My first sonata mods!!

[nina]

First some pics (click on pics to have larger size)

I noticed that the order of the pics is upside down..so you'll have to start at the bottom.
So, I modded the front bezel (sides and bottom), cutted the fan grill, added two nexus fans, swapped the stock psu fan for a NMB-MAT R-3110KL-L,
and made a psu ductm and suspended the HDs.. next post will be the specs.
(my uncle helped me with the cutting..)

[nina]

My system specs are

Intel Pentium IV 3.0Ghz Prescott (with zalman 7000Cu)
Asus P4PE800SE motherboard
2 x 1GB Kingston DDR400 RAM CL3 dual channel
2 x 512MB Apacer DDR400 RAM CL2.5 dual channel
Aardvark LX6 Pro audio card
Matrox G550 video card
1 x Sony DRU500AX DVD writer
2 x 19" monitors (1x Viewpoint, 1x LG Studioworks 900B)
HDD1 : ATA IBM DTLA-307030 30GB (system, and data folder on it)
HDD2 : ATA IBM DTLA-307030 30GB (general programs on it)
HDD3 : S-ATA Samsung SP2004C 200GB (vsti plugins and samples of it)
HDD4 : S-ATA Seagate 160GB (vsti plugins and samples of it)

I am really amazed with the current silence (after the modding),
first when I connected it again, smoke came out, disconnected fastly,
and found out that I connected the floppy drive wrong, so the floppy drive
is toasted now.. gladly nothing else is burned.
But now there are some temps I don't like, specially the cpu..

Temps when starting PC.
Room temperature : 29°C (it's quiet hot inside my hobby room)
Mainboard : 36°C (this is higher than before the modding)
CPU : 46°C (this is higher than before the modding)
HDD 1 : 33°C
HDD 2 : 34°C
HDD 3 : 28°C
HDD 4 : 30°C
Both nexus fans run on highest speed, 1000 rpm, 12V, I don't hear them
from where I'm sitting so I will let it like this.

After 3 hours idle :
Mainboard : 39°C
CPU : 47°C
HDD 1 : 36°C
HDD 2 : 37°C
HDD 3 : 30°C
HDD 4 : 31°C

Heavily stressed for 30 minutes :
continuous 70% cpu load with 1.5GB samples loaded into vstis
and continous streaming from HDs.
Mainboard : 41°C
CPU : 59°C
HDD 1 : 37°C
HDD 2 : 38°C
HDD 3 : 30°C
HDD 4 : 31°C

So, the noise is great now, psu exhaust temp is fine (lower than before the modding), HDD temps are fine..
but, the CPU and mainboard temps are way higher than before the mod
Before the CPU temp stressed was mostly 47°C, and mainboard
stressed around 36°C, HDD temps are about 2°C lower after the modding.
The nexus exhaust fan now blows warm air outside the case,
with the antec stock fan (before the modding) it blowed out cold air.
I guess that this has something to do with the psu duct mod.
The psu (now, after mod) has okay temp, thanks to the duct.
It has intake cold air from the antec holes on the right side.
And via the front 5" drive bays (I let the top slot open, to take air)
The left antec holes are covered now (the case stands next to my bureau)

So how do I get the cpu/mainboard temp down, without raising
the cpu fan (now it's on 1400rpm) ?

Do I have to remove the psu duct? Does this something wrong with
the airflow?

Any advice is welcome and appriciated!

[Aleksi]

Hi Nina,

first off, it's nice to see a forum newcomer that takes the time to plan, ask advice and then mod. Your rig looks very nice!

About the temps... I think the PSU duct is doing it's job and should be kept in place. You might want to try opening the other side of the Antec holes also, just to see if it has any effect on the PSU fan speed.

The CPU temp is the only thing that looks a bit worrying. Under load it is high. Have you tried experimenting with different fan speeds (front / rear exhaust fans?) I understood you're running both fans at full? Just experiment with running them on different speeds, less exhaust than intake and vice versa. Also try to open up a few PCI slots just to see if it makes any difference. Have you tried undervolting the CPU?

