Girlfriend's build (pictures 'n stuff)

F

fortyways

banned
This is the computer in blue in my sig. I built it for my girlfriend who's training to be a 911 operative or something. She's also taking some courses online.

Budget, silence and reliability were the goals here.

Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C mobo: $50 at Newegg (USD)
Antec EarthWatts 380 PSU: $35 at Newegg
Pentium Dual Core E2160: $75 at Newegg
Lite-On DVD Burner: $25 at Newegg
CoolerMaster Elite 340 mATX case: $35 at Fry's Electronics
D-Link wireless G adapter: $25 at Fry's Electronics
Western Digital 120GB 8MB Scorpio Laptop HDD: $50 at Best Buy

The total was about $300. The RAM, case fan and CPU cooler were some things I had left over.

Here's the outside of her case. She likes the Zalman stickers.
o1pv0.jpg


Here's the inside.
s1vx8.jpg


This is what I did to her exhaust fan. Those with cheap CoolerMaster cases have probably noticed how restrictive the vents are - they're more closed than open. So I removed it. I may or may not add a grill later.
i1wl2.jpg


This is how I mounted the laptop hard drive. It's suspended with elastic, which is actually the stock elastic mounting system from an Antec Solo case. It's held together with the zip ties that come with Corsair PSUs. The foam under it (for when it hits the flo') is also from Corsair's packaging.
h1hx6.jpg


The exhaust fan is the stock fan from a Scythe Ninja CPU cooler. It's at 5V, I'm not sure about he RPM. The Zalman fan is connected to a fanmate at 5V through a resistor cable, so it's actually even lower than 5V. It spins at 600RPM.

The PSU has a silicon pad between it and the case to reduce vibration. The case fan also has silicon mounts. The hard drive is mounted the way it is for this reason as well. The CPU fan and DVD drive, when in use, still cause vibration in the case.

The computer in inaudible above the air conditioner/heater, music, or the fridge in the apartment. If all of these are off and the house is silent it can be heard up to 5 feet away. I may replace the PSU fan with a Noctua fan in the future to fix this.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to light up the case a bit. Girlfriend would like blue lights. I had some Antec TriCool LED fans but they were too loud, so I'm wondering what the best noiseless type of lighting is?
 
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diduknowthat

diduknowthat

formerly liuliuboy
Looks great! Seems like you did a better job than me in trying to make a quiet computer with the Elite series case. I've given up and reverted back to my good old P180b.

Also, I would mount a fan grill on the back as a wire might be accident find its way to the fan.
 
F

fortyways

banned
diduknowthat said:
Also, I would mount a fan grill on the back as a wire might be accident find its way to the fan.
Click to expand...

Or one of her fingers. The problem is I'd have to use screws with a fan grill which would make it louder. I'm still playing around with ideas of how to fit it there without causing vibrations.

also, thanks for the compliments both.
 
diduknowthat

diduknowthat

formerly liuliuboy
fortyways said:
Or one of her fingers. The problem is I'd have to use screws with a fan grill which would make it louder. I'm still playing around with ideas of how to fit it there without causing vibrations.

also, thanks for the compliments both.
Click to expand...

Try wire ties, string 3 of them together and loop it across the fan, it should work.
 
diduknowthat

diduknowthat

formerly liuliuboy
fortyways said:
Do you mean actually use the wire ties as a fan grill?
Click to expand...

No, what I went is that you use the wire ties to mount the fan grills. Thread the plastic ties through the screw hole and connect them together using the other hole. This way, you'll have 2 loops of wire ties holding the grill and fan onto the case.
 
F

fortyways

banned
diduknowthat said:
No, what I went is that you use the wire ties to mount the fan grills. Thread the plastic ties through the screw hole and connect them together using the other hole. This way, you'll have 2 loops of wire ties holding the grill and fan onto the case.
Click to expand...

Okay I think I see what you mean, I'll see if I can make that work.
 
mep916

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
I built a rig for my sister with that same case. Bought it for $35 from Fry's as well. It's really nice. :)
 
F

fortyways

banned
mep916 said:
I built a rig for my sister with that same case. Bought it for $35 from Fry's as well. It's really nice. :)
Click to expand...

I was really impressed with the removable mobo tray, 120mm fan spots, included case speaker and the fact that the power LED is two seperate plugs. Very well thought out for such a cheap case.
 
BluePlum

BluePlum

banned
oooo be my boy frind i want a computer! ( i meant that as a joke and in a complelty non gay way, Not that theres anything wrong with that. )
 
F

fortyways

banned
TheBOSS said:
Nice job, how quiet is the PC? can you even hear it's on?
Click to expand...

TL;DR the computer is inaudible in normal ambient conditions.


It's in the central room of a one-bedroom apartment, so it's hard to get no ambient noise.

The Zalman at 600 RPM and the exhaust fan are inaudible at all times from 6 inches away or more, as is the 5400 RPM Western Digital drive.

The PSU fan tends to ramp up during use. If there's nothing else going on in the apartment - the other computer is off, the fridge is off, no music or audio playing, the air conditioner/heater is off, it can be heard up to 5 feet away or so.

I'm toying with the idea of replacing it with an 80mm Noctua fan but probably won't do it. The above situation is very rare, I'm always playing music, fridge is always on, air conditioner is always on.

Moreover, it'd void the warranty and increase the total price of the PSU by over 50%. I also enjoy the idea of the entire build costing under 300 dollars.
 
Archangel

Archangel

VIP Member
the only thing I really dont like about that pc is the load of Zalman stickers on the front, I mean, why? :p

just ut of curiosity, what temp is the hdd running at?
 
F

fortyways

banned
Archangel said:
the only thing I really dont like about that pc is the load of Zalman stickers on the front, I mean, why? :p

just ut of curiosity, what temp is the hdd running at?
Click to expand...

She likes the Zalman. She wants a row of 6 running down each side (those are the only spots on the case smooth enough for stickers, the rest is bumpy) but I only had 5.

Laptop drives need no cooling and are intended to actually be enclosed and receive almost no airflow. It never gets above room temperature, 22C last time I checked.
 
porterjw

porterjw

Spaminator
Staff member
Mmm...I love the Elite series:). Yes, cathodes add a nice touch - much more 'even' distribution than fan LEDs. Next order I do, I'm going to add a set of blue ones to tuck inside my front panel sh they glow through the mesh.
 
F

fortyways

banned
Kornowski said:
Looks great! :)

The best way of getting silent lighting, get some cathodes!
Click to expand...

I heard something about cathodes using a lot of energy. The PSU in there is 380W, do you think that might be a problem?

dougland said:
is the laptop HDD more quiet than a normal desktop HDD is that why you used it?
Click to expand...

It's definitely more quiet, but 7200 RPM drives don't make a lot of noise anyway. The noise comes from the vibrations reverberating in the case which is cured by suspending the drive.

I got it because it was $50, though. Normally laptop drives are $1/gb and desktops $1/5gb. There are no ~100gb desktop drives available anymore so this was simply the cheapest I could find.
 
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