Built a mostly quiet computer

The forum for non-component-related silent pc discussions.

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bobash
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2002 12:48 pm

Built a mostly quiet computer

Post by bobash » Sun Oct 13, 2002 12:58 pm

I started with a basic PC:

ECS k7s5a motherboard
512mb ram
1.2GHz Duron
60Gb western digital 7200rpm
CDRW lite-on
GeForce2 TI200
Generic full tower case

but it sounded like a blow dryer. So I found this site and and started buying some parts:

Seasonic 300FS power supply
Zalman GPU heat sink
Zalman 6000CU heat sink, fanmate set to 1800rpm
SmartDrive disk enclosure
replace power supply fan with Panaflo 80mm
replace both case fans (output) with Panaflo 80mm augmented, attached with rubber isolators
Akasa Paxmate acoustic mats
Rounded HD, CD, Floppy cables

Now it's as quiet as my ceiling fan (on low speed). Any suggestions on how to make it silent? [Maybe I'm becoming obsessive about PC noise.]

Thanks.
Bob

quokked
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Post by quokked » Sun Oct 13, 2002 6:49 pm

ummmmm u're getting to the point where u're getting diminishing returns, u could try undervolting some of the case fans or turn them off altogether, u could replace the Zalman fan for something more quiet like a 80MM panaflow or Papst fan, oh and what's your GPU heatsink like? The Geforce 3 Ti 200 u've got probably has a little active heatsink that streams out the noise :)

ChiefWeasel
Posts: 262
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Worcester, UK

Post by ChiefWeasel » Mon Oct 14, 2002 3:18 am

quokked wrote: oh and what's your GPU heatsink like? The Geforce 3 Ti 200 u've got probably has a little active heatsink that streams out the noise :)

He mentioned he bought a zalman GPU heatsink, second on the list :roll: :wink:

Are you panaflos at 12V? If so id defintley recommend trying 7V, or maybe use a resistor or fanbus, etc, to get something like 9 or 10V maybe? Other than that, how noisy is the SmartDrived, WD? Could try a 'cuda IV?

After that i think you would have to get some cable extensions and hide your comp away somewhere to get it any quieter... :)

quokked
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Post by quokked » Mon Oct 14, 2002 4:09 am

ooooopss silly me :)

bobash
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Post by bobash » Mon Oct 14, 2002 9:14 am

I think my next step is to try the undervolting the fans. I recall seeing some web site with step by step pictures for doing the 12v-5v=7v trick. I think it was some store that sold parts. Does anyone have that URL?

The reason I didn't try undervolting earlier was that it seems like it's just chance that your fans will start up at 7v. The panaflo case fans were $18.00 each, is there any chance of damaging them?

Actually this building-a-quiet-pc thing is kind of fun.

quokked
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Post by quokked » Mon Oct 14, 2002 11:05 pm

http://www.directron.com/12to7.html Directon sell the adapater pre made but the easiest way I've found to make a 7V adapter is to get a molex double adapter and snip the black wires off one of the plugs and wire that one for 7V and the leave the other one still wired so u get a kinda pass through 7V adapter :)
oh yeah and this how http://www.7volts.com explain it :)
How do you get 7 volts out of the 12 and 5 volts supplied by the Yellow Black Black Red Molex connector you ask?
You use the yellow 12v wire as the power connector to the fan and use the red 5v connector as the fan ground. The fan sees the potential difference between the 12v and the 5v so is run at 7 volts. Fans can be run at 5v but some will fail to start and air flow is low

ChiefWeasel
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Location: Worcester, UK

Post by ChiefWeasel » Tue Oct 15, 2002 2:02 am

And just to reassure you, there is no way you can damage your fans by undervolting them, just make sure to follow the instructions carefully, and be careful no to connect them with the polarity reversed... ...and panaflos should start-up reliably right down to 5V, MikeC has done lots of testing startup voltages for fans i think, so im sure he'll provide more info on this :)

bobash
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Post by bobash » Tue Oct 15, 2002 10:08 am

I just checked out the 7volts.com site. There is a warning about "....you would trip the overvoltage regulation of the +5 Volt line..."

So I have decided to do this instead:
Use a Zalman Fanmate and a 3pin Y splitter to control the speed of the 2 case fans.
Buy a Dremel tool and cut away the stamped grills on the power supply and case and replace them with wire ones.

After that, I can't think of anything else I can do to this system.

quokked
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Post by quokked » Tue Oct 15, 2002 5:41 pm

I don't know where u live bobash but if u really want u could build a temperature controlling unit for your fans (I'm in Australia and summers coming so probably won't be much use for me) :) http://www.heatsink-guide.com/tempcontrol.htm this site shows u how to build a simple temperature controll and that in conjunction with your mods already would be pretty close to how quiet u could get a computer, that's of course unless u start to go totally solid state components like flash card to run programs from etc. :)

yunez
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Post by yunez » Thu Oct 17, 2002 12:43 am

I would consider knocking off one of the case fans (in addition to undervolting). Ive got 2x panaflos, one for the PSU and one for the CPU. Theyre both running at 12v, but i have no extra case fans. Im going to undervolt them, hopefully my temps wont rise dramatically.

ChiefWeasel
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Post by ChiefWeasel » Thu Oct 17, 2002 1:08 am

Im kinda confused as to what fan setup you have... Your last post is a bit confusing, you said you'd consider knocking off a case fan, then say later that you dont have any!

More fans and less voltage is the way to go when you need a certain air flow, as I showed in detail here.

Any way let us know your fan setup?

bobash
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Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2002 12:48 pm

Post by bobash » Thu Oct 17, 2002 12:48 pm

I put both (rear) case fans on the FanMate running at 1600rpm.

I think I prefer to have a constant fan speed rather than a temperature variable one. I used to have a laptop that had a thermal fan. It was annoying to hear it turn on and off.

I cut away the case fan grills. On the Seasonic, I cut away most of the fan grill and the all of the intake grill. I haven't attached any fan grills yet. I'll just have to be careful.

As soon as my order arrives, I'll replace the Zalman cpu fan with an 80mm Papst set to 1800 rpm.

Now I think I'm really done... Although some Magic Fleece on top of the
Paxmate might work....

Michael_qrt
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Location: Sydney

Post by Michael_qrt » Fri Oct 18, 2002 3:25 am

You could undervolt/underclock the CPU and try to go passive. If you do this you could try a shroud which directs air being sucked out by the psu fan over the heatsink.

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