Solo + quiet fans = quiet PC (UPDATED December 21, 2008)

[frenchie]

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE UPDATE

Hi,
My turn to post some pics of my computer
I've been reading this forum for some time and I've recently started to set money aside to build my own quiet computer.
It all started when my PSU from my HP computer died (small case OC bought in 2002)... I bought a Nexus Quiet power supply to replace it, not knowing the size would be different. I bought it cuz the stotre clerk at the store said it was good and on sale... It was more than I'd plan to get but oh well... So it didn't fit and I got stuck with a PSU and a case (too lazy to take it back), and nothing I could do to put it together. There was no way the PSU was going to fit in there.
SOOOOO I started looking around for a case on the internet... and ended up on SPCR and other quiet PC websites.
I finally got an Antec Solo.
I put my old system in the solo (P4 2.4GHz, 256Mo RAM, 60Go HDD)

And then the sales started and I got tempted... And I was really starting to like doing things around my computer!!!! I bought a bunch of things here and there and put it together.

Finally, here is what I endedup with :
- Antec Solo
- Asus P5N-E SLI mobo
- 2Go of Corsair RAM (400MHz)
- intel E7200 processor
- Ninja mini
- Arctic Cooling 9 PWM fan
- Noctua 120mm NF-S12 and 92mm fan (UPDATE 10/2008: No more 92mm Noctua on the intake)
- Nexus Power supply (80 Plus Modular 400Watt Real Silent PSU) (UPDATE 12/2008: Enermax Modu82+ 625W)
- GeForce 8600GT (UPDATE 10/2008 : 9800GTX+ w/ Accelero S1) (UPDATE 10/2008 : 120mm Notua NF-P12 added)
- 2.5'' Samsung 160Go drive + scythe quiet drive
UPDATE 10/2008 : Added a 3.5'' Samsung 1 To drive + scythe quiet drive
UPDATE 12/2008 : both drives are now sitting vertically in the front bay of the Solo

Couple of things :
- the fan grills are cut out (front and back)
- I got rid of the filters in the front of the case.
- noctua 92 mm intake fan with 150 Ohms resistance to cool HDs (one is old and gets hot)... runs at around 700 rpm I think
- exhaust Noctua 120mm controle dwith Speedfan... runs between 350 and 750 rpm
- Artic cooling PWM fan (92mm)... runs between 600 and 1400 rpm ; Cools both the Mini Ninja and the VNF-100
- PSU fan never rams up... or if it does it's too quiet to notice. the air is sucked in through the bottom on the PSU.
- I spent a week fooling around with the fans, trying to get the best airflow as possible... And since I have a negative pressure case, I was trying to figure out where the air was going to be sucked in. I finally settled with PCI slots intake (picture of that later) and a duct
- plugged the holes at the bottom of the case in the back
- replaced stock NB heatsink with noctua's NH-U6
- added Zalman heatsink on SB

Here is the main pic of the inside:

******** OLD SYSTEM ********
- - - -

I'm VERY happy with the noise level !!!!!!!!!! I live on a quiet street and right now i have the window open. you can hear the wind in the trees and the birds. Not my computer. I can only hear it at night when it's very quiet. And even then it's just a soft humm

Temps in 25°C ambiant :
Idle :
CPU = 38°C (cores at 45°C)
GPU = 50°C
Load (CoD 4 for 2 hours)
CPU = 45°C (cores at 53°C)
GPU = 60°C

All comments are welcome Hope you enjoy.

PS : sorry, no pic of the other side, I'm too lazy right now to pull out the case , unscrew it and take a pic. All the cables are tucked in the cable management area of the case.

[rei]

none of the pics work

[Do they work now?]

[Vicotnik]

Beautiful system frenchie.

[frenchie]

thanks Vicotnik

I changed the links to images (finally figured out how it's done )

I just ordered some black U channel. Will use it as soon as it gets here to give the comp the finishing touch.

[BuyUseReturn]

Very nice system, and impressive temperatures considering the mostly passive interior. How hot is your 2.5" drive in the Scythe enclosure getting? Also, it is in the direct airflow path of a fan? It's hard to tell which is which in the picture.

