Hi,
I'm new to these forums.
At the moment i'm researching how to build a more noise friendly allround PC.
So this is the configuration I had in mind
Housing: Enermax Phoenix ECA3162 or 3163
PSU: Enermax Modu82+ 525W
Motherboard: Asus M3A78-T
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 810 (95W)
Coolingpaste: ArticSilver 3 or 5 (still got an unused tube somewhere)
MEM: Corsair 4GB TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX
GPU: Gigabyte GV-R485MC-1GI Passive cooling
Sound: my old CL Fatal1ty with frontbay
Harddisk: Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B 1 TB (HDT721010SLA360)
HDD noise reduction: Zalman ZM-2HC2
Housing Fan: 120mm Enermax UC-12AEBS Warp or UCCL12 Cluster as exhaust fan (connected to CPU-fan socket).
blu-ray or dvd: still to decide
CPU Cooler: This is where I'm confused, see further down.
The idea was to install in the 5,25" bays in this order: in the lowest the soundcard, then dvd/blu-ray, then the harddrive.
As air intake only to use the 250mm fan of the housing.
This would blow cool air over the GPU and the CPU cooler.
So as cpu cooler I was thinking of taking either
CoolerMaster GeminII
or
Thermalright Ultra-120
because both have the option to install up to 2 120mm fans if the CPU will be running to hot.
Will this setup be silent AND stay cool?
Regards
Building a silent allround PC (gaming/movie/internet)
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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timechanes
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:59 pm
- Location: Belgium
Presuming this or something similar is the case you are talking about, I doubt that the big side fan would be all that quiet (although I have no experience with that case to confirm this).
Your components should not be that hot-running so as to need that massive side air fan.
An Antec Solo or Antec P182 (with stock fans replaced with quiet Scythe or Nexus fans) would be more suitable if you are interested in quiet cases.
Of the two coolers you have suggested, the Thermalright Ultra 120 is the better choice I think.
As an aside, the passive Gigabyte graphics card isn't too well-regarded here, as it will run quite hot. You may need to zip-tie a fan to it to keep that card cool.
If you haven't read the Reference / Recommended section of the main site, I highly suggest it.
Your components should not be that hot-running so as to need that massive side air fan.
An Antec Solo or Antec P182 (with stock fans replaced with quiet Scythe or Nexus fans) would be more suitable if you are interested in quiet cases.
Of the two coolers you have suggested, the Thermalright Ultra 120 is the better choice I think.
As an aside, the passive Gigabyte graphics card isn't too well-regarded here, as it will run quite hot. You may need to zip-tie a fan to it to keep that card cool.
If you haven't read the Reference / Recommended section of the main site, I highly suggest it.
quiet means thick case walls, no vibrations, slow fans, smart air flow... and you'll find that cases with giant holes tend to leak a lot of noise
and if you want a video card with good game and thermal performance, get a gts 250. when the video card exhausts heat on its own and only ramps up when gaming, it is quiet when idle and all you need to worry about when building the system is pointing some fresh air at it.
if you want a big case, antec solo or p182 or sonata will do the job... all you need is fans shooting in, fans shooting out, scythe ninja on the cpu, and a video card with its own exhaust... adjust the speed of the front and back fans to your taste, and you're off like a bride's pajamas
and if you want a video card with good game and thermal performance, get a gts 250. when the video card exhausts heat on its own and only ramps up when gaming, it is quiet when idle and all you need to worry about when building the system is pointing some fresh air at it.
if you want a big case, antec solo or p182 or sonata will do the job... all you need is fans shooting in, fans shooting out, scythe ninja on the cpu, and a video card with its own exhaust... adjust the speed of the front and back fans to your taste, and you're off like a bride's pajamas
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~El~Jefe~
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you need a case with solid side walls that is very heavy.
one fan in front one in back.
that's it.
gts 250, aka 8800gts from 2 years ago, is a solid purchase still. Only issue is using aftermarket coolers to fit it. have to deal with that some day and figure it out. the 4850 already passive is a big win and is strong for gaming.
cpu has 4 cores which is kind of a waste. a phenom x3 720 is fast clocked which does a bit more than more coress and with less power usage. I would recommend this. It is also "black edition" which means unlocked multiplier so you could oc it one day without any effort or much heat difference.
