Zeitgeist - Silent Lian Li V1000B

daba · Post by **daba** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:54 am

Sorry for the belated gratitude, but I would like to thank everyone here for their advice, information, and courtesy. I would have never been able to silence my computer without the wealth of good info and mannerly constituents here.

Click for larger pictures!

As you can see the AC NV Silencer is on a resistor plugged into the MB.

Suspended the drives using shoelaces:

Hardware (also located in signature):

Lian Li V1000B
Pentium 4 3.0C
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
2x512MB Mushkin Level II PC3200 @ 2-2-2-5
Sapphire ATi Radeon X800 Pro
2x160GB Samsung SpinPoint 160GB SATA with NIDEC motor - RAID 0
NEC ND-3520A DVDRW
Asus EP616P2 16X DVD-ROM with "Quiet Track"
M-Audio Revolution 7.1
Seasonic Super Silencer 460W Rev. A3

Cooling and silencing devices:

ThermalRight XP-90 with 92mm Nexus
Swiftech MCX159-P on Northbridge
Zalman VF700-Cu @ 5V
2x120mm Nexus fans
Suspended hard drives

Temperatures¹:

CPU: 30ºC Idle, 44ºC Load
MB: 30ºC Idle, 37ºC Load
GPU: 36ºC Idle, 55ºC Load

¹ Fan blowing downwards onto heatsink

I suspended my hard drives with some shoelace I purchased from Target, and then just either tied them in a knot or clipped them with the black clips.

Here's are some more resources available on the boards, some of which I used in my own project:

silencery's V1000 Gaming Machine
V-series and fanless power supplies
Drive suspension for V-series cases
Removing the restrictive rear fan grill

Best,
daba

Updated with the X800 and VF700 Cu

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:44 am

Daba....read the sticky atop this forum: Posting Guidelines; Dial-Up Users Beware: Big Pics

Could you resize your pics to the 640x480, 100K limit, please?

Thanks.

PhilgB · Post by **PhilgB** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:26 am

The grill behind your 120mm AcoustiFan looks quite restrictive. Cutting it out should help a bit.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 10:55 am

daba wrote:Since the XP-90 sits directly above the Swiftech, the temps are a little high. 30/41°C CPU idle/load, 32/35°C MB idle/load. I'd like to stay within this range.

Why don't you turn the CPU fan the other way round. According to the review the XP-90 works almost as well in suck as in blow mode. The NB heatsink would get cool air in stead of hot air. I think the hot air is more easilly sucked out by the case fan as well. Besides it is easy to test, reversible and free.

daba · Post by **daba** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:34 pm

I tried having the fan suck hot air off. The 92mm fan moves so slowly that it hardly makes any difference.

In fact, the temperatures were higher the other way around.

daba · Post by **daba** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:18 pm

Welp, got in the SS 460W today. It is quiet! Unfortunately, while playing around with the new EZ Grip molexes and sleeving, I fried my ND2500A because I accidentally switched the yellow and red wires. Too bad. Time for a new DVD+/-RW.

Ironically, the loudest thing in my case now is the NV Silencer 5. Yuck.

daba · Post by **daba** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 10:57 pm

Fixed the NV Silencer noise by plugging the fan into the CPU fan header on the motherboard, then using Asus AiBooster to adjust the fan accordingly. Much better!

daba · Post by **daba** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:35 pm

Suspended the drives. Vibration reduced by 95%.

daba · Post by **daba** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:15 pm

Big update.

daba · Post by **daba** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:51 am

Updated with the VF700 and X800.

hightower · Post by **hightower** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 11:48 am

That case is just looking too good. Why the hell can't Lian Li make cases like the coolermaster centurion 5 - alu front and the rest in steel.. would cut down alot on cost.. and offer the best of 2 worlds.. I've owned 2 lian li's untill I gave up on them (wanted 120mm in the back and less vibrations) but they weren't eyecatching like this one

silencery · Post by **silencery** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:00 am

Oh wow, haven't been back for a while, but glad to see everything worked out for ya! How's the noise now? Looks like you've got everything running smoothly. I bet gaming on that thing is a dream...

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:45 am

daba,

Nice looking case. I have the same one. Got some orange Yate Loons instead though. I do have one question, which I guess I can test out for myself, but wiating for my fans to come it. Isn't haveing the Intake fan in the front (the one for the harddrives) better to suck air out of the bay? My reasoning is this, Hot air rises. If your have a fan trying to blow all the hot air out of the bottom, then you are working against the direction that heat wants to flow at. If you have it to suck air our, then it can suck air out of the top directly out of the case. Does this make any sense? Eitherway, I will try this with my setup. I have 4 HD's in there tho. I have 2 Raptors that i will TRY to silence.

