- Joined
- Nov 17, 2006
- Location
- South River NJ
First I'd like to say thanks for great articles posted up on the site here. While a lot of them are dated, the principals are the same as far as cooling.
Ive been using a supermicro sc750 case for a number of years now. It started life I believe with a P3 like idk...4-5 years back and has evolved a number of times since. The latest setup was a Thermaltake 480W PS, P4C800-Deluxe running a P4 2.6Ghz 800fsb NW, 2GB kingston ram, geforce fx5900 Ultra, and a collection of 7 HD totalling just under 1TB. All the other usual's...etc. I've been using this setup for a couple years I think... I got the 2.6Ghz NW chip right when the 3.0Ghz NW was released.
This all started about a month back when one of my hard drives started making a funny high pitched noise. I knew it was on the outs and needed replacement. Newegg had a killer deal on Seagate Barracudas - 750GB for $230 so I picked them up. While I was looking at hardware I noticed the 3.4E's were selling for $133! Heck yah so I bought one!
The chip arrived early this week and I eagerly tore my case apart replacing 6 of the hard drives with these two barracudas. I moved about 8 months back and misplaced the tube of AS5 I had laying around. Bummer... but I threw the chip in anyways. using the leftovers from the NW.
Fired it up and <eek> - NEW PROBLEM.
2.6NW
Idle: 42°
100% load: 55°C
Ambient: 31°C
3.4E Prescott - before mod
Idle: 58°
100% load: 80°C+ thermal shutdown!!
Ambient: 33°C
So after some thinking about the problem, reading articles on the site here (ie LURKING), a trip to the hardware store, and some cut up knuckles - I believe its under control. While I was at it, I decided it was time to make this damn computer QUIET! (that would be a first.)
I picked up a new tube of AS5, two Scythe 120mm 33cfm 9dB fans, and a fan grille. At the hardware store I got myself an 7" diameter rubber hose clamp.
This is the case we are working with.
First up, I removed the 4 loud intake fans I had blowing on my 7 freaking hard drives in the 5.25" slots. GONE - never to return.
Next I got out the trusty side cutters and hacked out all of the sheet metal fan grills on the three front 80mm fan holes, the 120mm hole in the back, and the 92mm hole up top. There are also plastic holders for the fans that have grills on them - hacked up and removed that as well.
Next up I removed the stock intel heat sink, cleaned both the processor and HS with alchohol, reapplied AS5, and reinstalled.
I had a MONSTER fan in the 120mm slot that probably pushed something ridiculous like 120cfm @ 12V. I had placed one of those pyramid fan controllers on that which made it slightly quieter. Still it DOMINATED the room - removed and replaced with the Scythe 9db fan @ full speed (800rpm). Its silent.
While I had everything tore apart I took care to rewire all of the power supply wires, mobo wires, floppy, sound card 5.25 bay cable... its all zip tied in to a nice flat bundle on the back side of the case. The three front 80mm fan's were on thermal control, but I reainstalled the rheostats and set them to the slowest setting. They are thermaltake 80mm Smart Case fans - 17db @ 1300rpm. The 92mm case fan up top is a sunon - not sure what model anymore but I left it connected to the pyramid controller to keep the sound down. I'd say its pushing somewhere around 30cfm of air connected to the controller. The hard drives are getting relocated from the front bottom of the case up to the the top where that 92mm exhaust fan is tonight. Outta the way and will probably lower the ambient temps a little.
ok... the good stuff! The air duct!
I measured from the side and bottom of the case to locate the CPU. The 5" hole was measured and marked on the inside of the case, a pilot hole was drilled, and then I used a sabre saw to finish the actual hole. Forget tin snips - a sabre saw made light work even out of the pretty heavy duty supermicro case!
I set the fan over the hole and used a small/long drill bit to mark the mounting holes. I changed the drill bit to a larger diameter and punched the 4 holes for the fan. The fan grill was placed on the outside and bolted into the fan using the standard wide thread fan screw. -now the thinkers part.
There are a few ways to make an air duct. It varies from cardboard and duct take, to ABS plastic, to fiberglass, to rubber hoses, PVC, to aluminum foil, to dryer ducting. Over the last few days I've seen it all!!! This is kind of a hard thing to engineer because you have to imagine what the case looks like closed, and if you get it wrong you need to be able to modify the design quickly, cheaply, and easily.
