My silent watercooled rig!

Show off your quiet rig.

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Slaugh
Posts: 774
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:27 am
Location: Quebec, Canada

My silent watercooled rig!

Post by Slaugh » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:23 pm

Hi there!

I finally took the time to take a few shots of my current watercooled system.

This system is pure heaven compared to my last one! It's almost dead silent. The only noise I get is a slight clicking sound coming from the flow indicator. This one will soon be replaced or removed completely so I'll be bothered by my heatbeat only! :lol:

I had a few problems first... I received a leaking CPU waterblock and the 24-20 pins adaptor shipped with the Phantom was defective. I bought a new adaptor and tried to get a replacement for the waterblock only. After waiting 3 weeks, my supplier asked me to return the whole Reserator for a replacement. I decided to buy a new waterblock to finally enjoy my system! This system is truly amazing! :D



System specs:
  • Antec Sonata
  • Acoustipack pre-cut for Antec Sonata
  • Antec Phantom
  • Zalman Reserator1
  • Zalman ZM-GWB1 and ZM-WB2 Gold waterblocks
  • Athlon64 3400+ S754
  • Asus K8N-E Deluxe (nVidia nForce3 250GB)
  • Asus AX800-XT (ATI Radeon X800XT PE)
  • Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU and the GPU
  • 1GB Kingston HyperX with heatspreader (CAS 2.5)
  • Seagate Baracudda 7200.7 200GB SATA
  • Zalman ZM-2HC1 HDD heatpipes cooler
  • Creative Labs Audigy2 ZS
  • Plextor PX-712 DVDRW
  • Nexus 120mm case fan
  • Zalman Fanmate2
  • Asus webcam
  • Logitech diNovo
  • Sandisk Cruzer mini 512MB
  • Sony external USB floppy
Things that I kept:
  • APC BackUPS ES 725
  • D-Link DI-604 router
  • Canon i550 printer
  • Motorola SurfBoard cable modem
My temporary monitor is a NEC AccuSync LCD17V (soon to be replaced). I also need to replace my Altec Lansing speakers (were 4.1 before but are more like 2½.1 now! :lol: ).




Some pictures:
(Click on a thumbnail for a 1024x768 version)


Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image


Shutting up the Seagate:
I can barely hear the Seagate when the front door is closed. The Seagate is placed in a 5¼" bay and cooled by a Zalman ZM-2HC1 heatpipes cooler. To cut most of the HDD noise, I placed some acoustic foam in front of it and covered the back of the plastic drive bay with acoustic mass barrier. The Seagate is barely warm and the heatpipes are warm to the touch. The Seagate is straight in front of the Nexus 120mm fan.

Modding the computer desk:
I completely modded my actual desk for optimal airflow. I switched the left and right parts, cut 2 vent holes on each sides (the right one being used to pass the Reserator's tubes) and completely removed the back panel. I'm wondering if they know what they're doing when they build computer desks! Now this desk looks the same but is no more a heat trap!

External power supply:
The Phantom is installed outside the case, it doesn't make any sound and is warm to the touch. I bought some extra cable so I can unplug it without opening the case. It's also easier to move the case around this way. To cover the hole left at the back of the case, I cut the back of an old power supply to make a custom plate. A rubber ring from the same power supply was used to tighten and protect the cables that go outside. I'll probably buy a longer cable to power the Radeon X800XT, so I'll be able to hide that cable more easily and improve airflow.

No more case fan vibration:
I put some foam (2 layers) between the Nexus and the case and used cable ties instead of screws to attach it to the case to reduce vibrations. I needed to cut the wires of the Nexus and use a new 4pin connector because the original one on the Nexus was only used to report temperature. I had a couple old fans so I just took one of their 4pins connectors and plugged it to the Nexus. The Nexus was then plugged to a Fanmate2 to control its speed.

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