Antec1200v3 noise reduction solution needed!

hey guys, i have for the last 3 years been using Antec 1200v3 FULL TOWER PC case and its noise level was bothering me for quite a while, probably because of me being a sound quality "*****", enjoying decent levels and quality of sound without interference.

Anyways, my PC is connected to a home theatre system (not a reciever) via TOSlink and hdmi to Flatscreen and enjoy watching movies that way with propper sound, thing is the PC's sound was making it not as pleasent as it may seem...


I wanted to see if theres an option to make it abit (much more) quiet..

I dont have any specific prefrence of wether its water cooling or propper fans replacement (I have stock fans) and my budget is flexible and is whatever is nessecery to make it work..


Heres my Configuration

I dont mind replacing each and every fan to make stuff suggnificently quieter, i dont mind cooling aswell, whatever solution that can solve stuff for me ill consider it positively!

thanks for any responses.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...18&cm_re=noctua_nh_d14-_-35-608-018-_-Product

and

a few of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...08004&cm_re=noctua_fan-_-35-608-004-_-Product


(edit: not a grammar nazi... but spell check is certainly your friend boss, sorry.)

I think the biggest problem in that system is going to be keeping those reference NVIDIA 570's quiet. Personally, if quiet is your goal, I would sell those 570's and grab a 970 with an aftermarket cooler (as at this point in their life cycle, I don't think buying aftermarket coolers for those cards is worth it). That is probably most of the issue to be honest as those blower style coolers are not easy on the ears. That out of the way, grab the fans that bob linked up top and put those in your case instead of the tri cools(?) that come with it (though I have to admit, on low, I could barely hear them... but I wasn't using it as an HTPC and needed whisper quiet).

Since you do not have a CPU that overclocks, I don't see the point in buying a $75 cooler for it as suggested above. A simply Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO would be plenty overkill for a stock CPU and be nice and quiet. If you decide to get a CPU that overclocks, the Hyper 212 will take the 2600K close to 5GHz anyway.

EarthDog said:

I think the biggest problem in that system is going to be keeping those reference NVIDIA 570's quiet. Personally, if quiet is your goal, I would sell those 570's and grab a 970 with an aftermarket cooler (as at this point in their life cycle, I don't think buying aftermarket coolers for those cards is worth it). That is probably most of the issue to be honest as those blower style coolers are not easy on the ears. That out of the way, grab the fans that bob linked up top and put those in your case instead of the tri cools(?) that come with it (though I have to admit, on low, I could barely hear them... but I wasn't using it as an HTPC and needed whisper quiet).

Since you do not have a CPU that overclocks, I don't see the point in buying a $75 cooler for it as suggested above. A simply Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO would be plenty overkill for a stock CPU and be nice and quiet. If you decide to get a CPU that overclocks, the Hyper 212 will take the 2600K close to 5GHz anyway.

Click to expand...

right thanks for your replys so far, anyways the 2x gpus cant be the main sound problem right ? it does feel like my PC is just a HUGE fan so I wonder how much difference will it make by changing the GPUs, I am planning to do this at some point in the future anyways though.



just to be clear i have 5 fans in the case and a HUGE one just in the top of it so basically im looking at buying 5 Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fans and 1x Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler for the CPU (or the latter that was suggested) but what about that big fan on the top ? also what results am i expecting ? dead silent or somewhat silent ? (both would be probably much better than the current situation)

You have the system... see what is making the most noise inside!

Are the fans all on low? That big fan barely whispers on low, that I know. The larger, slower moving fans are generally less noisy.

Also make sure your board/the case can control the fans suggested. I do not recall if those fans are PWM or voltage controlled, or if the case controls voltage or PWM models (see their websites for the info).

EarthDog said:

You have the system... see what is making the most noise inside!

Are the fans all on low? That big fan barely whispers on low, that I know. The larger, slower moving fans are generally less noisy.

Also make sure your board/the case can control the fans suggested. I do not recall if those fans are PWM or voltage controlled, or if the case controls voltage or PWM models (see their websites for the info).

Click to expand...

according to Speedfan they are PWM, i cant control them I think, and the fans are all on low anyways, it just seems like they all contribute to the high noise level, it all sounds like a big turbine I guess, its default state is just too noisy, maybe im expecting too much but I can say that when I do turn off my PC, the silence in my room couldnt be sweeter.. Ill see to replace the fans anyways - is dead silent even optional ? or anything close to that noise level ?

Not without spending more coin on a fan controller. You are going to end dropping a lot of coin on silence...

Speedfan? Damn that brings me back...I can't believe that program still works?

You shouldnt/don't need FIVE fans. Especially with your operations. The d14 and probably 2-3 fans will suffice. I would be pretty comfortable with 2 honestly.


try using MSI afterburner and setting fan profiles for your 570s.

@ed
212 isn't silent by any means dude. If he's forking coin for f12s, he should get one of those noctua coolers with iit. If his stock fans are bothering him, it's likely the 212 will as well

bob4933 said:

You shouldnt/don't need FIVE fans. Especially with your operations. The d14 and probably 2-3 fans will suffice. I would be pretty comfortable with 2 honestly.


try using MSI afterburner and setting fan profiles for your 570s.

