Noise Reduction:

The Sonata III 500 is supposed to be one of the quietest computer cases on the planet, advertised by Sonata as “whisper quiet when it comes to system noise.”

This is why I bought it, but frankly, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Here is what the Sonata III 500 does have for noise reduction:

• An efficient 500-watt power supply with its own “low noise” cooling fan. I haven’t powered it up yet, so I can’t yet testify to the lack of noise but I expect it to be quiet,
• A normal-looking three-speed 120 mm rear exhaust fan. I was unable to find noise ratings published by Antec, but I expect it to be quiet at the lower speeds and noisy at the top speed,
• Silicone grommets for mounting the hard drives, to absorb noise and vibrations, and
• Rubber feet.

On the flip side, though, here is what the Sonata does not have:

• Sound-deadening panels

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The Intel Core 2 Duo 6750 processor comes in a retail box from NewEgg and others, complete with a processor cooling solution consisting of a small fan and cooling fins. Concerned about noise, I searched for a passive design, without a fan, to replace the Intel cooler, and came across the web site FrostyTech.com, where CPU heatsinks of many types are compared. One of the evaluated heatsinks is the “stock” fan/fin cooler provided by Intel with the boxed processor.

According to FrostyTech, the Intel cooler is very quiet, one of the quietest coolers evaluated. The article includes a large table of coolers, with the stock Intel 35 db quieter than the noisiest cooler and about 20 db quieter than the median. The description was also very favorable, it “operates very quietly at its default speed.”

However the fan was not tested in the mode in which it will actually be used. FrostyTech used a 3-pin connector, which causes the fan to adjust its speed according to ambient air temperature. In the Intel boxed solution a 4-pin connector is used,…

How does one choose the hard disk drive (HDD) from all of the available vendors and capacities? First, it’s important to recognize that it’s not a highly critical decision; I’m not likely to choose a vendor or capacity that is unsuitable, and drives are not a huge expense any more, so I can add or replace drives later (or sooner) if necessary.

My existing system has 23 Gb available out of 100 Gb total capacity, so I’m using about 77 Gb. Disk usage has grown from about 15 Gb in 1999 to 77 this year, which means that it grew by a factor of five in the intervening eight years. That suggests I should buy five times the amount of disk that I am now using, or about 400 Gb, to last the next eight years. Maybe so.

But maybe not. New technology is on the horizon. It is already possible to buy a 64 Gb flash drive with no moving parts for about $900. How soon will the price/performance curve of flash or some even-better technology approach that of moving-head disk drives? …

I’m struggling with the original precept of this blog: building a new computer, because my Gateway Performance 600 is working so well now. It’s almost eight years old, but it runs a Pentium III processor at 600 MHz and has been upgraded significantly:

1. Added another hard disk to increase total disk capacity from 20 Gb to about 100 Gb.
2. Replaced the original CD RW drive (failed) with a new and better Sony drive.
3. Upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP Professional, now SP2 and fully current.
4. Maxed out the memory to 768 Mbytes, comparable to brand-new low-end computers.

It’s not a bad computer, and I’m wavering on the decision to replace it. Money ($1000+) and time are the reasons NOT to replace it. Here are some reasons why I might:

• Quieter. The Performance 600, though not loud, is the loudest thing in the room.
• Faster. I wonder how much. The processors will be ten or twenty times as fast and the disk(s) at least twice

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