Not silent, but pretty damn quiet

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:01 pm

Considering the contents of this box, I think I did pretty well.

Specs:

K8V SE Deluxe
Athlon 3200+ (Newcastle)
GeForceFX 5900Ultra
1GB PC3200 (1 Mushkin, 1 Samsung)
2x 200GB Maxtor DM10 SATA
LG 52X
HP DVD420i

A few notes about what I've done:
That monster of heat, the GFX5900U is cooled with Zalman's Dual-Heatpipe ZM80D-HP. It gets fairly toasty, idling or otherwise, but I'm comfortable with the temps.

The CPU voltage/multipliers are controlled by Crystal N' Quiet, the system idles at .975v. I use SpeedFan 4.20 to regulate fan speed, as Q-Fan turns the fan all the way off until the CPU heats up and switches it on, causing a 10-15 minute cycle. Instead I set the minimum speed to 35%, which is enough to keep it under 50C under 100% usage under most conditions. Only twice have I seen the fan get cycled up to 50%.

The front and back fans are both Nexuses, a 92 and a 120 respectively, both running at 5V. The fan grills have been cut out for better airflow.

The PSU has had both stock fans removed, and the bottom fan replaced with a Nexus 92mm, suspended with weather proofing tape and stretch magic. all other intake holes in the PSU are sealed, forcing air to escape out the back.

The dual SATAs are suspended in the 5 1/4 rack, using the shell of a broken CD-ROM and stretch magic attached using washers. AAM is turned on to 70%. They get warm, but not dangerously.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:32 pm

To maximize cool air from the bottom, you should tape shut all of the holes in the front, such as the unused drive bay, the holes around/under the usb port, and the holes next to the fan opening.

Good job, though.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:46 pm

Good idea. I'll get a roll of eletrical tape.

I just added a temp gauge for the PSU heatsinks, as it's the only thing SpeedFan can't read.

tay · Post by **tay** » Sat May 07, 2005 6:04 pm

*2 thumbs up* Is your zalman cooler mounted slightly off-center? Mine is, and the top thingies there look crooked like yours. I'm getting that case soon from the xoxide deal for $30 shipped.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sat May 07, 2005 6:07 pm

Very very slightly offcenter.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sat May 07, 2005 11:50 pm

I bet you guys have never seen anything like this before

BenW · Post by **BenW** » Sun May 08, 2005 5:30 am

Ok, thats just crazy!

I've got one of those coolers and tbh its quite noisy

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sun May 08, 2005 11:12 am

It's undervolted to 5v, can't hear it.

Splinter · Post by **Splinter** » Sun May 08, 2005 5:01 pm

Front grill removed, aluminum painted black.

You can't actually see that much of the inside, the flash illuminates it.

I can't hear the computer over my mom frying bacon in the kitchen.