@ed
212 isn't silent by any means dude. If he's forking coin for f12s, he should get one of those noctua coolers with iit. If his stock fans are bothering him, it's likely the 212 will as well

Click to expand...

thanks alot for the feedback so far.

Heres some more details after I opened my case and turned off all the case fans and CPU fan.

This is what my case looks like :

behind :


So heres the deal, the fans on the case have Antec 3 on them, my CPU has Arctic Cooling Freezer 13.

I have 3 Antec 3's in the front panel as you can see in the picutre, and another 2x Antec 3's in back. The big fan on the top also says Antec but I cant quite read the entire thing.


Anyways I did turn off all the fans in the CPU part from the GPU ones obviously, it was INCREDIBLY quieter, it wasnt dead silent though and it seemed like theres some noise comign from the PSU/GPU area, but say I can get the noise level to THAT, i would be incredibly happy, im not quite sure how to proceed.. the CPU is quiet, the fans on the case are the major cause of noise and the GPU is meh I guess..

I disabled 4 fans (1 on the top and 3 on the front) - left the 2 back ones running along with the CPU, its somewhat better, my SLI570 idles at 50º is that normal ?
this quesiton is in addition to my last reply btw.

Merged the double posts...

Anyway, 50C idle for those cards are pretty darn warm. But idle doesn't matter anyway, its the load temps that matter. You have a high performance, power hungry system that needs airflow. That is why I said to sell the 570's, grab a 970 that has a non reference cooler, and then change your fans out. I would try this...: Leave a front fan on, and leave your top big boy on and one rear exhaust. That way you have air FLOW. As it stands those idle temps on the GPU are warm and that is not even load.

@ Bob - there is still no point in buying a $75 cooler for something that wont be overclocked. You would get the same result if you bought that 212 EVO, and if the fan bothered you (it didn't bother me on low and its quieter than the stock fan in the first place according to tests, and since he's not overclocking it won't need to go beyond that), getting another fan and still coming out at least $20 ahead IF he even needs to swap that fan out in the first place. That said, he already has an aftermarket cooler on the CPU... I don't see a point in changing that out either.

@ Tom - any other secrets you want to tell us about aftermarket cooling that changes our advice, LOL?!!

I know, the d14 just works better. There's other noctua or dark rock coolers that are quiet and cheaper as well.

Putting a 27$ noctua fan on a 24$ (on sale) cooler seems a bit like polishing a turd imo.

Ahh, the link for the fans was $20 (i guess on sale? but I can find them at $20 everywhere). But the point is that one does not have to spend $75+ for arguably the best cooler out there for someone that isn't overclocking. As you said there are other options out there for less that can accomplish his goals. Mine is one way, another cheaper cooler than that, is another. I think you are taking something that isn't a turd and making it one by under utilizing it (and over paying).

Per usual, we disagree, and we get the OP some good information.

I'll chime in with my 2c. If I were the OP the first thing I would do is replace the case fans with either the Noctuas or a Noise Blocker eLoop. If it's still to loud I'd look into replacing the fan on his current (decent) aftermarket cooler. In this case it looks like a proprietary fan so that may not be possible. If not the CM 212 is a great option for a 2600. If the stock cm fans are to loud ( I think they are) I'd replace it with again either a Noctua or a Noise Blocker eLoop. This would be the cheap route and will run you between $125-$200 for the fans and possibly the cooler.

If you're still not satisfied and determined to silence this rig you can look into replacing you GPU's as E-D mentioned, also go to a silent PSU like the Corsair RM series. Finally if you want utter silence look into the Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 case. You will NOT get the airflow in this case that you currently have, but that's kind of the point. Less air flow less noise.

Those are my 2c. It just depends on how far you're willing to go for piece and quiet.

I don't disagree with you at all dude lol. I was just looking at newegg at the time.

The only reason I suggested the d14 is because it IS quiet, works well, and will do what he needs and desires. Noctua makes other coolers, not just the d14/15. He can get the l9i (I think that's what it's called) for less than 40$ on newegg.

Yeah, a $75+ cooler for quiet, there are other and better options was my main point of contention.

EarthDog said:

Yeah, a $75+ cooler for quiet, there are other and better options was my main point of contention.

Click to expand...

How bout this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608029&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-029-_-Product

39$, would be cheaper than a 212 + P12 fan.


Btw, where you getting f12 fans for 20$?

Never heard of that cooler. If I was the OP, I would search for a comprehensive cooler review and pick a cheap one from there, LOL!

I was going off the link in your post with the NHD14 and fans.

EarthDog said:

Never heard of that cooler. If I was the OP, I would search for a comprehensive cooler review and pick a cheap one from there, LOL!

I was going off the link in your post with the NHD14 and fans.

Click to expand...

Ugh stupid price changes.... it was 27$ when I posted it lol

That change must have happened quick as when I posted after that, it was $20! LOL! Worse that pcpartpicker!!!

Won't it be nice when we have carbon nanotube coolers, and fans disappear completely?