What next..?

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:40 am

Here is my system:

PIV 2.4c @ 3GHz with a Zalman CNPS7000AlCu at lowest speed

Abit IS7 with passive heatsink on the NB
9800 Pro 256 with ATi Silencer 3 slowed down with a fanmate at lowest
volts.

40Gb Barracuda IV and 120Gb Barracuda V in their standard removable bays.

All that stuff lives inside a Chieftec Midi Server BX-00 equipped with two Arctic Fan Pro TC's @ 8volts.

PSU is a HEC 450W model with a Papst 8412NGL in it.

I have already cut out all fan grilles and covered every panel with foam and that heavy black stuff. Dunno what it is in english

You know the stuff that reduces vibrations. I've also made a duct for the PSU to draw in cool air through the 5.25" bays.

My temps are just ridiculous.. System temp is around 45C and CPU temp varies between 65 and 70 while folding. Not that great but I don't mind as long as my system is silent. But it isn't!

What next?

My system still isn't quiet enough to sleep right next to and I'm a bit unsure about what to do next. Maybe I should change all fans to Panaflo's? Maybe get rid of the 80mm case fans and fit in a 120mm fan instead? I could make hole in the top panel and mount it there.

The noise is a low hum, propably from air turbulence or something similar and also some whirring noise. Im not sure what cases that. Maybe it comes from the drives?

Any advice is more than welcome.. I want to get this thing running 24/7 even when I'm home

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:47 am

Try suspending the drives.

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:50 am

Rusty075 wrote:Try suspending the drives.

I'll do that tomorrow. Any idea what to do with the fans?

I would get better and quieter airflow with a single 120mm fan, right?

I think that I'll move to watercooling sooner than I thought...

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 9:00 am

Vihta wrote:I would get better and quieter airflow with a single 120mm fan, right?

Maybe, but I honestly don't have any firsthand knowledge of how loud those particular 80mm fans are. If they're pretty noisy, just swapping them with quieter 80mm's may be a better idea.

Maybe its more of an airflow problem...how open is the intake?

The next step, before you do anything, may be to figure out exactly where the worst noise is coming from. Try stopping the fans one at a time and see what happens to the overall noise level.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:32 pm

You can always put your machine in standby mode. If you use default settings this usually stops your harddisks but leaves all fans running. If this gives a clear improvement you'll gain a lot from suspending the drives as Rusty suggested. If not, the noise has a different source.

What's the voltage or rpm for the Papst in the PSU? It might be louder than you think. Given all the things you've done, pure silence cannot be far away anymore!

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:46 pm

teejay wrote:You can always put your machine in standby mode. If you use default settings this usually stops your harddisks but leaves all fans running. If this gives a clear improvement you'll gain a lot from suspending the drives as Rusty suggested. If not, the noise has a different source.

What's the voltage or rpm for the Papst in the PSU? It might be louder than you think. Given all the things you've done, pure silence cannot be far away anymore!

I suspended the drives and it made some difference. The highest tones disappeared and the case vibrations are pretty much gone, too.

The constant hum is still there. I stopped all the fans one by one but couldn't really tell which was the loudest. Maybe the Papst, but I'm not sure.

So I guess that the next step would be to either slow down the Papst, replace it with something quieter or maybe I'll buy a whole new PSU.

Maybe I could get rid of the case fans if I get a PSU with 120mm fan?

Btw, ATi Silencer doesn't fit Asus 9800 pro 256 without some heavy cutting. I had to sacrifice some of my own blood to the gods of Dremel to make it fit.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:02 pm

Since it's a hum I think it is either fan noise (motor or bearing) or some form of vibration. My server also still emits a hum which I traced to the Papst 80mm's @ 7V in the psu and on the heatsink... what can I say, Nexus fans are on order. You might also have something to gain from using a silicon gasket to "soft-mount" the entire PSU.

If you get a 120mm psu you're gonna lose the duct which would be a shame IMO. Where are your "Arctic Fan Pro TC" located? Both at the back panel as exhaust? If so you could experiment with just one and maybe use the other one as an intake fan, even though opinions on intake fans vary on these boards (personally I wouldn't want a system without direct airflow over my harddrives). How are your fans attached to the case?

Vihta wrote:Maybe get rid of the 80mm case fans and fit in a 120mm fan instead? I could make hole in the top panel and mount it there.

I wouldn't, "blowholes" in the top usually add little in terms of cooling performance but do create a direct soundpath from the case interior to your ears.

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:16 pm

teejay wrote:Since it's a hum I think it is either fan noise (motor or bearing) or some form of vibration. My server also still emits a hum which I traced to the Papst 80mm's @ 7V in the psu and on the heatsink... what can I say, Nexus fans are on order. You might also have something to gain from using a silicon gasket to "soft-mount" the entire PSU.

If you get a 120mm psu you're gonna lose the duct which would be a shame IMO. Where are your "Arctic Fan Pro TC" located? Both at the back panel as exhaust? If so you could experiment with just one and maybe use the other one as an intake fan, even though opinions on intake fans vary on these boards (personally I wouldn't want a system without direct airflow over my harddrives). How are your fans attached to the case?

Yes my both case fans are in their standard locations at the back of the case sucking air out. The fans are glued to foam shrouds and the shrouds are glued to the case. The foam is very soft so the fans vibrations shouldn't be transmitted to the case. I used to have third one as an intake fan but removing it didn't change the temps at all so I decided to go without it.

I'm very interested in trying out a Scythe NCU-2000 and a PSU with a 120mm fan. The PSU fan would be located directly over the HS so maybe I could do with only the psu fan and the one in ATi Silencer. Or mabe I would just fry everything that way... Any thoughts?

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:28 pm

You've probably seen the thread, but what you are talking about sounds like this (forum link) If it works for Bluefront, it might just work for you.

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 1:42 pm

Anyone say fan grills are evil here? Cut out those grills and let her breath.

Gheez those temps seem high to me.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 1:47 pm

Vihta wrote:I have already cut out all fan grilles

He already did that. I would have mentioned it otherwise

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:00 am

Today I took out the papst in the PSU and replaced it with a 120mm Nexus. Man, what a difference! The single Artic Cooling 80mm fan @10v sucking air out of the case is now the loudest part I think. I'm gonna replace it with a Nexus 80mm or something...

These are all just temporary until my Nexus 4090 arrives. Then the PSU alone is going to be responsible for sucking the hot air out of the case. I'm also building a muffler box under the PC to house a 120mm Nexus to push cool air in through a hole in the case floor.

Does that sound overly stupid or could it work?

I'm pretty sure it will work OK.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:26 am

Does not sound stupid at all... just remember that if you only have your psu fan as an exhaust fan your psu will get hotter and the fan will speed up. The muffler box sounds very Bluefront-ish... that can't be a bad thing! Only thing I would add is to try to cool the hdd's with that bottom fan as well.

Vihta · Post by **Vihta** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:40 am

teejay wrote:Only thing I would add is to try to cool the hdd's with that bottom fan as well.

I intend to do that. I have to drill out the stock HDD cage supports, but that not a problem.

The muffler box sounds very Bluefront-ish... that can't be a bad thing!

Yeah I agree. After checking his posts here I've found out that we think very similarly.