Hello:
I purchased a Lian Li Case PC-6070 because it was supposed to be quiet. I found that it's not quiet at all, it has three noise fans. I can't return the case now.
Is there anything that I could do to make this case quieter?
May be replace the fans for other ones or put serial resistors to the fans to slow their speeds?
Any experience with this case?
Thanks.
Lian Li PC-6070 problem
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Some suggestions
I have this case, and it is VERY susceptible to vibration. The case can be made to be quiet, but you will have to isolate anything that makes vibration.
Drives - For starters, you will probably have to suspend the drives. I have tried a Seagate 80 gig, and a Samsung Spinpoint 250 gig. Both of them are very noisy when they are hard mounted. As you are aware, the lower drive cage has an adjustable bracket that can be set to 3.5". I set the bracket to the largest setting that it had. I then used elastic to suspend the drive and I can no longer hear anything from the drive. To find out if suspending the drive will work for you, unmount the drive from the drive
cage, and sit it in the drive cage on a wadded up rag or a sponge. Put the case back together and turn it on briefly. If the noise is coming from drive vibration, you should notice a big difference. It is truly amazing how much the side panel will amplify any vibration.
Fans - It is my understanding that the included fans are very noisy. The vendor that I bought the computer from had already removed the fans when I got the machine. Most of my airflow is from the 120 mm fan in the Nexus P/S. I have added one fan, mounted with soft rubber grommets. I can't hear that fan either. Currently, all I can hear making noise is the fan in the Nexus P/S and the Nexus CPU cooler.
The suggestion to put floor tile on the side will require you to remove the existing case damping. Although the damping material is lightweight and not very useful for stopping vibration, I would not recommend trying to remove it. The case panels are very thin and one slip could dent the side panel from the inside. I would suggest instead keeping vibration from reaching the case.
The suggestion about floor tile is on the mark in one aspect. That side panel is the source of most of the vibration induced noise. There is a replacement panel available with a plexiglass window. That is another possibility to reduce vibration, although I haven't personally tried it.
Good luck with this. I think it's a good looking case, but it takes work to keep it quiet.
Drives - For starters, you will probably have to suspend the drives. I have tried a Seagate 80 gig, and a Samsung Spinpoint 250 gig. Both of them are very noisy when they are hard mounted. As you are aware, the lower drive cage has an adjustable bracket that can be set to 3.5". I set the bracket to the largest setting that it had. I then used elastic to suspend the drive and I can no longer hear anything from the drive. To find out if suspending the drive will work for you, unmount the drive from the drive
cage, and sit it in the drive cage on a wadded up rag or a sponge. Put the case back together and turn it on briefly. If the noise is coming from drive vibration, you should notice a big difference. It is truly amazing how much the side panel will amplify any vibration.
Fans - It is my understanding that the included fans are very noisy. The vendor that I bought the computer from had already removed the fans when I got the machine. Most of my airflow is from the 120 mm fan in the Nexus P/S. I have added one fan, mounted with soft rubber grommets. I can't hear that fan either. Currently, all I can hear making noise is the fan in the Nexus P/S and the Nexus CPU cooler.
The suggestion to put floor tile on the side will require you to remove the existing case damping. Although the damping material is lightweight and not very useful for stopping vibration, I would not recommend trying to remove it. The case panels are very thin and one slip could dent the side panel from the inside. I would suggest instead keeping vibration from reaching the case.
The suggestion about floor tile is on the mark in one aspect. That side panel is the source of most of the vibration induced noise. There is a replacement panel available with a plexiglass window. That is another possibility to reduce vibration, although I haven't personally tried it.
Good luck with this. I think it's a good looking case, but it takes work to keep it quiet.
OK, Thanks.
I unplugged the three fans. It's much quieter now.
I see another problem, and it is the NB fan, it is also noisy (and it may be a harder problem to solve).
I'll watch the temperature without the case fans.
I'll see, may be I'll buy a fan mate or resistors to make them spin slower.
I don't think that this Lian Li case can be considered quiet with those fans. In the other hand, it is beautiful.
I unplugged the three fans. It's much quieter now.
I see another problem, and it is the NB fan, it is also noisy (and it may be a harder problem to solve).
I'll watch the temperature without the case fans.
I'll see, may be I'll buy a fan mate or resistors to make them spin slower.
I don't think that this Lian Li case can be considered quiet with those fans. In the other hand, it is beautiful.
Northbridge fans
The Northbridge fan is actually not too hard to deal with. Zalman makes a heatsink that will replace it entirely. It's about $8 U.S. IIRC. I would combine that with a low speed case fan to be safe. That buzzy little fan makes quite a racket, even in a sturdy steel case. I can only guess what it does in the Lian Li. Keep us posted.
But... I guess that the Zalman heatsink will not fit, because in this motherboard the NB is right below the video card, so it needs a very flat heatsink.
I found some images of the mobo on the web:
http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/ocworks/i ... 92f01b.jpg
http://gandalf.vef.free.fr/DFI/DFI-SLI-install.jpg
http://www.angrygames.com/pics/nf4/buil ... uild-9.jpg
I found some images of the mobo on the web:
http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/ocworks/i ... 92f01b.jpg
http://gandalf.vef.free.fr/DFI/DFI-SLI-install.jpg
http://www.angrygames.com/pics/nf4/buil ... uild-9.jpg
Dealing with the Northbridge
OK, that throws a new wrinkle into the mix. My motherboards have integrated video, so I don't have to be concerned with clearing video cards. A rough measurement has the Zalman heatsink rising about 2 inches above the motherboard. From the photos you linked, I would guess the fan is only about 3/4 of an inch?? The first one looks like the video card slot might barely interfere with the heatsink. Is that so? How about a minor mod to the heatsink, cutting away enough fins for the video card to clear?
If it's anything like what I've heard before, that Northbridge fan will spoil the rest of your quieting work. It's a fairly loud buzz that's high enough pitch to be right where it is readily audible.
BTW, that link at angrygames shows the Thermalright CPU cooler with a fan mounted on it. I have a couple of those, and am very pleased at the noise reduction that you can get compared to a lot of CPU coolers. It's very handy being able to choose whatever fan you want. Depending on your setup, you can either mount the fan right on the Thermalright, or nearby, blowing air across it. I have one waiting to go into the Lian Li case as soon as I figure out temperature monitoring in Linux.
If it's anything like what I've heard before, that Northbridge fan will spoil the rest of your quieting work. It's a fairly loud buzz that's high enough pitch to be right where it is readily audible.
BTW, that link at angrygames shows the Thermalright CPU cooler with a fan mounted on it. I have a couple of those, and am very pleased at the noise reduction that you can get compared to a lot of CPU coolers. It's very handy being able to choose whatever fan you want. Depending on your setup, you can either mount the fan right on the Thermalright, or nearby, blowing air across it. I have one waiting to go into the Lian Li case as soon as I figure out temperature monitoring in Linux.
Last edited by Beel on Sat May 13, 2006 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.