Recommendations for two new quiet builds

[YetAnotherNoob]

Been out of the loop since my last build, hoping for some recommendations for my next two. Last time I built a rig Q6600 was still the best bang for buck, and 2gb ddr2 was the standard...(see sig.)

I am getting ready to build a new main rig, and a nas fileserver. I'm trying to move most if not all motor driven HDs away from my main rig(which is about 3 feet from my pillow...)

Budget=no set budget, I do not mind spending 2k if i get 3-4k worth of computing out of it. (bang for buck over first kid on the block) Though I prefer not to spend toooo much.

What I'm looking for:

Main rig:
MB = GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R? (will never need sli, mild to good oc capabilities, low heat/noise) 2x pcie?(xonar+gpu)

CPU = I7 940/930/920 D0

Cooler = I7 Water block?

RAM = Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB)??

GPU = 5750/70??? will be powering my 2560x1600 30" HP, 1080p playback, little to no gaming. (low idle power draw, overclockable just in case i want to game a little, and quiet/ easy to cool)

Boot HD = ocz/intel, Vertex 2, 128GB SSD, indilix/sandforce controller

PSU = Corsair 650TX or 650HX; my neohe has been running 24/7 since i built the rig so, i guess i should replace it jic.

case: might reuse P180B depending on gpu recommendations / or 1200/HAF X if a good board/gpu would require it...

NAS Fileserver:
mb= ion??? would like to have cpu+mb+gfx combo that runs on brick, Gigabit ethernet, at least 2 sata, preferably more. preferably fanless, runs on ddr2 (have 2x2GB + 6x1GB ddr2 on hand; rather not buy ddr3 to run a bunch of HDs...)

2TB storage HDs = 7200?or 5400? gonna swap my smaller drives for a bunch of(4-10) big ones, so i need hds that are quiet at idle...

whats the maximum number of HDs a power brick system can handle? or should i just scrap the all-in-1 mb idea? will start with around 4 HDs and more in the future.

[Awptex]

Most stores only sell i7 930's wich is the exact same as the i7 920 but a higher base clock, SSD's are completly reliable now and is defiantly worth the money, and ddr3 is unbelievably faster then ddr2 some cheap quality ddr3 memory is Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226102)

[pik4chu]

Last time I looked at an HTPC the recommendation was a 5670 for video.

Also for the NAS please dont use green drives if you will be streaming from it. Also you cant get by with fanless and mechanical hard drives, they will cook.

As for an all-in-one mobo for said NAS, look into an Intel Atom system. If you are just hosting drives off of it and not doing any video encoding or gaming then it will do perfectly and isnt very expensive. (150-200 for mobo/cpu) and usually dual gigabit ethernet. There was a post on [H] where someone used one as the core for a full norco 4020 case (20 drives) and it ran just fine.

[j0rd]

I would say scrap ion, dont need it on a nas / file server and look at raid 5 array.\
Just my $0.02

[YetAnotherNoob]

Yea I was planning on a ion mb for the passive chipset+passive dualcore atom+passive onboard gpu+ passive powerbrick. and 120mms undervolted to cool the HDs. HD's will be idle/sleep 90+% of time.

any particular reason for "nay" on the ion?

[Evilsizer]

Been out of the loop since my last build, hoping for some recommendations for my next two. Last time I built a rig Q6600 was still the best bang for buck, and 2gb ddr2 was the standard...(see sig.)

I am getting ready to build a new main rig, and a nas fileserver. I'm trying to move most if not all motor driven HDs away from my main rig(which is about 3 feet from my pillow...)

Budget=no set budget, I do not mind spending 2k if i get 3-4k worth of computing out of it. (bang for buck over first kid on the block) Though I prefer not to spend toooo much.

What I'm looking for:

Main rig:
MB = ? (will never need sli, mild to good oc capabilities, low heat/noise) 2x pcie?(xonar+gpu)

CPU = I7 920??? what is the best bang for buck upgrade now adays? would like a noticeable difference...

Cooler = would like to reuse my h2o loop, so I would need a new water block. or really quiet air cooler

RAM = ?...last i checked good ddr2 was still faster than
ddr3...im sure times have changed...

GPU = 5750/70??? will be powering my 2560x1600 30" HP, 1080p playback, little to no gaming. (low idle power draw, overclockable just in case i want to game a little, and quiet/ easy to cool)

Primary HD = Obviously SSDs are quieter but are they reliable enough now? from what i remember they had really high failure rates... and $ per gig was way worse than raptors...but they ARE quieter (around 100GB is fine; will have 10-15TB of other storage)

PSU = time to change? or is my 550w still good enough?

case: might reuse P180B depending on gpu recommendations

Cpu, i would say get a i7 930 or if you find a good deal on a D0 920.

Motherboard, since your case is mATX that limits some of your choices. i like the Asus Rampage II Gene, lots of things i use. Asus did also release a updated Gene, the Rampage III Gene. the updated one from what i can tell add SATA III and USB 3.0 support. i can see anything else that makes it a must have board over the Rampage II Gene. while not needed both board do support SLI and CF, it has 2 x16 PICE, 1 x1 PCIE, and 1 PCI slot.

Ram, there is always going to be faster ram.. i would suggest going with some DDR3-1600 cas 7 or cas 8 sticks. 2x2gig will set you back around $100 or more depending on the brand you go with.

