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My First Creation (runs well, but. . . )

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fsujustin33

Registered
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
I just completed construction of the first computer I put together myself. Overall, I'm very pleased with its performance. My system consists of:

- MSI KT3 Ultra2 Mobo
- AMD 2000+ XP (not yet overclocked)
- Tt Volcano 7 modified with a Tornado fan (6000+RPM)
- 512MB Kingston PC2700 DDR
- ATI Radeon 8500LE
- SB Live! 5.1
- WD 40 GB @ 7500rpm / 8MB cache
- DVD, CD-RW, etc. etc.

Besides the Tornado on the CPU heatsink, there are 5 other case fans:

Intake:
- 2 3000rpm fans on the front by hard drives
- 1 3000rpm fan by CPU
- 1 3000rpm PCI slot fan blowing on vid card

Exhaust:
- 1 blowhole fan running @ 5000+ RPM** (located on the top of the case)

** this fan was the original from my Volcano 7, which has an "embedded heat sensor." Following the advice from a OC.com review, I ripped that green sensor off and connected the 2 wires to max the fan speed (used to run @ 3-4000 rpm).

So far I have achieved 3D Mark scores of just over 8500. My system is running between 40-43 degrees C.

ANYWAYS, to get to my damn point.

This beast is L - O - U - D !!!

I dont know if i can take the drone much longer. I knew I was buying loud fans, but I didn't expect them to be this loud.

Any suggestions on "little things" to do to make a case quieter?
I have thought about constructing a plexiglass box to put over the machine and cutting vents in it. Maybe running a duct from the blowhole to the outside to get the warmer air out of the "magic box."

Hell, I have no clue. Any help or comments would be appreciated.


--- Justin
Tallahassee, FL

====~~~~ twist 1 up
 
Oh yeah......

Also, I was wondering if there are any simple ways I could install speed adjustment controls for the fans.

I do not have a soldering gun, and honestly haven't used one, so I would like to avoid trying that.

Wire strippers and electrical tape are my tools. :)
 
Hey, I made my own watercooling setup which runs good. My CPU is at 30*C right now. The only thing I suggest to you is don't make the waterblock yourself, it takes lots of experience and time, and most likely won't come out as good as a pre-made waterblock. I made one, which didn't turn out to good (passage wasn't big enough), and instead of worrying about leaks and everything else, just buy a maze 2 or better and feel secure. I got a maze 2 waterblock for 25$ new, and it comes with everything you need, including nylon bolts and screws to hold it down.
 
True, I could go to water....

But i just bought this tornado and hate to have to try to sell it.

Any other suggestions besides H2O cooling?
 
Buy a rheobus from either www.pcmods.com or from www.heatsinkfactory.com You cut of the molex connectors, strip a small bit at the end of your wires and you hook them up to the rheobus. It can handle as many fans per knob as long as they are under the 17w. it has 4 knobs. The slower they spin, the less noise.

Kent
 
the first thing i would do is to take out all of the system fans
See what temps you get then, and, if they are not acceptable, put 1 system fan back in at a time in untill they are.

dont buy a rhoe or go water cooling until you try this - my system seem to do fine with zero system fans, so im sure your can survive on 1 with any noticable difference in temps
 
well first off the volcano 7 is NOT a good heatsink. what you could do is get a thermalright AX7, SK7 or SLK800 and put the tornado on that. then you could go and either do a 7v mod on the fan or use a rheobus. or you could buy a cheap 40cfm fan and put it on it.
 
why do people say its not a good heatsink????

that really annoys me. is 37c idle not good, with zero system fans and not even a tornado h/s fan??

look at me system emericano, then tell me that the volcano 7 is not a good h/s.(btw that 80mm fan i currently have on my volcano 7 is around 16-18 dba, about 20cfm i think.

yes, the ax-7 is better, but to say the volcano 7 is not a good h/s is just plain wrong
 
If I were your I would buy a RheoBus with 6 switches and adjust each fan to a noise level that you can accept, and a performance you can accept.

Good Luck :D
 
hrmm

okay...well as for removing fans i dunno if i want to do that

i spent money on the fans and removing them would be even more counterproductive than spending more on a speed control unit.... (i.e. if i'm going to lose (or spend) money, i would rather be putting more cool **** in my computer than taking it out)

I have been looking at the Rheobus and the Baybus so far, i noticed that many baybus controls cant handle the Tornado's 9.1W rating. The Rheobus is nice, but about as much as a Vantec Nexus multi-function unit (i think they just came out)....

