ok that is awesome! I could probally do that. But if you don't mind could you show the other side of the spectrum on the cheapest way to go. Thanks alot for all the info!
Well, that's the tricky part. I don't know exactly what your tolerance for noise is. I can tell you how you can save money, and what impacts it would have on noise, but collectively whether it'd be suitable or not you wouldn't necessarily know until you built it, which would be too late. Essentially, the PSU I've chosen deliberately as I own one and it is in the top 3 quietest PSUs ever made. I can vouch for this, it is inaudible from anything more than about 2-3cm away, even when powering a gaming PC. The CPU cooler is designed to be quiet, that's its only purpose (although it can also be used to overclock and get more performance). The stock cooler suffices, but may get noisy when your CPU is stressed. The hard disks have been chosen since the X25-V is silent (it's an SSD) and the WD10EARS is a very quiet drive, about as quiet as you can buy. Your old drive may be very tolerable, or it could be awful. Listen out for a tone of 120Hz coming from your computer, and also the grinding noise when you do things. If either of them are noticeable, your hard disk is going to be a noise culprit (To know what 120Hz sounds like, stick your headphones on or crank your speakers up, and open a PC function generator program like SigJenny or FG_Lite) The graphics card is very powerful, and you could get away with something less. However, the HD5770 comes with a quiet stock cooler guaranteed. This may not be the case with the cards lower down, i.e. HD5750, HD5670 and HD5570. At the very bottom end, the HD5450 can be bought with a cooler with no fan at all, which will obviously be silent, but while this card is fine for playing back high-def video, it's useless for playing games, so you should take that into consideration. You can fit aftermarket coolers to graphics cards that aren't quiet in their normal configuration, it's not too expensive, but it is fiddly and voids your warranty, so take caution if you choose to go down that route. The case is already a cheap buy, it's nothing fancy but gets the job done. Other cases cool better but may be prone to extra noise - be wary of cases with large amounts of mesh, or odd shaped grilles obstructing the fans. This amplifies airborne noise. The DVD drive is not quiet at all, but it's a solid drive, and you shouldn't need to use a DVD drive on too much of a regular basis on your system. It will be quiet reading DVDs (low speed) but noisy when copying files or burning discs, as that requires a high disc speed, and this is always a noisy process no matter what. The extra case fan is $20 you don't have to spend, but it will help cooling the system which will reduce the other fan speeds, and it's a relatively quiet fan on its own - cut the speed a bit with the fan controller (this is a strongly recommended purchase) and it'll be pretty much silent.
Ok you've sold me on the good system. To me this sounds like a lot of stuff to install. Will I be able to figure this out on my own (just instructions)? Also can I just use the 40gb ssd as my 1 and only hard drive. I won't be storing anthing on the drive except the operating system.
Well if you're not storing any data on the entire PC, what are you using it for? I included the X25-V for OS purposes only, as it really isn't big enough to do anything else. I can only assume if this is an HTPC that it is networked and browses files hosted in another PC in a different room. Using an external hard drive will add unnecessary noise and complication to the system, and you would be better off using the 5400rpm internal drive. Building the system won't be difficult as instructions are fairly self-explanatory, but do ask if you're concerned about anything with the build.
the movies I will be watching are stored on another computer in another room. I will just watch them through my network THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!
The most important thing to say is dont force anything! If it doesnt fit, turn it around and try another way. Its kind of like a big lego kit, except for everything pretty much just fits in one way. I promise its not rocket science but its also good to run through the mobo manual if your confused on anything.
I am going to get everything except the hdd and the SSD. The case is no longer available on new egg. Can I just get any case or was this one specific to this system. Also do I need any thermal compound? Thinking maybe this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121002
The Beta isn't exactly unavailable, it's just been replaced by a newer model, the Beta Evo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059 You could buy any old case, but I recommended this one specifically because although it's reasonably inexpensive, it's still built to a high standard. You do not need any thermal paste as Noctua supply their coolers with it. It would only be necessary to buy some if you wanted the absolute lowest temperatures for extreme overclocking (and if you did, you would be buying the 120mm version anyway) If you are not buying the drives listed, which drives are you buying instead?
I'm just gonna use a 80gb drive I already have. Just need the operating system and that's it. Not gonna store anything on the drive except that.
Then I assume you realise you will need freshly install windows on it since this is a new PC. Existing hard drives with windows already installed usually can't be used in new computers, unless the computer that used to store the drive is almost identical to the new system.
You said I can't use a hard drive with windows installed from a different pc but I said in a earlier post I have a new operating system disc that has never been installed
Which makes no sense, as an operating system disc is a CD. You can't run Windows off the CD, the CD is to install the operating system to a hard drive.
Dude, I said I have a spare 80 gb hard drive with nothing on it and a windows xp disc that's new. Why won't that work?
Unless I misread, you didn't state that you had an empty HARD disk you were going to install a new version of windows on until now. As long as that's what you're doing, you'll be fine.
Oh sorry. I just assumed that me saying I had a spare drive and a fresh windows cd that would explain what I was gonna do. Thanks again for the help!
Again, you never mentioned the word HARD DRIVE. Anyways the 80 GB drive you have will save you the money for sure, but it will produce noise. How much noise depends on the drive. The SSD will not make any noise at all seeing as there is no moving parts. So if you have the money for the SSD and getting the build as silent as possible the SSD is the better bet.
I finally got it done This is what I ended up getting Total cost was $980 Antec sonata elite case (highly recommend) asus P7P55D motherboard core i5 750 2.66 GHz 8M 1156 CPU 4gb (2x2gb) hyperx RAM lite-on lightscribe DVD burner XFX HD 5770 1gb video card
