I have put all fans at 7volts,now. is much more silence,but there still is a HHHUUUMMMM. i almost cant ear the fans,and if wasnt the HHUMMM is was perfect.
With this changes the MB temperature have raise from 35º to 38º
and the CPU temperature have raise from 36º to 40º
whem im playng some game or converting video ,temperature fo CPU sometimes goes up to 49º.And other thing. the front doot of the case it must be open all time because when is closed it makes ressonance .

Tenchy, did you change the fans for the power supply to 7V as well? Those are the fans that cause the Hum you're hearing. If you look at the postscript we added to the article, you'll see that we were able to reduce the hum a bit by placing it on the ground instead of a resonant table. You might be able to get a similar improvement by placing the case on a foam bed. Also, if you have your computer in a desk with a closed back, the cavity inside the desk is probably adding to the hum by causing additional resonance. Try moving your case so that there isn't a solid surface behind it. Sometimes, even adding a layer of foam to the wall behind the case can help.

yes i have change the PSU fans to 7 VOLTS. it helped a lot. It gives a bit of work to take the PSU off,but is easy to do.
The case is also place direct on the floor.
the back of the desk is not closed and the wall is away 50~60 cm of the case.but the side of the desk is closed. maybe i should put some foam between the case and the side of the desk,and under the case. i will try to than today.

I'm considering getting one of these soon... hope it turns out all well!

I got one of these recently - so far, so good! The PSU is rather impressive, though the noise is irritating.

I've noticed that one can see (when looking from above) the connector for the fans on a PCB within the psu. I have been considering getting one of http://www.quietpc.com/uk/casefansacc.php#rc56 those, and trying some dextrous tweezer work, in order to take the standard connector off the header, and then put that in-line, all through the gaps between the fan's blades. I am, however, mortally afraid of dropping anything and not being able to retrieve it.

Do you think it's possible?

Edit: my other idea was perhaps to take the connector off the header with tweezers, and then pull the entire cable out of the psu, then hook it up via a http://www.quietpc.com/uk/casefansacc.php#zmmc1 to a molex connector - this might afford me far more control. However, I'm worried that the PSU might have a built in error-control mechanism which shuts it down if the fan is thought not to be running.

Is this idea more feasible?

I wouldn't worry about a built-in shut down mechanism. I don't know of any power supplies that use RPM as a shut down trigger. Most of the good ones will shut down if they overheat, but this is only indirectly related to the fan speed. I'd go with option two, it's probably safer.

Thanks for the speedy response, I'll try to get my hands on one of those connectors A.S.A.P., and will report back my results (if the pc boots and I can hence access these forums! )

I was about to purchase one of those molex to 5v/12v connectors, when I suddenly thought that perhaps it would be more prudent to buy a (relatively) cheap three channel fan controller, and run the psu fan, along with the case fans, off that.

Hence: Would it?

The controller in question is: http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=18377

It's cheap, is make by akasa (a seemingly big plus at the price), and would, in my opinion at least, be more effective than my previous solution. The only think I'd really be interested in is whether anyone thinks that at that price I will get a fan controller which provides a decent range of voltages (5v - 12v, basically). So, anyone think so?

Probably.

I reviewed that device btw: Review: Generic 3-ch Fan Controller

That's precisely the article which gave me the idea of getting something similar! Thanks for the reply - I shall order one now-now.

I'm going to try my mod now!

Ok... I recieved my fan controller this morning, expecting it to be a major job, removing the psu cover and all. However, it was NOT! It was dead simple, contrary to what your review suggests. The HDD cooler is screwed on, and the psu is screwed via two screws underneath the case and another two behind the bezel to the case. Hence, by unscrewing both, one can entirely remove the psu, and one might even be able to mount an alternative. In addition, there are screws for removing the psu cover, giving one full acces to the internals.

Furthermore, the fans atop the PSU are both removable, and can be substituted with other fans of the correct size! They are not, as it seems from outside, rivited to the PSU. Instead, one is seeing the underside of the screws which hold it in place, and which are screwed from inside the PSU.

Therefore, this case has exceeded my wildest dreams. I took the lead for the PSU fans out of the PSU, and hooked it up to the controller, along with the case fans, which I connected to the second channel. Both had two-pin connectors, and the fan controller had three of the usual three-pin connectors, though I managed to connect them just by forcing the two-pin male plugs into the 3pin female ones (the three-pin ones only have two pins in them, so this is quite simple). On the third channel of the controller, I've placed the connector for my CPU cooler (Arctic-Cooling 2L, the one with blue LEDs), the built in speed controller of which, I have left at "medium", as when on low, the fan will not start if my new fan controller is on low as well. With it on medium, the fan operates with the controller's full range of motion, and is quieter than without the controller, using the built in selector on "low" (basically, it's entirely silent).

