Let's make this beast a bit quieter, eh?

[Blueacid]

Alright everyone!

Currently, I'm fine with my system, it's doing the job just nicely, despite being 2 years old. HOWEVER, one small problem remains - it's noisy.


The (appropriately detailed - let's list the noisy stuff!) specs are

AMD Barton 2500+ @ 3200+ Cooled by a Coolermaster Aero 7, with that blower fan. This is the noisy one.
Abit NF7-S, with the chipset HSF replaced by a Zalman silent cooler.
3 Maxtor hard drives.
ATI 9800, stock cooling, stock speed.
Tagan 480watt silent PSU (rated at about 20db, and in fairness, this thing is quiet!)
All housed inside a Thermaltake Xaser 3 case, complete with 5 case fans.


Now, the following fans are on the rheobus which came supplied with the case (you can see the rheobus in the photos below)

- The front two intake fans
- The rear two exhaust fans
- The CPU blower fan
- The top chimney fan.

The PSU takes care of itself, speeding up the fans when it needs, and the graphics card is always going.



Anyway, on with the pics (you know you love them). Apologies for the slightly blurry quality - they're off my cameraphone.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01222.JPG
That's the front of the case, with the drive door, and case-front door shut.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01223.JPG
The whole front of the case opened. Hmm, grilles.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01224.JPG
When the door is shut, that's the gap through which the incoming air has to pass. Can't find any other easy way to get air to those fans, without leaving the front of the case open all day (yeurgh)

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01225.JPG
This is the chimney exhaust fan. Two layers for air to get through - the metal case, and the plastic trim on top.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01226.JPG
The hard drives, nicely turned sideways by Thermaltake, to block almost all the airflow from the front fans. Luvverley.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01227.JPG
Overall look. Cable management looks icky, but it's actually quite tidy, with the cables bundled up. Also, CPU fan and passive northbridge cooler.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01228.JPG
Top bit of case. Hi2u cables!

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01229.JPG
Bit of a funny perspective, that's the graphics card right there.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01230.JPG
Back of case, showing the grilles over the rear blue LED fans.

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01231.JPG
Yay, tagan put proper wire fingerguards on! Less noise



Yeah, I know the host is slow, but the hosting is also free



So, OCForums. My main question...
...how can I get this to be a bit quieter. Right now, if i turn down the fans on the rheobus, I struggle to get to sleep with the system on - there's a constant rush of air sound, which I'd like to lose. I'm willing to spend some money (ie, to acquire a new heatsink for the CPU, or Gfx card, for example), but not tonnes!


Cheers for any help or suggestions!

-Blueacid

 

[Boule]

Get the thermaltake bigtyphoon HSF, the best air cooling available, and you can't hear the thing

 

[Blueacid]

Get the thermaltake bigtyphoon HSF, the best air cooling available, and you can't hear the thing

I like the look of the 16dB noise level on that... do you have it yourself?

What is the cooling performance like?

 

[Blueacid]

Bizzump, come on guys!

 

[Cjwinnit]

I have the same case. Post reserved for upcoming detailed answer.

 

[Blueacid]

I have the same case. Post reserved for upcoming detailed answer.

O my, hi2u Cjwinnit!

 

[Cjwinnit]

Hang on, aren't there two fans mounted on a dorr on the inside, next to the case side facing the CPU fan?

 

[Blueacid]

Hang on, aren't there two fans mounted on a dorr on the inside, next to the case side facing the CPU fan?

Not on my case - it came with the plastic bit, but thermaltake lovingly didn't supply me with any fans, so I didn't bother..... do you think it's worth me getting two additional 80mm fans, and putting that side door back in? (if I can find it! It's more than 2 years ago since I built this rig!)

 

[Blueacid]

http://blueacid.neosurge.org/DSC01237.JPG

Another pic, with the side of the case on. That's how it is normally.

 

[techun]

get quieter fans, or just turn your fans down

get a better copper cooler and a slow fan

if your gfx card is loud get an artic silencer

 

[Blueacid]

get a better copper cooler and a slow fan

Such as?

Are any coolers useful for both Socket A (462) and Socket 939?.... and that would be GOOD on socket 939? Or have I just asked the impossible?

 

[twoeyes]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=62&Submit=Property

Socket a and socket 939 coolers... should work for both

EDIT: IMHO this is the best for capatibility

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118119

Its good cause its copper the other one was aluminum

 

[Blueacid]

I was looking at the edit:copper! only one... it's £20 over here, so i'll look into upgrading that, since the CPU fan is the biggest noise-producer in my case.

