Arctic Cooling Silentium T2 review

[Dollar]

Hi!

I read your review of the Silentium T2 with great interest.
I wonder however about the following.

1. When looking in the list over recommended cases I see that you haven't got the Silentium T2 listed.
Is that because you don't think that it deserves to be on the list over recommended cases, or is it just that you haven't updated the list with the T2?
2. I would also like to know what "value rating" you would give the Silentium T2 for Airflow/Noise?
3. When comparing the Silentium T2 to the Coolermaster Centurion 5, which case would you prefer when building a system which primary goal is to be as silent as possible?

Best regards

[Devonavar]

Dollar:

First of all...

Welcome to SPCR!!!!

Second, no, that is not an oversight. The Silentium T2 does not belong on our recommended case list because, as mentioned in the review, the PSU fans are too noisy for use in a silenced system.

I'm not going to give a value rating for two reasons.

1) I didn't make the value ratings for the rest of the cases reviewed, so my giving such a value would be unfair.
2) Noise ratings are subjective and are meaningless without the comments that go with the review. I suggest you look at what's been said (both in the review and in the forums) about each case, and make your own decision.

To answer your question about the Silentium vs. Centurion, my answer is neither. Which is better depends on the needs of your system and how much (and what sort of) extra work you're willing to put in to obtain a silent system. My advice is to examine your needs, and decide which case has more pros and less cons that are applicable to you.

In my opinion, the Silentium is best used for a system that you never want to modify once you've installed the system the first time.

The Centurion is more conventional, and is a better case for a system (or mod skills) that will grow with time.

That said, the best comparison for the Silentium is probably the Antec Sonata. Both of these are similar in size and can be considered "starter" cases from a silencing perspective. Out of the box, the Sonata is probably quieter, but the airflow is terrible, and hard drive noise is difficult to get rid of without seriously modification.

Poke around the site (and forums) for a week or so to get a good idea of exactly what you're willing to do/spend for the system you're building. Then make your decision.

Happy Silencing!

Devon

[Dollar]

Thanks Devonavar!

[stretchneck]

I've fitted an SI97 now.

Unfortunately it doesn't fit my motherboard very well - there's resistors/capacitors on either side of the CPU! This means that the centre of the CPU is not aligned correctly with the heatsink because I've had to site the heatsink off-centre.

So unfortunately I don't think this is a long term solution.

The temperature maintained whilst using CPU burn was 56-61 degrees centigrade. This is a bit hotter than I would have liked - low 50's a load would have been better. The off-centre alightnent is a likely cause of higher figures.

[Devonavar]

After poking around some more on the Arctic Cooling website, I've noticed that they recommend that heatsinks with side-mounted fans be mounted so that they blow either up or towards the front of the case. Having the fan blow forwards makes sense considering the airflow layout of this case, but it is the opposite of the usual direction.

[martinhm]

Is the PSU in this case basically a Seasonic Super Silencer? If so, is it the mods made by Arctic to integrate it into the case that have made it noisier than a normal Seasonic SS?

I'm thinking of getting this case (approx £60 at time of writing) as an alternative to buying an Antec 3000B with a Nexus NX3500 (total ~ £85). It's for an A64 3000+ with passively cooled NV 6600GT and one HDD. I doubt I will want to mod it after building it the first time. Would anyone recommend this?

[stretchneck]

I think the nexus solution will achieve the same aproximately the sound levels, but I don't think you'll get the same amount of airflow so your passively cooled 6600 might run a bit hotter.

I'm going for a gigabyte 6800 passive cooled AGP card!!!

[MikeC]

Is the PSU in this case basically a Seasonic Super Silencer? If so, is it the mods made by Arctic to integrate it into the case that have made it noisier than a normal Seasonic SS?

I'm thinking of getting this case (approx £60 at time of writing) as an alternative to buying an Antec 3000B with a Nexus NX3500 (total ~ £85). It's for an A64 3000+ with passively cooled NV 6600GT and one HDD. I doubt I will want to mod it after building it the first time. Would anyone recommend this?

It's based on the SS-xxx-FS series, the first gen retail PSUs Seasonic sold in the US. The very first PSU I reviewed was a SS300FS. It's peak efficiency is around 76%.

The other combo will be less audible, depending partly on how you set it up and where you place the finished PC. This would change if you modded the PSU fans in the ACT2 to run slower.