Out of all the crap I had laying around my place, I decided to use extra picture framing mat board I had in the closet. Its not ghetto fab like cardboard and duct tape, (although I had my roll and a spare box laying around as a last resort. Its easier and cheaper than using ABS. Using round hoses, PVC, or ducting is like putting a round duct on a square fan and processor. PVC is impossible to modify - and finding 7" ID heater ducting or rubber hoses is hard. Aluminum foil... i saw one person who did that and
The mat board was cut 4.75"x 19.75" then scored and bent three times 4 15/16" apart to make a square to go around the fan. I bent the 7" hose clamp into a square and slipped it over the whole deal. The fit is VERY snug and the mat board is suprisingly rigid!! I squeezed the corners together at the CPU end of the duct and stapled them together to slightly taper the duct and increase air velocity. I'd say its somewhere around 100mm a tthe CPU end. NO duct tape was used!! WOOT!
The duct just barely hit my SATA cable when closing, which wont be a problem after tonight when the drives are relocated to the top.
So after all of that, the computer itsself i'd say is 1/3rd as loud. I let the machine warm up for bit while I proofed/edited some photos that I had sold. Once the ambient seemed to settle I cranked up a 12 simultaneous image processing batch processes and pegged the CPU at 100%.
the verdict?
3.4E Prescott - after mod
Idle: 45°
100% load: 60°C
Ambient: 34°C
BUT WAIT!
This is overclockers right? I rebooted the machine and cranked up a 10% overlock in the bios - now 3.74 Ghz.
Repeated the grueling image processing batches and!!
3.4E Prescott @ 3.74Ghz - after mod
Idle: 46°
100% load: 62°C
Ambient: 34°C
Thats OVER 18°C improvement at load!!!! Remember the CPU was thermal shutdown at 80° so it would have gone higher. Success a quiet and relatively cool PC - using the stock intel HS+Fan!! Now 62°C would normally seem borderline meltdown for most CPU's. From what I gathered on the forums here that a pretty standard Prescott core temp. I ran the machine well above that for a couple days while I was waiting for the fans and AS5 with no issues so i'm assuming this is ok.
Lessons learned - its not always about HOW MUCH air you move - its all about HOW and WHERE you move it! Dumping 33CFM worth of cold air directly on the CPU is a smart way of doing things. Ambient temps are up slightly, but overall the machine is much healthier.
I'll take a few photos this afternoon when I get home and post them up. Until then - you may just want to consider making yourself an air duct!
Ive been using a supermicro sc750 case for a number of years now. It started life I believe with a P3 like idk...4-5 years back and has evolved a number of times since. The latest setup was a Thermaltake 480W PS, P4C800-Deluxe running a P4 2.6Ghz 800fsb NW, 2GB kingston ram, geforce fx5900 Ultra, and a collection of 7 HD totalling just under 1TB. All the other usual's...etc. I've been using this setup for a couple years I think... I got the 2.6Ghz NW chip right when the 3.0Ghz NW was released.
This all started about a month back when one of my hard drives started making a funny high pitched noise. I knew it was on the outs and needed replacement. Newegg had a killer deal on Seagate Barracudas - 750GB for $230 so I picked them up. While I was looking at hardware I noticed the 3.4E's were selling for $133! Heck yah so I bought one!
The chip arrived early this week and I eagerly tore my case apart replacing 6 of the hard drives with these two barracudas. I moved about 8 months back and misplaced the tube of AS5 I had laying around. Bummer... but I threw the chip in anyways. using the leftovers from the NW.
Fired it up and <eek> - NEW PROBLEM.
2.6NW
Idle: 42°
100% load: 55°C
Ambient: 31°C
3.4E Prescott - before mod
Idle: 58°
100% load: 80°C+ thermal shutdown!!
Ambient: 33°C
So after some thinking about the problem, reading articles on the site here (ie LURKING), a trip to the hardware store, and some cut up knuckles - I believe its under control. While I was at it, I decided it was time to make this damn computer QUIET! (that would be a first.)
I picked up a new tube of AS5, two Scythe 120mm 33cfm 9dB fans, and a fan grille. At the hardware store I got myself an 7" diameter rubber hose clamp.
This is the case we are working with.
First up, I removed the 4 loud intake fans I had blowing on my 7 freaking hard drives in the 5.25" slots. GONE - never to return.
Next I got out the trusty side cutters and hacked out all of the sheet metal fan grills on the three front 80mm fan holes, the 120mm hole in the back, and the 92mm hole up top. There are also plastic holders for the fans that have grills on them - hacked up and removed that as well.
Next up I removed the stock intel heat sink, cleaned both the processor and HS with alchohol, reapplied AS5, and reinstalled.