I'm not familiar with the Prescotts and their temps with the Zalman, but you might want to make sure the heatsink is seated properly? At 1400RPM it should be cooler than 59C you mentioned.

Can you tell us you're opinion on the NMB 80mm fan you swapped in the PSU?

[vertigo]

In your situation I would say a Scythe Ninja would work well (if it fits). That exhaust fan will suck air nicely through it. Since you added the duct, the hot air from the Zalman which gets blown towards the front of the case can't escape. I think it used to exit via the power supply, whereas now it can't. Since you have such a hot CPU, you want the hot air from it to leave the case immediately, without heating anything else up.

I would try the Ninja.

[BenW]

Sorry but what is the duct on the PSU meant to do?

[Aleksi]

The PSU duct is meant to isolate the PSU air intake from the rest of the case (hot air). The target is to get the PSU to draw in fresh air from the Antec holes and from the drive bay area.

[nina]

Well, the psu duct in combination with the NMB mod is very good.
It runs very slow/silent, because it doesn't get anymore hot air from the
CPU. I can't hear the NMB at all.

I didn't know that the zalman 7000 blows the hot air to the front.
When I read this, I understanded it completely.
That was the reason why so many hot air was coming thru the psu,
and so less via the exhaust 120mm fan (in fact it was most of the time cold air), and also the reason why the psu fan was making such a noise, it had to run at full speed to get rid of the hot
air.
But now with the psu duct, it only gets cool air.
But this gives the problem that the hot air from the cpu can't leave
the case via the nexus (40CFM at 12V).
I was thinking of changing the zalman 7000Cu with a Thermalright
XP-120, but I guess that the problem will remain the same with this mod.
Anyway, my cpu/MB/HDD temps where fine before the modding.
So I guess that a Scythe Ninja SCNJ-1000 can be a solution.
But I read somewhere that the fan has to blow into the HS, instead of
sucking out? So the hot air will go the wrong way again?
Plus I don't like the weight of the Ninja..

Another solution is to remove the duct again, so that the hot air can leave
again via the psu. And see how the noise will be with the NMB compared to the stock
antec psu fan at full speed.

Or, I can add a 120mm fan on the side door next to the cpu to get rid
of the hot air.

I'm gonna try different combinations to see if I can achieve good temps
without buying an expensive ninja.

Undervolting the cpu isn't a solution that I'm thinking about.
I need the full cpu strength to be able to play/record my projects.

[vertigo]

But I read somewhere that the fan has to blow into the HS, instead of sucking out?

There are benefits and penalties to both blowing and sucking fans. You shuold use the one that suits your application. On the blowing side the air tends to go mostly in one direction, like a water exiting a hose pipe. On the sucking side air tends to come from all directions, like the water as it goes down the drain. Consequently, sucking fans tend to do better when they are directly coupled to the heatsink, whereas blowing fans work from some distance.

In your case, I think the air would tend to move more or less directly from the intake fan to the exhaust fan. That coincides with where the Ninja would be, so I think it would get sufficient airflow. Of course I couldn't say for sure it would work, but it's one option you have.

[Aleksi]

Undervolting the cpu isn't a solution that I'm thinking about.
I need the full cpu strength to be able to play/record my projects.

Nina, undervolting the CPU doesn't drop it's performance, underclocking does drop performance.

[nina]

I don't know if my Asus P4PE800SE in my DAW PC is undervoltable.
The DFI KT400A in my internet/main PC is, so for this one it's a good
solution. Going to try it out.

Well, I removed the psu duct, and did a new stress test.

room temp is now 25°C, so four degrees lower than the former stress test
MB : dropped from 41°C to 38°C
CPU : dropped from 59°C to 56°C
HDD1 : dropped from 37°C to 32°C
HDD2 : dropped from 38°C to 34°C
HDD3 : dropped from 30°C to 28°C
HDD4 : dropped from 31°C to 29°C
the psu fan runs a little big warmer and faster, but still not noticeable.
(checked with my hand, because the NMB doesn't have MB rpm control)

So now only the psu fan swap, exhaust case fan swap, intake
case fan added, and cutted grills and front bezel, stands.

