I've thought, for separate and unrelated reasons, about getting a 3.5" multi-slot card reader to go where my unused floppy drive now sits, a new video card, and a new optical drive. Because the only such card-reader things out there need to connect to a USB header on the motherboard and my old one doesn't have that, and the old motherboard has an AGP slot but no PCI-E slot for a video card, getting either the memory card reader or the video card would require a new motherboard even though the old one's perfectly good. If I get a new motherboard when I'm thinking of a new optical drive anyway, I might as well get a SATA drive instead of IDE/ATA, which is what my current drives are, since most motherboards have SATA now (although it's not necessary because many still have IDE/ATA as well). Replacing the motherboard would also be much simpler if I also replace the memory card and CPU, because there are few new motherboards anymore that take 184-pin memory cards and single-core Pentium/Celeron CPUs, and if there are any then they might not have PCI-E, USB headers, and/or SATA.

OK, so... there I was thinking I was looking at pretty much replacing the whole contents of the case except the hard disks and PSU... when I got a close look at the back of the SATA optical drive I was considering and found out that SATA drives take a new kind of power connector, so I can't use one with my old PSU. (Really, what was the point of that change?)

Part of the reason I built my own computer in the first place was to pick quiet parts. My old, and stil perfectly good, PSU, for example, was from a company called Silicon Acoustics and had silenced, low-friction motor and joints, plus its fan was turned 90° from the usual orientation so a bigger fan could fit in there than the standard, which could move an equal volume of air spinning at a lower speed. Unfortunately, Silicon Acoustics is now gone, so where else can I pick a PSU for quietness? I've done a lot of shopping at New Egg, but on this issue its search feature isn't helping. I don't see any information that would tell me about how loud they are or what quietness features they have, and I do see information I don't know what to think of, such as that some of them now have 2 or 3 fans. (It's bad enough that money would apparently compel me to just take whatever CPU cooler comes with my new CPU if I got one instead of getting another specialized quiet one... at least unless I can still get a new motherboard with the same kind of socket I've got now...)

Or can I skip the "new PSU" issue by getting an adapter to power a SATA drive on a power plug of the type that PATA/ATA/IDE drives use?

Alternatively, I've thought of just getting a package of some sort. I know some companies sell computers without the software installed and/or without monitors, speakers, and/or input devices. Can I get one with NONE of those features, just the case and its contents? In theory, it could be cheaper than buying parts one at a time, but I don't think I've ever seen such a product available; the ones that lack one thing, like a monitor, still usually have something else I'd be paying for, like a bunch of installed software. And would it even be possible to find one that conforms to ATX and has IDE sockets I could plug my old hard drives into?

There is but one link for you, my friend:
http://www.pricewatch.com

with some of the prices you see for components, you may very well decide to build several computers for each separate 'need'.

Just don't drool into your keyboard.

.

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Ah, but that isn't any more informative about PSU quietness than New Egg is (and I have a thing about buying from online companies I never heard of before). And if there's such a thing as an ATA-SATA power adapter, that link doesn't tell me what to call it or how to find it there.

So I take it that you're telling me that an "everything inside the case" package is not a possibility, or not recommended?... if Pricewatch has such things, I'd need to know precisely what their name is in order to enter the right search word...

This is the adapter you are looking for.

Search for "barebones" systems at the various computer sites, and you should find plenty of motherboard/cpu/case combos (some may even come with memory). Be sure to pay attention to the parts they're using though (I bought a really crappy barebones system many years ago).

This is a pretty radical solution that may not be open to you, but what I did, about a year ago, was to actually drill a hole through a wall and put my computer on the other side. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm happy. I hate noise just like you do.

A technical point of that change is that the new connector has leads of different lengths which means the connections are established in a well-defined order, ie. ground is guaranteed first, which means that it's inherently safe to hot-plug.

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And the "driving on the freeway on a scooter" analogy still holds true because the pilots are sitting in 7 to 30 ton aircraft o' doom and you are running around them in your very own Meatbody, Mark I. Beep, beep.
Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

The category "PC windows" has complete systems listed.

As for a quiet PSU, I'm not sure anyone can tell you which brand or model is the most quiet. These are commodity items and they fall off the factory conveyer belt like oranges, wheat, or pork bellies. They are tested (via statistical methods -- random selection of PSUs off the assembly line) for voltage, regulation, and electrical noise to meet CE requirements, etc., and that's about it. If a fan is too noisy -- that's not specified in the product specs. so it doesn't matter, as long as there is air-flow. If you want a quiet PSU, you'll have to sample dozens yourself.

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See here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

I bought a Seasonic S12 Energy+ 550 for my new machine. There's a premium price for this model, but it does seem quiet. Also, it's a small thing, but I do like the "easy hold" power connectors.

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The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Just checked, the site I use for parts shopping (danish equivalent to pricewatch I guess) has noise level (in dBa) as one of the listed specs you can filter on.
Admittedly, only 1 in 4 PSU actually has that information entered, but since they're more likely to have the info for a PSU where it's a selling point, ie. the quiet ones, filtering on noise level seem to work very well.

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And the "driving on the freeway on a scooter" analogy still holds true because the pilots are sitting in 7 to 30 ton aircraft o' doom and you are running around them in your very own Meatbody, Mark I. Beep, beep.
Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

Quiet PSU's

Quiet PC Components

I've done business with both of these companies. Both are reliable and have very good service. Also note that the page for the second url also includes further resources for building a quiet pc, such as a forum and quiet pc fundamentals.

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"Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it." - Florence Ambrose