Cooling, its up to you on which way to go. water is going to be a good option to stick with if your going to want the lowest temps while ocing, that is if you are ocing. there are new HS's out that would be good for quite air cooling. though the cost for them is in some cases more then a new WB. i would stick with water and get a new WB for the setup.

GPU, at that res you wont be getting much FPS in gaming with that card. you would then need to drop the resolution down to say 1440x900 or something like that. even ocing wont help enough to get playable FPS at that res. you might as well just get the 5870 since they all downclock like cpus do to save power. another 1-5watts increase at idle isnt going to break the bank or the power bill.

SSD, if you go for one of these. you will want to look at indilix based drives or the new sandforce controller ones. also the intel drives are good as well, but wont be the sandforce based drives.

PSU, Depending on how long you have had the psu and if it has been running 24/7. will dictate if you need to get a new one for sure... if you do i would say the Corsair 650TX or 650HX are what you want.


NAS Fileserver:
mb= ion??? would like to have cpu+mb+gfx combo that runs on brick, Gigabit ethernet, at least 2 sata, preferably more. preferably fanless, runs on ddr2 (have 2x2GB + 6x1GB ddr2 on hand; rather not buy ddr3 to run a bunch of HDs...)

2TB storage HDs = gonna swap my smaller drives for a bunch of big ones, so i need quiet ones...

whats the maximum number of HDs a power brick system can handle? or should i just scrap the all-in-1 mb idea? will start with around 4 HDs and more in the future.
you could do this but there are NAS boxes that wont use as much power as atom will. you might consider some of these
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&name=Network-Storage-NAS


Most stores only sell i7 930's, which is the exact same as the i7 920 but a higher base clock. SSD's are completely reliable now and is defiantly worth the money.
actually the i7 930 is not a higher base clock of the i7 920. it has a higher multi but isn't not just a oc'd i7 920... that is not how intel does speed binning of their processors.

[Knufire]

GPU, at that res you wont be getting much FPS in gaming with that card. you would then need to drop the resolution down to say 1440x900 or something like that. even ocing wont help enough to get playable FPS at that res. you might as well just get the 5870 since they all downclock like cpus do to save power. another 1-5watts increase at idle isnt going to break the bank or the power bill.

He isn't gaming, he just needs 1080p playback.

Best $/performance X58 boards IMO are:
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

ASUS P6X58D-E: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

For the SSD, go with OCZ or Intel. The Vertex 2 one of the best SSD's right now, but costs slightly more then other brands.

550w should be fine for this system.

WD Caviar Green drives are only 5400 RPM, those should be deathly quiet, but slightly slower.

[pik4chu]

He isn't gaming, he just needs 1080p playback.

Best $/performance X58 boards IMO are:
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423

ASUS P6X58D-E: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

For the SSD, go with OCZ or Intel. The Vertex 2 one of the best SSD's right now, but costs slightly more then other brands.

550w should be fine for this system.

WD Caviar Green drives are only 5400 RPM, those should be deathly quiet, but slightly slower.

They are not 'slightly' slower, they are considerably slower, and you shouldnt use them in a RAID as they are more likely to drop out of the array than a normal drive.

[Evilsizer]

He isn't gaming, he just needs 1080p playback.

then he needs to make up his mind...
GPU = 5750/70??? will be powering my 2560x1600 30" HP, 1080p playback, little to no gaming. (low idle power draw, overclockable just in case i want to game a little, and quiet/ easy to cool)
at that native res it will make him not want to game at all... i was pointing that out but i guess it is easy to overlook things.... he did say low idle power draw which he can get from that card. as he said there is no price limit, i dont think i missed anything.....

[YetAnotherNoob]

i can't believe i forgot to mention that i would be doing mild ocing for 24/7 and cranking it when i need to; as with my q6600 (3.0-3.6gb 24/7; 4.0gb when i need to do some number crunching...)

i mean the most graphic intensive stuff i run would probably be what? solidworks?and other cad/cams? i don't play fps, but might want to try out starcraft 2, diablo 3, jagged alliance 3(if it ever comes out) and im talking about a few hours every month or two...so low idle draw is important. not for energy costs, but heat/noise. I have a hard time sleeping with a vacuum three feet from my head. i'll just oc the gpu to make it playable for those few hours... and i think i have a accelero s1 rev2 lying around somewhere... so if it can run passive/undervolted 24/7 and 120mm fan on when oc'd all the better...

while i really like my p180b i wouldn't mind moving to a antec 1200 or HAF X if a great board+gpu would require it...

@Evilsizer
i kinda steered away from ready built NASs and went towards a custom built server for expandability. if i buy a 4-bay nas thats pretty much what im stuck with. i was going to start with 4x2tbs and eventually up to around 10. (i'm giving up on burning dvdr, because hd $per gig is pretty affordable now) and it wouldn't hurt if i could offload my compression tasks to the nas...

and thanks for reminding me, i forgot air wasn't even close to my water loop...and i still have a spare pump so it would be a waste...water it is...

[j0rd]

any particular reason for "nay" on the ion?

because a nas / file server really doesn't need graphics, Generally they can be administered through ssh or other cli interface or (depending on your OS) a web gui. Its a power drain (admittedly not allot for ion) that is going to waste that would otherwise be available for more storage, also cost, i could be wrong but wouldn't ion boards be slightly more expensive, again money that could go on more storage should it be needed "down the track".

this is just my opinion though, depends allot on what you want it to do and how you want to do it.