Now, my system is entirely silent when I have all three controllers on low, and sounds like is about 18 or maybe 20dbA maximum (I'm no expert, and am only guessing). When all are on full (when i play games or am doing heavy processing work (ecoding/decoding, which is seldom), I would estimate that it is between 35 and 45dbA.

In conclusion, I'd say that I'm entirely satisfied with this case, as it has provided me with an entirely silent system that I'd otherwise never have had at this price range. I've got lots of pictures which I took, which I might get around to posting here later (basically when i fell that I can be arsed to do so)!

Oh, there is one downside to such a quiet system though, it unmasks other noise! I can now hear (only when i kneel down close to the back of my pc and listen, though), a "buzzy" noise, which I have seen talked about in connection with the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer Revision 3, which I have purchased specially, rather than the latest revision, as I prefer the massive heatsink on the Rev. 3, which has been considerably downsized on more recent versions, a serious mistake in my own estimation.

Overall, I'm happy, and I guess that's what matters, isn't it?

Greetings!

I bought this case some days ago, and I'm having trouble with heat on motherboard and cpu.

My system:
Asus A8N-SLI
AMD 64 3500+ (venice) - with stock HSF
1x geforce 6600 GT
2x 512 dual channel ddr

That's basically everything directly connected to the motherboard. When starting the machine, motherboard is ~32 C and cpu is 35-36 C, CPU fan is ~4k RPM. Which is not so bad. But when I start up some games, heat levels start to rise, finally stabilizing at 46 C for the CPU, with a fan speed of ~6k RPM - and trust me, at those speeds the fan is everything but silent. I tore off the HSF and replaced the thermal tape with paste, but that didn't change anything really.

So, what have I done wrong? I have a theory. When mounting the mb, I found that there was no room between the case wall and the motherboard, if I wanted the backside connectors to fit through the designated hole. My earlier machines, I've mounted the MB like a centimeter from the case side wall. I'm not sure, but could that explain the heat?

I'm thinking about getting a better HSF, looked at AC freezer 64, but I'm not sure that will help me. Something is making the machine hotter than it needs to be, and that's why the cpu fan is running at so high speeds, which in turn makes it scream like a jet engine.

Welcome to the SPCR fora, jurgenaut!

Firstly: You need a good HS'n'F - I'd recommend the zalman 7700 series (I think that's the right one), or something more exotic, like a Thermaltake XP-120, with a panaflo fan.

Secondly: Read my last few posts about the psu fans / case fans mod which I carried out - it has worked wonders, and I can't tell whether or not my pc is on (with all fans at low on the controller).

Finally: Read some more of the articles here at SPCR - they provide an invaluable insight into what makes a good silent component, and how to distinguish the said components from those which are "not-so-good"!

PostScript: Good luck, and have fun!

Jurgenaut:

There's nothing wrong with a 46°C load temperature. However, you do need to so something about your 6k RPM fan if you value your ears, so a new HSF might not be a bad idea. Personally, I think the AC Freezer 64 should suit your needs just fine, so if you've already looked at it, I say go for it.

I have a hunch that your higher CPU temperature is a result of airflow pattern in the Silentium, which forces the heat from your 6600GT up over your CPU before it exits the case. What were you using before and what temperatures were you getting?

For what it's worth, your CPU should be able to tolerate much higher temperatures than 46°C; my CPU spends most of its time around 65°C (according to my motherboard sensor at least), so you have plenty of room to reduce the fan speed.

Devonavar is right from what I can see! I'm sure that the only thing keeping my PC cool is the heat evacuation being done by my Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer, and hence no heat wafts upwards to my CPU's HSF.

However, the VGA Silencer does make a feint "buzzy" noise, which might be irritating to some.

Thanks for the replies

I got an Arctic Freezer HS/F yesterday, and it was much quieter. The temperatures is roughly the same, but the fan maxes at 2.2k rpm, which seems sufficient to keep the cpu cool enough.

What's great with the new HSF is that the fan is pointed upwards, which is closer to the back case fans, so the heat gets evacuated quicker (or so I imagine hehe).

I didn't really know what to expect in noise levels. I built the machine from scratch, and it was my first AMD. Used to have a P4 1.6ghz, which was pretty much silent (although the old graphics card fan was a real screamer).

The only noises that now emanate from the case, I believe, come from the graph card fan, mobo chip fan and the PSU fans (although, they're pretty quiet), and of course the DVD readers.

Ah well, thanks for the tips

Just got my brand new Silentium T2 case. Here's a few issues that I ran into:

THere was not enough space to install the motherboard without removing the HDD muffler, which also involved taking out the PSU. This ended in disaster because
1) the case was not squared off correctly so it took two people and a lot of effort to replace the proprietaryPSU (one to jam it into place, one to put the screws in)
2) when replacing the rubber bands on the muffler box, one of the cheap plastic arms broke off the face plate, making the last rubber band unattachable and the muffler useless.
3) power supply (advertised as max 450w w/ PFB) seemed inadequate for my setup (2x6800GTs, dualcore AMD64), and did not include a 20-24 adapter (can be purchased for 14.99). if you check arctic-cooling's website, they tell you NOT to use a 24pin adapter for some reason (?)

