Hey guys,
I am going to purchase the following parts because I want more silence and performance from my PC. Here they are:
- Zalman CNPS7000B-ALCU, I believe these are excellent at cooling but are still very quiet.
- Coolmaster Cooldrive 4, I am using this to cool my HDD and control my fans to a silent voltage.
- SLK2650 BQE, I am getting this case because it supports 1 120mm fan and 2 80mm. Also it comes with a 350W PSU. I was considering the SLK3700 but chose this one for its lower price since it is basically the same.
That's what I have in mind to purchase, plus I have an Artic Cooling ATi Silencer already. So do you guys reckon this pc would be quiet but still cool effiently?
Cheers BIOS
Purchasing some new 'silent' parts for my PC
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Edward Ng
- SPCR Reviewer
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SLK2650-BQE is not, "basically the same," as SLK3700-BQE.
The 5.25" bays are different; 3700 does not have 2650's rail & lock system. That the 3700 has a 120mm intake and the 2650 only has a skewed-over 80mm intake is extremely different. I am unsure of where you're counting two 80mm fans, unless you're including the one in the PSU, because the 2650's side intake duct has no method of mounting a fan to it; in that case, the 3700 has two 120s and one 80 versus the 2650's one 120 and two 80s--there's a gigantic difference there. Discount the PSU fan and it's two 120s vs. one 120 and an 80. The 3700 is somewhat larger, and the expansion card screwdown lip is inside the case, plus the mainboard's I/O shield is recessed into the back panel; 2650's rear panel is flat with a cut-out and an external expansion card screwdown lip, and the I/O shield is flush. The hard drive cage is different; while 3700 has a vertical, rotated cage with four grommeted, railed trays for the hard drives, 2650 has two grommeted screw-in internal 3.5" bays in a hang-down cage.
I do not consider the usage of 2650 and 3700 comparable one bit. 2650 focuses more on the CPU; 3700 focuses on the HDDs more than 2650. You'll get better overall flow with a 3700, while a 2650 can feed cooler air to the CPU specifically. There are more implications beyond this; think 2.5" HDDs...think masking tape. If I had to run a warm 3.5" 7200 rpm drive or multiple such drives, I'd go with 3700, which provides better HDD cooling from the factory. If I were going with a cooler 3.5" 7200rpm drive or a 2.5" drive, I'd seal up the front and concentrate on utilizing that side duct on 2650 and cooling the CPU with a fanless heatsink.
Oh and, btw, WELCOME TO SPCR!
-Ed
The 5.25" bays are different; 3700 does not have 2650's rail & lock system. That the 3700 has a 120mm intake and the 2650 only has a skewed-over 80mm intake is extremely different. I am unsure of where you're counting two 80mm fans, unless you're including the one in the PSU, because the 2650's side intake duct has no method of mounting a fan to it; in that case, the 3700 has two 120s and one 80 versus the 2650's one 120 and two 80s--there's a gigantic difference there. Discount the PSU fan and it's two 120s vs. one 120 and an 80. The 3700 is somewhat larger, and the expansion card screwdown lip is inside the case, plus the mainboard's I/O shield is recessed into the back panel; 2650's rear panel is flat with a cut-out and an external expansion card screwdown lip, and the I/O shield is flush. The hard drive cage is different; while 3700 has a vertical, rotated cage with four grommeted, railed trays for the hard drives, 2650 has two grommeted screw-in internal 3.5" bays in a hang-down cage.
I do not consider the usage of 2650 and 3700 comparable one bit. 2650 focuses more on the CPU; 3700 focuses on the HDDs more than 2650. You'll get better overall flow with a 3700, while a 2650 can feed cooler air to the CPU specifically. There are more implications beyond this; think 2.5" HDDs...think masking tape. If I had to run a warm 3.5" 7200 rpm drive or multiple such drives, I'd go with 3700, which provides better HDD cooling from the factory. If I were going with a cooler 3.5" 7200rpm drive or a 2.5" drive, I'd seal up the front and concentrate on utilizing that side duct on 2650 and cooling the CPU with a fanless heatsink.
Oh and, btw, WELCOME TO SPCR!
-Ed
Ok, thanks mate for informing me of the differences between the two. Since I am getting a Coolmaster Cooldrive I don't need HDD cooling the 3700 offers. Also on the Antec site it states the following:
[/quote] Cooling capacity:
- 1 120mm rear (standard)
- 1 80mm front (optional)
- Chassis Air Guide (standard) with optional 80mm fan [quote]
That indicates that you can attach an 80mm fan to the duct . Therefore the SLK2650 does support 2 80mm and 1 120mm fans (excluding the PSU fan/s). But surely an 80mm fan at the front would help the airflow a fair bit rather than having no fan at all? I would have got the 3700 but the price is too much! Also do you think that the 2650 BQE would suit my needs? Do you reckon the SLK2650 is better than the CM Centurion 5?
Also you didn't comment on if the computer would be quiet/silent after the upgrade!
