I've had this system, or at least this case for about a year and a half, and I've constantly been swapping fans and other parts for "silent" variants. I've been using spcr as a knowledge base for the last 2 years, and I think I'm at a point where I'm finally comfortable with my system.
Alright, first, the components,
Case Lian Li V1000
CPU AMD Opteron 170
Motherboard Abit AT8 32x
RAM 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR500
Video Card Sapphire X1950 Pro
Hard Drives Western Digital Raptor 150gb/SE16 320gb
PSU Enermax NoiseTaker EG495AX-VE 485W
addon cards D-Link 180G wireless card/ PowerColor Theatre 550
and there's an NEC dvd-rw drive, and a generic dvd-rom that's about to die.
I wanted a system I could overclock but not double as a space heater. The 170 has a TDP of 85W read by Tcasemax. Currently I run an overclock of 2.8ghz @1.4v(although cpu-z/crystal cpuid/core temp all say it's 1.35v) for encoding and games. I underclock the cpu to 1.25ghz @1.025v when I'm just browsing or doing menial tasks. Load and idle temperatures are 50 and 33C, respectively at 2.8ghz. At 1.25ghz load and idle temps are 34 and 26C, respectively. Cooling the cpu is a zalman 9500 modded with a NMB-MAT fan, the model is one that Scythe has recently started to carry. At 8v it spins at 950rpm.
As far as system fans and cooling solutions, there are a total of 6 fans, including the two in the psu. Both PSU fans are the same NMB-MAT line from Scythe. The exhaust fan is an big bad 120mm Panaflo. The Panaflo is slowed by the resistor that comes with Acoustifans. The bios lets me control the DC voltage given to each of the 6 fan headers on the motherboard, but only goes as low as 8v. The Panaflo spins 650-700rpm at 8v, and ramps up to 1000rpm with CPU temp.
The intake fan, an Acoustifan, gives a little fresh air to the Scythe Quiet Drive enclosed hard drives. I put a resistor of the same value as the original it came with in series with the fan, and it's kept at a constant 650rpm.
Ok, now, on to the pictures! all shots taken with the pc runnin'
(I resized them down to 1024x768)
The Case. I unplugged the super bright power indicator LED..could have used a resistor, but no time! mario trash bin.
![Image](http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/1461/res01005ot6.th.jpg)
Majority of the motherboard
![Image](http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8250/res01008cc1.th.jpg)
Another board angle...ignore the ide cable, I'm sharing someone's old hard drive on our network at the moment.
![Image](http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/2318/res01009ou2.th.jpg)
Shot of the Video card. The x1950 pro is a pretty good folder, and runs cool. I've got the Vf900 plugged into two fanmates. When both set to low it spins at 1000rpm, when i set one to high it ramps to 1380rpm. At the lowest setting it reaches load temps of 50C in a 25C room. Also notice the south bridge cooler on the TV tuner.
![Image](http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/3654/res01011ba6.th.jpg)
The fanmates. Once upon a time I had to use all three. With the resistors and the NMB-MAT, and my AT8 of course, I only need to use them for the video card. Only one of them is plugged in, and the second fanmate to the video card is wired outside of the case. Soon I wont need any at all once I complete a fan swap on the vf900.
![Image](http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4519/res01014ga6.th.jpg)
Sort of a Northbridge shot. The AT8 apparently ships with a non-wicked heat pipe, meaning it's orientation dependent. Well, the inverted Lian Li caused my NB temps to idle around 45 and get close to 60C under Prime testing. I ripped out the heat pipe from the PWM heat sink so I would still have something to help them stay cool.
![Image](http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/4156/res01016ro7.th.jpg)
backside view of some sloppy cable management.
![Image](http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/593/res01017au6.th.jpg)
Another view from the backside, this one of the Quiet drives. I've got them sitting on two layers of small foam pieces, stuck to the lower drive with double sided take. Since the pata drive is in my system right now, the shot looks too ugly from the front. I haven't monitored their temps as much as I should, mostly because speedfan hates this motherboard, but when I did, they idled(150 on top, 320 below) around 33-35C, and the raptor would get around 40-41C while encoding, which are the exact same temps I saw before I used the enclosure.
![Image](http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6238/res01019tk7.th.jpg)
Manditory to post a shot of the psu?
![Image](http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9423/res01020vf6.th.jpg)
Picture of the upper rear, notice the fan mate creeping out from the pci bays.
![Image](http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1050/res01027tk1.th.jpg)
Shot of the NMB-MAT psu fan, 80mm version of the one on the 9500.
![Image](http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1618/res01033ch9.th.jpg)
Beauty shot of the Panaflo
![Image](http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9007/rot01031sk0.th.jpg)
And my messy messy desk. Using my IBM speakers now, because I'm too cheap to send the Onkyo HT to get it repaired. Sure, the labor is free under waranty, but they still expect me to pay shipping!
as far as components you see,
desk lamp, dinovo (non-bluetooth) keyboard/mouse, Logitech G7, Razer Exact Mat pad, Acer 2032WA 20'', and my Heat transfer book. Oh, and my old HP PSC to the right.
![Image](http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6674/res01037oh1.th.jpg)
I'm happy with the system. Now that I've disabled the power on light I can't tell if it's actually on or not when I get home unless I lean close to it and hear the quiet woosh of the optical drives and fans. So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading and looking, I don't have any pets to spice the pics up like other users, but I do have a new digital camera, and I had an excuse to use it.
edit: i apologize for the dust, i haven't gotten around to cleaning it since this past June.[/b]