SPCR

This rig is built 2.5 years before and acts as my main PC to browse Internet, watch HD videos, and play some old games (such like Age of Empires III). It was very noisy initially, and this gave me the chance to know SPCR and learn a lot of things here on silence. After recent upgrades, I'm pretty satisfied with its performance (based on my needs) and cooling result, but very disappointed on its noise level (as discussed in item 4). However, I can't wait to share this build with you, get some advices and continuously improve it later.

1 CONFIG
Antec Solo, Noctua S12@800rpm as case fan
Seasonic X-400 fanless
Intel Q9450 2.66GHz (TDP 95W), HR01 PLUS with SFLEX-E@600rpm
Apacer DDRII800 2GB x 2
Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3
Sapphire HD3650, AC S1 fanless
WD GreenPower 1.5TB EARS
Creative X-Fi Music

2 TEST
2.1 Result
During the test (2010/10/03, 3:00pm@Beijing), the ambient temperature is 23C.

!!! Idle (after system up for 10 minutes):
AC Power: 66W
MB: 37C
CPU: 23C
GPU: 44C
Disk: 31C

!!! Load (CPU Burn + GPU Burn for 20 minutes)
AC Power: 154W
MB: 42C
CPU: 48C
GPU: 61C
Disk: 36C

2.2 Tools
CPU Burn: Prime95 (Torture Test --> Blend)
GPU Burn: Furmark (Stability Test +Xtreme Burning mode)
PowerBay AC Power monitor (just like PowerAngel)
Everest Ultimate: Read temperatures

2.3 Note
1 For CPU temperature, only Tcase is measured.
2 The actual fan speed (reported by Everest) is: Noctua S12 (~890rpm), Scythe SFLEX-E (~620rpm). Noctua S12 is a weird fan, if I open the side panel, its speed falls down to ~840rpm. If I reduce CPU fan's speed, it further increases. I don't know why
3 Gigabyte's DES (Dynamic Energy Saving) is disabled, and BIOS configuration is almost the same as default, i.e. Intel EIST (SpeedStep) is enabled.

3 SHOW


3.1 Comments
- Disk is suspended.
- Case fan is mounted with rubber compensator.
- PSU Cooling is very good, just a bit warm during system burn.
viewtopic.php?t=60172
- Personally I prefer simplicity and very dislike mod (due to poor skills). The only modding in this rig is AC S1 on VGA card.
- Originally I was going to replace HR01 PLUS with HR02, in order to build a single-fan meanwhile powerful system. Unfortunately this idea was dropped due to a compatibility issue between HR02 and Solo:
viewtopic.php?t=60170
AmonRaa built a similar single-fan system (he cuts off Solo) but suffers cooling problem now
viewtopic.php?t=60060

4 TODO
This build is quiet but not silent at all, for a couple of reasons:
- Resonance noise, lack of sound damping material. However, on local market it's almost impossible to buy any qualified material. I don't dare to try those cheap but not reviewed product (such like Lianli's PT-SI04), since once it's pasted to the case, it's almost impossible to remove. This is a pending issue.
viewtopic.php?t=60171

- X-400 buzz noise: Fanless means zero dB? Of course not. In almost half times, this PSU is very quiet and generate very faint buzz noise (can only be perceivable within 10-cm). However, its state is very unstable. I have experience many times that its buzz noise bump up, which can be heard clearly within 50-cm, it's even louder than the 800rpm fan. I will open an independent thread to discuss this problem with other owners. I wish it's my sample's problem and can be replaced by a better one.

- Fan upgrade: After two years use, my SFLEX-E already becomes very loud, and Noctua S12 is regarded as an odd fan having poor cooling performance (in Xbitlabs' review). Will replace them soon.
viewtopic.php?t=60226
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... up_11.html

- Get a SSD. I'm waiting for Intel's next generation though it's delayed to next year. And I can't decide whether I should get a larger one (e.g. 160GB) and move existing disk outside, or buy a small one for system (major for budget concern) used together with existing disk

netmask254 wrote:The actual fan speed (reported by Everest) is: Noctua S12 (~890rpm), Scythe SFLEX-E (~620rpm). Noctua S12 is a weird fan, if I open the side panel, its speed falls down to ~840rpm. If I reduce CPU fan's speed, it further increases. I don't know why

Its an air restriction. See this thread.

For dampening material, I've used heavy peel and stick tiles on the side panels to add weight. I don't think this should be an issue with the Solo however.

Nice build though, are you running any intake fans to help your video card?

speedkar9 wrote:

netmask254 wrote:The actual fan speed (reported by Everest) is: Noctua S12 (~890rpm), Scythe SFLEX-E (~620rpm). Noctua S12 is a weird fan, if I open the side panel, its speed falls down to ~840rpm. If I reduce CPU fan's speed, it further increases. I don't know why

Its an air restriction. See this thread.

For dampening material, I've used heavy peel and stick tiles on the side panels to add weight. I don't think this should be an issue with the Solo however.

Nice build though, are you running any intake fans to help your video card?

No, I don't have any intake fan, since now I'm trying to reduce fans

Perhaps add one later to cool the VGA and disk.

I have a similar setup with same case. I put the HD outside for backup and SSD inside 120GB. So silent I truly feel like th4re is no need whatsoever for further energy spent on silencing. I have found the holy grail.

One Noctua CPU fan and one Noctua case fan and the P{SU fan hardly ever comes on.

Mission accomplished. Computer silence. At least quite silent enough for me. With open window on a quiet night (I live in the woods) nature far overcomes the sound of the computer.

And now, on a quiet night with windows closed, I have to stick my head in the darn thing to see if it is on.

http://picasaweb.google.com/capedave.bell/NewHeatSink#

SWEET