Overall, not worth the time to mod, but great if you only need the sustainable 350w of power. For my setup, it would be like dropping a 450c^3 engine into a Honda Civic.

I beg to differ! I found the mod simple, and handled it entirely by myself. It just takes a little thinking and some logical thought, and you'll not end up breaking anything, nor will you need to use brute force!

Oh, and I'm sixteen, so I doubt anyone of any age would have any difficulties whatsoever when it comes to doing the PSU mod.

Hi all!

Also bought the T1 and am finding it quite apealing.
Yes there is some cheap plastic, but considering the price tag this is not strange. Further more I have even managed to install water cooling. All components fited inside (radiator, 120mm fan, pump). Moded the case by cutting a hole in the top to fit the radiator.

I'm hearing resoans noise comming from the PSU so it might be some cheap componts inside. May consider buying another good PSU and ripping out the internals and transfering them to the AC psu casing (if possible). May also have to undervolt the fans, already preformed by another here in the forum.

I realy like this case, sure it's cramped and got short commings, but it has a feel design vise. With some tweaking, I may even eliminate the source of the noise. Have to investigate further.

Any one else heard the high pitched sound eminating from the PSU?
Used alot of time mounting the WC and hiding cables to better the air flow, so i haven't striped the PSU down yeath. Need to take one thing at a time, and in the end eliminate the noise.

Please excuse me if this has already been said, just ignore this post if so. The front exhaust is very irritating when the case is placed on the desk!! Blowing hot air on my hands, annoying!

Yeah, if it was my computer I wouldn't place it on the desk anyway but I just wanted to point this out.

hello! i thought that I simply conect the PSU fan connector to my abit motherboard and use the built in fan controller that can set the fan to 8v.. can I do this? or is it the PSU how control the fans now?

I can set the fan controler to track the "PWM" temperature - can this be the PSU temperature?! (it also tracks SYS and of course CPU)


thank you SPCR for a greate review!

Hello,

Plugging the fan header from the power supply lets you monitor the fan speed, but not change it. As a safety precaution, the power supply does not let you control the speed externally.

I have no idea what PWM temperature is, but it's not the power supply. The power supply in the Silentium (and no others that I know of) cannot be monitored externally.

Hope this clears things up. I'm sorry I have to be the bringer of bad news and tell you that turning down the fan speed isn't as simple as you thought it was.

Devon

PS: Welcome to SPCR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must be posible to disconnect the fans from the psu and connect them to the motherboard. Possible have to open the PSU up to get to the can connector, but it should be possible, right?

This should also applie for the exhaust fans

oki, but is it dangerous to run the fans at say 8v? would the PSU shut down if it was overheated?

Yep. It's possible, just a lot more work. I don't know the specifics of the included power supply, but I think it's unlikely that it has over-temperature protection. More likely, one of the other circuits would trip, probably over-voltage protection once the heat drives it out of spec.

What's in your system? That will be the determining factor to decide whether 8V is enough. The more power-hungry your system, the more excess heat the PSU will produce, and the faster you'll need to run the fan.

i have a AN8-SLI, 6800 ULTRA, AMD 3000+, 2X512, 1 HDD, DVD, 1 SOUND AND 1 PCI XCARD so, that is allot i guess

You're right, that's a fairly power-hungry system thanks to the VGA card. I'd be cautious. Perhaps it is possible (VERY carefully) to measure fan volate after a gaming session?

hey all... It's my first post here

I bought a silentium T1 case. For the silence. But i'm very upset, cause it's really noisy...
So i try to put that


All around the PSU, but it made nothing

I've read that i can change the voltage of the PSU fan, but i'm a bit afraid: If the PSU is in overheath and die, what can i do? Nothing, cause warrantly is avoid if i mod it

So my question are:
- Is the risk of changing the voltage are importent?
- Can i have picture of the things i must do...

I hope i was clear, cause my english is not very good...

Paralax

EDIT: my config:
Asus A7V8X-X
Athlon 2400+
6800le 16p;12v at 350/785
1go of ram (2*512)
Sound card
Wi-fi Card
USB card (4 usb on a PCI card, but i can remove it...)
160go maxtor
AOPEN DVD-RW

Great review, thanks.

I just bought a Silentium T2 after reading the review and love it. Sure its noisier than I
expected but its still way quieter than my old case and it runs a damn sight
cooler too.

Regarding about the plastic on the HDD caddy I took
extra care so it wouldn't break, thanks for the heads up.

About the base: Nobody has mentioned it so I dont know if its a revision
or not but mine came with long screws, two of which can fix the case to
the base. Though this does make it easier to move the case without the
base falling off it makes opening the thing even more of a nightmare.

Btw the box said it has a 450W PSU is this also a revision?