What to do...... ??

Alright everyone


So here's the deal. My current system is doing okayish, but there are a few problems with it. Here is its current spec.

AMD Barton 2500+ @ 2.2Ghz
Coolermaster Aero7 (that's the one with the weird blower fan on it.)
1gig PC2700 (err... it'll do)
Abit NF7-S
Geforce 3 64meg (ARARARAHGHAHG)
400gig storage (across 3 PATA drives of varying sizes)
Hiper Power 520watt PSU (i'll come to this)
Thermaltake Xaser III case

Problem #1
That graphics card sucks. Really. Thing is, if I upgrade to anything special now, then when I upgrade this rig to a nicer one (next year or so, I'm considering dual cores, but right now I'm just watching to see how things go) then I doubt an AGP card will work very well with PCI-express. In fact, it won' even fit any of the slot on the board, without help from our good friend mister rock or mrs housebrick, to encourage it into one of the slots.

So my question here is: What GFX card should I get. Not a top of the range one, looking to spend £60-£100 (errr.... i guess that's about $150 off the top of my head).... must be AGP


Problem #2
Power supply is knackered, basically. Again, what do I need to look out for in a powersupply, so that it'll be good enough to run a future (possibly) rig also. I'd guess a future rig would be a fairly fast dual core, i believe... not sure yet


Problem #3
THIS THING IS NOISY. No really. In a bad way. Inside this thing, I count no fewer than 11 fans. I'm using the rheobus on the case fans, but the CPU Fan is noisy as hell, even on low. Would it be smart to remove that blower fan and fit a quieter 80mm fan to the same cooler, or are there any new CPU coolers out there that'd be quieter and not too expensive. Other culprits involve the northbridge, the current power supply and the current GFX card. Therefore, I'm after a very quiet PSU and GFX card (or a GFX card which can safely be fitted with a passive heatsink)


In short:
- Need a new quiet graphics card, which is AGP. Not too expensive, plus i'm not too fussed about it being OMG TEH NEW NVIDIA WHICH PWNZ ALL. I just want more than 20fps in San Andreas / Half life 2.

- New quiet PSU. I'd like for it to be able to run a newer system in the future. Really really, quietness is essential. I'm fed up of fan noise

- I want to quieten down my existing components - passive northbridge cooling and or gfx card cooling possibly, what are good products to get.

- I'm not loaded, plus this is not a "new PC" i'm building. I'm waiting until christmas or so, to build a dual-core PC (or whatever's good around then) so I don't want to invest THAT much - the components i'll carry over to the new PC will be the case and PSU, so I'm willing to spend more on those.




Wow, behemoth post. Soz for that, but any advice any of you guys can chuck would be great
-Blueacid

#1 A nice Geforce 6600 is within your price range: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=89722
And to run it quietly get a Zalman ZM80D-HP or something similar to replace the stock heatsink/fan
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603554

#2 Mostly the Brand (Sparkle, TTGI, Fortron, Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, and a few others), inclusion of 24-pin ATX with a down-step adapter to 20-pin, Active PFC and effective cooling are things to look out for.

#3 Definitely replace the blower. Or just get a really effective heatsink with more surface area. Like a Zalman CNPS7000
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601627

I've never been too clear on what the best UK sources for hardware are so if anyone can point me to a few that would help...

I personally check out ebuyer.co.uk, www.overclockers.co.uk (bit more expensive, but SERIOUSLY good tech support - you pay for what you get) and sometimes www.dabs.co.uk or www.scan.co.uk


I was looking at the 6600 - do any of you know how noisy those are at stock? Also, on an NF7-S, how safe am I to fit passive NB cooling?

Cheers! Gonna go look at the sites and see what i want to get

A 6600 will usually be around 30-35dBa at stock.

As a forward-looking option for a power supply, here are a few I recommend
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Enermax_111.html
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=90613
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=43170

Do you have any space in your case between the top edge of the motherboard and your PSU? I didn't realize the layout of the NF7-S was so cramped. If you don't have alot of clearance I recommend the Thermalright ALX800 as an alternative option against your current heatsink.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Thermalright_120.html

And switching to passive for the northbbridge will be fine if your processor heatsink is feeding enough airflow.

Captain Slug said:

#1 A nice Geforce 6600 is within your price range: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=89722
And to run it quietly get a Zalman ZM80D-HP or something similar to replace the stock heatsink/fan
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603554

#2 Mostly the Brand (Sparkle, TTGI, Fortron, Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, and a few others), inclusion of 24-pin ATX with a down-step adapter to 20-pin, Active PFC and effective cooling are things to look out for.

