Building the Perfect Beast: A Cool and Quiet Power PC

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In the '70s and '80s, system builders were a content lot. Their PCs chugged along running simple Intel 8088 microprocessors, and since chips were usually 40-pin DIP packages tempered by a basic fan system, the systems of the time were sufficiently speedy enough, while remaining cool and quiet. But since then, as every builder knows, processors have become a lot faster. And the PCs that run them have become a lot hotter—and a lot louder.

For example, I recently worked on a 3.6GHz Pentium 4-based computer. The machine contained five 200-GB hard drives, an ATI X800 video card, and a SoundBlaster Audigy sound card. This was a great machine, but it sucked down power like a sieve, threw off heat like a space heater, and running at full-tilt, sounded like my wife's hair dryer. Even at idle, it was noticeably loud.

Eventually, I decided enough was enough. I got rid of that machine and started from scratch my quest to build a machine that was cool and quiet--without demanding a sacrifice in the speed I wanted.

In just three hours (including OS and driver installation), I'd accomplished my mission. For this TechBuilder Recipe, I'll show you how to build the "perfect beast" from the ground up: an ultra-powerful PC that's also sublimely cool and quiet.

Ingredients

Here are the components you'll need, and the specific products I recommend:

• Case: Lian-Li PC-V1100 Plus.

• Processor: Intel Pentium M 770 CPU.

• Processor Adapter: Asus CT-479.

• Motherboard: Asus P4GD1.

• Power Supply: Antec Phantom 350.

• Hard Drive: Two (2) Hitachi 7K500 SATA Hard Drives.

• Video Card: BFG Technologies GeForce 7800GT.

• Sound Card: On-board (installed with Asus P4GD1 motherboard).

• RAM: Four (4) Sticks of Corsair TwinX-3200 Pro.

• Optical Drive: Plextor PX-716SA SATA DVD-RW Drive.

• Fan: Two (2) Panasonic Panaflo fans.

• Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5.