Quiet DirectX10 OC'ed gaming beast -- mission accomplished!

[gourdo_1]

Thought I'd share with you folks my latest build in case any ideas here inspire you to build something similar.

Here's my story: I wanted a beast of a gaming rig for Crysis and other upcoming DX10 games, but one that could be very quiet when idling because I sleep six feet away.

Here are the specs:

Antec P180B
Corsair 520HX power supply
EVGA Nvidia 8800GTX
Intel Core2Duo E6600
Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink
Asus P5W DH motherboard (BIOS rev. 2004)
2x 1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-8000 RAM
WD Raptor 150GB Boot HD
400GB + 500GB media HDs
Pioneer DVD-RW (older)
Vista Business 32-bit
2x S-Flex 'E' 1200rpm fans (CPU and rear case)
2x Yate Loon D12SL-12 (front case and PSU compartment)

Pretty basic build using highly recommednded compoents from SPCR.

As for the customizations:

1. Applied Polymeric Mastic from McMaster-Carr (leftover from an older build) across accessible interior surfaces and front door. It helps deaden sounds significantly, but probably a bit overkill for the already decently dampened P180B. Weight definitely helps deaden sound, and the case is *really* heavy now. YMMV, but it works very well for me.

2. Cut out middle front and rear fan grills. Applied custom rounded grill to back of case using dabs of silicone caulk.

3. Covered up top fan outlet (mostly for convenience, however, using the top outlet instead of the rear one might help with convection of heat...)

4. Mounted the rear fan with bead of silicon caulk. Make sure the fan is horizontal while it dries!

5. Covered all holes in back of case with caulk & polymeric to reduce undesired airflow. Replaced P180B ventilated PCI slot cookies with solid ones.

6. Overclocked E6600 permanently to 3.4GHz (full 1GHz overclock) using settings you can find elsewhere on the web. P5W DH is a good overclocker as well as good for silencers (it's on the approved lsit here).

7. Enabled Intel SpeedStep in the BIOS to run the CPU cool when idle (runs at 2270MHz when idle).

8. Installed and configured SpeedFan 4.32 so I can control all the fans in the case dynamically based on heat generated. Set all fans to be at 60% at idle in SpeedFan making them close to silent unless you're right up against the case, and they ramp up to 100% when high temps are achieved. (I have it set to watch the CPU core and system temps to make this determination).

9. Installed ATITool .27b1 (works with nVidia cards and Windows Vista). ATITool controls clock rate of the graphics card. Set ATItool to underclock video card when idle down to 200/200, from default of 576/900. And an overclock of 630/1000 was achieved 100% stable with stock video cooler. ATITool dynamically changes between underclock and overclock mode when 3D is detected. It keeps the video core cool and much lower power when running at 200/200, and 2D desktop stuff runs at about the same speed, so it really is a no-compromise software mod that reduces heat/power overall, but allows it to perform at greater than stock performance when needed.

Thanks to speedstep and Atitool, computer idles nearly silently (silent at 6 feet away) at about 185 Watts power consumption, according to my Watt's Up Pro.

During games it ramps up the fans nicely and keeps everything reasonably cool at uber speeds and framerates.

[Das_Saunamies]

Congrats, sounds like a winner!

Gave me the inspiration to get to work on my ol' warhorse, maybe squeeze something extra out of it. I'm wondering about the PCI vents though, is it really better to have them solid than ventilating? I haven't noticed much of a difference, but then again my bottom grill is still open as well. What I'm really after is some test data to show a benefit for either method.

[derekchinese]

Great work!

Do you have any pictures you can share with us as well?

Does the Raptor make alot of noise?

Derek

[derekchinese]

Also, what voltage did you use for your e6600?

[gourdo_1]

I'm wondering about the PCI vents though, is it really better to have them solid than ventilating? I haven't noticed much of a difference, but then again my bottom grill is still open as well. What I'm really after is some test data to show a benefit for either method.

Yeah, I haven't really done the obligatory experiment yet. I certainly notice higher system temps when the side of the case is off... though CPU and HDs remain cooler. Airflow is important, and my gut tells me that the vents in the back mess up the intended airflow (air should go from front of case to back). I feel like the vents may suck some of the hot video card exhaust back into the rig. Well, that's my theory at least. I will have to try out a couple scenarios and see what truly happens, but won't be able to get around to doing that for a couple weeks.

