P183 Media/Gaming (Almost Silent)

Domain · Post by **Domain** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:14 pm

I have to first thank everyone here on SPCR for all the help and insight into what can help create a silent build. That said, I strayed somewhat from the "completely" silent build, as I still wanted a system that was in the mid->high end for graphics.

This system consists of the following parts:

Antec P183
Antec CP-850
Scythe SlipStream SY1225SL12M x3 (1200 RPM)
Scythe S-Flex SFF21E (1200 RPM)
Scythe Kaze-Q (3.5" Fan Controller)
Intel DX58SO (Revision 503)
Intel Core i7 920 (D0 Stepping)
Scythe Mugen 2
Scythe Thermal Elixer
Mushkin 998659 (3x2GB DDR3 1600)
Asus ENGTX275
ESI Juli@
Optiarc 7240S
Plextor PX755SA
Western Digital WD6401AALS (640GB Black)

Here is everything together (well mostly). There are a few parts not shown in these pictures as I in a hurry to get a usable system ASAP.

Here is the Mugen 2.... its HUGE

.

Here is proof that my wire-management skills have seriously declined with age:

At least it looks nice from this angle (assuming I knew how to use a camera):

Finally in case anyone is interested in what the Kaze-Q looks like (fits like a glove in the P183):

Unfortunately I haven't really put this system through its paces yet, but perhaps I will update with further details in the near future. I can say that outside of the GTX275 (when the fan gets to maximum, it is a nightmare), this thing is nearly silent to me, even with all the fans running at 12V. I was also somewhat concerned about the Caviar Black drives, but even during heavy usage I cannot hear them from where I sit. Compared to my current system (which I can hear through closed doors in other rooms), this thing is a godsend

Anyway, any comments/suggestions appreciated, and thank you again to everyone for helping me get this system together

Xobim · Post by **Xobim** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:04 am

Pricy build you've got there. I'm quite surprised you haven't bought a separate cooler for your GTX275.
And +1 for the Juli@. Hifi soundcards are awesome!

Domain · Post by **Domain** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:52 pm

Xobim wrote:Pricy build you've got there. I'm quite surprised you haven't bought a separate cooler for your GTX275.
And +1 for the Juli@. Hifi soundcards are awesome!

To be honest, I priced a P45 and the X58 side by side... and the price differential really wasn't that large (everything else the same)... I was looking somewhere in the neighborhood of +/- 160 dollars, it seemed silly not to pull the trigger on the X58

That said... in hindsight this system likely runs much hotter then a P45 would

As for the Juli@... it has been about the only component in my computers I refused to get rid of... excellent card with small footprint drivers, ASIO... etc. However, after having had the time to seriously sit down and evaluate everything, the on-board Realtek 889 may have made the Juli@ no longer required. Right now I am outputting audio from Realtek -> Asus GTX275 -> HDMI -> Denon 3808... which is an overriding advantage to having to run another optical cable. Add the fact that the Realtek can output DD Live!...

If anything... if I find I don't need the Juli@ anymore, it still has a lovely box that I can put it on display with

Thanks for the comments

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:12 pm

nice rig! you made the right decision going with the i7... since you used the mugen2, cpu heat will never be an issue.

i run a q9400 overclocked to a stable 3.42 ghz, and it's like the mugen2 hardly knows that it's there, even after hours of serious video rendering, and heavy-duty crysis.

your biggest heat generator by far is the video card... i have a 260 core 216 superclocked that is also overclocked, and it gets toasty... fan noise isn't near the problem that i thought it would be, tho.

my hardware is all in a p180b, and right now i'm experimenting with positive case pressure, in order to blow the video card heat out of open card slots in the case, instead of sucking it back up to the top of the case, over the north & south bridges, and the mugen2.

initial testing indicates that the bridges are a *lot* cooler with positive case pressure, fwiw.

BiochemGuy · Post by **BiochemGuy** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 5:42 pm

danimal wrote:my hardware is all in a p180b, and right now i'm experimenting with positive case pressure, in order to blow the video card heat out of open card slots in the case, instead of sucking it back up to the top of the case, over the north & south bridges, and the mugen2.

initial testing indicates that the bridges are a *lot* cooler with positive case pressure, fwiw.