#3 Definitely replace the blower. Or just get a really effective heatsink with more surface area. Like a Zalman CNPS7000
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601627

I've never been too clear on what the best UK sources for hardware are so if anyone can point me to a few that would help...

Click to expand...

I'm with Slug for most parts, but i would take the Tagan 480 or OCZ Powerstream for a quiet PSU.
Check in on http://overclock.co.uk too for prices, and i like that store alot more than overclockers.. (just because of they have swiftech waterblocks)
Plus a better customerservice, what i heard from another UK dweller.

//Christian

Oops, can't hotlink that image

Just took that now with my mobile (cell) phone.



Also, what about:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Antec_103.html

Antec TruePower 2.0 430W PSU (CA-030-AN) (Just over halfway down, costs £68 including VAT)

Have you anything against an Antec PSU? That looks okay to me so far

I have something against Antec's PSU's they get louder and louder after time, I have a 480 Truepower and a 430 silent, loud as hell in comparison to my Levicon and tagan 480 silent.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that both my Antecs ain't stable at 12V and 5V

//Christian

Sshadow, you posted whilst I was typing... Do you think the Tagan or OCZ power supplies would be quieter than the Antec I linked to?

BTW, cheers for all help so far guys

Blueacid

Yes, it would. 2 friends of mine bought that one in hope of cable management, and they couldn't get the 12V or 5V stable 12 @ 11,5 upto 11,96. And it was loud in their ears.

//Christian

Hmm..

Both of them ended up with a OCZ Powerstream (adjustable voltagerails) and are really happy with it, and quieter too. So yes and yes

//Christian

(sorry i didn't edit)

Sshadow said:

I have something against Antec's PSU's they get louder and louder after time, I have a 480 Truepower and a 430 silent, loud as hell in comparison to my Levicon and tagan 480 silent.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that both my Antecs ain't stable at 12V and 5V

//Christian

Click to expand...

Thanks for that - just the advice I was looking for.

Those enermax PSUs that captain slug linked to look like the "silent" psus, where "silent" means "less noisy than a leaf-blower"... or are they actually silent.

For me, Silent means whisper (20db or around there) - not the "silent" that my current PSU promised (30db or more)

My tagan holds its promise. The only loud fan i have right now is on the GPU, just waiting for some waterblocks and then i am set with low noise.

//Christian

http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/

There seems to be some kind of deal on Tagan PSU there today - but I'm not sure how good it actually is.

The Tagan is far from silent IMO, although it has all of the plugs (SATA and such) You will ever need

Mine is silent, in comparison to Antecs PSU's. Even Levicon and OCZ has a better noiselevel than Antec.
So far in my exp. the Tagan has the best noiselevel. Silent is an understatement, its close in comparison to other brands.
My HDD's are louder than the PSU if thats a fair comparison, HDD's are seagates.

//Sshadow

crana c said:

The Tagan is far from silent IMO, although it has all of the plugs (SATA and such) You will ever need

Click to expand...

21db is far from silent? Hmm.... I'm gonna order that PSU I reckon

Problem #3
THIS THING IS NOISY. No really. In a bad way. Inside this thing, I count no fewer than 11 fans. I'm using the rheobus on the case fans, but the CPU Fan is noisy as hell, even on low. Would it be smart to remove that blower fan and fit a quieter 80mm fan to the same cooler, or are there any new CPU coolers out there that'd be quieter and not too expensive. Other culprits involve the northbridge, the current power supply and the current GFX card. Therefore, I'm after a very quiet PSU and GFX card (or a GFX card which can safely be fitted with a passive heatsink)

Click to expand...

Perhaps use a 80->120mm adapter and install a 120mm Sunon or Titan on it instead. And control it thru the rheobus.

//Christian

That's a very good idea actually, I might give that a shot. I ordered a new Tagan 480 watt 20dB psu, which should be with me tomorrow. Would a 120mm->80mm adaptor cause a lot of air noise? or would it be very quiet?

Blueacid

It depends on 120mm you are going to use. I myself use a 120mm Papst 4412FGL (can't remember the cfm, but the modell), and that is sufficient on my old 423 socket. Not much of airnoise, using cardampening in that case also. The Antec 360 is the louder culprit in it.

//Christian

(By the way, Cheers for all the help guys, especially Sshadow!!)

What's the heatsink of the Coolermaster Aero like as a heatsink? What I mean to say is, would it be worth the money for me to get another heatsink for it as well, or just replace the existing fan? Currently, with the fan on full, my CPU's at 48°c (1.75Vcore, 2200Mhz) Ambient in the room is 29°c (ugh)