Author: David Mitchell
Date: 02:40:11 12/27/05
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On December 25, 2005 at 23:36:07, Jorge Pichard wrote: >http://www.smksuperstore.com/catalog/viewitem.asp?ID=14575 Your wants and needs will ultimately decide your best purchase. I had two things paramount in my new computer: 1) An updated Athlon 64x2 processor and 2) A seriously QUIET computer. I found the Sonata II case from Antec, to be just the thing I needed for #2. It has rubber mounts between all the drives and the frame of the case, a very quiet power supply with 450 Watts (note that less than this is not a good idea for many boards, like Abit or Asus, depending on your other system needs). Lots of complaints at the on-line forums, about not being able to boot up from people with gaming components (fast CPU's and screaming Video cards), and not a big enough power supply. I went with the A64x2 3800, rather than the 4800, because I wanted something that hopefully, will run cooler. I'm in the Southwest US, and it does get quite hot here, and never really cold. I'd recommend a mobo with the 939 socket, and Abit is a well-respected name. I chose one gig of memory. The mobo I chose has heat pipes to cool the Northbridge down, so only the CPU, video card, power supply, and case (a big slow 120 mm fan), have fans. Tom Kerrigan of TSCP fame recommended the Toshiba DVD player, (some make a pronounced racket), so I went with his suggestion. I'm just setting up the BIOS now, but even with the case side off, it's very clear it is one very quiet case. Although it has more fans and a larger power supply than my other desktop, it makes less than half the noise. Now if only my chess would rise to the strength of the programs that will soon be playing on that beast! :) I built this all up from parts, and didn't shop around a lot, or work through the large mail-order places like Newegg, etc. My faith in things arriving unscathed through shipping firms, around the holidays, is just not really great. :( I strongly recommend the Sonata II case (not the basic Sonata, which has a smaller power supply). It's a mid-tower steel and plastic face jobby, but it's well designed and with the rubber mounts and quiet power supply, just what you need to concentrate on the board (or the programming), and not the darn noise. The twin blue led's up front, shining off the black high-gloss painted case, look good, too. Dave
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