[gourdo_1]

Great work!

Do you have any pictures you can share with us as well?

Does the Raptor make alot of noise?

Derek

I will post some pictures soon. The raptor is probably the loudest component -- when seeking. To be honest, the P180B soft HD mounting is ok, but leaves a bit to be desired. I may explore other HD mounting options in the future, but for now, as long as the computer is idling, you really can't hear any of the drives spinning or anything.

[gourdo_1]

Also, what voltage did you use for your e6600?

It's running at 1.38 volts (SpeedStep knocks it down to 1.050 at idle). It really doesn't take much power to make this CPU hum! Anyway, it's stable running Orthos for hours. It took me about a week to get all the BIOS settings right. If you miss even one wrong setting, it may fail to boot or crash as soon as you crank up Orthos... but once you get all the voltages, timings and BIOS options right, it just works without a fuss.

[ronrem]

Obviously with about 6 fans total,a Raptor and 2 more HDDs, relatively quiet is as good as you can reach-but this post does show that detailing things with care can get you the hotrod Game rig--without it sounding like a dragstrip on 4th of July.

Ther Antec cases do a decent halfway job of making a quiet case...as you found with the Raptor...it ain't quite ideal.

The BEST answer for the Raptor is an eSATA....putting more distance between noise source and ear. Even better-stick the enclosure in a box or in a place where even less sound gets out. That may make it nessecery to use a 800 rpm fan for some airflow but figure a 6' cable and a planned out box and you won't hear it.

[derekchinese]

gourdo_1, I cannot wait for the pics as your silent pc sounds very cool.

two more questions please:
are those voltages checked with a multimeter or read by software such as asus AI suite or speedfan?

what is the FPO/batch number of your e6600 processor?
Mine is an e6700 L629A851. For mine, I found that 3.6ghz required serious voltage boosts but 3.5ghz came at 1.4125V in the BIOS.

Thanks in advance

[Das_Saunamies]

Airflow is important, and my gut tells me that the vents in the back mess up the intended airflow (air should go from front of case to back). I feel like the vents may suck some of the hot video card exhaust back into the rig.

That's what I'm thinking -- except that my card doesn't exhaust -- especially since a case's rear often faces a wall and not open air. The blowback might guide some of the exhaust back in again through the lower section.

I've been experiencing BSoDs while playing BF2142 and it is graphics-related, usually pointing at nv4_disp.dll. So to cure this I've been experimenting with added intake from the rear, and while it has helped a little, it didn't cure anything. What did help, however, was removing the top 5.25" bay cover and cranking up the CPU fan... this has lead me to thinking it's either the PSU(voltages are all over, the quality gets really wonky at top temps) or the components the Zalman sink cools, chief among which that suspicious heatsink.

Anyhow, used a recent photo to demonstrate the dilemma, pardon the wiring...


Blue is cool, Red is hot, Purple is heated and White is unknown. Arrows point out streams and flows meant to cool a component. I'm assuming the heatsink with the ASUS logo at the back is for some processor-related transistors or some such.

But since your card exhausts, it makes perfect sense to seal off the entire back plate. I might do just the same to improve general airflow since my two PCI-E cards certainly are not overheating. Looking forward to photos, although I'm sure reopening the back plate will only make it worse in your case for said reasons.

[jolynsbass]

9. Installed ATITool .27b1 (works with nVidia cards and Windows Vista). ATITool controls clock rate of the graphics card. Set ATItool to underclock video card when idle down to 200/200, from default of 576/900. And an overclock of 630/1000 was achieved 100% stable with stock video cooler. ATITool dynamically changes between underclock and overclock mode when 3D is detected. It keeps the video core cool and much lower power when running at 200/200, and 2D desktop stuff runs at about the same speed, so it really is a no-compromise software mod that reduces heat/power overall, but allows it to perform at greater than stock performance when needed.

I tried dropping my ATI vidcard (a 9600XT AIW) down to about half of it's default values, and I got *serious* visual artifacts in Windows GUI... Like, I had a hard time figuring out where to click to get things back to normal...

If I stepped it down gradually, then it was no problems at all... however, if I had ATItool set the clock speed on startup, it would give me those visual glitches and distortion... Unacceptable at any degree.

Have you had any problems with that? Or is it maybe just that my card doesn't like underclocking? Or has ATItool gained to ability to gradually set the clock rate on startup(that would be ideal!)?