Old parts from 2009

Hey guys,
Here's the system I built recently. It's pretty quiet to me, except when it's late at night as the power supply's fan does get audible. The PSU also makes some coil whine whenever the processor increases its multiplier above 13.0x, which I do not perfectly understand yet since the coil whine dissapears under load, e.g. when running a torture test via Prime95.

Feel free to ask any questions! Thanks

Specs are:
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (rev 1.1) (Southbridge cooler replaced with a Zalman ZM-NB47J)
AMD 5000+ Black Edition (3.0 Ghz @ 1.275V, 1.6 Ghz @ 0.900V, 1.0 Ghz @ 0.800V overclocked and undervolted via CrystalCPUID)
Noctua NH-U12P with Noctua NF-P12 @ 500RPM idle, 600RPM load
Integrated HD3200 (750 Mhz)
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 PC2-6400 2x2GB
Western Digital SE16 640GB WD6400AAKS
Antec NSK3480 with Noctua NF-P12 @ 500RPM idle, 600RPM load as exhaust
LG GH22NS30 DVD Writer
Antec Earthwatts 380W
Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit with AMD/ATI Catalyst 8.10

As for temperature, everything runs fine under Prime95 Small FFT test. Processor temperature peaks at 40C, and the motherboard chipset peaks at 98C (though it's obvious that it is misreporting). As for the hard drive, I have no idea what happened to its thermal diode.

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Edit: 2014-12-24

I've gone ahead and made a few adjustments to my system. I've upgraded the processor to the AMD Phenom 9550 (traded from a friend and I am currently undervolting with K10Stat) and I bought an old XFX 5770 from a friend. The XFX video card's stock cooler was making a grinding sound and I replaced it with the Arctic Accelero L2 Pro, which is a nifty quiet (but not silent) cooler. Its fan is removable also, so it makes cleaning much easier.

Other changes include adding Crucial 2x2GB ram to the system and adding a spare 80 mm fan @ 9V (with the Noctua Low Noise Adapter) to the front that runs during the Summer.

The current system is quiet, but nowhere near silent. The loudest component is the power supply, which ramps up quite a bit during gaming. No doubt, the combo of an AMD 9550 and an AMD 5770 is pushing the power supply hard.

Here are the specifications:
AMD Phenom 9550 2.2 Ghz (K10Stat undervolting: 2.2 Ghz @ 1.0750V, 1.1 Ghz @ 0.8375V)
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (rev 1.1)
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X4096-6400C5 PC2-6400 2x2GB
Crucial DDR2 667MHz PC2-5300 CL5 2x2GB
Western Digital SE16 640GB WD6400AAKS
Noctua NH-U12P with Noctua NF-P12 @ 500 RPM with SpeedFan
Antec NSK3480 with Noctua NF-P12 @ 600 RPM with SpeedFan
LG GH22NS30 DVD Writer
Antec Earthwatts 380W
XFX Radeon 5770 with Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 Pro @ 800RPM idle and @ 1300 RPM load (fan profile configured with MSI AfterBurner 3)
AMD Catalyst 14.12
Windows 8.1 Pro (x64)

Looks very nice, but I would suggest suspending the hard drive with stretch magic in the cd cage.

... or put HDD on sorthobane pad...

Clean build but I'd put that HD on some foam to absorb vibrations.

I was thinking about doing some suspensions, but I'm using the empty 5 1/2 drive bay for the unused power supply cables at the moment. I might get a modular power supply or drill some holes to hide the cables behind the right side panel so I can move away the cables.