Oh yeah, one thing i want to try as well is to suspend the harddrives on it's side. That way the flow of air is in a much better position with the bottom of the case. I guess havinng it on a 45degree angle is best so that air does not have to move at a 90 degree angle. Is it safe to lie a harddrive on it's side? I was planning to do this by rubber strips on top and bottom to hold it in there. I wonder if anyone has done this yet.

teejay · Post by **teejay** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:31 pm

Reversing the hdd fan's direction was also on my mind... I have a big modding weekend coming up in a few weeks (it has come to the point where I actually have to plan these things

) and will try this as well. Not too sure if it will help actually, since the drives benefit more from "spot cooling" with the fan blowin in. Perhaps I will add some airflow guides to help the hot air out through the bottom but reversing that fan is definitely on my to-do list now.

I tried suspending with disks on their side (in one cage). With the drives on their side you have very little room for a proper suspend, so I ended up with soft strips like you describe (soft draft-stopping material). I was not too impressed with the end result, so for the time being I took out the plastic drive rails and tied loops from sewing elastic into the drive cage and put the disks in there. A bit better but still room for improvement, so I intend to take out both drive cages and rig up a custom suspension for my 2 disks.

I've read around the boards a few times that it is not a good idea to put disks on other angles than perpendicular ones. Sideways is no problem, had that for 2 years in my previous LL case.

daba, I notice you still have the "air guide" (or whatever LL calls it) installed at the back of your case fan... I've found this to raise both noise and temps, how is it in your situation? Other than that: great rig, good taste too

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:15 pm

As to the fan sucking air out of the case, I do have an alternative if it doesn't work...sort of!

If/When I do decide to mod my case, when i have a few days to spare, I would drill out the rear exhaust, then I would drill 2 holes in the bottom of the case under the harddrives and put 2 120mm fans there. That way it would pull cold air in from the bottom and blow it out the front.

Since i'm on the topic of reversing airflow. I wouls thinking I would take out 3 of the 5.25" covers and drill the same grid pattern into it. SO that when i put it back it sort of matches the original one. After doing this, i would suspend a 120mm fan as an exhaust and the rear fan as an intake. Having the rear fan as an intake would cool the CPU further..at least I think it would.

Hmm..got a question... Is it possible to put a 120mm fan where the PCI slots are? (if I had no PCI cards of course)? i haven't checked this before.

daba · Post by **daba** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:21 pm

teejay:

I just keep the shroud on because I don't notice any difference with it on or off. I have to chop out the rear grill on it. I updated the original post with a link to a mod using a CD as a guide.

Thanks, I love this case.

Nefarious:

I wouldn't try to make the front fan blow hot air out. That would increase the noise, in my opinion. Hot air my rise, but all the air in that chamber should be mobile.

It may be possible to put a 120mm fan in the PCI region. I wouldn't be the one to try it since I use two of my PCI slots. Why don't you test it out?

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:46 pm

I will test it out. I'll do it this weekend when I get a chance. I dont see my computer during the week

I live on campus, and dont bring my comp down. I'll do it this weekend or when I get my Yate Loon fans.

Since i'm gonna have to put in the fans anyways, i'll see the sound difference and let you know how it is. I really can't wait for my orange Yate Loon fans to come in. I want to drill the exhaust hole for my fan, but I dont really want to take out my mobo and everything else to do it. Maybe when i have enough time and am feeling brave, i'll take a shot at it. Still not sure where to get that moulding for the drilled fan hole. I looked at Canadian Tire ,but they dont seem to have it there.

daba · Post by **daba** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:42 am

You could always order some, or go to a junkyard.

daba · Post by **daba** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:54 pm

I ended up taking off that fan shroud and it made a slight difference. A noticable 1-2¨C drop in both case and CPU temperatures.

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:57 pm

well, FWIW ihave some answers to my questions.

1. 120mm fan over the PCI slots doesn't work. a 92mm fan works good as long as your not using any PCI cards. Unfortunatley i have a sounscard, so I doubt that i'll mount a fan there.

2. mounting the harddrives vertical doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. There just wont be enough space. Althgugh ti would look nice if you cut 2 holes under the harddrive and put 120mm fans there. Only option i can think of now is to remove the drive rails and suspend them using rope or similar products. If i were to do this, then I think I will put in a custom cage of similar dimensions so that there is more airflow though the cage. I think that the holes are too restrictive.

3. possible to mount a 120mm fan (probably using shoelace or similar rope) on the bottom 3 5.25" drive bays. this would be great as an intake for the top compartment.

this case just isn't good if you have alot of harddrives. the V2000 would be better if you have more that 3 harddrives. I'm might sell 2x120 for a 250 or 300GB drive. Would be ALOT less clutter, and more airflow. I'll let you all know what I do end up doing. I'm still waiting for my yate loon fans.