Incidentally, i tried turning all the fans down, then using my fingers to stop the CPU and GFX card fans for 5 seconds..... the silence was bliss! That said, the silence soon became even quieter, cos my motherboard shut down the system, due to the CPU fan having failed

 

[twoeyes]

Let us know how you like it...

 

[Cjwinnit]

Mine was set up with 6 case fans (no chimney fan). "Fan 1 (on the fan bus controller" controlled the front two fans, "Fan 2" controlled the side two, "Fan 3" controlled the back two, "Fan 4" was empty (assumed the top chimney fan).
Whipped out the back two fans and replaced with lower-powered fans set to 5 volts, powered straight from the PSU lines. Added another quieter low-power fan to the chimney mount and connected to "Fan 4". Side fans were connected to "Fan 3" controller and the front two fans were given "Fan 1" and "Fan 2".

I might change out more of the higher-powered fans to lower-powered fans later on but the noise atm is tolerable, but in your case it sounds lke the CPU/PSU fans are a pain. If you fill all the case mountings with running fans, you might be able to slow the CPU-GPU fans down and still keep the temperature within limits. If you are interested I still have some low-powered fans (and they are orange ).

The rig resetting is a BIOS "feature" you should be able to disable..

 

[Blueacid]

Mine was set up with 6 case fans (no chinmey fan). "Fan 1 (on the fan bus controller" controlled the front two fans, "Fan 2" controlled the side two, "Fan 3" controlled the back two, "Fan 4" was epty (assumed the top chimney fan).
Whipped out the back two fans and replaced with lower-powered fans set to the 5 volt mod, powered straight from the PSU lines. Added another quieter low-power fan to the chimney mount and connected to "Fan 4". Side fans were connected to "Fan 3" controller and the front two fans were given "Fan 1" and "Fan 2".

I might change out more of the higher-powered fans to lower-powered fans later on but the noise atm is tolerable, but in your case it sounds lke the CPU/PSU fans are a pain. If you fill all the case mountings with running fans, you might be able to slow the CPU-GPU fans down and still keep the temperature within limits. If you are interested I still have some low-powered fans (and they are orange )

Right now, I have two orange fans at the front (Fan 1), two Akasa bloo led fans at the back (Fan 2), the CPU cooler (fan 3), and another orange fan as the chimney (fan 4). I'm considering glueing the led fans to the case side, where the fan holes are drilled, then replacing the rear exhaust fans.

I looked at that Zalman cooler, and it turns out that it's not compatible with my motherboard, due to a row of 4 capacitors right beside the CPU. Therefore, I need to look for a different CPU cooler.

As for my graphics card, I'm looking at the Zalman VF700-CU, as a replacement for the stock ATi cooler, since the graphics card is the second most noisy thing in my system.



Is there much merit to begging/borrowing/stealing a dremel, and taking the metal fingerguards off the case? Or would that achieve nothing?

 

[Blueacid]

The rig resetting is a BIOS "feature" you should be able to disable..

Nah, I found that setting, and left it set to "on". It's not like I really want it to keep on working, if my CPU fan fails!

 

[Blueacid]

Been looking around the web, and found the Scythe Katana cooler:

http://www.quietpc.com/uk/amdcooling.php#katana

Most of the time, my PC is (essentially) idle, ie, web browsing, mp3 playing, and IM, with the odd game played, so while the cooling performance might not be stellar, would this be okay?

 

[ckj]

Scythe Katana would be fine.

 

[NitroAPBT]

OK, I've struggled with a similar situation.....

Mine is a chieftec dragon with 2 front, 2 rear, 1 door 80mm fans, stock A64 HSF, and an ATA 9700 pro with stock cooling.

#1 Yes a dremel is a worthwhile investment. You'll find another use for it.. and they are cheaper than a lot of CPU coolers.

#2 Cutting al the grillwork off the case fans, especially the top one will help reduce noise, not completely of course, but some. The top one ill reduce noise and increase airflow from the looks of it.

#3 I'd be willing to bet that a lot of noise is coming from your 9800. My 9700 is the loudest thing in my case, bar none. I have unplugged my GPU fan briefly and there is an imediate difference with the system running.

#4 I don't know if you can fit 120 mm fans anywhere (cutting required obviously), but if you have room for them to fit after cutting proper openings I would suggest going with 120s. At 12 volts 1 120mm fan will be quieter than 2 80mm fans, and move just as much, if not more air. @ 7 volts the 120s are very quiet, and stil move quite a bit of air.

#5 You could eliminate the 2 front fans, and cut your side window to take 1 or even 2 120mm fans. 2 @ 7 volts would likely be blowing directly toward your MB with a ton of air, giving better cooling, and quieter than your 2 80mm fans.