[PS]

Mike or Devon:

This is yet another excellent SPCR review of a very interesting product! Thank you both for your hard work!

Like a number of other posters to this thread, I'm wondering if you had or if you could (for us, your dedicated fans and supporters) try a simple fan swap in the PSU for some Panaflo's... would that not help in terms of noise characteristics as well as maybe overall noise?

Thanks!

-PS

[EPAstor]

Just curious... everyone seems to be suggesting swapping the fans for Panaflos, and other known quiet fans. What about a simpler swap: the PSU fans for the cheap retail Arctic-Cooling fans, possibly plugging them into a Zalman Fanmate?

Would this be at all feasible? I'm not exactly sure how these fans mount onto the PSU, but if it's simple and the PSU is independently reasonably good, this may end up being my next case. (Simple, cheap, built-in hard-disk isolation/suspension...)

[MikeC]

AFAIK, the fans on the PSU are identical to the case fans -- except maybe the thermistor that controls their speed. The PSU fans seem to spin faster and cause more resonance. Swapping the fans is a very involved affair, and I would not do it.

As I've already posted, the better approach would be to add resistance padding between the PSU fans and the fan voltage feed to knock down the fan speed. Perhaps the system was tested in sourthern China or Taiwan in the summer and the engineers opted for an extra margin of cooling safety.

Finally, the system may be perfectly quiet enough for lots of people. You have to remember that the ~20 dBA ambient noise level of the lab is considerably lower than in most homes and much lower than in any normal office. If your ambient is 30 dBA, the system as we configured it will not be a noise problem.

[Mikael]

I'm building two identical systems to a couple of friends of mine that know nothing about computers. They will feature the new Sempron 3100+ 90nm with boxed coolers (which should run very cool). There will also be an unmodified Sapphire 9800 Pro (or possibly 6600GT) in each system. So, my question is simple really:

Do you think that this case could be good enough for them? I'm guessing that the boxed cooler and stock 9800 Pro noise would drown the sound from the PSU in the case, right?

The reason I'm looking at this case isn't mainly for silence, but rather the fact that it seems to be the cheapest and most good lucking case, that also comes with a quality PSU.

[Devonavar]

Yes, I would think that this case would be fine if noise is not a major concern. At idle, the Silentium is borderline quiet, the main problem is the resonance of the PSU fans. Your stock coolers should overpower this quite easily.

[twinturbo11]

Hey guys,

I just bought the Silentium T2 for a mere $30 on ebay from another site reviewer:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

Will try to splice the PSU fans and underpower them. I have never done that before , so if anyone has any advice / suggestions, please let me

[Fonzie]

Hi all

Exellent review on the Silentium T2 case.
I have bought me one of those (T1) and I am very happy with it except for the fact that the PSU fans indeed make a "hum" noise.
I would like to know if I can adjust the fans to spin slower, with a tool like fanmate or somthing similar.
I'm a musician so I prefer silence above cooling
System temp is around 24 idle and 28 load
CPU temp is around 54 idle since it has a fairly low speed but no noise Arctic Copper lite cooler
And a Zalman VF700cu cooler for my 6600GT AGP card wich runs at 5v and is also noiseless
So the only noise I hear comes from the front PSU fans and my old CRT monitor (buzz, weird noise)

All the fans are AC 3, no TC:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/fans2.php?idx=42

Is it also possible to use a fanmate on them?

My MB temp is 25 degree idle, CPU 51 (AC 3 TC) so I guess I can undervolt them without doing any harm right?

Also to make sure the noise is coming from the PSU fans (that are prob spinning 2 fast) is it safe to unhook them for a few seconds?

Thx in advance

[Devonavar]

System temp is around 24 idle and 28 load
CPU temp is around 54 idle since it has a fairly low speed but no noise Arctic Copper lite cooler.

My MB temp is 25 degree idle, CPU 51 (AC 3 TC) so I guess I can undervolt them without doing any harm right?

Also to make sure the noise is coming from the PSU fans (that are prob spinning 2 fast) is it safe to unhook them for a few seconds?

Thx in advance

I'm a little confused about all these numbers, is your idle 51 or 54? Do you have two full systems, or are you just using two heatsinks? Also, posting the details of the rest of your system would be helpful.

Also, you need to quote some temperatures at LOAD. You need to make sure your temperatures are reasonable under the highest load you can expect to be using on your system. Usually it's safest to use a benchmark that is specifically designed to heat the CPU, since it's not always straightforward determining what the hottest load is.

