Silencing the Nexus 3000

comomolo · Post by **comomolo** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 5:34 pm

Hi,

After making my first silent computer, a P4 2,4 GHz on an Aopen board with Silentek with everything-on-it and a Barracuda V 120 GB hardrive, I can only hear my Nexus 3000 fan and sometimes the Cuda seeking, but a friend with an identical system has bought the Nexus hush-kit, put his drive inside the silencing case and voilá!

My point is: can I put Silentek to control the Nexus fan (since I have no other fans in my box and ST can control two more fans yet)?

May I damage the PSU if I do so?

If I can't control the Nexus fan, and since that PSU is ranked number one at SPCR, is there any way to make it more silent? Or can I find a quieter PSU than that? (In that case, why is it ranked No. 1?)

Thanks in advance from this newbie.

CM

PS: Just in case the suggestion is replacing the fan, I have difficulties finding Panaflos in Spain. Papst are easier.

efcoins · Post by **efcoins** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 2:36 am

If the PSU fan is the only fan you have then you need more fans.
2 fans at 7v move more are and are quieter than a single fan at 12v

The nexus fan is temperature controlled and normally quiet. If it is not quiet it is because it is overloaded and you need an additional fan. If you reduce its speed your PC/PSU will probably overheat.

comomolo · Post by **comomolo** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 3:56 am

Thanks for the reply.

Since Silentek monitors the temperature and controls the fans, shouldn't this be enough to prevent overheating. I mean, instead of letting the PSU control itself, I might let Silentek do the job. Wouldn't it be better?

Anyway, I'll get two very silent Papsts and see how it works. I hope I'm not being too newbie if I ask how do I control the voltage that goes to the fans...

Thanks again.

CM

Gekkani · Post by **Gekkani** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 7:28 am

Buenas,

The problem with silentek is... U can't monitor PSU temperature, so silentek thermal throttling dont work; It only monitors cpu temp and sys temp.

comomolo · Post by **comomolo** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 4:18 pm

'nas noches...

My thought was:

My machine is usually in a cool state. The CPU fan is completely stopped most of the time (or goes up to 250 RPM for a few secs and back to 0). The system temperature is always low, since I'm using an "everything-on-it" mobo, thus no PCI cards or AGP cards at all.

Given this conditions can I say the PSU temp-controller is doing its job, its fan running wildly at top speed? If it is, the Nexus is definitely not a very quiet PSU, and if it's not, I should do something to make it less noisy.

I might a) replace the PSU fan, b) add an exhaust fan and c) I'm still curious: I might manually control the speed of the PSU fan (regardless of the PSU temperature) or is this too risky for the PSU? Since my mobo can control up to three fans (including the CPU HS's), I might use the third controller in much the same way as a manual "physical" control, am I right?

When I say the Nexus is not very quiet I mean is not like the Nexus can be heard from the room next door, but right now, in the middle of the night, I'll hear it if I enter the room, 2,5 meters away from the computer... Is that normal?

Sorry for the ignorance of this newbie...

CM

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 6:13 am

comomolo wrote: When I say the Nexus is not very quiet I mean is not like the Nexus can be heard from the room next door, but right now, in the middle of the night, I'll hear it if I enter the room, 2,5 meters away from the computer... Is that normal?

Sorry for the ignorance of this newbie...

CM

In the middle of the night when ambient noise is at is lowest, you can hear noise quite easily. It sounds about right..

During the day the noise of your PSU is dampened by ambient noise, and it becomes less audible.

comomolo · Post by **comomolo** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 6:31 am

Thanks ez

I guess my point was: if this is the "quietest PSU with a fan" according to Mike, how come I hear it from more than two meters when everything else is quiet (i.e. in the middle of the night in the country side)?

Lurking around the forum, reading and exchanging private messages with other members I've come to understand the Nexus is NOT the quietest one. I'll see if I can get my hands on a SilenX and will try to find (where to buy to) and try a fanless PSU too.

In the meantime, any advice on how to make the Nexus quieter will be welcome. It'll help me understand the principles of "The Art of Silent Computing"

Regards

cm

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 9:46 am

this is the "quietest PSU with a fan" according to Mike

it WAS at the time of writing, among the PSUs I had reviewed or examined. SPCR does not generally review anything that is not at least quieter than normal. The Recommended Lists are short lists of only quiet components, in general. It's safe to say that as one of the top ranked Recommended PSUs, the Nexus remains one of the quietest PSUs money can buy.

This does not mean you cannot make it quieter. The simplest mod is to do a fan swap with something like a Panaflo M1A (or similarly quiet non-clicking Papst fan) + use decoupling grommets to mount it. If I recall, the fan is hardwired, which means you need to solder.

Also, it may be the case that the fan in the Nexus has some variability from sample to sample. Seems like while most people find it very quiet, others find it less so. But it is VERY difficult to say because everyone hears differently, and this range of opinions may only represent differences in perception.

comomolo · Post by **comomolo** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 11:53 am

Thanks a lot, Mike.

Since I have three units of the Nexus 3000 around here, I'll try different solutions and I'll post the results here.

By the way, if anyone can tell me where can I contact the Panaflo worldwide headquearters I'll be grateful. It's almost impossible to find them here in Spain, but I'm willing to import them and my business has a license to import computer hardware. I've discarded the Papsts since everyone seems to agree in that annoying clicking.

Mike: are you planning an update to the ranking with the newer PSUs around? Can you give me any suggestion about current PSUs?

Best regards

cm

Post by **Rusty075** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 12:07 pm

Panaflo's are made by the industrial arm of Panasonic. You may be able to reach them through their main portal: http://www.panasonic.com

They also have an official Spain site http://www.panasonic.es/

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 1:45 pm

Mike: are you planning an update to the ranking with the newer PSUs around? Can you give me any suggestion about current PSUs?

You'll see the Verax is already on the list, and obviously, if you have been following the PSU forum threads, SilenX and SilentMaxx will both be even quieter. No sure about the 120mm Fortron, as I have yet to hear one, but I think someone is submitting a review sample.