i5 Dual monitors setup

[thelostswede]

Do NOT go with a passive PSU, they're a pile of junk.
There was a couple of ok 300W units about a few years ago, but going beyond that and going passive is a big no-no in my book.
Have a look at http://www.silentpcreview.com/ if you want to learn about silent components.

 

[Lnx2Mac]

Do NOT go with a passive PSU, they're a pile of junk.

Thanks !
Will take that in mind for my build !

 

[brickhead]

I'm looking for a quiet system, not silent. This small difference improves performance and reduce costs , I don't plan to leave the system plugged over the night so I don't need absolute silence, just something not disturbing. My selection of components is a compromise between budget and silence.
If you plan to use a less powerful (less consuming) GPU, then a passive PSU can do the trick, but you have to go for the best, possibly the Silverstone Nightjar 450. Of course a passive cooled GPU is better in terms of silence, there is s Gigabyte 9800GT passive cooled if you want something better, but mix DVI & HDMI outputs.
About the CPU coolers, I discarded the Scythe's because of the mounting systems, Thermalright or Noctua have much better mounting systems. I chose that Noctua model because it comes with 2 silent fans, that I plan to use in the case also. For pure passive cooling, the largest thermalright is cheaper and better.
If your goal is absolute quiet system, then another case with just an intake and outtake 12cm fans is better, all the other pieces passive will do the trick, just select noctua fans or equivalent in terms of silence and the case needs to have nice airflow. Another selection should be a quiet hard disk, as the WD caviar green.

 

[thelostswede]

I have a mix of six 7,200rpm drives and I can't hear any of them. I guess a good case with vibration dampening for the drives helps too.
My biggest problem is really the graphics card, as it's the noisiest part in my system :

 

[brickhead]

Hi again,
finally got my pieces except the monitors, in the end I downgraded to a 9800GT and CL 9 memory to save a some bucks.
I mounted everything and tested with Windows 7, so far so good, but I noticed my motherboard (p55m-ud2) is revision 1.1, any significant difference with 1.0? Will the dsdt's for 1.0 work?
Bios version is F6, so I should update to F8 before running the os x install right?

 

[thelostswede]

No, no differences at all, it was changed to meet the EuP specifications set by the EU which is some kind of environmental recycling something or the other standard.

And yes, you should install F8 before installing OS X.

 

[brickhead]

Thanks again, I have already updated bios to F8 and will be installing SL soon.

 

[FatShenanigans]

Hi again,
finally got my pieces except the monitors, in the end I downgraded to a 9800GT and CL 9 memory to save a some bucks.
I mounted everything and tested with Windows 7, so far so good, but I noticed my motherboard (p55m-ud2) is revision 1.1, any significant difference with 1.0? Will the dsdt's for 1.0 work?
Bios version is F6, so I should update to F8 before running the os x install right?

9800GT is a good choice - it's just a repackaged 8800GT. I can run 4 monitors with full QE/CI using two of each card or a mix of 9800 and 8800 as long as you have it coded into your DSDT.

Honestly I don't know how anybody gets by with less than 2 monitors, especially if they work on hackintosh. I had to do it yesterday and I was going bonkers after about 20 minutes

 

[thelostswede]

It works just fine when you have 2048x1152 resolution

 

[brickhead]

Hi guys,
well... I used the USB method and was able to install and later update to 10.6.2. I found known issue that I was unable to change the resolution, so using multibeast I installed nv enabler... and now I have a really bad performance on graphics effects, like the windows minimizing to dock, etc...
I reported the problem in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=884&p=8204#p8204

Any advice?