I need some help getting my first HTPC build as cool and quiet as possible:

MSI K8NGM2-FID
AMD 64 3500 Venice w/ Zalman 7700 AlCu
Samsung SpinPoint 250GB
Corsair 1GB DDR400
NEC ND-3550A DVD Burner
Dvico Fusion 5 Gold
Antec NSK2400
(with Sony 42A10 HDTV)

I removed both the Tri Cools, used the 120mm fan cover on the second opening and placed a Yate Loon in the back right 120mm fan slot.

I also have the 7700 AlCu cooling my 64 3500. I have set the Fan Mate 2 to its lowest setting.

Other than that I have not undervolted any of the fans or used SpeedFan or any software to slow the fans down. Both fans are connected to the mobo.

The Yate is near silent; a fair amount of noise is coming from the 7700.

Ambient temp is 32c. I haven't made any radical BIOS changes. I have downloaded the latest Cool n' Quiet driver from AMD (and enabled CnQ in the BIOS).

The system will not record standard or HDTV and won't be used for gaming. It will only be used for playing back TV and DVDs from a media server.

Temps are:

CPU: 38c
Case: 37c







What can I do to get this HTPC as cool and quiet as possible?

For Cool'n'Quiet to work, remember you have also to put power scheme in "Minimal power management".
You can check if CnQ is working with AMD Power Monitor.

Shouldnt you put the nexus on the other exhaust hole to create a better airflow path over the cpu?

38C seems cool enough to me. Why change it now?

It sounds like the Zalman fan is the loudest thing in your case. You can do a fan swap on it. There are many forum posts on doing this to the 7000 and the 7700. Also see this article:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article284-page1.html

You might be able to run the Zalman Passively.

Pull the plug, fire up speedfan, go to the chart section and select your various components, watch a couple of films, then check the chart afterwards, chances are that it will play your films running at 1GHz anyway.


Andy