I am going to replace my power supply with the quietest one I can find for $150 or under.  I want to use that for the new system I hope to eventually build with an i7 etc.  I am looking for some suggestions for a quiet power supply.
   On another note, ON my last post I mentioned that I had my current system downstairs with my usb, video, and firewire cables going throught the floor.  I had been having trouble with the computer freezing up.  Often over night in screensaver mode!! Just as an experiment I brought it back into my studio.  that was 3 days ago.  It hasn't frozen up once since! the only thing I changed were the mouse and keyboard now go directly into the computer instead of a long usb cable with a hub on the end.  The firewire cable is now 3 ft instead of 10.  The internet is now using a usb wireless adaptor instead of the ethernet cable.  One of those things must have been making it freeze up.

I'm a fanboy of Seasonic. Their X series or their Platinum series are what I'd look at. Both are the same thing, the Platinum series are just a little more efficient and thus a little cooler and a little quieter. In particular if you get a larger one than you need and set the fan to hybrid mode, it doesn't engage at all until maybe 20% load. Well get like a 1000 watt PSU and you probably will never have it engage unless the system is really heavily loaded.
 
Of course that will blow your budget, but you can get one of the smaller X series ones in the money you wish to spend and they are very good, and have very quiet fans. They put good fans in their units, and connect them to a good fan controller.

It has been forever ago since I had a screen saver on any computer I have had that runs Sonar, because if I recall correctly, Sonar had a tendency to freak out or freeze things up if the computer went into sleep or hibernate mode.  (that might be from the hard drive shutting down and Sonar having trouble with that - others may have more detailed info on all of this).
 
One of the first things I do when I put a new computer together for running Sonar is to go in and disable any kind of sleep/hibernate parameters - so the computer can't turn off the hard drive, and I also go into the advanced options for power management and turn off USB Selective Suspend - to prevent my USB devices from getting lost to Sonar by them getting disconnected.  Oh, I also set the Minimum Processor State to 100%.  And, while I am at it - those 'green' drives that slow down to save the planet also seem to confuse Sonar - from what I have seen from other posts.
 
If I am going to leave and go away from the computer for a while, I often just turn off the monitor and leave everything else running.
 
Bob Bone
 

Thanks .  BTW  I have not had 1 freezeup since moving the computer back upstairs.  Maybe I will  have to spend a little more than 150 for a power supply.

Actually now we have more energy efficient hardware super large power supplies are not even necessary. 
I do like Bob does with my DAW. Nothing goes to sleep unless I tell it to. 
 
I have a few different builds and the PS have been mostly 750. I also have an extra back up DAW that has a 450 Watt and it works just fine. SSD drives don't use diddly squat for power. All my PS are quiet. I have a Sparkle, and the rest are Corsair I've never paid more than $75 for a PS. The 450 was like $40. Your over thinking this. Computer parts will do that to you. 
 
Your specs look like your whole computer is outdated completely. If it is running DDr2 RAM it is not worth upgrading IMHO. 

There are some reasons to spend up and get a better PSU:
 
1)  Greater efficiency for less heat and noise. While you save a very trivial amount of energy with higher efficiency PSUs for just one computer, it can make a difference with the thermals. Any waste energy is by definition going to heat, so the more efficient the PSU, the less heat it generates. Going with a platinum PSU as opposed to a bronze one will help a bit with noise.
 
2) The better PSUs usually have better fans and fan controllers, which end up meaning less noise. They have better componentry all around, but in particular the fan and controller matter for sound. One of the reasons I like the Seasonics is the excellent San Ace fans they use.
 
3) Longer life. If you are doing the "upgrade the parts periodically" thing, your PSU can easy outlast anything else in your system. The better the PSU, the longer lifespan it is likely to have, certainly the longer warranty.
 
4) Modular connectors. I find it is much nicer to be able to only connect what is needed. Also fully modular connectors make running cables much easier, since you can run them form either end.
 
In terms of buying a large PSU, that is mostly a noise thing again. What you discover is some of the high end PSUs will shut their fans off entirely for the lower range of operation. So if you overspec the PSU, you can get it to never spin its fan up in some cases. Not saying this is a must do thing, just a consideration. Mine never spins its fan up outside of videogames, nothing I do on the desktop, even Sonar, is enough to make it need to turn the fan on.
 
Another option along those lines, if you system consumes little enough power, is a fanless PSU. Seasonic makes those too, up to 520 watts which is probably fine for DAW use.

Do I need to come up with a different mounting for a seasonic?  On another forum someone send they required 
holes on top for heat to escape/  It looks like I will have to spend a little more money than $150

Cactus Music
Actually now we have more energy efficient hardware super large power supplies are not even necessary. 
I do like Bob does with my DAW. Nothing goes to sleep unless I tell it to. 
 
I have a few different builds and the PS have been mostly 750. I also have an extra back up DAW that has a 450 Watt and it works just fine. SSD drives don't use diddly squat for power. All my PS are quiet. I have a Sparkle, and the rest are Corsair I've never paid more than $75 for a PS. The 450 was like $40. Your over thinking this. Computer parts will do that to you. 
 
Your specs look like your whole computer is outdated completely. If it is running DDr2 RAM it is not worth upgrading IMHO. 

I know it isn't worth upgrading per se.  My thought is to put the power supply in this case and then use it for my new system.  Hence the term baby steps.  BTW.  this computer still tracks audio very well. I don't use a lot in the way of soft synths.  But ya I want to get a new system.  
    Is this what some of you are referring to?
  http://www.newegg.com/Pro...x?Item=N82E16817151140

That is one of the PSUs you could look at. They also make ones that are much lower power you could look at as well. Their 660 watt one would fit in your budget and has a fan. You could also look at a fanless one that fits in your budget no problem.
 
In terms of mounting, depends on your case. The 1200s are quite long so that can be a problem in some cases. The other two I linked to are normal ATX length so no problem. In terms of heat venting, depends on your case. They should be fine, but without knowing what case it is going in, no real way to say for sure.
 
Also you can save some money by stepping down to their gold PSUs, which are just slightly less efficient. The X series 650 watt is about $30 less than the platinum 660 but has all the other features including hybrid fan control and fully modular connectors.
 
I'm a fan of high efficiency PSUs, for reasons I've stated, but don't feel like you have to buy the high end. You can get good stuff for less money. While I push the importance of getting a good power supply, that doesn't mean you need an absolute top of the line one, nor a huge one, particularly if it would be a problem budget wise.

Thanks a lot. I have a cooler master mid size case.  several years old.  ATX