It is 1 year, it works perfectly...
pianomambo (at) gmail.com

And here is my second... about my computer !

1. THE CASE : Antec mini p180









2. THE FANS : 5 Noctuas + resistances





3. THE HDD BOX : SilentMaxx + 2 tunnels (in & Out)









4. THE POWER SUPPLY : Seasonic M12 + Noctua





Thanks for your comments !

Out-freaking-rageous.

professional build. you should seriously consider doing custom jobs like this-if you aren't already.

What are your temps? This is a really nice build! Can you explain how the fan control works, it would appear that it is just a different connector and that slows the fan down, but what is actually different? It is a great idea for making a clean build and keeping the RPMs down without using a fan controller...

Great job!

How did you remove the internal structure? Did you drill out the rivets or is there an easier way? I'd like to remove the plateau that separates the 2 drive cages, but I want to be able to put it back, too.

mr lahey, xev : Thank you for your nice comments ! (no, I am not a pro !)

Asulc : Resistances just slows down fans to make them inaudible. Because of their low speed, Speed-fan can't measure them. That's why I use Q-fan, which is a hardware management based on the voltage included in the Asus Motherboard. Here are my temps :




Moogles : You can easily remove the internal structure with a drill and a holder to maintain the rivets. This operation is reversible... with a riveting tool, of course.

absolutely awesome

.... i'm stealing the hdd box idea

Wow.

You must really hate hearing your hard drive seek! My goodness talk about thorough! Good job, lots of obvious effort shown. That hard drive contraption is a piece of art. I certainly appreciate it at least.

Are those floor tiles used in the HDD box?

fantastic pictures, best I have seen in the gallery for a long time. Incredible, congratulations! I especially like the CPU duct, what heatsink is that btw?

porkchop. In fact, I prefere my HDD Box than sound-proofing all the case... for temperature raison !

AMDforlife (me too), the silentmaxx does a really good job. But if you want a total silence, you need a other protection. My HDD Box is inaudible at 10 cm. But as you say, it must be built precisely. The material I use is called NOMAPHONE (available in France). Thinkness : 5 mm.

Jaganath, The CPU duct is made by Thermalright (look for "120mm Fan Duct for HR-01-K8"). I've cut it. The heatsink is the Noctua's one (NH-U12P).



Thank you all for your comments.

Very nice (and adventurous) build. I don't know many people willing to hack up a $100+ case!!

Question, have you tried this setup without the two intake fans? I understand that they are running very slow and are most likely inaudible, I'm just curious how it would affect overall temps as your hardware seems to be pretty modest.

@Moogles

Here's a way to drill the rivets out and 'mod' it so you can use it again later. The pics are self-explanatory.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1298433


@pianomambo

That's really some very ingenious mods you've done. You're HD temps are really good, considering they are inaudible.

Nice job. I think are to many fans though...

jhhoffma, this computer costs around 600 euros. I agree with you : this is expensive. But for someone (like me) who works on it many hours per day, it is a kind of investment : I need best conditions to think.
(I confess : to assemble it was also a pleasure.)

Aztec and oxygen20000, before this setting, I tried with 1, 2 and 3 fans. (Antec NSK 4000, Antec NSK 3400). Temps are not bad, but if you really want silence, 4 is a minimum. Of course, it depends on what you call "silence".


In all these cases, fans do their job... but not enough silently for me.

In the particular case that you don't use intake fans, the others produce really more noise (I have tested !). Logical : they have to work more.

Thank you for your comments !

holy smokes nice build!

what do you mean by "if you really want silence, 4 is a minimum"

I was under the impression less fans = better. Are you saying that with 1 intake you had to run the fan speed so high (for temps) to where it was actually quieter to run 2 intakes with @ a lower speed? As others said i would also think that you could get by with just 1 intake.

Damn... very, very nice rig

Hya,
first off - very nice setup, I might copy that HD setup when I have the time

To answer the question of one vs multiple fans:
- Take a given system, with current upper midrange components
- Choose a given target temperature (says 55c max under load)
- you'll find that several fans (i.e 4) at say 650 rpm are going to be quieter than a single fan at 1000 rpm (simply due to airflow noise which seems to be the main problem with fans in ultra-quiet systems). It might also be very difficult to hit that target temperature with only one fan simply due to the fact that it'll be quite difficult to get the airflow exactl right - several fans allow for much more precise spot cooling and with modern large heatsinks very little airflow is needed for good results, but some airflow is needed for many modern components.