Cheers Sutcliffe
[/quote] Cooling capacity:
- 1 120mm rear (standard)
- 1 80mm front (optional)
- Chassis Air Guide (standard) with optional 80mm fan [quote]
That indicates that you can attach an 80mm fan to the duct . Therefore the SLK2650 does support 2 80mm and 1 120mm fans (excluding the PSU fan/s). But surely an 80mm fan at the front would help the airflow a fair bit rather than having no fan at all? I would have got the 3700 but the price is too much! Also do you think that the 2650 BQE would suit my needs? Do you reckon the SLK2650 is better than the CM Centurion 5?
Also you didn't comment on if the computer would be quiet/silent after the upgrade!
Cheers Sutcliffe
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Edward Ng
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I'd like to see an 80mm fan mounted to this:
I don't think so. It might be able to mount to the side panel, though:
But realize that mounting the fan to the side panel and mounting it to the inside end of the duct would be two very different situations. The flared portion of the duct, in fact, isn't very securely attached to the flanged mount (heck, just look at the pic.), so even if you managed to tape, glue or somehow get an 80mm fan attached to the flared part, there's still a great likelihood that the entire assembly (fan+adjustable interior duct piece) would simply fall off, landing on something--like your video card.
Believe what you want; some few words they typed, or my words and my pictures.
I can't comment on if it would be silent because I don't know what CPU, mainboard, HDD and video card you're using. A CNPS7000B-AlCu and ATI Silencer both at full voltage will still be on the noisy side, and if you're using a Prescott plus an X800XT PE, then chances are, you'll be relying on the full voltage available to those fans. A ceramic-bearing WD Cabiar will definitely be a loud, screeching noise source, damped or muffled or not. Give us more info, we'll be more precise.
-Ed
EDIT: Just wanted to add that the reason why having just a fan in the side panel is almost worthless compared to being used with the duct is that, much like any case that just has a side panel mounted intake fan, most of the air will either flow into the PSU (likely a good thing; reduces the chance of ramping) or just flow right out of the back of the case, in both cases, doing little to cool the CPU down, as it hasn't even a chance to flow across the cooler. With the duct, it really helps to force the cool incoming air to hit that sink before moving on. Intel sometimes does weird things, but they did specify the Chassis Air Guide as a duct, rather than just an intake fan, for a reason. Without the duct, that side panel opening is nothing but another place for noise to leak out.
I don't think so. It might be able to mount to the side panel, though:
But realize that mounting the fan to the side panel and mounting it to the inside end of the duct would be two very different situations. The flared portion of the duct, in fact, isn't very securely attached to the flanged mount (heck, just look at the pic.), so even if you managed to tape, glue or somehow get an 80mm fan attached to the flared part, there's still a great likelihood that the entire assembly (fan+adjustable interior duct piece) would simply fall off, landing on something--like your video card.
Believe what you want; some few words they typed, or my words and my pictures.
I can't comment on if it would be silent because I don't know what CPU, mainboard, HDD and video card you're using. A CNPS7000B-AlCu and ATI Silencer both at full voltage will still be on the noisy side, and if you're using a Prescott plus an X800XT PE, then chances are, you'll be relying on the full voltage available to those fans. A ceramic-bearing WD Cabiar will definitely be a loud, screeching noise source, damped or muffled or not. Give us more info, we'll be more precise.
-Ed
EDIT: Just wanted to add that the reason why having just a fan in the side panel is almost worthless compared to being used with the duct is that, much like any case that just has a side panel mounted intake fan, most of the air will either flow into the PSU (likely a good thing; reduces the chance of ramping) or just flow right out of the back of the case, in both cases, doing little to cool the CPU down, as it hasn't even a chance to flow across the cooler. With the duct, it really helps to force the cool incoming air to hit that sink before moving on. Intel sometimes does weird things, but they did specify the Chassis Air Guide as a duct, rather than just an intake fan, for a reason. Without the duct, that side panel opening is nothing but another place for noise to leak out.
Ok, after doing some browsing I decided on the following case and psu:
- Antec SLK3700AMB
- FORTRON FSP 400W Active PFC Ultra Quiet PSU (blue 120mm LED fan)
Plus the Zalman CPU HSF and Artic Cooling GPU HSF
What do you reckon? Good choice?
Cheers Sutcliffe
- Antec SLK3700AMB
- FORTRON FSP 400W Active PFC Ultra Quiet PSU (blue 120mm LED fan)
Plus the Zalman CPU HSF and Artic Cooling GPU HSF
What do you reckon? Good choice?
Cheers Sutcliffe
Last edited by Sutcliffe on Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tibors
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- Location: Houten, The Netherlands, Europe
The Antec case, Zalman CPU HSF and Arctic Cooling GPU HSF have been discussed so often, that I don't think anyone has more comments then there are already made.
The only Fortron PSU with a 120mm blue LED fan I know is the "Aurora". SPCR reviewed the 350W version. It is not bad compared to a generic PSU, but there is a reason it ended up in the lower half of the recommended list.
The only Fortron PSU with a 120mm blue LED fan I know is the "Aurora". SPCR reviewed the 350W version. It is not bad compared to a generic PSU, but there is a reason it ended up in the lower half of the recommended list.