February 4, 201016 yr Hi, everybody.It's my first message in this forum (although being a reader for a few years).I'm planning to upgrade my FS machine, currently suitable (more or less...) only for FS2004, to be able to smoothly run FSX with some add-ons (like PMDG 747 with FS2Crew, Ultimate Traffic, Radar Contact and Actve Sky X). The components I would like to keep are:- Samsung 40 inch LCD (FullHD)- Thermaltake DH202 (VJ80011N2Z) HTPC case.- Saitek X52 Flight Control System.As this system will be used also as an HTPC, it's important that, at least when it is used for that purpose, it keeps as silent as possible.Can you give me some advices about:- Processor (i5, i7 w/ socket 1156, i7 w/ socket 1366)?- Memory (4GB dual channel, 6GB tri-channel)?- Graphics card (Nvidia 260, 275, other)?- PSU (I prefer a modular one, to improve air flow inside the box)?Thanks in advance!
February 4, 201016 yr Acquiring a computer that is quiet enough for home theater and powerful enough for FSX is a tough quest. Home theater systems often opt for passive cooling, but not gaming computers. I'm thinking that a 1156 socket CPU and the GTX 260 for graphics might have more potential for being quiet. In any event, you need to look for slower turning 120mm or larger fans on all applicable components, including the power supply. Perhaps someone else has come up with a quiet but powerful system. I have not. Even the fan on my projection HDTV may be louder than you like. With all the buzzing and ringing in my ears, it doesn't really matter how much noise comes from my computer. Art
February 5, 201016 yr Hi, everybody.It's my first message in this forum (although being a reader for a few years).I'm planning to upgrade my FS machine, currently suitable (more or less...) only for FS2004, to be able to smoothly run FSX with some add-ons (like PMDG 747 with FS2Crew, Ultimate Traffic, Radar Contact and Actve Sky X). The components I would like to keep are:- Samsung 40 inch LCD (FullHD)- Thermaltake DH202 (VJ80011N2Z) HTPC case.- Saitek X52 Flight Control System.As this system will be used also as an HTPC, it's important that, at least when it is used for that purpose, it keeps as silent as possible.Can you give me some advices about:- Processor (i5, i7 w/ socket 1156, i7 w/ socket 1366)?- Memory (4GB dual channel, 6GB tri-channel)?- Graphics card (Nvidia 260, 275, other)?- PSU (I prefer a modular one, to improve air flow inside the box)?Thanks in advance!Your on the right track with the hardware, personaly I am a fan of the I7 but as the other poster commented it will all be about balancing the speed/heat with the cooling/fans/noise.I run a wisper quiet system thanks in a large part to 3 240mm fans (I dont think my case makes for a good HTPC though), a Great Heatsink on the CPU with the right kind of fan, and and a quiet and powerful Artic Cooling Accelero heatsink/fan on the GPU, all very very quiet.Maybe some of these links will be useful to you:http://www.quietpcusa.com/http://www.silentpcreview.com/http://www.frozencpu.com/
February 5, 201016 yr How about watercooling, if the money is not that big of an issue?You can run totally decent system with everything watercooled, even harddrives in their respectable boxes to make them even more silent, and then you basically only have one case fan, one PSU fan and fans on the radiator for the cooling. I can confirm that mine (though very overclocked) machine is in the living room and it's everything but disturbing... But alas, I have a very big radiator on the tower and 5 Noctua fans silently cooling it (I think they are running 7V).
February 5, 201016 yr Thanks, guys.I'm curently looking at the following config:CPU: i7 860MOBO: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3RMEM: GSkill Ripjaws F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM (2x2GB)VID: Gigabyte GeForce GTX260 GV-N26SO-896ICOOLER: Scythe Shuriken Rev. BPSU: Seasonic 600W Super Silent M12-600I'm not looking into water cooling, as I think it would be difficult to fit in my case (and $$$, also).Any comments?
February 5, 201016 yr Water cooling can be installed externally. Basically the radiator just attaches to the back of the chassis where the rear chassis fan mounts, using a "radbox". You can buy kits which include this box and everything else you need. I'm a recent water cooling convert, after using huge heatsinks and loud fans for years, I much prefer water now. Quieter, cooler, allows for more overclocking headroom.
February 5, 201016 yr COOLER: Scythe Shuriken Rev. BI know you are concerned about headroom, but is that heatsink/fan compatible with the 1156 cpu socket?There are a number of four heatpipe heatsinks with 120mm fans that should be more efficient and quieter if space is available. Art
February 5, 201016 yr I'm not looking into water cooling, as I think it would be difficult to fit in my case (and $$$, also).Any comments?Not to burst your bubble, but watercooling in my case in fact takes less space than air cooling, inside the case that is. And outside, well, it fits well.I have one of the biggest radiators available, it's almost as big as the whole big tower, and it's mounted on the right side of the case. And behind the case, there is a watertank to fill the water in (pardon me, I don't know the english word for it...).It allows me for a VERY silent operation, while still giving very good temperatures.Anyway, a pic:The fact is true though. If you want to keep small, there are smaller cases and also MUCH smaller radiators, as small as 2x 120mm fans. And mountable anywhere on the case, even behind, as Max said.
February 5, 201016 yr I know you are concerned about headroom, but is that heatsink/fan compatible with the 1156 cpu socket?There are a number of four heatpipe heatsinks with 120mm fans that should be more efficient and quieter if space is available.Well, at least, as it is stated at their website, it ishttp://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/cpu-c...iken-rev-b.htmlSpace is very tight. The space available for heatsink is 100mmhttp://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx...mp;ID=1878#Tab5
February 5, 201016 yr Well, so much for large low rpm fans to keep down noise. That case has two 60mm fans turning 2500 rpm. Actually, you can usually control fan speeds with bios so that they don't spool up except when temperatures get high, such as when using FSX. The heatsink attachment looks okay for the 1156 socket.Looking at the other posts on water cooling, why not just run a water tube to the car in the garage and use it's radiator? :( Things are getting crazy with gaming computers. Art
February 6, 201016 yr Looking at the other posts on water cooling, why not just run a water tube to the car in the garage and use it's radiator? :( Things are getting crazy with gaming computers.Rather impractical solution :( But in all seriousness - I never bought watercooling for the gaming. It was all about the silence - I do lots of audio and music listening, fans and disks (all 4 of them, and I need 4) make too much noise.
February 7, 201016 yr Rather impractical solution :( But in all seriousness - I never bought watercooling for the gaming. It was all about the silence - I do lots of audio and music listening, fans and disks (all 4 of them, and I need 4) make too much noise.Impressive rig. Looks more like a server to me. With all the other environmental sounds, I look at my computer fans as white noise. Art
February 7, 201016 yr Impressive rig. Looks more like a server to me. With all the other environmental sounds, I look at my computer fans as white noise.My wife would kill me if I ever put such a thing in my living room :( ! (just kidding, she is sweet)
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