"SilverSilence" My New Silent Rig. 56K beware!

Show off your quiet rig.

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WayneSim
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Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2003 1:29 am

"SilverSilence" My New Silent Rig. 56K beware!

Post by WayneSim » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:05 pm

Let me introduce you to my lastest "SILENT" water cooled rig. Known to me as "SilverSilence" :D. This project has taken many hours/days/months. But it's finally here and I'm very happy. It has meet my dreams of silence and has exceeded any expectations of performance. And when I say "SILENT" I mean it. I'll explain as we go. (I also posted this on theOCAU forums.

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Complete inside shot. Looks like a normal watercooled setup. But in time you will see it's far, far from that.


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Another inside shot. As you can see it's a very open design. No cable mess and very tidy.


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Dual radiator setup! It's a LA (Little Arse) and it's big bro the BBA (Big Big Arse). Fit's in perfectly! Of course this case has been fully gutted.


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Home made Hard Drive WaterBlock. Info can be foundhere. If you have a look at the other pictures you will see a box under the PSU. That's where the hard drive lives. I must say that I'm extremely happy how this block performs. As I type it's sitting on 33 degrees. It rarely get over 40, even under load. Max it's ever hit was 45 degrees under load, on a 41 degree day! And the computer was sitting on top of my desk. Also dont forget people the hard drive lives inside a box! (for the record i've seen hard drives in a normal case setup easily get to 55 degrees on an average hot day). So I'm very happy to say the least. Original plan was to cool it enough so it doesn't die inside a box. Now I can say it runs "cool".


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Here is a close up of the pump, home made reservoir with filter , CPU and GPU waterblocks. Originally I wanted to incase the pump in a box to cut out the noise that the pump makes. However due to space restraints. I had to make do with foam walls. Mind you it still does the job well enough! (only when the computer is on the foor though).


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Fishished shot. You will see the res is perfect for filling and draining the water. The case was originally an Aopen HX08 full tower. The front panel has been painted a silver colour. As you will see (below) it is the same paint as I used to paint my desk. So it matches perfectly :D


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Add a fan bus controler and the setup is complete :). Original plan was to cut 2 x 120mm holes in the side of the case. It would fit perfectly over my BBA rad. However as I'm building a "silent" system, and to my surprise it performs very well without fans turned on. I quicky decided that I could make do without the extra fans. I mean, it's not like I really ever planned to turn them on much anyway or EVER for that matter!!! It was bascially for backup. Just in case for some reason I needed to cool the system quickly.


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The case is neatly tucked away under my desk. No mess, no fuss... And in case you are wondering the side panel (see picture above, above) has been removed. Because I need air to flow naturally around the BBA radiator. And the air at ground level is quite cool. You didn't think I would leave the radiator to suffocate without natural airflow did you?

(I should also tell you that I'm planning to build a sound proof box to house a CD drive in. It will be placed next to my CD collection, as seen in the picture. ATM I dont really need a CD drive as this PC is networked to another computer).

Fans and Airflow
Well first I should tell you I VERY rarely ever turn on any fans in the whole system. I dont need to! The only fan that runs continually is the fan in the PSU. It is an Artic Cool 80mm temperture fan. I run it at 5 Volts and spins at around 800 rpm - 1200 rpm. Moves jack all air and is "SILENT". The PSU is a Seasonic Super Silencer 400w. Because the PSU is so efficient it needs very little airflow! With even the tiniest amount of aiflow it stays surprisingly VERY cool!!! For the record, it does get way too hot without any airflow! (I did test it).

Only other 2 fans in the system are 1) a 120mm Panaflow fan in the front panel. It's too noisly for my liking at even 5 volts. So I never turn it on! 2) is a 92mm Zalman I placed at the back of the case near the northbridge/CPU and back of video card. It just sits in there. Again I rarely turn it on! However they are there when I need them. If I'm playing a game and dont want the system to get too hot. I just turn both fans to 5 Volts. It's very easily. And of course turn them both off as soon as i can, LOL...


Parts Used
* Cascade CPU waterblock
* Pixel Ice GPU waterblock
* Ehiem 1250 Pump
* Home made reservoir with filter(more info and pictures here)
* Home made Hard Drive waterblock(more info and pictures here)
* Little Arse Radiator
* Big Big Arse Radiator
(These Radiator "titles" have been given their name on OCAU forums, LA I believe was from a Corolla, BBA was from an 80's Commodore. Both where bought new from radiator places)


I LOVE silence! As some of you may know water cooling does not always equal silence! This project was not about making a quieter system. It was all about making a "SILENT" system and i'm talking in terms of "inaudible", like under 10 decibells for the WHOLE system.

