesn't report as high a temperature, the unit will likely still be cool enough and very quiet though it does mean voiding the warranty

Then it's the hard drive. The only sure way to have an inaudible drive is a 2.5" 5200rpm laptop drive, in a case this will be inaudible.

With 3.5" 7200rpm drives your choices are pretty much Samsung Spinpoint, Maxtor 10, and seagate barracudas

Samsung are generally the best, combining low spindle noise and minimal head chatter.
Maxtors can be great as well, with AAM on the lowest setting the head noise will be minimal, but very few are what you would call silent when it comes to idle noise.
Seagates are great for idle noise levels, they produce very little spindle noise. Unfortunately due to licensing reasons they don't support AAM and so the head noise is very noticable