Finally silence...(happy newbie)

[Herman]

Hi All,

First of all I would like to thank you all for this great site and forum. It provided me with exactly the right information to be able to transform my vacuum cleaner in the computer that I always wanted to have. Here's the story:

At the time that I bought my computer the computerstore assured me that the noise level was "quite competitive". The noise that it makes has annoyed since that day and the last few weeks I finally could deal with it (thanks!).

My old configuration:
- ASUS A7V133, AMD athlon 1.33GHz, processor @ 1.86V(!!)
- standard Al-block heatsink with 60x10mm(?) coolermaster fan (very noisy!)
- northbridge coolerfan (one of those little whiny fans)
- 2x maxtor diamondmax 40GB RAID 0 (6000 series I think), also noisy
- 2x optical drive / (re)writer
- standard 250W ATX powersupply (noisy!), containing the only exhaust fan
- additional 80mm intake fan at the front of the case
- standard $50 ATX mini case
- temps @ idle: processor 59C, Motherboard 43C
- temps @ load: processor 63C, motherboard 44C

After a lot of reading at this site, I decided to jump into some serious computer transformation and I bought:
- Antec SLK3700-BQE
- Zalman CNPS7000B (yes it's overkill but after 3 years the annoyance level gets to the point where you start to do this kind of stuff)
- northbridge cooler ZM-NB47j
- PAPST 4412FGL
- Nexus Real silent Fan 120mm (2x)
- zalman fanmates (3x)

I installed all this stuff with the papst (@~5V, 690rpm) in the front and the antec fan in the back.

----- processor / motherboard
idle: 50C / 41C
load: 53C / 42C

After that I lowered the IO-voltage from 3.56V to 3.3V and the CPU-core voltage from 1.86V to 1.58V (thanks for that article on undervolting). The temps became:

----- processor / motherboard
idle: 48C / 40C
load: 51C / 42C

Since then I've played around switching the different fans back and forth. Sofar I tried 3 configurations:
a) front: papst 4412FGL (@5V) / back: antec-fan (@12V)
b) front: nexus 120mm (@12V) / back: antec-fan (@12V)
c) front: nexus 120mm (@12V) / back: nexus 120mm (@12V)

The results I got for temps are (all at ambient temp of 20C):
a) idle: processor 48C, motherboard 40C
load: processor 51C, motherboard 42C
b) idle: processor 46C, motherboard 39C
load: processor 48C, motherboard 40C
c) idle: processor 46C, motherboard 40C
load: processor 48C, motherboard 41C

I started with a), but was not satisfied with the high processor temp although already a huge difference with my original config. This made the fan of the PSU pick up revs (upto 2000-2100rpm). A higher voltage on the papst made it noisy (I could hear it next to the 2 HDD's). Option b) and c) are comparable as far as I can tell with respect to noise, but b) gives slightly better temps so that's the configuration I'm using today.

The next step will be (believe it or not) to replace my monitor, because the high-voltage transfomer is now clearly audible (this is not typical but probably a tehcnical problem of this specific one). After that the Maxtor's will be replaces by Samsung spinline HDD.

Sorry for the long story, but I thought it might be usefull to you.

Herman

[ceraf]

yay! another happy newbie!! Once you get in the "mood" of pc silencing, you can't stop yourself.

Anyways, nice job at undervolting. I had the exact same cpu/mobo setup as yours and i could only lower it by 0.05V. As for idle temps, cpuidle can be one of your best friends. It lowered my idle temps by about 4 degrees C.

[frosty]

Congratz Herman! I have been lurking here almost 2 years now and I still learn new stuff all the time. Silence is addictive, now I need a silent place to live!

[wim]

At the time that I bought my computer the computerstore assured me that the noise level was "quite competitive".

that's a funny way to put it. competitive for your attention/frustration?

- Zalman CNPS7000B (yes it's overkill but after 3 years the annoyance level gets to the point where you start to do this kind of stuff)

why do you think it's overkill?
sounds good to me, this sink is a great value price - you could go much crazier.

The next step will be (believe it or not) to replace my monitor, because the high-voltage transfomer is now clearly audible (this is not typical but probably a tehcnical problem of this specific one).

actually it is pretty typical for CRTs. they buzz. just you don't realise it until the case is quiet!

i presume it's a crt - get an lcd.

[Likif]

Isn't the Antec PSU a little noisy? Jus' wondering.

[davidstone28]

Welcome to the forums Herman.

Once you get rid of that Antec PSU, I think you'll notice a big difference - maybe not during normal daytime use, but during the dead of night you'll that the PSU is probably the loudest thing in your system.

As for CPU temps, 51c is absolutley nothing to worry about.

[intx]

At the time that I bought my computer the computerstore assured me that the noise level was "quite competitive".

that's a funny way to put it. competitive for your attention/frustration?

I thought it's rather genius, in terms of marketing/sales anyway.

I mean, what else could it be?
"incredibly noisy!"
"guaranteed to be noiser THAN your friends."
"you can brag about your computer sounding much noiser than your friends! what?!"
"your sound card can't even beat the natural noise of this thing!"

but instead, it's "competitive"

[Herman]

The next step will be (believe it or not) to replace my monitor, because the high-voltage transfomer is now clearly audible (this is not typical but probably a tehcnical problem of this specific one).

actually it is pretty typical for CRTs. they buzz. just you don't realise it until the case is quiet!

i presume it's a crt - get an lcd.[/quote]

Yep it's a CRT. I'm looking into a LCD now, the Samsung 710V.

[Herman]

Welcome to the forums Herman.

Once you get rid of that Antec PSU, I think you'll notice a big difference - maybe not during normal daytime use, but during the dead of night you'll that the PSU is probably the loudest thing in your system.

At this moment the two hardrives are definetely the loudest components. They whiiiiiiine a lot. They're 3yr old Diamondmax Maxtor's.

The Antec PSU revs up to 1700-1800rpm. I'm still experimenting with different fans to increase the airflow in the case a bit so that the PSU-fan does not rev up anymore. At 1350rpm it's quiet enough for me. If I don't get it down to below 1400rpm it will probably not make it into next year

At this moment I'm running with a NEXUS 120mm in the front and the Antec fan in the back of the case. Maybe I'll buy another papst and put a papst in both the front and the back. They push a lot of air.

I'll cut the grille of the backfan. Has anyone any idea about the impact on case temps?

[davidstone28]

I'll cut the grille of the backfan. Has anyone any idea about the impact on case temps?

Made absolutely no difference in my setup, and I ended up with jagged edges to boot. The grill is probably the least restrictive grill design you can possibly get, so it's not as if acting as any significant barrier to airflow.

[Herman]

- cough - cough - augh

...some dust on this topic.

I'm still running with the same configuration, but my powersupply blew up this week.

I replaced it with a Corsair HX520. Wow what a silence. Now I know what has been buzzing the past 2 years and it was not only the harddisks.

The fan of this powersupply does simply not ref-up at all. Quite an improvement compared to the Antec PSU. Highly recommended.

Herman

[thejamppa]

I am glad you have made good progress in silencing your computer. I've read a lot from Corsairs PSU. Bit rare in FInland but tests have said its surprisingly good from firm that has never done PSU's before.

[ronrem]

I think Corsair's are a variation on a [Fortron],as are several other brands,Sparkle and Nexus,as I recall. [Fortron's] tend to be stable,durable,fairly cool. Often the big differences are details including fans.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

Actually the Corsair PSU's are made by SeaSonic, not Fortron Source. Fortron Source also makes many of the AOpen branded PSU's.

[psiu]

Wow, I had to go back and check the date on the original post to understand the hardware specs a little better.