:D

chylld
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Post by chylld » Sun Feb 22, 2004 6:53 pm

I saw this on the ocau forums. i think it belongs here more, we understand the concept of silence better heheh :)

i think it would be better (it's good atm, i don't doubt that at all) if you modify it so that you can more easily add a 2nd hdd and possibly if you can re-route the tubing so that you can put the side cover on... with a window in it of course :)

WayneSim
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Post by WayneSim » Sun Feb 22, 2004 8:40 pm

chylld wrote:I saw this on the ocau forums. i think it belongs here more, we understand the concept of silence better heheh :)

i think it would be better (it's good atm, i don't doubt that at all) if you modify it so that you can more easily add a 2nd hdd and possibly if you can re-route the tubing so that you can put the side cover on... with a window in it of course :)
Yeah I think it's suited well in both forums. 2nd hard drive for me will never be needed. Hard drive is a Seagate 120GB, 8 mb buffer. That is plenty of storage for my needs with this setup.

(Side)/Top cover will never me used! Why? Becasue hot air NEEDS to rise and escape naturally without the aid of fans. There is still enough of a gap for air to get in and out, even under the desk. What good is a window if 95% of the time it sits under the desk? But everyone loves the "rice" factor I guess.

For me personally, this setup works perfectly. Everyone needs there own custom built PC. And this depends on many factors and how they use their PC. For me, this is it :).

HammerSandwich
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Post by HammerSandwich » Mon Feb 23, 2004 8:41 am

Interesting setup! How about system specs and temps?

WayneSim
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Post by WayneSim » Mon Feb 23, 2004 6:11 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:Interesting setup! How about system specs and temps?
CPU - P4 1.8A @ 2Ghz
Mobo - Gigabyte 8IRXP
Video Card - GeXcube, Radeon 9600 Pro
Ram - 768mb (512+256) Samsung TCB3
HDD- Seagate 120GB, 8mb buffer (ST3120026A)

Please note that temps can't be compaired to anyone elses system. Many factors influence temps. I dont have any test equipment other than what my mobo says. I also only know what the outside weather is from the weather man on TV. Not my actual ROOM.

CPU Idle: ~ 35-38
CPU Load: ~ 38-41

HDD: Normal everyday operation ~ 32-38 (only in RARE cases, like playing games for hours on a 40+degree day, does it go over 40)

Please Note: these temps are a rough guide!

Overall I'm very happy with these temps for a completely passive setup. I'm sure with the aid of airflow temps would go down a fair bit.

HammerSandwich
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Post by HammerSandwich » Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:23 pm

Thanks for the update. Those temps are impressively low for a passive setup.

WayneSim
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Post by WayneSim » Sun Feb 29, 2004 6:37 pm

Due to more temp readings the CPU temp can actually get to 45 degress. And I'm sure I could push it a little higher on a very hot day (35 + degree day), if I push ~100% cpu load for long periods! I guess all that matters to me is a silent, working pc. Temps are still very good IMO. It still runs a lot cooler than a standard HSF and a basic water cooling setup in normal conditions. It's only when I "stress" the CPU for hours that it gets really hot. But that's what "backup" fans are for ;), then I just leave the room for 5-10 mintues.

chylld
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Post by chylld » Sun Feb 29, 2004 6:48 pm

just a random question: where's the "silver" in the system? :) (as the name suggests)

WayneSim
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Post by WayneSim » Mon Mar 01, 2004 12:43 am

chylld wrote:just a random question: where's the "silver" in the system? :) (as the name suggests)
The front panel has been painted silver. The 120mm fan filter is silver as with the fan bus. So basically everthing you see from the front is silver ;). Then I just came up the the name... Oh and where is the silver "IN" the system. It's called Artic Silver 5 thermal grease :). Thus the CPU, GPU and HDD all have silver on them.

:D

kogi
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Post by kogi » Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:35 am

Did you get the seasonic PSU in Australia?
If so Where?

kogi

WayneSim
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Post by WayneSim » Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:59 am

kogi wrote:Did you get the seasonic PSU in Australia?
If so Where?

kogi
No one sells them in Australia that i'm aware of, and I did search everywhere. I ended up buying it from outpost.com (link). $89.90 USD was the cheapest I could find. It ended up costing me around $180 AUD including all shipping costs. Good PSU's are normally around $140-200 AUD anyway. So it's not badly priced at all.

IMO you will need to change the fan in the PSU like I did. But I do believe that it is the best PSU on the market for allowing the smallest amount of airflow, without getting warm! ;). The case of my Seasonic 400 watt PSU hardly ever gets warm!!! And i'm barely moving any air though it! And the air that comes out of the PSU in not very warm at all! "Super High Efficiency" is the key. :D. I recommend this PSU for a quite/silent (fan modded) solution!

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