[LAU] [OT] listening to the quiet machine

[Ivica Ico Bukvic]

If the budget is not a huge constraint, for more recent machines look 
for cases that have plenty of grills, particularly on top (since heat 
rises you don't want to trap it with a solid top cover), get a Ninja 
series cooler and a fanless GPU. On the Virginia Tech DISIS machines we 
have entire machine with respectable specs (recent i7, Zotac fanless 
Nvidia GT 750, fanless PSU, SSD, 16GB RAM) and a single fan on the Ninja 
cooler running at 600rpm being effectively silent unless you put your 
ear next to the back of the case. If you choose to go with a spinning HD 
you will find that HD noise will be incredibly bothersome because it 
will be the only thing you hear.

Below is the itemization of the most recent items for a performance 
(~$1,250) vs. economy options (~$1K) based on June prices. GPU will be 
by far the hardest thing to find because it is not in production 
anymore. I suspect you could forgo the GPU and just rely on the 
integrated Intel chip which is actually pretty respectable.

PERFORMANCE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133212 Computer 
case    $79.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117559 CPU    
$314.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130873 
Motherboard    $174.99     1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTSWFMM    RAM 16GB    $57.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151122 Power 
supply    $139.99     1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFAGCUM/    Solid state hard 
drive    $199.98     1

https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-Graphics-ZT-70707-20M/dp/B00MO4MOPE 
Video card    $230.56     1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B017S3ZJNY/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new 
CPU cooler    $53.44     1


ECONOMY:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133212 Computer 
case    $79.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369 CPU    
$204.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130873 
Motherboard    $174.99     1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTSWFMM    RAM    $57.99     1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151122 Power 
supply    $139.99     1

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX200-250GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B00RQA6DTE/ 
Solid state hard drive    $79.97     1

https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-Graphics-ZT-70707-20M/dp/B00MO4MOPE 
Video card    $230.56     1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B017S3ZJNY/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new 
CPU cooler    $53.44     1

HTH

Best,

Ico