Want to Build a Quiet Computer

[NiHaoMike]

Intel has been way behind with graphics. It will handle regular office work and casual video playback, but it's still not very good for anything that needs a real GPU. (At least it's better than the days when Intel graphics were worthless for 3D...) They were first to market with hardware video encoding, but both Nvidia and AMD do as well nowadays so that's not really an advantage unless you're building a media server. It's also worth mentioning that there's an Intel CPU with an AMD GPU built in, apparently admitting that Intel's own GPU is not very good!

Nvidia makes the best GPUs, but only if you use the closed source drivers. (They've been high quality ever since they started supporting 64 bit and continue releasing up to date drivers until the GPU is long obsolete.) They only make combined CPU/GPU chips for the embedded market, so you'll have to pair up the GPU with a separate CPU for anything more than a single board mini PC.

AMD makes good GPUs, especially if you value open source drivers. Their combined CPU/GPU solution is often referred to as APUs. If you don't quite need the performance of a separate GPU, it's a great budget choice.

[bostonman]

Well I plan to splurge and spend a few bucks on a video card. From your explanation, AMD's advantage is graphics; which is irreverent if I also use a video card.

[David Hess]

AMD makes good GPUs, especially if you value open source drivers. Their combined CPU/GPU solution is often referred to as APUs. If you don't quite need the performance of a separate GPU, it's a great budget choice.

I wish their APUs supported ECC.  They have pro versions which do but they are only available to OEMs.

[rdl]

Like you, I don't care about built-in graphics. I don't want to go over 65 watts TDP and I want something that comes with a heatsink/cooler in the box. I'm real close to buying a Ryzen 5 3600. It's rated over 3x faster than what I'm using now so it should be a noticeable improvement.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html

[David Hess]

Like you, I don't care about built-in graphics. I don't want to go over 65 watts TDP and I want something that comes with a heatsink/cooler in the box. I'm real close to buying a Ryzen 5 3600. It's rated over 3x faster than what I'm using now so it should be a noticeable improvement.

I have the same notional power requirement but am leaning toward the 8 core Ryzen 7 3700X because it has the highest boost frequency of the 65 watt Zen2 parts.  If I could get a Ryzen 5 Pro 3400G which is an APU which supports ECC, then that would be my preference despite being Zen+ instead of Zen2 but they are sold to OEMs only.

[Messtechniker]

Ever thought of putting the PC box in a neighbouring room either on
the same floor or above or below?
Then use a 5 m USB extender for mouse keyboard and CD drive
and two 4 m long DVI cables for my dual screen setup in my case.
And all remains dead quiet (in the control room of my small recording studio).
Saves all that trouble having to design a low noise PC every now and then. 
Drilling a 5 cm dia. hole through the ceiling was great fun, however. Has to be done only once.

[rdl]

The Ryzen 7 3700X is more expensive, but not out of line with what I've paid for processors in the past. Since I intend to use the machine for quite a while it may be worth it.

[bostonman]

Ever thought of putting the PC box in a neighbouring room either on
the same floor or above or below?

I had mentioned something similar towards the beginning of thread; only use the cooler in another room and run the water pipes so the PC case is in the same room.

Many gave their input and have basically assured me fan noise isn't as bad now because fans are quieter, vary speed, and are not always on.

Now it's more of a question of whether going Intel will be a mistake. I plan to go with a graphics card, so I don't believe the issues with Intel's 3D capabilities will be an issue, but I may be wrong.

[grumpydoc]

Everyone has twisted my arm enough, I'm now looking, just looking, at AMD Ryzen.

Here are reasons I've gone Intel all these years, and correct me where I'm wrong as I'm sure my opinions are incorrect.

I always thought Intel was the leader in uProcessors

I thought Microsoft works better with Intel

AMD is less popular, therefore less support and more headaches.

Everything that you say was totally valid up to the introduction of Ryzen.

At present Intel is struggling, that will change eventually, but for now AMD makes the CPUs with the best bang/buck ratio.

[Marco]

Many gave their input and have basically assured me fan noise isn't as bad now because fans are quieter, vary speed, and are not always on.

IME 800 RPM is about the limit of silent, for a powerful GPU that means using an aftermarket cooler.

[David Hess]

The Ryzen 7 3700X is more expensive, but not out of line with what I've paid for processors in the past. Since I intend to use the machine for quite a while it may be worth it.

It is, and keep in mind that the specified 65 watt power draw is notional rather than absolute; at maximum load, the larger core count parts will draw more power than the lower core count parts.

The 65 watt choices come down to:

Code: [Select]

Ryzen 3 3100    $99    4(8) Cores    3.6(3.9) GHz
Ryzen 3 3300X   $120   4(8) Cores    3.8(4.3) GHz
Ryzen 5 3600    $199   6(12) Cores   3.6(4.2) GHz
Ryzen 7 3700X   $329   8(16) Cores   3.6(4.4) GHz

[bostonman]

Which connector types should I consider when selecting a graphics card?

I plan to connect two monitors and thought DVI is still current, but seeing HDMI, display port, mini HDMI, and (I think) mini display port.

[David Hess]

Which connector types should I consider when selecting a graphics card?

I plan to connect two monitors and thought DVI is still current, but seeing HDMI, display port, mini HDMI, and (I think) mini display port.

Ha, I just went through that!

My old monitors are DVI and two of my older graphics cards (1) only had 1 DVI port (2) so I had to use an adapter from HDMI or DisplayPort to DVI.  I had considerable difficulty because the placement of the smaller ports interfered with the case preventing the adapters from fitting so my only choice was to use HDMI.  The problem with HDMI is that it is not captive so the adapter tended to fall or bend out making it unreliable.

So my suggestion is to get multiple DisplayPort ports (3) on the graphics card and use full length DisplayPort to DVI cables which is what I do now and it is glorious.  I still have DVI and HDMI ports available for additional monitors.

(1) My current system is on its 4th graphics card, 3rd power supply, 3rd keyboard, 4th mouse, 3rd set of hard drives, and 2nd SSD.

(2) My original graphics card and one of the replacements have 2 DVI ports so they were no problem.

(3) The DisplayPort connector is a captive design; it latches into place.

[grumpydoc]

Which connector types should I consider when selecting a graphics card?

I plan to connect two monitors and thought DVI is still current, but seeing HDMI, display port, mini HDMI, and (I think) mini display port.

Modern cards typically have 3 Display Port & 1 HDMI, built-in (on Intel) more commonly 2 HDMI and a Display Port

If you have one 1920x1080 monitor and one PC life is pretty easy - just hook the two together with an appropriate cable.

HDMI and DVI are electrically similar and passive bi-directional adapters easy to find so if your monitor is a bit long in the tooth and only has DVI that just needs a suitable adapter or HDMI<->DVI cable.

Passive display port to HDMI adapters exist but rely on the card (or motherboard) detecting that it is connected to an HDMI port and switching signal standards - so they only work with DP at the computer end and HDMI on the monitor.

If you have a higher resolution display then you need to know that HDMI 1.4 only supports 4k at 30Hz, which is useless for a PC monitor. It's not that much of a problem as a new graphics card will support HDMI 2.0 but it becomes a problem with Intel built-in graphics as they are stuck at HDMI 1.4 - so to drive better than 1920x1080 with Intel built in graphics you need to use Display Port (note that using a passive DP->HDMI adapter does not get round the problem).

Additionally if you use a KVM switch with multiple PCs be aware that DP KVM's are not really a thing (few on the market and all very expensive). So a combination of a high res monitor, KVM switch and Intel built-in graphics can be a headache (guess how I know  )