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:08 pm

daba? suspended HD's are good in your system? Think you;ll ever use the drive rail again? If I do remove the drive rail (which i might do this weekend) I'll probably hack (cut into tiny pieces) out the other side, too if the suspension really makes a difference.

daba · Post by **daba** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 4:45 am

Suspended hard drives are great. The shoelaces work like a charm. I'm sure you can get a better elastic dampener but the shoelaces are good enough for me.

I'm probably never going to hardmount the drives again.

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:49 am

I have the same case, and I have a suggestion.

I recommend drilling out the rivets on the bottom panel that divides the PSU from the HDDs, and removing the panel completely.

This way, the bottom is one large continuous area, and you can cool the HDDs using the airflow from the PSU; the front fan can be removed. You can even damp the front to block some of the drive noise (there are air intakes on the bottom of the case). HDDs are very easy to cool and don't generate enough heat to cause the PSU to ramp.

I did this to mine and it works well. Get rid of Yet Another Fan!

I'd also like to suspend my drive as you have done. Can you elaborate on how you did that? Just tie shoelaces around the existing mounting hardware?

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:23 pm

Inspired by daba's shoelace HDD decoupling, I revisted my own V2000 case and realized that.. I can unscrew the plastic HDD retaining clips! There's only a single small philips screw holding the plastic clips in place, and it's near the front.

After removing the clips from the rightmost side, I was able to use some misc rubber straps I had laying around* to rig up something similar to daba's shoelaces. Removing the HDD retaining clip on the one side was key, because that gave me enough room to slide in some 1/4" sorbothane on the left and right side of the drive to ensure it's not touching anything plastic or metal directly.

BIG improvement in acoustics! I just did a full drive search for files named "test*.*" and it's barely audible, an extremely low rumbling. Prior to this, extended drive activity was quite audible and rather annoying. I always wanted to damp the drive, I just couldn't think of a good way to do it in this case until I saw daba's mod. That was with the drive compartment already completely enclosed in eggcrate foam on every side (except the bottom-- the case vent holes are on the bottom). Clearly not enough. You need decoupling + sound damping for a complete solution.

Aside: I would like to remove the plastic clips on both sides of the drive But I have no idea how I could remove the corresponding HDD retaining clip on the left side, as the screw is COMPLETELY blocked by the left side HDD mount! Unlike the V1000 pictured, the V2000 has ~8 bays, in a 4x2 arrangement. They're perfect mirror images in the "middle", so the screws to remove the plastic mounts are facing each other. Anyone managed to pull this off?

* get your minds out of the gutter, it was a streamlight LED headlamp accessory for extra secure headmounting, and I never used it

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 5:32 pm

BTW here's a quick little photo mockup of the HDD mod I performed on my V2000:

Personally, I think this makes a LOT more sense than the way the case is shipped:

1) drill out the rivets holding that PSU/HDD divider in place (very very easy), then remove it
2) remove front fan and block the front of the case with damping material. I used eggcrate foam on all sides of the HDDs except the bottom
3) block any bottom case holes near the power supply so the air is forced to originate from the bottom case holes under the HDDs

Working great for me-- one less fan, one less direct path for noise to my ear-- and my HDD stays plenty cool.

Oh yeah, somewhat unrelated, but I agree that the rear fan muffler does not work. I get lower case temps with it removed, and I recommend any V1/2xxx owner remove it as well.

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 6:54 pm

well...i did the deed. Took off the drive rails on both sides of the HD's

THe way I did this (and not recommended if you are not sure you still want to mount them the traditional way) is to open th back panel, rip off the rail from the back, and pry the rail off from the front. The plastic is stong so the threads will rip first. THe screw is still stuck in there, but the rail is out.

i"ll try to take some pictures.

Nevarion · Post by **Nevarion** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 6:55 pm

that would work if the hdd:s were mounted horizontal instread of vertical.

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 7:47 pm

that would work if the hdd:s were mounted horizontal instread of vertical.

It works fine horizontally, too. You might get slightly better results vertically, but cooling HDDs just doesn't take that much airflow.

Now if you had four 10,000rpm Raptors in there..

Nefarious · Post by **Nefarious** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:23 am

if you mount the harddriv vertically, your pretty much building a wall in front of the fan. Better to have it horizonally so the air cal flow though it

parisjohan · Post by **parisjohan** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:01 am

I've decided to go for one of the PC-V series, but just can't decide on which. This looks like a good thread for some advice

!

Firstly, the 1100 looks like it should be better at noise reduction, but the intake seems a little restricted. Does anyone have any experience about if this may cause a problem?

Secondly, I'm a bit concerned with the PSU compartment being a bit restrictive and I'm therefore considering the 2000 (the 1200 would do but not available from my supplier here in Sweden). However, this feels a bit overkill considering that I'm starting off with just 2 HDDs. Any recommendations? Basically, pros and cons of 1000 vs 1100 vs 2000 (nevermind price)?

Zeitgeist - Silent Lian Li V1000B

Zeitgeist - Silent Lian Li V1000B

Re: Zeitgeist 2004.10