Stereodude, I'd also recommend the Seasonic brand like ddrueding recommended. I'd suggest you take a look over at Silent PC Review to gather your own conclusions if you haven't been there already. They seem to do a decent job with reviewing the noise of equipment, especially power supplies.
Cheapest way into a quiet PCI-E HTPC
- Thread starter Stereodude
- Start date
ddrueding
Fixture
Correction: Scythe Katana Cu does not support AM2 
Anyone want a couple of them?
Anyone want a couple of them?
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Do they support 939?
If so, yes.
If so, yes.
ddrueding
Fixture
They do 939 great, and every other socket I can imagine, but Newegg was a bit enthusiastic when they also said AM2...
Stereodude
Not really a
I like the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
Stereodude
Not really a
This is what I have more or less settled on getting around Christmas (assuming I get a bonus at work). This is designed to be Blu-Ray / HD-DVD playback capable (obviously I would have to add the respective drives) as well as doing everything my current HTPC does (cable and OTA HD recording/playback). Feedback is appreciated if you guys thinks I went wrong somewhere.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-M55plus-S3G
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (65W)
Video Card: MSI NX7600GT-VT2D256E GeForce 7600GT 256MB (with HDCP)
RAM: A-DATA 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or Similar
Power Supply: XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P3 550W ATX12V 550W or Thermaltake Toughpower W0103RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 600W
Cooling: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
I will keep the same case, optical drives, HDTV tuner cards, sound card, HDs, and BT keyboard & mouse, I'm using now.
And, I know I will likely get some comments about the power supplies being way too excessive. The idea there is to get something with good efficiency (>80%) that is extremely quiet. As such, the thought is to buy a supply with a very large fan that runs rather slowly. For example, the Thermaltake supply indicates that it doesn't increase fan speed to above 1000RPM until it passes a 60% load (which it won't likely see even with this machine running full out). Factor that into the fan in the PS being rated for 16dB at 1300RPM, and it should be pretty much silent.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-M55plus-S3G
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (65W)
Video Card: MSI NX7600GT-VT2D256E GeForce 7600GT 256MB (with HDCP)
RAM: A-DATA 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) or Similar
Power Supply: XCLIO GREATPOWER X14S4P3 550W ATX12V 550W or Thermaltake Toughpower W0103RU ATX12V/ EPS12V 600W
Cooling: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
I will keep the same case, optical drives, HDTV tuner cards, sound card, HDs, and BT keyboard & mouse, I'm using now.
And, I know I will likely get some comments about the power supplies being way too excessive. The idea there is to get something with good efficiency (>80%) that is extremely quiet. As such, the thought is to buy a supply with a very large fan that runs rather slowly. For example, the Thermaltake supply indicates that it doesn't increase fan speed to above 1000RPM until it passes a 60% load (which it won't likely see even with this machine running full out). Factor that into the fan in the PS being rated for 16dB at 1300RPM, and it should be pretty much silent.
ddrueding
Fixture
I wouldn't trust Thermaltake or whoever those other guys are on their dB measurements. I can almost guarantee that a Seasonic S12, Nexus, or even an Antec Neo will be quieter.
Stereodude
Not really a
Well, I decided to grab a ThermalTake ToughPower 650 for my server since Newegg has it for $115 (after a $30 rebate) shipped free for my server. I got it mainly because I wanted a high efficiency supply in my server, but I'm also curious to see how quiet one of the Thermaltake 14cm fan'd units really is. So, I guess it's also partially a research project for my HTPC.
Stereodude
Not really a
And, after sleeping on it, I decided to cancel the order... The Corsair HX520 (SPCR review) that's made for Corsair by Seasonic looks like a better supply to get. I'm going to hold off a little longer before buying anything though.
Stereodude
Not really a
So, how am I supposed to find out of the Scythe Ninja Plus rev. B fits the Gigabyte GA-M55plus-S3G?
I compared a picture of a few of the Abit AM2 boards that the Scythe fits with the GA-M55plus-S3G, and it looks like it's about the same. However, it would seem that the first memory slot is going to be unusable (just like the Abit boards), and of course Gigabyte recommends installing dual channel memory in the first 2 slots.
I compared a picture of a few of the Abit AM2 boards that the Scythe fits with the GA-M55plus-S3G, and it looks like it's about the same. However, it would seem that the first memory slot is going to be unusable (just like the Abit boards), and of course Gigabyte recommends installing dual channel memory in the first 2 slots.
Stereodude
Not really a
It looks like from this thread at SPCR. That the Scythe Ninja will mount on the Gigabyte board I'm interested in...
Or you could buy a 3rd party fitted aluminium block solution ... there might actually be a future for my Zalman yet!