Quiet 3700BQE, work in progress

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Tue May 10, 2005 3:21 am

System specs,:
Antec 3700BQE
Nexus NX-3000
Maxtor diamondmax 9, 120 gb Ide
Nec - 3500A
Asrock mobo k7s8xe
2 * 256 mb Dane-elec
Amd 2400+ thouroughbred 2.00 ghz
Antec Stock fan outtake @ 7 volt
Arctic copper silent rev 2

Getting the psu cables out of the way,:

Well I'm satisfied with the result, I will be replacing the stock fan on the arctic heatsink and the 120 mm outtake with nexus fans.
The HD will be suspended with elastic in a 5.25" bay and the drive cage and stock grills at the front and back will be removed pretty soon.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue May 10, 2005 5:10 am

Good for you! That's a nice start, your system should end up being pretty darn quiet.

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Tue May 10, 2005 6:06 am

Started some work on the hd,:

With 5 mm thick foam from a mousemat,:

Nice but doesn't do the job very well, the seek and write noises are way too loud, I'm beginning to dislike the drive cage more and more, so the appointment with Mr. Dremel will be very soon.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am

majinbuu wrote:Nice but doesn't do the job very well, the seek and write noises are way too loud, I'm beginning to dislike the drive cage more and more, so the appointment with Mr. Dremel will be very soon.

I know you don't live in the US, but try to find something like used in this thread:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=10450

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:12 am

@m0002a, thanx I will also give that a try, as you can see if you look closely on the first picture I already tried to suspend it with white elastic, this was the best way that I tried, the Maxtor isn't a quiet drive to begin with, but I will first spend some money on the Nexus fans wich are quite cheap here ( 12 Euro = 14 Usd for the 120 mm an the 80 mm is 7 Euro = 8.98 Usd).
Thanx for your input !.

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:18 am

majinbuu wrote: Nice but doesn't do the job very well, the seek and write noises are way too loud, I'm beginning to dislike the drive cage more and more, so the appointment with Mr. Dremel will be very soon.

Yeah, this setup won't make much of a difference for HD seek noise.

First of all, the mouse pad is not thick enough and is probably too stiff as well. Secondly, if you are still screwing the drive in, the screws will transmit the vibration to the rack because you haven't put any pad material where the screws contact the rack (correct me if I'm wrong here). Check out the sticky at the top of the forum for decoupling methods or use m0002a's method.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed May 11, 2005 5:37 am

majinbuu wrote:Started some work on the hd,

Nice but doesn't do the job very well, the seek and write noises are way too loud, I'm beginning to dislike the drive cage more and more, so the appointment with Mr. Dremel will be very soon.

What happened to your original plan of:

majinbuu wrote:The HD will be suspended with elastic in a 5.25" bay

That will be a much more effective solution than mounting it on the thin foam in the 3.5" drive cage.

Interitus · Post by **Interitus** » Wed May 11, 2005 6:34 am

majinbuu wrote: Nice but doesn't do the job very well, the seek and write noises are way too loud, I'm beginning to dislike the drive cage more and more, so the appointment with Mr. Dremel will be very soon.

The biggest problem I ran into with the drive sleds is the grommets. Even if you pad the drive, the screw resting against the grommet will continue to cause vibration on seek. I have been working on this in my spare time, but the easiest solution for me so far has been to take a Dremel and expand the holes where the grommets are, then pack them with some of the wall outlet insulation as tightly as possible before screwing the drive down to the sled. It's a hard task to do correctly since the insulation won't want to stay in the holes, but if you use a little tape to keep some of it in place it doesn't work too bad. It's still not as good as suspension, but I like the peace of mind that my drive won't shift during seeks.

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Wed May 11, 2005 7:38 am

The HD is now suspended with some ugly white elastic I got out of some old sweat pants, will be getting some nice round black elastic for the looks, this really reduces the seek and write noises the best
Looking forward to placing some pics of the new setup with the Nexus fans, Greetz.

BTW, the Antec outtake fan is making a very irritating "clicking" noise even @12 volts, did not do this before

.

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Thu May 12, 2005 5:30 am

My HD now suspended in a 5.25" bay, wow ! what a difference in noise !, the seek and write noises are almost impossible to hear now,:

It is now as quiet as it will ever be, the hd that is, but I think my Antec 120 mm fan is dying because since I have it @ 12 volts again it's making a awfull clicking and whoosing noise, even @7 volts.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri May 13, 2005 4:54 am

majinbuu wrote:My HD now suspended in a 5.25" bay, wow ! what a difference in noise !

Those look like ordinary rubber bands that you're using to suspend the drive. If they are, I'd suggest looking for an alternate, more durable method of suspension. Those rubber bands will dry out and crack apart fairly quickly inside your case.

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Fri May 13, 2005 7:59 am

Yes they are, it was just for testing purposes, but I will keep it like this but with some round elastic like the bungee cord that I've read on the forum.

majinbuu · Post by **majinbuu** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:21 pm

Well it has been a while, wanted to show you my finished system.

Exchanged the Nexus nx-3000 for a Antec Smartpower 2.0/400 watt.
80 mm Nexus on the cpu @ 7 volt, 120 mm Coolermaster UV blue as outtake @ 7 volt, my 120 mm Nexus died on me, the store is replacing that one, but the Coolermaster is very quiet @ 7 volt it is a sleeve bearing.

And the Hdd in black elastic,

The system is very quiet now, cables on the Smartpower are very short but the psu overall is much more quiet than the Nexus was, largely due to the fact that the fan is inside the case