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How are you picking these video cards? They are all over the place.
IMO 'gaming' cards in HTPCs arent a great idea. They run hot and use a lot of power, which isnt what you want in a HTPC, and makes life pretty much impossible if you want 'silent'...its pretty hard to wick away 150watts+ (which is typical of gaming cards) of heat without a fan.
For gaming, fastest to slowest- GTX 660-> HD 7750-> GT640-> HD 6570.
WD black is also not the best idea if you are trying to be quiet/silent, they are fairly noisy.
An SSD + a 'green' drive would be about the same cost, quieter, faster (in most cases apart from access speed to the large HDD). speed to the HDD wont matter much, you can play media from much slower HDDs with no problem.
I'd also suggest dropping the AX-850 for a seasonic X-650 gold. 650 watts is more than you will need (unless you are planning on running SLI/crossfire and/or doing some major overclocking) and the seasonic X-650 is quieter than the AX-850
I would get the Geforce GTX 660 Ti, it's better than the regular 660 and at the same or lower price.
The rest looks good. I recommend AGAINST the "green" drives, as they tend to have firmware issues. I would actually buy a Seagate drive, but it is personal preference. Most modern HDDs will be LESS noisy than any fan you have in there, so it is not something I would consider important. The "green" drives also wear themselves down by spinning down all the time, and so will last less.
Also, most gaming rigs are not silent, but they can be less noisy, mostly it depends on the fans you choose. Some people choose liquid cooling, but it has its risks.
Last edited by H_TeXMeX_H; 11-03-2012 at 09:35 AM.
I would get the Geforce GTX 660 Ti, it's better than the regular 660 and at the same or lower price.
No, they arent generally. GTX 660's go for about $200-250, GTX 660 Ti's $275-325+.
Quote:
Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H
Most modern HDDs will be LESS noisy than any fan you have in there, so it is not something I would consider important.
If you've got normal noisy fans, fair enough, but the OP was talking about running fanless. If you run fanless (or even with fans downvolted or quiet fans in some cases) its amazing how fast the 'clatter clatter clatter' of HDDs can get to you.
From personal expereince, I can say that the WD greens are quieter than the blacks, and its true of all the 'slow' 5900/5400/5000 RPM HDDs vs 7200/10,000 RPM HDDs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H
The "green" drives also wear themselves down by spinning down all the time, and so will last less.
How are you picking these video cards? They are all over the place.
IMO 'gaming' cards in HTPCs arent a great idea. They run hot and use a lot of power, which isnt what you want in a HTPC, and makes life pretty much impossible if you want 'silent'...its pretty hard to wick away 150watts+ (which is typical of gaming cards) of heat without a fan.
For gaming, fastest to slowest- GTX 660-> HD 7750-> GT640-> HD 6570.
WD black is also not the best idea if you are trying to be quiet/silent, they are fairly noisy.
An SSD + a 'green' drive would be about the same cost, quieter, faster (in most cases apart from access speed to the large HDD). speed to the HDD wont matter much, you can play media from much slower HDDs with no problem.
I'd also suggest dropping the AX-850 for a seasonic X-650 gold. 650 watts is more than you will need (unless you are planning on running SLI/crossfire and/or doing some major overclocking) and the seasonic X-650 is quieter than the AX-850
I picked some cards that are supposed to be silent, even if some of them do have fans.
I am considering a Western Digital Desktop Blue 1TB
in stead of the WD Black.
Last edited by supermagnum; 11-03-2012 at 10:12 AM.
ZOTAC GeForce GT 640, zotac makes so many cards they should have specified the model (its the 'ZONE Edition' if you care).
I havent heard a MSI N660 TF or Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660, but I'd guess they will be loud or very loud. I have heard my housemates Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti with the same (AFAIK) Windforce 2X OC cooler...it drives me insane from another room if he doesnt close his door.
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