New Parts Arriving

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

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Tech
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Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:22 am

New Parts Arriving

Post by Tech » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:30 am

Just got a 3700AMB yesterday to start my journey toward a quiet computer. I was going to get a 3000b but I thought the vents on the side panel look ugly. Here's something I thought was cool, I ordered the 3700 from Amazon on the 14th for $60 because it had free shipping which made it $17 less expensive than Newegg. They said it would be delivered on the 24th if I used free shipping. Turns out they shipped it same day and since the warehouse is close to where I live I got it next day. :)

I also ordered 3 melamine tiles, fan isolators, and some U channel molding from McMaster which should be here today or tomorrow.

System specs are:
A64 3000+ Winchester
MSI K8N Neo2
1GB OCZ TCCD
BFG 6800OC with NV5 Silencer

Right now I'm using a Swiftech MCX-64V with the included fan but I also have a XP-120 which doesn't fit on my motherboard. I'm most likely going to be ugprading to a PCI-E Abit AN8 and 6600GT because the chipset placement will allow a passive Zalman and the XP-120 is compatible.

I have a TTGI 450w 4-fan which is way too loud, a Fortron 300w Aurora, and the SL350 that came with the case. I'm actually surprised at how quiet the SL350 is. Does it ramp with load? I've only been testing fans with it so far. The 92mm fan ticks though. Not sure which one I'm going to use yet.

For fans I have 2 unused 80mm L1A's, 2 unused 120mm M1A's, and a Sunbeam Rheobus. The problem is the Panaflos sound worse than the Antec fan that came with the case. Both the 120mm and 80mm tick and whir which makes them sound much less smooth then the Antec at all speeds. Do they get better after use? Should I ditch them and get some Yate Loons?

Tomorrow I'm going to get some Stretch Magic for suspending my hard drive(s). Both hard drives that I have right now are WD and will be replaced by a Samsung after the noise drives me to buy one.

This weekend I'll cut the grills out of the case. New holes need to be drilled for replacing the 120mm fan, correct? Does anyone know what size bit I should use for these fan isolators?



Thanks to everyone who runs this site. I've gained a lot of knowledge since I began reading. I don't think I'll ever look at 600w+ power supplies the same way again. You guys offer a point of view that is often overlooked in other reviews that rate products according to performance only. Keep up the good work!

Tech
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:22 am

Post by Tech » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:30 pm

Got my stuff from McMaster today and cut most of the melamine. I decided that I'm going to use hot glue instead of a spray adhesive because hot glue is non-permanent. I need to cut the grills out and drill some mounting holes before I glue the foam in though. That will probably happen this weekend.

And yes, I do have a digital camera. I'll update with pics when I'm finished or close to finished. :)

One thing that I don't like about the melamine is the fiberglass. It's a terrible substance for handling with bare hands. I peeled both sides off because I don't want fiberglass in my case. The foam was still rigid enough to fit in places and was compressable unlike when it had a fiberglass layer. A bit of advice to those wondering how many sheets they need, I used 2 tiles for the bottom, the top, both sides and still have a 6" wide, 15" long piece left over. I bought 3 tiles be on the safe side though.

Tech
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:22 am

Post by Tech » Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:12 pm

What do you guys think of this suspension? I know it's not perfectly level but it's really hard to get the knots in the same place every time. I might end up trying to make it more level later on. I'm using 1.5mm Stretch Magic. Hobby Lobby only had up to 1.5mm or I would have gotten 1.8.

I can already tell that the whine from the WD is going to drive me nuts...

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Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:14 pm

Tech wrote:What do you guys think of this suspension?
I'd definitely work on getting it level. Use one piece of cord for the entire project, that way you can move it around until it's level.

Tech
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Post by Tech » Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:21 pm

Okay, I'll try that. Thanks.

