Critique my planned setup

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Glacia
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 10:56 pm
Location: Colorado

Critique my planned setup

Post by Glacia » Mon Sep 27, 2004 11:46 pm

Hi Everyone!

First of all, I'd like to thank the makers of this website for all the wonderful information. I found the recommendation articles extremely helpful.

Anyway, I'm planning to buy the following parts to quiet down my system. Does this sound like a good setup? Is there anything else I should do to get it even quieter (mods, etc.) or anything I should know?

Antec SLK3700-BQE case /w the stock 120mm fan and a Nexus 120mm fan in the front. Will I need anything to mount that second fan or does the case come with everything needed? Would it be worth it to go with 2 Nexus fans?

Antec True550 PS (already own it and it seems awfully quiet to me).

Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu heatsink /w Nexus 92mm fan attached with double-sided tape (cooling a P4 3.0C). I'll probably just run that fan at 12V. Does anyone know whether the Zalman 7000 works in the BQE case using a recent P4 motherboard (Asus P4P400-E)? I'm not certain whether there will be enough clearance at the top of the motherboard and from the rear fan.

3x Samsung Spinpoint SP1614C hard drives.

Thanks for the help =).

Spod
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 475
Joined: Mon May 03, 2004 12:14 am
Location: Leeds, UK

Post by Spod » Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:07 am

Well, I can;'t speak from first hand experience (yet), but I've been researching my quiet computer for ages, and settled on the BQE with 2 Nexus 120mm fans and AcoustiPack, an XP-90 (XP120 won't fit on the MSI K8N Neo2 motherboard) and 92mm Nexus fan. Your proposed parts look fine to me, though you won't need to run the Zalman cooler at 12V - use the included fanmate to drop the fan speed unless you're planning to overclock. I also picked up an antec PSU grommet, some fanmates, a Zalman NB-47J and an EAR Fan/HDD grommet free sample kit.
If you're happy with that PSU, I see no need to suggest alternatives. You may find that once the rest of your system's quiet, you'll notice it more, but you can decide later.

sthayashi
*Lifetime Patron*
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Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:06 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Post by sthayashi » Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:51 am

The three drives may buzz your case if you don't make plans to suspend them in some fashion. Even one 40GB Samsung can do that if you're not careful.

As for the heatsink, I think your efforts to cool your CPU are excessive. I would try the stock Zalman-7000 first (you don't need an A or B for a P4 processor). I can almost promise you that the stock Zalman will be quieter when undervolted than the Antec PSU.

alleycat
Posts: 740
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2002 10:32 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by alleycat » Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:27 pm

In addition to the advice above, you can save some money by getting the 7000-AlCu which has almost the same performance, while being much lighter than the Cu version. The Cu version (like many large heatsinks) exceeds weight recommendations, and requires removal if the machine is to be transported anywhere. The stock Zalman fan is fairly good.

cyates
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:36 am

2 case fans

Post by cyates » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:09 am

In my experience, an intake and exhaust fan offers little or no performance over a single exhaust fan. I use an antec sonata case and have tried it with just 1 nexus 120mm fan as exhaust and also with one in front and back. I noticed no reduction in the case temp and the single exhaust fan spinning at around 1000 rpm is adequate and very quiet. So I would say try the single nexus as your exhaust and put the other one aside unless you need it. if you do need 2 then you might want to spring for another nexus. should be quieter than that stock antec one.

Anyone else experimented with 2 fans vs 1 in this configuration?

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