Fanmates should work fine for any (3-pin) fan, although you have to test each fan individually to make sure they start at whatever voltage you set them to.

As mentioned already in this thread, it is very difficult to change the PSU fans because their headers (if they're not hardwired) are inside the PSU, and removing the PSU from the case is quite a major job. Only attempt this if you're sure of your ability to put it all back together. Unfortunately, it looks like nobody else has tried this mod, so you'd be the first.

If you need to double check that the noise is your PSU fans, it's quite safe to stop them with a flexible (and non-breakable) object for a few seconds. You won't be able to unhook them; as I said above, the headers for these fans are inside the PSU.

[twinturbo11]

Ok I got my silentium case - waiting for the rest of my components. If you look at all the grey wires that pass right on top of the PSU (lower right hand corner), you will notice that they really restrict the airflow of the PSU! So my first mod is to tightly combine them and get them completly out of the way of the PSU in order not to restrict airflow. Perhaps this will help cool down the PSU (and slow it down?).




If you look at the shot above, it is the fans of the PSU. As you can notice, you can see the wires of both fans going into the PSU. These wires are obviously very much reachable. NEED YOUR ADVICE: since the wires of the PSU fans are easy to reach, do you think I can cut them, put a FAN MATE controller in between them, and then connect them back? If so, then this would be the solution to slow down the PSU fans of the silentium making this a perfect case.

What do you guys think???????????????????????

[Devonavar]

Yes, I think splicing a Fanmate into the wire could work. You'd need to make sure that you don't exceed the maximum current through the Fanmate though, since Fanmates are designed use with just a single fan. Depending on the rating for the AC fans, you may need to use a second Fanmate. Or, just hope they never ramp up to maximum current.

You'll also need to be careful to make sure that the fans will start at their lower voltage since they're already thermally controlled, but this is just normal Fanmate stuff.

[Fonzie]

Hehe

Sorry bout that Devonavar

I ment my CPU temp is about 51 idle and 54 load (CPU burn-in test)

From reading here I think I'm gonna pass on this, specialy if none have tried it yet

As for my sys spec:

- Asus A7N8X-E-Deluxe
- Athlon XP 2800+ (Arctic Copper Lite TC, spinning around 1000 rpm)
- 2 x 512 mb DDR PC 2100 @ 2700
- Geforce 6600 GT AGP (zalman VF700 AlCu @ 5v)
- Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 9 (120 GB)
- Audigy 2 ZS
- Philips 1620k DVD-RW
- Plexwriter 52/24/52A
- Floppy drive
- Realtek PCI network card

Funny thing is tho, now I am hearing the noise from my old monitor (buzz) wich I didn't hear before I had my new case with CPU and VGA fan

So it's defenetly a silent case except for the PSU noise


Thx for the help so far

[Fonzie]

K I just rewired the case a bit

Removed the front USB and Audio cables and moved the CTRL panel wires (HDD led, power switch,etc)

Aso made a recording of the noise I'm getting

http://users.pandora.be/wimsguitarsite/Noise.mp3

It's recorded with a cheap mic and with 20 db boost so the wind sound is actualy unaudible, it's just that howling sound that is a bit anoying

Also it seems when U lift up the case from the base the noise reduces, at least for me

Another question: The low idle temperature in this review http://www.silentpcreview.com/article216-page6.html is that because of the intel P4 chip?

I think room temperature is about 18 - 20 degree here, maybe even less

Laters

[MikeC]

Also it seems when U lift up the case from the base the noise reduces, at least for me

Another question: The low idle temperature in this review http://www.silentpcreview.com/article216-page6.html is that because of the intel P4 chip?

The base adding to the resonance is a definite possibility. If it was sitting on a soft surface like a carpet or a somewhat dense piece of closed-cell foam, it might help.

As for the CPU temp, yes, more or less. The HSF we used is bigger than yours, so it's probably more effective. Also, the XP chips don't execute the HALT command to to turn off unused functions at idle while the P4 does. It can make a 10C difference easily. There are utilities that will do this for you -- check the software downloads page.

[sampsmith]

A top class website and excellent quality reviews. The best I have seen after several hours of browsing. Thanks.

I am not quite clear on the Silentium T2 vs Sonata debate. The postscript to the review seems to say the Silentium is better but the Sonata is on the recommended list. Which is best if you want a quiet system without any messing about ? The cases a priced about the same and both include your recommended PSUs.