I guess that the Nexus 120mm at 12V, and the NMB psu fan together
are not able to do the same as the stock antec fans.
Only the HD's really benefit from removing the psu duct.
The case sure still is a lot more quiet than before the modding.
I don't like the MB and CPU temps, but I guess that, or, I leave it like
this (silent but to hot) or I place the original fans back (back to the noisy
thing).

Sometimes I work several hours with cpu usage on 75%,
does it hurt the MB/CPU alot, if they stay at 38/56°C?

[nina]

I swapped the nexus exhaust fan back to the antec stock
case fan but with an fanmate instead of using the psu's fan connector.

Well my cpu temp (stressed) dropped to 47°C
and mb temp stays around 34°C (stressed).

It no longer very silent, but silent.

So I guess that the nexus at 12V didn't had enough CFM.

Next I'm gonna try a NMB 120mm L1A (as exhaust), I guess beter airflow
and also very quiet.

[Bobthebuilder]

Very little replies vor such a nice mod

I really like what you did..You inspire me to do great things with my sonata lifestyle

Love the hdd suspension

[alleycat]

Hi Nina, I don't think you need to be worried about those temps. You could go much hotter without problems. Did I read elsewhere that you've now installed a Ninja? I'd be interested to know what your temps are like with the fan removed from it. A good way to see if the CPU is getting too hot is to check for thermal throttling. There is a free utility to monitor throttling called Throttlewatch which you can get here: http://www.panopsys.com/Downloads.html

The P4 has a lot of thermal protection built into it so you would need to try pretty hard to damage it! FWIW, I've often had mine around 70degC for days at a time when stress testing. The northbridge (865PE chipset) never goes below 60degC, even when idle.

[nina]

Final mod for the moment.
Added a scythe ninja with a nexus 120mm.
The exhaust fan is a antec 1.2 (from a bqe3700), all fans are running
at 7 V.
Temps are great, idle cpu 41°C, mb 31°C, stressed cpu 47°C, mb 34°C,
(this fast a fast stressed test, only 30min)
hd temps are the same. I guess the intake fan takes care of this.
The only thing I hear now are the HDs @ 1m.
So it's nearly silent.
I didn't try the ninja fanless, because I wanted the airflow of the nexus
to the exhaust fan.

[vertigo]

Well you have 2 Nexus moving air to the back of the case and only 1 exhausting. It may create some extra fan noise but I don't think it matters because the 4 drives are surely the noise bottleneck.

Any computer with 4 drives will be difficult to get quiet, it's just unfortunate that drives are noisy.

Your setup looks really nice, by the way. If you upgrade, hopefully you could use the same setup.

[sun.moon]

Hi nina,

For some reason I've only come across your thread just now, even though I've recently spent a lot of time at this site - it's a nice place to hang out!

I must add, I am very impressed with your mod. I also like how you've suspended your HDDs. I was just wondering, in the event that you choose to leave the fan on the Ninja, wouldn't it make sense to put the PSU duct back into place? The heat from the CPU no longer needs to be expeled from the PSU with the CPU fan blowing the heat directly to the case exhaust.

-sun.moon

[nina]

Yes. I wanted to put the psu duct back in, but with the ninja+nexus
already in, I wanted to try it out like this, and see if the psu fan would stay low on rpm's.
And it does, the hsf nexus (at 7V) moves enough air. I don't hear the NMB fan inside the psu, so it doesn't ramp up. Even with high loads.
I left the top front drive bay open, and I feel that the psu gets cold air from it,
when I put my hand inside.
The only noise I have comes from the HD compartment. The seagate and samsung are quiet, but the two IBM's are the main noise source for the moment. So in time I will replace those. But that's not for the near future.

The only thing is that the front nexus makes sometimes a strange noise,
difficult to explain. The front nexus touches the elastic suspension and is not perfectly placed. I guess that's the reason. When I push the side of my case a little bit, the noise goes away.
So I'm gonna disconnect this front nexus fan and see how much the HD's temp will raise. If the temps stay fine, I will remove the front nexus fan.