[frenchie]

The Quiet Drive is the top drive. It has the 92mm Noctua fan blowing on it at around 700 rpm (estimate). It is the coolest drive of the two. Temps are around 26°C on idle and average around 30°C when working (it's my system drive so it's always doing something). The highest I ever got was 33°C when I transfered 30Go of data from a drive to the other. No idea what ambiant was aat the time of testing... probably around mi-20s.
I'm very happy with the drive + quiet drive combo !!! It is silent. There is NO way you can tell if the drive is seeking or not. The first time I turned it on (other drive was not in the case yet), I thought it wasn't working (plus I had the HD activity LED on the wrong way round so it wasn't blinking) !!!
It is only when windoze showed up (I know, I run windoze, it's bad ) that I realized it was working.

Compared to it, my old barracuda 7200.7 is very noisy. In fact, it is probably the main source of noise in my computer right now when the computer is idle.


I ran a 1 hour test with 2 instances of CPU Burn last night. The cores peaked at 60°C and after about 45 min temps were stable at 59°C. CPU temp was 48°C. Ambiant was 28°C in the room at the time of testing. When the tests ended, temps dropped back to 48°C for the cores and 39 for the CPU temp in less than a minute. It's on the high side when loaded but I'm not too worried because I never get those temps when using the computer normally or when gamming.

I'll test my GPU tonight to see what happens when it's under a lot of stress.

[BuyUseReturn]

Thanks for the information. I ordered the same enclosure for my WD Scorpio recently, but was less than optimistic about being able to use it long term. Mine is at 33C idle right now, my room temperature is 26C. Granted, it has little to no airflow, so I may need to add a low RPM fan.

Still better than the idle seek noises it makes.

[frenchie]

After looking at HammerSandwich's computer, I stole his idea of a duct for the GPU (thanks HammerSandwich)
Problem was, I don't have a PSU at the bottom of my case (solo) and my GPU heatsink is designed to be mounted above the card, not under... I messed around with the GPU (and replaced stock thermal paste) and I got it to fit under my card, like this :




First I took out my Dremel and got rid of the PCI slot covers in the back. I left the piece that you screw the covers on so I can put them back later if I changed my mind (I tried and it's very hard to see the mod if the covers are screwed back in place). Then I remembered I had a Noctua 92mm fan... And it fit just fine between the GPU and the bottom of the case So I added it, sucking air OUT of the case first. I made a simple duct (using some graphics card box for the design) and ran some test...

Well.... temps were higher I was just about to go back to my previous settings and do the whole process backwards... I decided while I was at it, I might as well try to reverse the fan and test (fan blowing IN)
That worked MUCH better (5°C drop in GPU temp). Keep in mind that ambiant temps were around 30°C at the time of tests, which is quite hot here. So basically GPU temps now are 5°C lower than the very first tests I ran. the rest of the temps have not increased.

AND noise is the same as before (unless I run all the fans at full speed, which is NEVER the case). The 92mm Noctua fan in the back is not audible.

Here is the pic of the duct :

-

I also slightly modified the position of the CPU fan so it would blow more directly towards my NB cooler which runs HOT.



Finally, I added the U channel (thanks to MikeC for posting the website of a store that ships internationally). I love the stuff and it looks very professional.



Once again thanks to HammerSandwich for sparking the duct inside me... (NO I did not say spanking the duck)

[BuyUseReturn]

Very nice, I like the image on your choice of cardboard. Have any of your other temps been affected now that the hot air from your GPU is being pushed up into your case in the opposite direction of its (the case's) airflow?

By the way, I received my Scythe drive enclosure and it's exactly as you said it'd be: my Scorpio's seek noises are no more at no increase in temperature. Thanks!