FYI... after reading your site, my current specification for a linux web server (low power graphics) is:
Silentium T2
Asus KSNE Deluxe
Asus V9400 Graphics Card
Athlon 64 3200 Socket 754
Samsung Spinpoint SATA 160GB Hard Drive
Samsung 552B DVD/CD
Samsung PC3200 1MB RAM

I cannot quite decide on the case but the Sonata and the Antec Aria cases look appealing.... as I am not an experienced builder I am going with the AMD heatsink and fan instead of the Zalman ALCU.

[Devonavar]

I am not quite clear on the Silentium T2 vs Sonata debate. The postscript to the review seems to say the Silentium is better but the Sonata is on the recommended list. Which is best if you want a quiet system without any messing about ? The cases a priced about the same and both include your recommended PSUs.

I wasn't aware there was much of a debate... Neither of these are ideal for silencing, but they each have different drawbacks. In the case of the Sonata, there's some issues with airflow, which makes it difficult to adequately cool a high end system, although yours should be no problem. There's also not a lot of room for hard drive suspension, although you may not be trying something this advanced. The stock power supply is also not especially quiet, and tends to ramp up too quickly.

The Silentium generally has good airflow, and already comes with a hard drive suspension system, which addresses two of the issues with the Sonata. However, the stock power supply is proprietary, and can't be changed for a quieter one. As mentioned in the review, the power supply is the main source of noise in the case.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you want from a case. It's probably easier to modify the Sonata for pure silence, but if you're not planning to mod your case the Silentium may allow for a quieter build out of the box because of the hard drive suspension.

To answer your original question, if you want to build a quiet system without messing about, the Silentium has a slight edge over the Sonata, but either should suit your needs.

[MikeC]

sampsmith --

The recommended pages don't get changed often or lightly; I like chewing over the merits / weaknesses of a product for a while before committing it to that section. Makes for wiser decisions. The T2 will be included in the next revision of the Recommended Cases, at around the same "level" as the Sonata: They are good for "reduced noise" no-mod systems.

[Fonzie]

OK guys

I think I'm gonna try modding the PSU fans to 7V

But before that I need ur expertise again

The fans are not TC but http://www.arctic-cooling.com/fans2.php?idx=42

I have a guide here wich shows how to mod to 7V

http://www.bleedinedge.com/guides/7volt ... n_mod.html

Now this gonna work rite without shortcutting anything right?

Laters

[Devonavar]

Yes, that article is correct. There's a post here that describes the process in more detail (with pictures), and a thread of responses and clarifications. If you're not sure of yourself, spend a little while going through the Fans and Control section, that particular 7V mod has been done many times before.

[Fonzie]

K thx for info Devonavar

I will try all this tomorow

I'll keep ya updated

[Fonzie]

Ok m8

The 7V mod works

I used a 3 to 4 pin wich I found in my closet

http://us.st7.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/ ... 36_1227363

Rewired and then tried with my old Sibak CPU cooler

First I connected the CPU fan to the Case Fan plug on MB and then I hooked it up to the modded molex and I clearly heard that the Fan was spinning muich slower, from Noise to NO Noise (always thaught that old Sibak was noisy)

so that worked out fine, thx again for the help on that

Now as for the PSU noise I havent tried it yet

What I did try is stopping the fans from spinning wich makes less noise less but there's still noise

I think its more like a resonance noise coming from the PSU department, really weird vibration kinda sound

2 bad the fan connector from PSU is hidden otherwise I could try this without removing the PSU and/or HD muffler

So I will wait for this mod

Laters

[tenchy]

Hello to all . I have read the test (and other test over the internet) about thid case and,it seem very nice ,case and i decided to buy one.i have buy the case,bring it home,put everithing in place,(i took a round one hour,or maybe is just me that are a noob) and suprise. the case is not silent. it makes a constant HUMM, vibrate, have ressonance,that make my head hurt.do i have my ears , more sensitive than others people? for me this case is not good. ,and im going to put it in the trash. i will change to my old 45 euros ATX case again ,because is much quiet.

[lorvut]

It´s stange that they designed it so that several popular ATX motherboards cant fit. They should have tested that. It would not hurt the design if it was 20-30mm deeper. At least I can see no reason for this that makes any sense...


Regards!