The case does some with some little silicone feet for the hard drive and it seems to be doing a pretty good job. Which would be better, the sorthobane pad or some soft packing foam you guys think?

i love this nifty little case. well done.

i'm loving this little surge of nsk3480s in the general gallery- nice little cases.

a month ago i upgraded to a wd6400aacs, and moved from suspension to the regular drive trays -naturally, the silicon wasn't as effective as elastic and i was getting a very small amount of vibration into the case.
at first it was a problem, causing a bit of buzzing with my side panel which was a little loose fitting -tilting the chassis eliminated the noise. i then added 4 rubber grommets between the tray and the case, over the screws, and now the hdd noise is drowned out by my 520rpm 120mm exhaust.
honestly though, i'm not sure if the rubber grommets helped, or if the side panel is fitting better after a little bending

edit: nice photos! i suck at taking photos.

NB 98°

NB 95°

The WD6400AAKS that I have doesn't vibrate too much though, but it's kinda hard to hear it properly with the so-so quiet fan on the Earthwatts 380.

The side panels are pretty tight on my case. Did you try switching the left panel for the right panel? The right panel doesn't have those intake holes, which should make it tougher

And about the pictures, thanks! The key is good lightning, a nice clean background, macro on the camera and a tripod

Yeah, but I think it's innacurate. I touched the heatsink earlier and I don't think it was 98C at all. It was hot, but not boiling hot!
Lots of people think that it's faulty.

The best thing about it is that it's pretty cheap and it can have a 120mm exhaust fan. Plus, most 120mm tower coolers fit in it. That's what made me want to get it
The only thing I don't like is the dual 92mm intake. I would have preferred a single 120mm!

Sweet setup. Did you consider a PicoPSU?? Also, is the fan on the CPU necessary, i.e. did try and run the computer without it? Last question; how is the bottom-of-the-case hard drive soft mounting? Are the grommets soft? Does it take care of vibrations?

Been looking to upgrade to a somewhat similar setup myself! Very inspiring.

I haven't considered the PicoPSU yet since I like having some headroom in the future + overclocking
I'm planning on getting a Corsair HX450W or maybe a Enermax Modu82+.

The fan on the CPU cooler isn't all that necessary. Without the fan, the CPU temperature peaks at about 49C and the motherboard 105C on Prime95 Small FFT, which isn't too bad. Nevertheless, once I run it at about 500RPM, I can't even hear it so I might as well leave it there and let my components run a bit cooler.

The soft grommets seem to be doing a pretty good job, but it doesn't absorb all the vibration. I touched the bottom of the case where the hard drive is placed and I can still feel some vibration through the metal. However, the case's metal is quite sturdy, so vibration noise isn't too bad.

Nice, I have the same case and motherboard! The NB temps are erroneous... There is a big thread on AVS forum talking about it.

I did what some are suggesting by mounting the HDD in the lower 5.25" compartment. I was able to do this by cutting holes for hiding the cables. I don't know why Antec doesn't already have the holes since there is a PERFECT spot for them to be hidden.

Nice build. Here is what I am talking about with mine.

I will definitely be cutting some holes to hide the cables. Will make things much cleaner in the case!

I see that you replaced the stock PCI slot brackets with some that don't have vents. Might take a go and do that as well. Thanks for the ideas!

Very nice clean setup. As long as the heatsink is touch-able, your NB temps shouldn't really be a concern.

Just out of curiosity... you've got 4GB of RAM - why are you using a 32-bit OS?

Yeah, I will be upgrading to 64-bit soon. My friend passed me his 32-bit version since he wasn't using it and I wanted to check out Vista before buying it

Great rig. On the subject of 120mm in the front you can fit one using some of the mount holes for the 92mm's. I have been experimenting and just for a laugh I cable-tied a 120mm antec tri-cool to the inside of the bottom 92mm. Running it on medium at 7V, the loudest fan is the PSU. Which also has coil whine when folding with the 8800GT.

I want to cut holes to hide the cables on the backside and also since the above was so successful...
I have measured and 2x120mm fans will (just) fit in the front. There is a lot of metal(grill and body) to remove to clear the air-path it will provide even more airflow past my rather hot components.

I did have 2x 92mm redwings in the front which had a bit too much drone at 7v but not enough airflow.

