I have finally finished my system after 4 months and $180 dollars

the beginning


The system
looking plain

Specs
Intel 2.8C HT Northwood
MSI PT880 NEO LSR
2 x 256MB of Corsair ram
ATI 9800 pro 128 with Aerocool VM-101
Seagate 120gb 7200.7 PATA (it's ok, loudest in my system)
Seasonic 330 with Coolermaster UV silent blue 120 fan
Lite-on DVD/CD drive

Melamine, volara, vinyl tile, and cool/heat gel pacs

I'll start from my last system here



prepare to be cut up!
the tools

Wiss tin snips, rest you should know

*graphic pictures omitted*
(if you really want some, just ask)

the magic result




The first Mcmaster package contents


measured to cut
this piece is for the bottom


In we go!



I ended up putting the volara foam on the left side panel, bottom, top, back and the front bezel door

Unfortunately, I happened to find a $1 dollar 3 pack of vinyl tiles after installing the volara, so that went onto the right side panel, making a huge difference in the panel resonace.




Other Mcmaster package arrives


here's the $1 dollar glue gun with a $1 dollar 25 pack of mini glue sticks


used to secure melamine foam

and finally with everything in place




A few notes
the cool pacs are interesting, they do a good job of dampening, but once they warm up, they stay like that for a while hence the name
with no circulation temps would go 55C+
with the setup above it seems to stabalize at 43C

Now my system is Inaudible except for the hard drive seeks of the 120gb seagate which may be replaced in the near future because of it's noise and it's failure to pass the extended seagate SMART test (warranty is over)


TEMP as of now
CPU 38idle / >60C Load
Case 23
HDD 41
GPU slightly warm (with the antec 120 fan at 5v blowing across it)

It's been fun modding my case for silence
I hope that I don't spend anymore money on this project....

nice build,

what are those cool pacs? do they help with the temps?

Aluminum enclosure to make it perfect



come on... do it! My WD's sandwhiched in those with the hot/cold packs, with no fans blowing over, are chillin' at 36C right now. It helps, it really does.

thanks
They are called Rapid Aid Hot & Cold gelpacks
I got 2 for a $1 at the dollar store along with the glue gun and tiles

my seagate drive runs on the hot side so you probably would get lower temps
for my application, it works because I can put melamine closer to it (if I put it directly to melamine, temps would skyrocket)

I had tried to totally enclose the drive with melamine, but even with the cool packs, it kept on creeping up - past 56C!

It's also fun to put these packs in the freezer and put them on the drives (I put a tissue around) and watch the drive temp go down

I'm not sure if these are the correct packs since they also retain heat (hence the name) at times, i've taken them off to feel them and they are burning hot!

you might want to consider the gel packs that are advertised as cool/cold ONLY

hey!
$30 dollars is a lot for a aluminum box!
besides I'm concerned about my drives that I noted above, both temp wise and longevity wise
I'm considering a spinpoint from newegg for around $50

thanks for your influence for me to spend more money!
(unless you want to trade for a wiss tin snip and the remaining pieces of my melamine foam)

o and here's a pic of the resulting mess from the melamine

It looks prettier than your previous lego one for sure,lots of cutting 2, bet you'll cutt those back PSU grill 2 in the end...

what's that volara thing?(2 lazy 4 googling) looks rather thin to do something...

$1 for this and that? hey yangster do you go to the store with a gun? (not that glue gun I meant,might be a .357 )

And what was wrong with my LEGO's?
as for the PSU grill...no don't think I want to accidently miss the power socket when I plug it in and touch a freely exposed capacitor


well according to foambymail.com it is a barrier with a STL rating of 24?
I wanted to layer my foam and I got the adhesive backing for ease of use
they actually are kinda spongy, I actually used them a vibration dampening, they "mold" when pressure


It's called a Dollar store, where everything is a dollar! a true sign of american cheapness
if I remember weldingheart, you live in Europe or Russia? so you may not have these dollar stores around

I'm not sure how to react to the gun question do you mean using the glue gun as a weapon? (imagine "hands up, I've got a glue gun and I'll glue you to death!...wait..gotta plug it in and wait 5 min! And I have 25 rounds!")

BTW no exhaust fan?

No,the LEGO was just great,actually I missed them,but your previous build has foams everywhere-those not so eye pleasing



Oh I see,I've been told before about that kinda store,never seen before though-maybe because we don't use Dollar,hopefully there would be $1 Silencing Store for cheap people like me .


I thought that you entered the store with a massive calibre gun and shouting to the storeman "I need some silencing stuff!But there's only some $1 in my wallet because I have spent a lot for quietening my rig!Just take it,or I'll have a bullet with your name on it"

Regarding to inverted VM-101 I also did that with my 9600XT.But instead of blowing the fan to it, I take the advantage of negative pressure crated by exhaust fan,so that rear pci slot holes became intake and letting the air pass through the fins then rise and exhausted by exhaust fan(&PSU)

clearly, your perception of america is wrong


I thought about that, but I didn't want the heat affecting the CPU
your 9600XT doesn't get as hot as my 9800 pro
I'm thinking of seperating the bottom portion, making a "mini P180" to totally isolate the GPU and HDD

spolitta- I feel there isn't much of a need for an exhuast fan and I might use it as intake instead

I were you I would try the the exhuast fan before doing anything.

I dunno, while adding a exhuast fan would help temps it also is more noise
besides I don't have anymore quiet 120 fans

I made some slight changes to my setup

1)the CPU fan or Amber fan is suspended because it was creating a unbearable noise when clamped in with the XP90's wire clips, so it now is hanging on fishing line less than a half inch away (2-3 cm)

2)I removed the top cool pack to find that it is actually cooler! by 4-5 C (logic board up)

3) the area between the edge of the graphics card and case panel is filled to prevent heat from the bottom of the card affecting the CPU

I'll add a pic of this setup soon

PS
Is anyone interested in my zalman 7000AlCu? or wiss tin snips?

alright spolitta, you were right

I moved the antec 120 to the back and reduced all temps!
I was worried about the GPU but nope, it's actually cooler!
thanks!

And I have come to the conclusion that the cold/hot packs are the wrong type, I need to find the Cold only packs
except they are more expensive...