Tech
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Post by Tech » Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:50 pm

All right, I re-did it using your suggestion. It was much easier to get level but it's also much easier to make it unlevel. I'm not sure if it's too low either. I'm running out of Stretch Magic though so this will have to do for now.

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Straker
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Post by Straker » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:40 pm

yeah, leveling them is a major pita, i usually use 2 pieces of whatever. if you use something like bungee cord you can just put a really big alligator clip on it, or move the knot around a bit... wouldn't want to do that with stretch magic tho.
anchoring it to the bottom of the case is a good idea to stop it from swinging around at all, i've always been too lazy to do that though heh.
and it's not too low unless it's louder because it's right in front of the vent holes, or hitting the bottom of the case :P more length should mean better isolation, not sure if it makes any diff in practice though

Tech
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Post by Tech » Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:50 am

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to cut out the grills today. Hopefully I don't cut any fingers off!

jerryk
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Post by jerryk » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:42 pm

I would tie the rear to the bottom of the case. That would make it more secure when you move the system and pull the front of the drive back from touching the case.

jerry

Tibors
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Post by Tibors » Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:29 pm

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In your current setup the stretch magic makes a 0.25 turn at each mounting screw. If you twist the wire once before you put it arround the screw it makes a 0.75 turn. This gives about three times the friction, so the HD will shift less easilly and hang unlevel. You can wind the wire more times arround the screw for even more friction. (If this text makes no sense, then just click on the picture and try to understand it ;) )

You don't have to cut new stretch magic for this.

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Shining Arcanine
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Post by Shining Arcanine » Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:51 pm

You might want to reconsider getting a Samsung hard drive. The new Caviar hard drives Western Digital is making are extremely quiet and I've read people say that they're quieter than Samsung hard drives. I brought a WD3200JB to replace my WD2000JB and WD360GD hard drives and it is extremely quiet. With AAM on I can barely hear drive seeks and there is no whine that I can distinguish.

Tech
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Post by Tech » Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:31 pm

jerryk wrote:I would tie the rear to the bottom of the case. That would make it more secure when you move the system and pull the front of the drive back from touching the case.

jerry
Thanks for the comment, I thought about doing that and I still might. It's just that the holes in front were easy to use. I'll figure out a way.

Tibors, thanks for the tip. I'll try that out. Nice pic too.


I finished cutting both grills and mounting the intake fan with the EAR isolators. They were really hard to get in and I broke a few trying. Once they were all in it was nice and secure though. Finished foaming everything too. I used hot glue for an adhesive only on the foam that needed it and it's holding nicely. The great thing about hot glue is that it's not permanent so I can remove it later on. I'll have to see how it holds up to the case temperature though.

Yes I know the exhaust fan is missing. I am going to get some Yate Loon's and didn't want to waste the isolators for a temporary fan. The stock PSU is not annoying me yet but if I decide that it's too noisy I'll swap it for a FSP300 I have. I still have a ways to go before I say I'm finished and satisfied but I'm glad I got the harder parts out of the way.


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Tech
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Post by Tech » Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:08 am

After reading a couple threads where people say the isolators are reusable I must have done something wrong. I ordered the K8 instead of the K6 because someone said the K8 work with 120mm fans. I used the stock Antec fan and they were a pain to install. I broke 2 or 3 just trying to get them through the fan holes. Did I buy the wrong size or do I just need to heat them up?

Tech
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Post by Tech » Wed Mar 23, 2005 7:11 am

Could I get an answer please?

NeilBlanchard
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Post by NeilBlanchard » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:33 am

Hello:

You could try putting a little liquid soap on the barbs -- a little lubrication goes a long way?

Tech
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Post by Tech » Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:53 am

I'll try that when I mount an exhaust fan and report how it works. Thanks.

Straker
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Post by Straker » Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:43 pm

drill the holes a bit bigger, normal fan holes for either size = pushing your luck :P water + heat can help too
i've only broken one, and that was on a hole that was too small that also had sharp edges. good luck reusing them under any circumstances though, heh

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