What do you think the best approach is to keep total system noise down?
So far, my system is (ordered parts but haven't received yet):
Silverstone LC03B htpc case
AthlonXP1800/512MB PC2100/Abit kr7a-raid
Thermalright SLK700 on the cpu(edit:actually I think it's the one with heatpipes, not the slk)
Samsung SP1614N (160gb) hd
M-audio revolution 7.1
Hauppage PVR-150MCE
Video card is still undecided, but whatever i get will be cooled passively and probably won't produce much heat in the first place
My storage needs will be handled by my main pc.
Anyway, getting back on topic. What's the best way to approach this from both a cost & acoustics standpoint? This thing is being paired with some very nice a/v gear and I'm a bit of an audiophile, so this thing needs to be dead silent if possible. Cost is less an issue than silence. I'll spend the money, but grudgingly ;p
As much as I'd like to get away with NO fans, I don't know if that would be possible with this case.
There's 2 configs I'm considering
config 1:
Antec Phantom 350 psu
2x60mm really quiet undervolted fans (any suggestions for really quiet 60mm fans btw)
Remove the fan from the thermalright unit (good/bad idea?) It's a massive heatsink. If not, I'm gonna have to find a wayto mod it and get a quieter fan on there.
Config 2:
The quietest fan-based psu i can find, maybe one with a 2x120mm fans
no 60mm exhaust fans, no cpu fan
Config 3: could i get away with no fans at all?
This pc won't be under high load very often. It's main use will be playing music/dvds. And remember, that antec unit is high efficiency.. It will do pvr, but usually the pvr will be done while nothing else is being done on the system, so I don't think it'll cause too much stress. I really want to eliminate noise as much as possible for when I'm listening to good old 2 channel music through spdif out into my audio system.
Thanks for any suggestions in advance.
converting athlon xp1800 to almost fanless HTPC, advice pls!
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
I'm going to make a prediction here that you aren't going to have an easy time silencing that hardware.
1) That Athlon 1800+ will generate somewhere between 51W & 66W of heat at full load. Depending on exactly which Thermalright you bought, the heatsink should have no trouble with this amount of heat. But the case fans may.
2) Most 60mm fans that are quiet move very little air. If you could manage to fit two 80mm fans on the back panel, you'd be much better off acoustically. Consider putting a quiet 80mm fan in the front-bottom intake as well.
Now to your configs:
1) The Antec Phantom is only recommended for systems with decent airflow, and I doubt two 60mm fans will cut it. Putting an extremely quiet fan on the heatsink will help noise, but it doesn't help evacuate heat from the case unless you somehow duct it (to the back panel?).
2) Something like this just might be doable, but I think you're going to need at least one case fan and possibly one on the CPU as well.
3) I strongly doubt you could get by with no fans. Your system would never pass a standard Prime95 or CPUburn test, and you would have to set it up with some kind of alarm so you could stop any processes and let it cool down if it reached dangerous temperatures.
Check out mnpctech's mods to an LC03 here - he squeezed in two 92mm intakes where the stock 80mm is.
Good luck!
1) That Athlon 1800+ will generate somewhere between 51W & 66W of heat at full load. Depending on exactly which Thermalright you bought, the heatsink should have no trouble with this amount of heat. But the case fans may.
2) Most 60mm fans that are quiet move very little air. If you could manage to fit two 80mm fans on the back panel, you'd be much better off acoustically. Consider putting a quiet 80mm fan in the front-bottom intake as well.
Now to your configs:
1) The Antec Phantom is only recommended for systems with decent airflow, and I doubt two 60mm fans will cut it. Putting an extremely quiet fan on the heatsink will help noise, but it doesn't help evacuate heat from the case unless you somehow duct it (to the back panel?).
2) Something like this just might be doable, but I think you're going to need at least one case fan and possibly one on the CPU as well.
3) I strongly doubt you could get by with no fans. Your system would never pass a standard Prime95 or CPUburn test, and you would have to set it up with some kind of alarm so you could stop any processes and let it cool down if it reached dangerous temperatures.
Check out mnpctech's mods to an LC03 here - he squeezed in two 92mm intakes where the stock 80mm is.
Good luck!