BUT, i think i found what i want.....here

Nexus Fan Controller

this is also called the Nexus but is less than the multi-function unit (which is an overkill to me).

the only problem is I cant find this thing anywhere else. i noticed this site says "preorder," is it a new release?

okay i must end my post here.....must turn off computer....ears are going numb and beginning to bleed from the *WHIRRRRRRR*
 
if thats the way you want to do it then sure.

but personally, i can see how (remove fans and sell) could be more counterproductive than (spending even more $$$ on a rheo to controol the fans you have just wasted money on)

anyhoo, like i said whatever keeps you happy.

just bear in mind that i have zero system fans and getting exactly the same temps as your are now. also, bear in mind that my h/s fan is quieter than even my hard drive. infact the whole system isnt much louder than my via c3 which has no fans whatsoever.
 
LOL

I just noticed......

all of the Americans who replied to my post have suggested additions and upgrades(Rheobus, better HS, etc)

and the one person from Europe (the UK) James suggests to economize and take out fans...

kind of funny.... the tradition of american power vs. european economics continues
 
Re: LOL

fsujustin33 said:
I just noticed......

all of the Americans who replied to my post have suggested additions and upgrades(Rheobus, better HS, etc)

and the one person from Europe (the UK) James suggests to economize and take out fans...

kind of funny.... the tradition of american power vs. european economics continues

lol and always will.
i just consider a quieter pc to be more efficiant than a a loud one. why have to many fans if they are not needed?
turning them down kinda defeats the object for me
 
I have an original volcanoe on dad's duron 650 @ 650 (somehow I got one that won't do any more than stock! Must be the only one on earth)

I bought that volcanoe NIB from a friend that was running his first homebuilt with an T-bird 1.1gig.

They're fine heatsinks... But they're made IMHO more to be a cheap solution that works in milder settings. Why put a 6000rpm fan on a heatsink that isn't really going to benifit that much from the increased air? BTW I bet alot of heatsinks can idle under 40C with a 6000prm fan. The question is what's the delta gonna be between idle and load. A bad heatsink with a good fan made be great at moving the heat an idle processor puts out, but what really seperates them is what happens under load. The cheap ones just don't cut it.

I vote ebay the heatsink and buy a HS that's more "made" for the amount of fan you have. I havn't looked at heatsinks in quite awhile, but isn't there a sale on some SK6's out there? They're cheap. Just buy one of them. Obviously you can stand the noise of the 6000rmp fan, cut your losses and just buy a better heatsink.

Think of it as butting a Ferrari engine in on a motorcycle. Anything is feasably possible, but why on earth would you want to? Alittle bit too much engine for my tastes!

-Toysrme

Oh wow I got my second start in like three days ;) Maby I should study more LoL!
 
my ambient is 46 C and my case is 38-9 C

I just got dont playing a long round of GTA3, so I suppose that would be "load"

Also, I'm getting these temps after a slight modification of what i described above. I moved the loud, 5000 rpm Tt fan from the blowhole to the intake by the CPU. I put the quieter 2600 rpm fan on the blowhole exhaust (used to be on cpu intake).

One question: why is the Tornado 6000rpm fan an "overkill" for the ThermalTake Volcano 7 heatsink? I lapped the copper base with 600 grit sandpaper and water, and used quality paste. I would rather not spend $30+ on a new heatsink.
 
VENTILATION!!!!!!

youve got big airflow problems.
youre case temp should not be above 30c in any circumstance. mid 20's is the norm. 39c?????? jesss. no wonder your cpu temp is so high!
 
Man you think thats bad. I finished putting together a system for my little bro and I let him use it before we did any case mods for fans and stuff. And he has a desk so he put it into the desk slot for a computer like a box. After he was done playing a video game for a few hours I checked his temps they were 58/43. and this is not On die temps.

The computer case was burning hot to the touch. I told him to keep the side panels off for the time being.

Its an athlon 1.2ghz with my old K7s5a, I was surprised he hadnt had a lockup yet at all.

Weird mine always locked up at high temps, before I rigged my computer for mega air movement. Guess some are lucky.

Still 58c can keep ya up at night.


all of the Americans who replied to my post have suggested additions and upgrades(Rheobus, better HS, etc)

and the one person from Europe (the UK) James suggests to economize and take out fans...

kind of funny.... the tradition of american power vs. european economics continues

What do you mean? Europeans are known for Big Government Spending and Socialism, not fiscal responsibility.

Though we get that here also... Hillary Clinton.

I was gonna do both. I took out some of my more useless fans and since I am getting a SK-7 with a Sunon 80 cfm Tornado, I was looking into rheostats and such, you could also just build your own rheobus, check this out pretty simple.

http://www.fanbus.com/thelab/rheostat.htm

Ian
 
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