Ofc if you're willing to choose specific low power components and even undervolt cpu/gfx you might get away with running a single fan at 650 rpm which ofc would then again be quieter.
For many systems though (all else beeing equal) you'll likely see better results with several ultra-low speed fans than with a single higher speed fan.
It all really depends on what temperatures you're comfortable with and how much performance you want to get out of a system - hope this helps clarify things a bit

Exactly ! For a same airflow, one fan produces more noise than two.

If you put one Noctua NF-S12-800 with ULNA resistance, it will turn at 500 RPM, which is very quiet but not inaudible.

If you connect two in parrallel, you reduce their speed just a little above the cut-off (see my graph "fan, computer and hysteresis"). It must be something like 200 or 300 RPM. You have enough airflow and they are completely silent.

This choice is important because all the other fans are inside the case : the two fans on the front side are the noisiest components of the system.

Matva, Wibla and kel, thank you for your contributions !

Ps : Matva, I wrote "4 is a minimum" because I have a very light machine, only for work : slow CPU, no graphic card, etc. If you want a stronger one with the same quality of silence, I think you have to consider a bigger case, and maybe more fans.

I have only 2 fans (Noctua NF-S12 1200 @5V) running at ~500 RPM each and another one in the PSU (Seasonic S12+ 550) which most likely i will change with an Noctua P12... I have an excellent airflow and the temps are great.

Very nice build

I like the clean airflow, the courage to cut that nice case and to be different with multi fans. Especially, I like the HDD case.

I prefer to have two disks, the secondary for backup. But one could of course go with an external one...

One small suggestion: Could it be a (small) improvement, if you turned the upper part of the HDD box 180 degree, so you gave the fan/intake closer to the front of the case, and the exhaust more to the rear? Thus minimising the chance of recycling warm HDD air into the HDD case again... ?

I would like to build such a HDD case, but I'm not good at making precision wood work... So now I'm at 2,5" disks and Scythe enclosures.

Thanks for sharing

bien joué !!!

very nice build !!! you obviously put a lot of work in this !!!

I just have the same comment as Thomas to improve airflow and maybe loose a couple of degrees... nothing major.

Once again, great build !!!!!

bien joué

I`m amazed, a lot of interesting ideas and an excelent execution.

As for the fan noise, I agree that the front fans can be the loudest in a system. Even worse the front intakes also allow hdd noise to reach you more easily and I noticed a big improvement by completely sealing the front of the case. My two fans are working harder than yours of course and my computer would probably be quieter if I added a couple of intake fans, maybe at the back.

I don't understand how four fans can be more silent than one or two fans. Given that they run at the same speed.

In my case I only have one 12cm fan at the back @ 500 rpm and I still have great temps.

Still a great build.

I think in this context, they don't...

Imagine a simple box, with an intake hole and an exhaust hole. If you only put a fan on the intake, this fan will have to work harder to push air through than if you have a fan on the intake and a fan on the exhaust, both doing light work. I reckon the work done by the two fans will be less than the work done by a single fan because they will be working more efficiently.

...but in this case, there are two inlets and two exhausts.


Anyone studied fluid mechanics at university? I think we need some bigger words.

Impressive and Very nice

First, Thank you very much everybody for your contributions !

About fans, here are my three basic rules :

1. Reduce speed. At very low speed, your computer can't measure RPM : softwares like speedfan are ineffective. If you want to be just above the cut-off, at the minimum voltage to have a regular rotation, use resistance.

2. Divide the work. To move air always produces noise. The more you have fans, the less they have to work. That is why you need intake fans. Choose big fans with small airflow (NF P12 is louder than NF S12).

3. Avoid turbulences. Try to have a clear airflow path with free space around your fans. If it is possible avoid corners and take out the fan of the power supply.

Of course, the best way is to do your own tests on your own machine. It is easy to connect or to disconnect a fan ! A last advice : Always keep better airflow on the exhaust than on the intake.


"Four steps to silence" (at equal airflow)

---

Thomas, about the orientation of the HDD box : your remark is judicious... but... the airflow can't be recycled : on my pictures, entry is near the frontside, exit is near the backside. Secondly, input and output airflows are at the same temperature. It means the HDD is too much ventilated but I can't reduce the fan : it is already near the cut-off. So, because there is no incidence on temperatures, I prefere to minimize the turbulences between fans.

Impressive build! I have a P180 Mini around and if I don't end up selling it, I just might do something like this to it. After all I only want room for a couple of HDDs and a very, very quiet end result.

So, you didnt like the 200mm fan?
That is the most attractive selling point for me to get this case, did you try it before you removed it and what did you think of that fan?
I have only read good things about it so far.
Would it be possible to mount a 200mm fan instead of those 2x120mm fans in the front with a little modding?
I think that would be awsome..