Postive pressure is an interesting idea. Have you looked at the effect of postive pressure on the GPU temps? I have a GTX285 in a P180 that gets louder than I like during Crysis.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 9:33 pm

i put three noctua nf-p12's in the p180b, and they are all blowing inwards... the fourth fan was a cheap coolermaster, blowing into the case also, and i clipped the grates off of the upper fan cage, to get more air in there... i also plugged some holes with soft packing foam.

as near as i can tell, it was good for 1 to 2 degrees lower gpu temp, but i need to run some real tests, because i had the gpu fan control on automatic.

it seems difficult to achieve any significant positive pressure, with these 120x25 fans... i think that part of the problem is that the two upper back fans are blowing directly into the mugen 2 cooler, fighting not only the close proximity of the cooler, but potentially the flow of the cooler fan as well.

Domain · Post by **Domain** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:34 am

danimal wrote:nice rig! you made the right decision going with the i7... since you used the mugen2, cpu heat will never be an issue.

Having spent quite some time with tweaking this system, the Core i7 isn't running quite as cool as I would have hoped. It generally ranged in the 38-42C range at idle, 55-60C in heavy "real" usage, and can reach 78C in synthetic usage. Originally I was allowing the motherboard to adjust the fan speed, but at one point it allowed the processor to reach 85C, so I ended up just running it at full speed all the time. Fan speeds of around 700-800 rpm seem to be the golden number in terms of keeping this chip at reasonable temperatures with the Mugen 2.

danimal wrote:your biggest heat generator by far is the video card... i have a 260 core 216 superclocked that is also overclocked, and it gets toasty... fan noise isn't near the problem that i thought it would be, tho.

The video card is definitely a monster... it idles around 49-51C, and easily reached 80C under load. Thankfully it is nearly silent until it hits the 75C range, which causes the fan speed to kick up and become quite audible. I did some tweaking with the software fan controls, and have reached a happy medium that doesn't go over 78C or so, without having to ramp the fan too far into the audible range.

danimal wrote:my hardware is all in a p180b, and right now i'm experimenting with positive case pressure, in order to blow the video card heat out of open card slots in the case, instead of sucking it back up to the top of the case, over the north & south bridges, and the mugen2.

initial testing indicates that the bridges are a *lot* cooler with positive case pressure, fwiw.

This is an interesting ideal... though I tried a few variations of fans in/out of the system, and 2x in 2x out configuration seemed to give the best response temperature wise. I think my main concern here would be the CPU getting too hot... the Core i7 is a different beast then the Core 2 Quad processors, and most of the information i've found around doesn't really describe the heat this chip produces effectively. A great deal of users claimed that their chips were idling in the 29-31C range, but didn't detail the fact that they are running 3000 rpm CPU fans.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:02 pm

Domain wrote:Having spent quite some time with tweaking this system, the Core i7 isn't running quite as cool as I would have hoped. It generally ranged in the 38-42C range at idle, 55-60C in heavy "real" usage, and can reach 78C in synthetic usage. Originally I was allowing the motherboard to adjust the fan speed, but at one point it allowed the processor to reach 85C, so I ended up just running it at full speed all the time.

i'm seeing something similar with the fan speeds, but i think that 85C is way higher than it should be... if you look at the xbit labs i7 920 testing with the mugen 2, their max was 72C, @3.76Ghz:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0

caveats:
1) their core voltage was only 1.275, how does yours compare, i assume you are overclocking
2) "Cooler equipped with PWM-controlled fans were tested in Auto mode (â€œTurboâ€

Domain · Post by **Domain** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:18 pm

[quote="danimal"]
1) their core voltage was only 1.275, how does yours compare, i assume you are overclocking
2) "Cooler equipped with PWM-controlled fans were tested in Auto mode (â€œTurboâ€

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:57 pm

how about synthetic testing with the side panel off vs. on?

i'm having a hard time imagining that it's starved for cool air, tho