Quick: MSI or Lite on (52x CD-ROM)? And Retail vs. other fan

[Gerbil333]

MSI 52x CD-ROM at Newegg: $23 shipped
Lite On 52x CD-ROM at Nutrend (Newegg is sold out): $27 shipped

They must be black. I would go for the MSI since it's cheaper and this is an ULTRA-budget system, but stability and reliability are also the highest priority for this new system...so everything must be extremely stable while still cheap.

I'm ordering the rest of the system in a few minutes:

MSI K7N2G-L (nForce 2 w/int. GF4)
Athlon XP 1700+ Retail
2x Crucial 256mb PC2100
Black Alps floppy drive
Enermax 350W PSU

I already have a Maxtor 40gb ATA100 7200rpm hd, a black mid-ATX case w/fans and a rheobus, Win XP Pro, and all other necessary parts.

The other question:

Retail Athlon XP 1700+ ($60 shipped, total)
or
OEM Athlon XP 1700+ and THIS hsf ($62 shipped, total)

NO OC'ing, performance enhancements, or tweaking of any sort will be done. This system will be for my mother, and only stability is required! Low noise is ideal. The fan in the link has a 5/5 star rating from 71 people, and it's very quiet since it uses a low speed 80mm fan, which is as good or better than a fast and noisy 60mm fan. Base your opinion purely on effectiveness and noise (retail fan vs. the one at Newegg). I will not consider any other hsf unless it would make the total of CPU + hsf less than $62. This is a tight budget!

 

[Shooters]

I haven't heard much about MSI drives, so I would go with the Lite-On because of their good reputation with optical drives.

As for the heatsink, if you're not overclocking then the retail heatsink is fine and the fan is very quiet.

 

[Gerbil333]

Thanks. Does anyone have any experience with MSI drives? I have an MSI mobo and an MSI GF4 in this system, and MSI GF2 in my other system, and I had another MSI mobo up until a few months ago (it was a KT266 that I upgraded). All of their products have been great to me, so I have a lot of trust in them. However, I know nothing about their optical drives.

I'm thinking the Speeze fan may actually be better than the retail. Look at it's specs...2500rpm at only 26.5 dBA and pushing 31.70 CFM. I have two 2500rpm 80mm fans in my Chieftec case and they're almost silent, but quite effective. I doubt that my 7000rpm 60mm fan on my Coolermaster HHC-001 does more than 35CFM, and it's LOUD. How large and what speed are the fans on the retail hsf? I'm thinking this Speeze fan would be a good deal...just look at its reviews.

 

[spanky]

i'd get the lite-on and the retail amd chip (for the warranty).

 

[Shooters]

I've never heard of that brand, so I can't really comment on it. But like I said, if you're not overclocking then the retail HSF is fine, so why spend more money on something else? The fan that comes with the retail processor is a low profile 60mm. I'm not sure about the speed, but I've built a few systems with it, and haven't noticed any noise.

 

[Gerbil333]

why spend more money on something else?

I just want the best cooling performance. A cool CPU = A stable CPU, even though I won't be OC'ing.

 

[Shooters]

A cool CPU = A stable CPU

This is true, but if a CPU is already stable, then making it cooler doesn't really benefit you other than the fact that it's cooler. Look at it this way, do you really think AMD would be packaging their retail HSF with their processors if they weren't absolutely sure that they would be 100% stable?

 

[XBoxLPU]

I would go for the Lite-on cd-rom drive

 

[Gerbil333]

do you really think AMD would be packaging their retail HSF with their processors if they weren't absolutely sure that they would be 100% stable?

I know that. But why get the retail fan when the Speeze one linked above may be quieter and more effective?

I have a 1600+ and a 2000+ (Palominos). Both have all-copper, thin and tall finned heatsinks with 7000rpm 60mm fans. The heatsinks are very loud, but they're effective. The rooms they are in are often 75-80F, so they aren't in the best conditions. Both CPU's run at about 36-43C depending on load and room temp. Considering the cooling I have on both (rounded IDE and floppy cables, Chieftec server towers with four fans, etc.), those chips run pretty hot, huh? This new computer is going to be in the same environment, but the cooling won't be as good. I've heard that TBred's run much cooler, so I'll have that, but since crappy fans have resulted in high temps (55-60C), I know I should try and get the best cooling I can even though no OC'ing will be done.

 

[onelin]

Get the HSF with the 80mm fan, not the retail cpu w/ stock HSF. Especially if it's only $2 more. I have a 1900+ with the retail HSF, and it's very unpredicable. In under a year, it will become VERY loud if it isn't when you get it. This is emphasized every time I power up my system, then it decides to settle down after a couple minutes. This also happened to a friend's stock HSF faster than mine.

I don't turn my system off frequently, but if I did I am sure it would be worse/noticed more. I'm assuming your mom will turn it on and off every use, so a nice quiet fan would be a good idea.

on an end note, the stock HSF is also a mediocre performer at stock speeds even in a very well-ventilated case.

 

[DARRIN]

Another vote for LiteOn.

 

[Gerbil333]

Thanks, onelin0. That was insightful. The only stock hsf I've used was one that came with a 1.2ghz Duron that I bought, and it was a peice of crap IMO (but it got the job done). It sounds like the XP fans are the same.

 

[onelin]

You're welcome. In addition to that, I'm pretty sure the HSF in the office machine I built for my mom a while back (retail Thunderbird) is starting to make a lot of noise, too. (it could possibly be the PSU fan)

 

[Gerbil333]

I went with the Lite On CD-ROM and the OEM 1700+ with the Speeze cooler. Reasons: I have a Lite On burner now that has been great. I haven't had any trouble with any of the 4 MSI devices I have, but none were optical drives, and no one seemed to know anything about them. I figured I better not get something that no one knew anything about.

I chose the OEM CPU with the Speeze cooler because it seemed like it would cool better and even be quieter, and it had really good reviews.

Here's the new system:

MSI K7N2G-L (nForce 2 IGP)
Athlon XP 1700+ w/Speeze hsf
2x Crucial 256mb PC2100
Maxtor 40gb ATA100 7200rpm hd
Lite On 52x Black CD-ROM
Black 3.5in Floppy
Enermax 350W PSU
Black mid-ATX case

It will utilize the onboard GF4, NIC, and sound. Total cost: $333.50, but only because I already had the hard drive and case.

 

[Hagen]

For the CD-Rom, I would go with Lite-On. I have a 16x DVD 48X CD rom drive, it;s LiteOn, very fast and quiet. I replaced the A-Open 52x with the Lite-On DVD, and I am very happy with it, really just as fast and a lot quieter. Also have a LiteOn, CD-RW, not the latest and fastest LTR 24102B, you can see the stats on the web. Also a very good product, no problems burning and very fast. LiteOn appears to be best value: quality and excellent price. Also, both the optical drives I have are black.
Cheers,
Hagen