[frenchie]

No problem !! Always glad to help Thank you for your comment

Temps have not increased at all... Or not that I've noticed... I was surprised but I figured that the fan I use as a CPU fan pushes the hot air towards the back of the case before it heats up the other components (CPU + NB) . But it's just a guess. I'm quite happy with the position the CPU fan is in right now. It pushes air through the NB cooler and the Minja at the same time. The airflow those arctic cooling PWM fans have is much less directed than on "normal" fans. It seems it does a better job on overall cooling of the system than a regular fan would do. And the airflow coming from the GPU is not really against airflow overall... Since hot air rises, it is just helping it rise faster towards the exhaust...

[frenchie]

Me again


I've been playing with the airflow scheme this week end because I wasn't happy at all with the Northbridge temps. It was almost too hot to touch and I wasn't confortable with that.
[EDIT : and i was starting to get nasty vibrations from the CPU + NB fan because of the way it was mounted]

I'm now back to some more "standard" airflow :



red = fan
blue = duct

I will also be applying some sounds absorbing material sometimes this week when I get the chance to try to kill the rest of the noise made by the HD.
I'll post updated pics + temps + specs when I have time.

[L2GX]

Your case seems to scream for a dual intake fan in front setup. Just swap an exhaust fan and give it a try...

Not sure how good that rear intake works, I can't imagine how you would get higher pressure outside than inside.. Try to duct the vga fan to take air coming in from the front and exhaust it in the rear? * edit:: same thing for the fanless front intake, that's definetely going to exhaust the air from the bottom fan.

To me front intake > rear exhaust seems the best kind of setup as it reduces the likelyhood of air circling around. since you tried a lot of options you're ideally placed to see if that holds true.

[frenchie]

Hi L2GX,
Thanks for your comments. I modified my scheme a little bit because it was not quite accurate. I have a duct to direct air across the HDs (and to make sure the air is not directly exhausted) and there is also one alongside my GPU (can't picture it here but you'll see in the pics I'll post later).

Here is the updated scheme (cool air in blue, warm air in red, ducts in brown, fans in green) :



The exhaust fan and the PSU fan are 120mm fans. The only real intake fan I have is the 92mm front intake on low (5V) to spot cool the HDs.

To answer your comment about pressure inside the case being lower than outside, it's quite easy to do. You need to exhaust more air than your intake fans push in. The pressure difference will be compensated by the open holes in the case where air will be sucked in (in my case, the open PCI slot and the front fanless intake).
There is a big debate about positive vs negative pressure cases. I'm more into negative pressure (cool case but dust build up). Positive pressure is better if you have dust problems but it tends to keep your case a little warmer (because all the hot air is not immediatly exhausted). Both these methods have their advantages and drawbacks... I guess it's just a personnal choice.

[frenchie]

************* OCTOBER 17th UPDATE *************
October 18th : temps added



Main changes:
- Installed a 9800GTX+ and the famous Accelero and a spare 92mm Arctic Cooling PWM fan I had;
- Installed an exhaust fan above the DVD burner to get rid of the hot air pocket that was there (http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50357&highlight=&sid=b9256066c4ed6be307ede8dcd2e305d1)
- Moved the HDs to the top HD bays
- Installed an Acoustic Dustproof 70mm fan at 1000rpm on the NB cooler with a duct to get the hot air away from the Minja
- Installed Acoustipack

Final setup :



Accelero BARELY clearing the SB heatsink :



NB setup (Noctua heatsink + Dustproof fan) :




New airflow path :




Temps idle :


Temps load (1 CPU burn + 1 rthdribl) :


the summary graph (red = GPU ; green = CPU) :

[frenchie]

************* DECEMBER 21st UPDATE *************

Hi all,

I had the opportunity to change my PSU (sister wants a cheap PC, so I'm building her one and using my old PSU with a bunch of other parts)