I had a MONSTER fan in the 120mm slot that probably pushed something ridiculous like 120cfm @ 12V. I had placed one of those pyramid fan controllers on that which made it slightly quieter. Still it DOMINATED the room - removed and replaced with the Scythe 9db fan @ full speed (800rpm). Its silent.
While I had everything tore apart I took care to rewire all of the power supply wires, mobo wires, floppy, sound card 5.25 bay cable... its all zip tied in to a nice flat bundle on the back side of the case. The three front 80mm fan's were on thermal control, but I reainstalled the rheostats and set them to the slowest setting. They are thermaltake 80mm Smart Case fans - 17db @ 1300rpm. The 92mm case fan up top is a sunon - not sure what model anymore but I left it connected to the pyramid controller to keep the sound down. I'd say its pushing somewhere around 30cfm of air connected to the controller. The hard drives are getting relocated from the front bottom of the case up to the the top where that 92mm exhaust fan is tonight. Outta the way and will probably lower the ambient temps a little.
ok... the good stuff! The air duct!
I measured from the side and bottom of the case to locate the CPU. The 5" hole was measured and marked on the inside of the case, a pilot hole was drilled, and then I used a sabre saw to finish the actual hole. Forget tin snips - a sabre saw made light work even out of the pretty heavy duty supermicro case!
I set the fan over the hole and used a small/long drill bit to mark the mounting holes. I changed the drill bit to a larger diameter and punched the 4 holes for the fan. The fan grill was placed on the outside and bolted into the fan using the standard wide thread fan screw. -now the thinkers part.
There are a few ways to make an air duct. It varies from cardboard and duct take, to ABS plastic, to fiberglass, to rubber hoses, PVC, to aluminum foil, to dryer ducting. Over the last few days I've seen it all!!! This is kind of a hard thing to engineer because you have to imagine what the case looks like closed, and if you get it wrong you need to be able to modify the design quickly, cheaply, and easily.
Out of all the crap I had laying around my place, I decided to use extra picture framing mat board I had in the closet. Its not ghetto fab like cardboard and duct tape, (although I had my roll and a spare box laying around as a last resort. Its easier and cheaper than using ABS. Using round hoses, PVC, or ducting is like putting a round duct on a square fan and processor. PVC is impossible to modify - and finding 7" ID heater ducting or rubber hoses is hard. Aluminum foil... i saw one person who did that and
The mat board was cut 4.75"x 19.75" then scored and bent three times 4 15/16" apart to make a square to go around the fan. I bent the 7" hose clamp into a square and slipped it over the whole deal. The fit is VERY snug and the mat board is suprisingly rigid!! I squeezed the corners together at the CPU end of the duct and stapled them together to slightly taper the duct and increase air velocity. I'd say its somewhere around 100mm a tthe CPU end. NO duct tape was used!! WOOT!
The duct just barely hit my SATA cable when closing, which wont be a problem after tonight when the drives are relocated to the top.
So after all of that, the computer itsself i'd say is 1/3rd as loud. I let the machine warm up for bit while I proofed/edited some photos that I had sold. Once the ambient seemed to settle I cranked up a 12 simultaneous image processing batch processes and pegged the CPU at 100%.
the verdict?
3.4E Prescott - after mod
Idle: 45°
100% load: 60°C
Ambient: 34°C
BUT WAIT!
This is overclockers right? I rebooted the machine and cranked up a 10% overlock in the bios - now 3.74 Ghz.
Repeated the grueling image processing batches and!!
3.4E Prescott @ 3.74Ghz - after mod
Idle: 46°
100% load: 62°C
Ambient: 34°C
Thats OVER 18°C improvement at load!!!! Remember the CPU was thermal shutdown at 80° so it would have gone higher. Success a quiet and relatively cool PC - using the stock intel HS+Fan!! Now 62°C would normally seem borderline meltdown for most CPU's. From what I gathered on the forums here that a pretty standard Prescott core temp. I ran the machine well above that for a couple days while I was waiting for the fans and AS5 with no issues so i'm assuming this is ok.
Lessons learned - its not always about HOW MUCH air you move - its all about HOW and WHERE you move it! Dumping 33CFM worth of cold air directly on the CPU is a smart way of doing things. Ambient temps are up slightly, but overall the machine is much healthier.
I'll take a few photos this afternoon when I get home and post them up. Until then - you may just want to consider making yourself an air duct!
Last edited:
Welcome to the Forums, sirsloop! Nice build, love the stickers!
