Building my second silent rig, first is a Nexus...

[davebell1]

This one starts with a Antec 2650 case. Not know for silence, I know. It is really an interim build to learn soe stuff. P4 2.4 Northwood, Intel PERL board for stability. Had a Nexus Cooler left over, so started with that, the stock case fan, and, oh yeah, THE ANTEC PHANTOM. I just had to try that puppy. Well, it works GREAT! I have not been able to make it even break a sweat. Ran Sanrda a bunch, installed Win server 2003, no problems. And the PHANTOM is SILENT, and solid. Great job Antec! WOWOW.

But, too loud, so I ordered Disktwin from Nexus, A 120 mm Nexus fan to replace stock fan, a Zalman cooler, wanted a 120 Zalman, but was sure it would not fit. So, I ordered a 92mm Nexus in case I want to replace the Zalman fan. Would love details on how to do this.

Also ordered accousticpak foam and a lower voltage cable for the Nexus Chip fan just to try it. I

I am maybe going to add a Disktwin to my Big Nexus Case just to check it out. I have a 7200.8 250 gig in the nexus, and a 160 Spinpoint in the new Antec. Both seem very quiet. I really like the grommets on the Antec case. I cannot wait to try the Disktwin to see if there is any difference.

More observations. the fan hole lets a bunch of noise out. I wil probably block that with foam. Once I silence this 2.4 to the way I like it, I would like to maybe get the Sonata2 or 3000B and build a more powerful machine, P$ 3.4 or maybe even AMD64 3800 or so.

I love silent computers. Still cannot figure how Dell makes them so quiet. I set up quite a few for clients and they reall are darn quiet. Not thrill in just getting one of those, though ))

Thanks for listening to the renat. I wanted to actually post on my favorite web site, SPCR!!!!!!!!

Dave

[davebell1]

Update. I got the Nexus 120 in there, and put the voltage lowering cable from Nexus to the chip fan, and voila! I have a VERY quiet computer. When the accustipak gets here, I hope to have that coveted "muffled" SILENT computer. I have the Nexus and the Antec sitting ON my desk, each about 18 inches from my head. And I am not bothered by the sound. Can work and everything.

So now I have a "spare" Zalman unit, with a 92mm Nexus ready to insert if I should get the urge to do some more quieting. I am still going to try the Disktwin on the Nexus case. I am having serious doubts if I will be able to ever install a Disktwin in the Antec due to the slide in rails.

I was very impressed with the way Antec had their stock case fan with GROMMETS on EITHER side of the metal case. 2 points for that, but minus 5 points for the LOUD stock case fan.

Thanks for listening,

Dave - wicked happy with the change, like night and day.

[dedogs]

thankyou for your reesponses and WELCOME TO THE SPCR FORUMS!!! <<< my first one

[davebell1]

WOW, I got a nice welcome! And orange fonts to boot! Thanks. As further testing progresses, and I am leaving my new machine on 24 hours, I am totally thrilled. This puppy is sitting one foot from my head and I can still barely tell it is on.

The Phantom is exceeding all expectations. I touch the back with my hand and it is COOL. WOW. Granted, this is winter, but I keep a pretty warm home.

And I have not even done the foam inserts yet. Or used the Disktwin. I do not want to be disappointed when I find I cannot use the Disktwin due to rails. I can definitely use it in my Nexus, though.

The parts are off the shelf, which I like in case someone wants me to build them one, so here they are again.

Antec 2650 BQE case 65 or so
Seagate 250 gig, 175, I think
Phantom, about 175
512 Crucial ram, I forget how much
Intel Perl Mainboard 150 ???
2.4 Northwood 117
Had a cd drive and 8meg vid card laying around.
Nexus 120mm fan 20
had Nexus heatsink and fan laying around. Ordered low voltage cable for it that pleasantly made it darn near SILENT, nice surprise.

Goal is to use same or similiar case, move up to RAID with 2 gig RAM, and a faster chip. If I could pull that off, I would sell my Nexus Whoops, nevermind, I would need it for a server.

Thanks,

Dave