In the past my systems have been purely focused on getting the most gaming performance for my money. This time however I am working, and playing games a lot less. So my priorities in life, and in turn the requirements of my computer systems, have changed. Now having a stable, quiet, and powerful system are all equally important to me. So in this, and subsequent posts, I will focus on how each component helps me meet these three criteria.

The first time I built a computer I actually thought it was cool to put more fans in it. Five 80mm Panaflow fans are better than three... right!? Well now that's all changed, one of my main focuses, this time around, was making a system that was as quiet as possible while still providing enough cooling to keep the system stable. When you are sitting quietly developing a website, programming, or writing the last thing you want to hear is the high pitched wine of several computer fans.

Whenever you build a new computer it is always important to think about what you actually want to do with the new system. Most of the time the actually applications you want to use on your computer do not require the latest and greatest thing, and the most powerful expensive parts do not always make the best systems for every situation.

For this system there were a actually quite a few things I need to be able to do:

1. It needs to be Fast!!
2. Quiet. After several loud systems making my systems as close to silent as possible is important.
3. Run both Linux and Windows well.
4. Support virtualization.
5. Play recent game at high resolution, with decent detail settings.
6. Fast development platform for compiled languages and web development.
7. Run the Adobe Creative Suite 2.3. Which means InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and Dreamweaver.

All of these requirements require a lot of CPU power, multitasking, and RAM above all things. Video card is important more for gaming, but also to support playing the high resolution video files becoming more common on PC's.

Basically I need a PC that can do pretty much everything with more of an emphasis on CPU and Memory subsystems.

The Parts

Here is a list of the main components that I have in my system.

1. Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
2. Motherboard: ASUS P5B-E
3. Memory: Corsair Twin2X2048 (2x1GB DDR2 800MHz 5-5-5-12)
4. Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
5. Video Card: Gigabyte Geforce 7600GT Silent Pipe II
6. Power Supply: Seasonic M12 500W Modular Power Supply
7. Case: Antec P180 Black Mid-tower

All of these parts were chosen because they help make a quiet, powerful, and stable system.

Case

The P180 case from Antec is designed from the ground up to be as quiet as possible. For me there are three main things that make this case work, the fans, the power supply placement, and the case construction.

First off the case uses three 120mm Antec fans, each with their own speed controls. In my current configuration I have all three fans in the top compartment of the case (more on compartments later) and set to medium speed. With the fans set up like this all you can hear is a slight noise from the case, but it is drowned out my nearly any other noise in the room, such as my house fan, or music.

This case is unique in that it has two compartments in it. The main compartment houses the motherboard and all the other components, and the lower compartment houses the power supply and the hard drives. The case designers did this to keep the hot and noisy components like the power supply and hard drives isolated away from the Motherboard, CPU and Video card and from your ears.

Finally it is built really well. Everything is padded and fitted to dampen sound as much as possible. The side panels and front door in particular are built out of three layers made of steel and plastic. This three layer construction really helps dampen a lot of the sound from inside the case.

The nice thing about this case is that it can fit many needs. You can fit it out with about six 120mm fans all running at full speed, and get excellent air flow for a powerhouse over-clocking rig. Or you can use two or three fans set at low speed and have a near silent rig.

Power Supply

One of the most over looked components of a computer has to be the power supply. It always amazes me when I see people on enthusiast website and forums listing the parts of their $2000 machines, and have a cheap ass 400W no name power supply in it. Ever hardware problem I have ever had has been caused by bad power supplies, failing hard/disk drives.

If the CPU is the brain of your system then the power supply is the heart. Pumping the life blood (electricity) too all the parts of your system. Power supplies can drastically effect everything from overall system noise, to stability, to hardware compatibility.

I chose the Seasonic M12 for several reasons, quality, efficiency, noise level, and modular cables. Seasonic is generally considered to be a good manufacturer of quality power supplies. In the past I have uses Antec power supplies, but with the recent problems Antec has had with the NeoHE power supplies I decided to switch.

The M12 is also very quiet. I was a little worried about the extra 60mm, that is not present in the non-modular version of this supply, but as of yet I have not heard any noticeable noise coming from the power supply.

As with any good power supply the M12 goes mostly un-noticed. You do not want to see the cables, hear the fans, or have your system crash. You just want to stick the power supply in and have it work for a long time and not bother you with anything. So far the M12 has lived up to my expectations.

The only downside is price. It is very expensive for a power supply. If you are looking to save fifty bucks then you could probably do just fine with a Antec True Power Supply. They are not as quiet, and you will have cables all over the inside of your case restricting air flow, but it will save money. For me though I was happy spend the extra money to get what I wanted.

Concluding Part 1

Ok I think that's enough for one post. Normally the case and Power Supply are the two most forgotten parts of a custom home brew computer, but for me they have always been two of the most important parts of any system I have built. I try to never cut costs when buying these parts.

In future posts I will cover most of the other parts of the system, and how they all fit together to make a great near silent system, that can still do everything I need it too.