Anyways... down to the changes.
The PSU change in a Solo is a pain since you need to move the mobo. A swipe of vaccum cleaner took care of the little dust there was in there.
In the process, I added a 120mm noctua (P12) on the Accelero to replace the 92mm AC PWM fan. Since my case was getting decently warm from the Accelero, I made a duct for it. It is designed to direct the warm air towards the exhast fan at the back. Works quite well : I can feel a lot more warm air than before coming out of the exhaust fan. And when I open the case, not more hot air rushes out. The inside is almost at room temperature
I also decided to try the HR-05 SLI IFX NB cooler. I slapped the 70mm fan I had from before on the HR-05. Works like a charm but it is a HUGE pain in the back end to install !!!!!!
Finally, I moved the HDs back where thay belong on the Solo... except they are now standing vertically !! To all the Solo owners out there who want to use Quiet Drives on 3,5 inches drives in the 3.5 inches bays, YES, YOU CAN (). You can fit 3 drives vertically but it's a tight fit (you'll get away with around 5mm of clearance altogether, probably not great for airflow...). In my case, it fits really well and the drives stay nice and cool. I re-used the elastic band provided by Antec in the Solo to hold the drives, and I tapped a layer of buble wrap under the enclosures to stop any vibrations from coming down to the case.

Now for some pics :

overall view :


HR-05 SLI IFX NB cooler with 70mm fan and NF-P12 on the Accelero S1 :


Hard drive bays with the hard drives sitting vertically:


The duct : inside view (the cuts are made to leave room for the end of the heatpipes on the mini ninja and the HR-05)


The duct : in place (NOT a Special K add, just my girlfriend's contribution)



Temps are 2°C lower for the CPU and unchanged for the GPU.

Any comments or questions welcome

[eg0ist45]

I'm interested in buyin a Antec Solo case and make a silent pc is that possible ? In my room at night is very quier and i have a computer very close to the bed (at my feet). So i would like to make a PC that i can't hear when i go to bed

My config:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (not overclocked)
Asus P5Q
Corsair TX650W
CORSAIR RAM DDR2 TWIN2X 800MHz 4096-6400C4 (2 X 2GB)
Asus 9600 GT 512MB with that with that very big fan
Seagate 200GB (ST3200826AS) and 500GB (ST3500320AS)
Don't have jet a DVDRW but i'm thinking about samsung S223Q or NEC 7203S or pioneer DVR-216DBK - if you have recomendations please let me know
In near future i'll buy 1TB HDD probably WD GreenPower series - quiet they say or Caviar Black

I was thinking about:
Antec Solo and replace the rear fan with Noctua NF-S12-1200 on U.L.N.A - how much airflow if enough ?
Scythe Ninja 2 without fan
Artic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev.2 for my GPU
and additonal front fan to boost the airflow Noctua NF-B9-1600 and also turn it to U.L.N.A.

The question is will there be enough airflow to keep the computer "safe&stable" and will i hear the computer when i go to sleep ?
Does HDD "noise busters" that come with Solo case good enough to keep things quiet or what can i do to keep things quieter?
And can you recomend me cheaper and quiet enough fans then Noctua ?

PS: sorry for my bad english - my first post

[frenchie]

Hi,
I'm not familiar with some of your components here... I'd say it looks good at first sight !!
The suspension system in the solo woks fine with already quiet HDs (I'm not sure how quiet those seagates are...). Put an Accelero on your GPU and you can run it passive in the solo. Also, put a Ninja on that CPU and you'll be on your way to a very quiet PC. Any reason why you need that 650W power supply ?
If I were you, I'd post your config in the new members section, you'll get more advice from more people
_________________
Antec Solo | Enermax Modu82+ 625W (with Scythe quiet PWM 120mm fan) | Evga 750i FTW modded | Intel E7200 @ 3.2GHz | Mini Ninja | Corsair 2x1Go | Gainward 9800GTX+ | Accelero S1 | Intel X25-M (V2) 80Gb w/Windows 7 Ultimate | Samsung 1To (3,5 inch) in SQD | Exhaust fan NF-S12 | GPU fan NF-P12
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=49286&highlight=

[eg0ist45]

I just saw this post and registred did't know about new members section. Reason for 650w PSU - quality, warranty (5 years) , quiet (didn't know earlier ), salesman recommendation and maybe overclocking in the future or quad core. i'll take a look at the new members section when i will have some time thanks for the advice.

[vertigo]

Nice duct, frenchie. Keeping the system temp low is very desirable, I think.