How to reduce noisy iWill XP4 PS fan?

wiraone · Post by **wiraone** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:26 pm

Hi all,

Just bought myself an iWill XP4 miniATX (uses iWill FlexATX) barebone and God, I didn't know that the fans are too noisy. There're 3 fans running at the same time, the PS fan, the case fan (3cm???) and the CPU fan running at the same time. Is there a way that I can change the case fan to a silent one (saw the smallest fan in the market is the 4cm one) .. the same question for the PS fan. The CPU fan is quite OK since I run a stock Celeron fan.

The case can be found here:

I read a review of this barebone after I bought mine (damn!!)..

http://www.whiningdog.net/Reviews/PC/Sy ... /page6.htm

Cheers,
Wiraone

Tore · Post by **Tore** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 2:12 am

The first step is to check your temperatures (CPU, system, HD) and then open the case and see how much space you have. The problem with small fans are that the center with the engine is huge, and the area to push the air through is small. The fan has to run fast, and you get a lot of noise (turbulence, engine and bearing noise). If the system runs cool, you can make it somewhat quieter by undervolting the fans.

The melody here is mostly that fans smaller than 80 mm is a joke. But 60 mm is at least better than 30 mm.

You also need to tell us more about what modifications you feel comfortable about doing. Is it ok to make a 80 mm hole in the top or side for a case fan? And is there space to do it? How large is the fan in the PSU? Where does the PSU suck the air?

Pictures or drawings of the inside of PC would be helpfull.

wiraone · Post by **wiraone** » Sun Mar 02, 2003 9:42 pm

Hi Tore,

Thanks for your reply .. here are some of the images I could find in the web. Hopefully good enough to get started.

The back of the box & with PS fan (sucking out the air from PS)

The small fan (30mm) at the back, to suck out hot air.

The side view of the case.

The internal.. with drives put in place (1 CD & 1 HD)

As you can see, there're many holes infront & at the side and I guess this should be enough ventilation even w/o running the small fan. I'll try this and run the system for few hrs and see if the temp inside the case increases in abnormal way.. will try to get a new Papst 80mm silent fan to replace the PS fan... and I wonder what kind of fan Compaq is using on their Deskpro machine (using one in the office), I can barely hear it ..

Tore · Post by **Tore** » Sun Mar 02, 2003 11:21 pm

Ouch... I thought my micro-ATX was stuffed.

There are a lot to block the air flow in this case, so I think you need some forced air flow (fan). If you don't mind having a fan on the outside of the box, I recommend making cardboard walls to experiment some before you make holes in your box. I think maybe a 80 mm sucking air out of the box next to the processor would be a good start. And maybe another one on the other side of the case blowing air in? I think you need to get rid of the 30 mm, but I'm not sure if it's best to leave the hole open or close it. Some ducting would probably be nice, but I'm not sure if there is place for any.

About the PSU: unplug it for a while before you open it (I test in the morning and do modifications when I come home from work). There are high voltages inside the PSU. Check the size of the PSU fan (I think it's 60 mm by looking at the picture) as well as how thick it is. Many fans are 25 mm, but there might not be enough space for one inside your PSU. On the other hand, if you put a fan on each side of the box, a fan on the outside of the PSU will look normal

Remember that whichever fans you use, you'll need to undervolt it to make it quiet.

wiraone · Post by **wiraone** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 1:20 am

Thanks again Tore,

Took a time today to read most of the mods that I could find in this board and most of them seem suggesting that putting a big fan (or couple of it) and throw out the small fan is the best solution. [Edited: Geez.. you've even suggested it on your 1st reply] And I've read the PSU forum .. that putting something (ear plug???) in between the fan & the case/PSU will help reduce the noise as well. Will do a little research on the web on silencing the PSU before doing it myself.

Gosh, I don't think I'm going to do a mod and put the fans externally.. surely will looks weird on this cute litte cube

... Do you think putting the extra fans inside the cover will work? May be I'll put it on the side where the PCI slot is (left side) since I'm not thinking of upgrading it further. Going to buy few 80mm fans to play around with.. and as you suggested, using a cardboard... a very good tip indeed since I'm a real novice in doing this kind of mod.

Tore · Post by **Tore** » Mon Mar 03, 2003 2:01 am

Check what silent fans you can get for an ok price. As long as they go slow enough, they don't make much sound. Obstacles very close to the fan make turbulence noise.

You don't really need very much air flow, but you need the correct air flow. Just like with water, air pretty much moves where it is easy. For instance, there are lots of holes along the side of the case. I believe the image shows that the PSU sucks air at the side where the PCI slot is, and that this is a nice open place. So quite likely, it will suck some cold air from the holes and straight out of the box without cooling anything (except the PSU). The same goes for the 30 mm. Does the air from the PSU and 30 mm feel warm?

Maybe a solution can be to close the holes on the PCI side as well as the hole for the 30 mm fan, and then make a 80 mm hole to put an exhaust fan where the PCI slot is. I think there is enough space to do this on the inside of the box. If not, maybe there is enough space for a 60 mm. If there are no other holes close by, it must suck the air from the CPU side or the front (which will cool the harddrive). This fan and the PSU will then work together to make a forced air flow through the box. Are there more intake openings in the PSU?