Summer Mod Plans, opinions please.

thatguyX · Post by **thatguyX** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 10:48 pm

Well, recently I posted that my case temps have been heading towards the 40C's, and well of course today being 82F (28C) has caused my Sonata's case temps to idle around 44C during load, CPU temps underload reach 61C (max). I'm using corecenter to monitor evertyhing. I'm not too happy about this. I understand that my components, 2WD Raptors and a 9800XT Radeon w/ Zalman ZM80C on it aren't the ideal for cooler case temps, but what can I say I wanted the power.

Now for the plans.
1. Replace the Zalman ZM80C (I JUST spent a good 40 minutes putting it on), with an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer. Now I've heard conflicting stories if the AC VGA Silencer was compatible with the 9800XT. Can anyone clear this up? Also how loud is the fan? I've read in reviews that the exhaust fan on low/silent doesn't help too much, and that it is recommended to keep the Cooler's fan on High, something I don't want to do.
2. Possibly Cutting the case, adding a 92mm side intake, AND a 92mm Top Blowhole. Now I know that putting holes in a case will allow more noise to come out, but is there a way to "quiet" or muffle these holes while still keeping them effective? I was thinking of cutting a side intake right around the Zalman's Optional Fan position to keep my Radeon cool. And adding the 92mm exhaust on top to keep the over all case cool. Do you think the outlet for noise is worth the cooling? I was thinking of using black mesh to cover the holes to not take away too much from the case and to prevent dust from entering the case.
3. I may try to make a card board duct and relocate the Zalman optional so that the Zalman optional pushes air out of the case through the slots above and below the AGP slot.
4. Possible cutting of the case frame infront of the harddrive rack and behind the bezel to put the 120mm fan there so it can act as a real intake fan.
4b. Cut Bezel and duct a 120mm to blow over the harddrives.

On a side note:
I have done the following mods:
- Tom's Bezel mod (the bottom of the bezel as well as the inner bezel)
- Cut the rear grill off to reduce any kind of turbulence
- Replaced the Antec case fan with a Papst 120mm case fan
- Placed a SilenX 120mm behind the hard drive rack, hooked up to a Zalman fanmate at the most tolerable level of noise
- Added an Pre-cut Accoustipack
- Tucked wires as much as possible for better airflow
- I removed one side of the Pre-cut kit to allow more air into the PSU
- Modded the PSU with a Panaflo M1A

Any suggestions or ideas that I'm missing? I don't want to go water cooling because I just spent all my money on these parts (CNPS7000A, Zalman ZM80C, Multiple fans, etc.) And I dont want to give up my 9800XT or Raptors. I know this is gonna be tough because of the components but I figured if anyone can figure it out or help me it's everyone here at SPCR.

MonsterMac · Post by **MonsterMac** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 8:40 pm

I've heard that the VGA silencer works better than the Zalman in the aspect that it acts as less of a radiator than it's predecessor by exhausting the heat from the card directly out the case. The VGA silencer on full speed cools ALOT better than the stock fan on any video card ( i got all that info form reading like 6 reviews on it) and at half speed it is near silent in most silent PC's and in most cases still cools better than the stock cooler. I don't think you shoudl bother adding a top or side intake; it will mess up the airflow in your case and will add undeeded noise as well as make a place for noise to escape. Your temps for your CPU seemed fine. I'm in the same situation as you in reguards to the temperature; It was 82F in my room yetserday and my CPU reached 60C under full load. All i did was take out my filter so more cool air could get into my case and my temps dropped 4C all around. Just my 2 cents.

ashtray_head · Post by **ashtray_head** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:45 pm

The arctic cooler rev 3 fits on a XT I believe.
I have the rev 1 on my pro and the cooler is noisy and vibrates on high but is silent on low. You just need to remember to turn it up when you game

thatguyX · Post by **thatguyX** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 1:23 pm

update:

well I recently ordered a Arctic-Cooling Rev3. for 17 shipped very happy about that and I will try that with my ramsinks.

Based on Kurtis' Sonata, from www.thetechlounge.com , I'm thinking about cutting and ducting a fan through the lower front bezel. I won't be cutting out the whole harddrive rack like he did, but my plan is to remove the filter (maybe add a much thinner one), connect the holes on the harddrive rack, and slap either a 120mm, 92mm, or 80mm in there with a duct. Based on his pictures the duct wont take away too much from the rest of the case. Although this will let hard drive noise leak out I'm considering purchasing another Sonata front just incase I don't like how this idea comes out.

What size fan should I go? And any other tips? (and yes I've done the front bezel mods for increasing airflow, and to me, it's not enough)

btw idle temps at the moment are 42c CPU , GPU 71C and 43C case. Ambient is about 29C.

Putz · Post by **Putz** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 2:35 pm

While your GPU temps are a little high, I wouldn't worry too much about the CPU or case temps. My Palomino Athlon has been scorching the stock heatsink (with a quiet 80mm on a funnel) at 85 degrees Celsius (under load, which the system usually is) fairly steadily for the past two years, with no stability problems. 60 at load is well within spec.

The Sonata can definitely stand some improvements to airflow, although I disagree that it's necessary to cut out the entire drive sled assembly. I also don't think the front duct does anything worthwhile, other than make a big huge hole in the front of your case look like less of a hack job. I'm not sure I'd want to cut up the front of your case much, though -- you do have three Western Digital screechers sitting behind that wall of steel and plastic.

I would also advise against cutting a side intake or top "blowhole".

Sorry if I'm stomping all over your big modding plans/dreams...

rseiler · Post by **rseiler** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 7:03 pm

If you're willing to do that much major surgery for unsure results, why not just get a different case?

I might have to, since the placement of the front fan in this case is a giant flaw, even with the bezel and slat mods. It does next to nothing to cool the HD's for me, so I need to find a case like the Sonata but which can keep both my drives cool. This case also collects a lot of dust, and the filter is annoying.

Or, since only one of my drives runs hot, the easier way out might be to replace the hot drive with one that I surmise is going to run cool. Oddly enough, one's a DiamondMax 9+ 160 (the cool one), while the other is a DM 9+ 200 (the hot one). They run about 15 degrees apart, no matter where they're mounted.