Still even as it is the rig does really well in COD4(50's/60's fps - max settings) and even Crysis( 30's-40's med/high cocktail). CPU temps max at 50 and 8800 maxes at 68.

Has anybody been able to fit a third HD in the 3.5 external cage in the NSK3480?
Also is it possible to install a power supply with 120 mm fan pointing upwards, do you guys see any issues with that?
I also have holes made in mine to have the cables hidden behind the MB tray.

Thanks, in advance.

External? There aren't any external cages in the case. You'd have to be creative to fit 3 HDD's with an optical drive.

I'm sure you can put a PSU in with a 120-140mm fan facing upward. There is some space and there are vents up top.

The forth picture really captured the fine execution of your build and oh my, doesn’t that Noctua seem to sort of dwarf the case.

Really nice one

It shouldn't be a problem to place a 120/140mm psu in there. There's about 1 cm between the psu and the top panel and there are vent right above there as well.


When I was picking the computer parts, I was afraid that the cooler wouldn't fit, but I checked the dimensions of the case/cooler and saw that it would probably clear, and it did thankfully!
The NSK3480 is one of the few mATX cases that can take large tower coolrs like the NH-U12P

I really like the proportions between the case and the cooler…did I just write that? Oh my, I better stop now....




On a more serious note:

Judging by the pictures it looks as if you could have room for a Quiet Drive or Smart Drive between the cooler and the front of the case, if mounted vertically, perhaps even possible to find away to neatly suspend it.

Hi, could the 98°C be the VRMs? I just built a system around Asus M2N68 and there was a temp that was 50s idle and 65-70°C under load. Touching the VRMs (little black chips between CPU and rear of case) suggested they could be that hot, certainly to hot to touch for long.
The 7750 Black Edition (effectively unlocked dual core Phenom) I used would be lower power than full Phenom X4 and I can believe with heavy loads the VRMs could get in to the 90s.

A very nice clean looking build though, makes me envious but then I remind myself my own system isn't bad at all and as I have no job ATM the credit card better stay in my wallet
Enjoy your PC
Regards, Seb

I think the temperatures are for the VRM as well. It would explain how for some people switching the NB cooler didn't yield any better temperature results.

How is the undervolting on the 7750 BE btw?


There are a few users here that have done that if I remember correctly. I might give it a try during the summer

Hi,

I have the same motherboard and I have to say that the high temperature reported >80c is definitely erroneous. I have actually touched the vrms and they are way lower than that even after load. A component that runs that hot would instantly burn one`s finger and while I have touched pretty much everything on this motherboard I have experienced no 2nd degree burns

Great build by the way, turning the psu upside down and drilling a hole to route the cables are great ideas. You could also do a fan swap, a noctua/skythe/nexus running at the same speed should be much quieter than the stock fan.

As for the buzzing, since it happens at a specific load, maybe you could use RMClock to switch the cpu state when it approaches this load?

I wonder if Gigabyte could have rectified the erroneous high temperature with a bios update?

I'm definitely going to drill a hole to route the cables behind the motherboard tray. Antec should have made one in the first place I say
I'll have to find the right equipment though!

RMClock doesn't play nicely with my computer. It always gets a bluescreen. I remember reading that RMClock doesn't like Brisbane processors. I'm using CrystalCPUID and if I set the max multiplier at 12x (2400 Mhz) and there isn't too much whine when going from 5x to 12x multipliers anymore.

I might even set it to a lower multiplier as I noticed that going from 5x to 10x pretty much eliminates the whine. It's weird how there's a whine though. It seems to only have a whine at ~11x and above (and at a voltage higher than ~1.10v) when it's a low CPU load (e.g. <100%)

A quick question: to what extent is the last (bottom) PCI slot usable if the drive is installed in the lowest position?
Did anyone measure or try to install a card in there?

You could *maybe* fit a short PCI-E 1x card in there, but definitely not room for a PCI card.