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Am I too demanding?

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:02 am
by WipeOut
My setup is simply a P182 with an Antec Phantom, a Core 2 Duo processor running on an Asus Striker Extreme motherboard cooled by a Ninja..

I have been trying various fans in various configurations and I cant seem to get it VERY quiet..

If I just concentrate on cooling the processor with minimal case air flow then the motherboard would seem to get too hot, the copper heaksinks/heatpipes on the motherboard are too hot to hold my finger on which can't be good..

If I provide enough airflow through the case to keep the motherboard heatsinks to a point where they don't burn me the processor is also fine but the fan noise is starting to pickup and become audible.. This requires a front, rear and top fan (plus one in the bottom chamber for the hard drive and psu but thats working fine and near silently)..

We aren't even in the summer yet so when the room temperature goes up its going to make things worse with even more airflow required..

I look at the gallery and see example rigs with a single slow front fan and a single slow rear fan in a P182 and that is claimed to be enough for cooling the system.. I just cant see it, the motherboard gets too hot!!

I am trying to keep the motherboard sensor reading 40C or less.. Maybe thats not nessesary to keep it that cool, especially when trying to have a quiet system..

Am I just being too demanding? Am expecting too much and aiming for too quiet? Am I trying to maintain temperatures that are too low??

Any input or thoughts would be helpful.. :)

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:08 am
by NeilBlanchard
Hello,

It would help us to know what fans, and what configurations you have tried? Are you trying to keep it below 40C LOAD, or idle? And when you say motherboard -- are you referring to the CPU?

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:37 am
by tehfire
I'm not sure exactly what your motherboard sensor actually senses, but if it's the chipset you should know that most chipsets are rated to north of 90C. Perhaps you are trying to cool the components too much...

FWIW, I stopped doing the "touch test" long ago and my components are still happily chugging away.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:09 am
by andyb
My PC (spec in Sig) is about as silent as a PC of its power draw can be without using watercooling.

I have just one case fan removing the 89~ Watts of heat from my CPU, and 65~ Watts of heat from my graphics card, and an unknown amount from the motherboard, on top of this I have a very slow running fan on my ninja.


Andy

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:09 pm
by WipeOut
Thanks for the replies.. I will try answer all the queries..

The fans I have playing ith for the last few days are the Noiseblocker XL1, The Xilence red wing and the Silenx 90cfm 36mm.. Fortunately my brother has tried so many options on his PC I have lots of fans to play with.. :)

When I am referring to the "motherboard" temperature I am refering to the onboard sensor wherever that is.. I have a CPU sensor, a motherboard sensor and two external sensors that connect to the motherboard that can be placed anywhere in the system..

I guess tecnically as long as the internal case temperature is 40C or below everything else should be fine since thats the ATX specification so the motherboard should be able to survive in that environment.. Right?

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:06 pm
by NeilBlanchard
Hello,

40C for the CPU at idle is plenty cool. It could easily be 50C at idle and still be fine. 60-65C at 100% load is also fine.

I think you are running the fans too fast, and/or you are not trying quiet fans.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:27 pm
by Fayd
Image

my temps.


you're trying too hard.

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:15 am
by WipeOut
Cool.. Well let me have another crack at it and see what I come up with.. :)

Thanks for the advice from everyone.. This silent PC "sport" is quite addctive.. :)

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:42 am
by AzNightmare
I've recently been testing out fans and reconfiguring my P182 setup.

My computer is nearly inaudible.

This is my setup. (wish I had a pic)

-E6600 (stock) -> Ninja + 5V YateLoon BL(south side)
-Antec Tricool (undervolted 5v and set to "L" on the controller) top exhaust
-sealed rear exhaust fan hole
-8800gt -> S1+turbo module
-2 HDs in bottom chamber, both with a silent hd enclosure, placed in horizontally in that bottom cage.
-bottom chamber HD intake fan -> 5V YateLoon BL
-one side panel removed

I don't have any intake fans in the upper chamber. They didn't make a different for my setup because I already had an open case. Many people suggest sealing the top exhaust on the P182, but I figured heat rises, so why not just seal the rear instead, and make a bottom to top exhaust from my Ninja.

And I noticed that undervolting your Antec Tricool to 5V and setting it to "L" on the controller makes it one of the silentest fans ever. Minimal cfm of course. Only caution is that everytime the computer turns back on, the fan won't spin on it's own until you manually spin it's blades to get the rotor moving. But it's not an issue for me because I leave my computer on 24/7.

On Idle, cpu is around 40c, video card is around 38c, HD is around 41-43c, system is around 39-40c.

On Load... I'm not too sure. Because my fans are hooked up on a fan controller which I crank up the fans before I play any games. Still quiet but definately audible. My cpu might go up to 45c and my video card up to 48c while playing games and my fans are set higher. But I figure if you have a loud CD spinning while you're playing games, it would defeat the purpose of keeping your system silent during games, so might as well crank up the fans and make some noise.

My comp is on idle most of the time, and I'm quiet pleased :)
WipeOut wrote:Cool.. Well let me have another crack at it and see what I come up with.. :)

Thanks for the advice from everyone.. This silent PC "sport" is quite addctive.. :)
Definately addictive. You end up buying so much stuff to test out every option you can think of. Have fun, don't go bankrupt, and good luck :D

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:06 pm
by Fayd
AzNightmare wrote: Definately addictive. You end up buying so much stuff to test out every option you can think of. Have fun, don't go bankrupt, and good luck :D
yeah.


i've come to the conclusion that you should just buy the most expensive solution you can possibly find..

because you're gonna get there eventually, and this just skips the middle steps and saves you money.

Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:55 am
by merlin
Fayd wrote:
AzNightmare wrote: Definately addictive. You end up buying so much stuff to test out every option you can think of. Have fun, don't go bankrupt, and good luck :D
yeah.


i've come to the conclusion that you should just buy the most expensive solution you can possibly find..

because you're gonna get there eventually, and this just skips the middle steps and saves you money.
Except collecting a bunch of $3 120mm yate loons and picking the most silent one is a CHEAP solution that works great! Plus then you have plenty of backups in case of a failing fan. I don't think everything in this hobby has to be expensive, just being careful helps.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:14 am
by sallyxi
just keep waiting,the perfect one will definitely turn up someday,haha

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:26 am
by Blood
wipeout,

I read that you are using one single exhaust fan. What material are you using to seal the top blowhole? I am wondering if it might be leaking.

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:07 am
by WipeOut
Blood wrote:wipeout,

I read that you are using one single exhaust fan. What material are you using to seal the top blowhole? I am wondering if it might be leaking.
After a lot of experimenting and changing things around I have now got a Noiseblockr fan in each of the locations at the top of the case.. Qfan is set to maintain an internal case temperature of 35C and this results in these two fans spinning at ~800RPM (~24C room temp).. So far it all seems fine.. :)

Have a look at my build here..
viewtopic.php?p=404049#404049