The cpu needs only 1 slow moving 120 mm fan on it and an aftermarket cooler.
one fan in front one in back.
that's it.
gts 250, aka 8800gts from 2 years ago, is a solid purchase still. Only issue is using aftermarket coolers to fit it. have to deal with that some day and figure it out. the 4850 already passive is a big win and is strong for gaming.
cpu has 4 cores which is kind of a waste. a phenom x3 720 is fast clocked which does a bit more than more coress and with less power usage. I would recommend this. It is also "black edition" which means unlocked multiplier so you could oc it one day without any effort or much heat difference.
The cpu needs only 1 slow moving 120 mm fan on it and an aftermarket cooler.
As you have a graphics card, you might consider getting a motherboard that doesn't have onboard graphics and save $30.
Same thing with the audio....try a build without the sound card. Most mobo's have decent sound quality for casual use. Plus, you won't have to deal with Creative's drivers.
Quad core is still overkill for most applications...unless you do a lot of video editing, Lightshop, or a few specific games.
Same thing with the audio....try a build without the sound card. Most mobo's have decent sound quality for casual use. Plus, you won't have to deal with Creative's drivers.
Quad core is still overkill for most applications...unless you do a lot of video editing, Lightshop, or a few specific games.
-
timechanes
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:59 pm
- Location: Belgium
Hi,
Thanks for the responses.
After reading the forums it seems that the Gigabyte gets hot (+100C) (but it would have been cooled by the 250) and that the HIS 4850 ICEQ also has noise issues, never noticed with the old ATI9800pro from HIS, even after 5-6 years (last 3 as backup pc).
The 250 isn't bad either, little better performance, better driver but no decent HDMI with Audio (needs a cable).
But won't mixing the 2 (ATI on board for HDMI with sound for the tv and Nvidia 250 for gaming) give problems?
Regarding the noise the 250mm fan, I was in KME Koln last week, where they have such a phoenix neo as demo pc housing. It didn't make much noise, it was hardly audible.
For the housing, one with a front door can not be used because of the sound card front bay, which is recycled from the old pc, I have to use headphones regularly so the volume control on the front panel is very handy, so is the remote control.
Also a front eSata would be very useful. A full set of Noiseblocker Evolution EQ Platinum is also hiding somewhere.
The reason for the mobo is the number of PCIe (require 2 PCIe 4x and 2 PCI), so this was the cheapest from Asus that is available in store, the CPU for being save for another 3-5 years.
My idea was to reduce the number of fans and depend on the 250 to blow in cool air and the PSU and a 120mm exhaust fan to blow out the hot air.
Placing the HDD in a zalman hdd cooler to reduce noise and keep it cool.
Even try to have the CPU only cooled using the CoolerMaster GeminII or Thermalright Ultra-120 without a fan on it (again using the 250).
But now thinking of placing a PWM fan on the Ultra-120.
In a way reduce the number of air moving/sound producing parts thus reducing sound.
But it seems that idea isn't good
Regards
Thanks for the responses.
After reading the forums it seems that the Gigabyte gets hot (+100C) (but it would have been cooled by the 250) and that the HIS 4850 ICEQ also has noise issues, never noticed with the old ATI9800pro from HIS, even after 5-6 years (last 3 as backup pc).
The 250 isn't bad either, little better performance, better driver but no decent HDMI with Audio (needs a cable).
But won't mixing the 2 (ATI on board for HDMI with sound for the tv and Nvidia 250 for gaming) give problems?
Regarding the noise the 250mm fan, I was in KME Koln last week, where they have such a phoenix neo as demo pc housing. It didn't make much noise, it was hardly audible.
For the housing, one with a front door can not be used because of the sound card front bay, which is recycled from the old pc, I have to use headphones regularly so the volume control on the front panel is very handy, so is the remote control.
Also a front eSata would be very useful. A full set of Noiseblocker Evolution EQ Platinum is also hiding somewhere.
The reason for the mobo is the number of PCIe (require 2 PCIe 4x and 2 PCI), so this was the cheapest from Asus that is available in store, the CPU for being save for another 3-5 years.
My idea was to reduce the number of fans and depend on the 250 to blow in cool air and the PSU and a 120mm exhaust fan to blow out the hot air.
Placing the HDD in a zalman hdd cooler to reduce noise and keep it cool.
Even try to have the CPU only cooled using the CoolerMaster GeminII or Thermalright Ultra-120 without a fan on it (again using the 250).
But now thinking of placing a PWM fan on the Ultra-120.
In a way reduce the number of air moving/sound producing parts thus reducing sound.
But it seems that idea isn't good
Regards
There are a couple issues with fans that big.
Noise wise the most you will generally deal with is the fairly inoffensive "whoooosh" from the airflow. You can reduce their speed and reduce that effect and still have pretty good CFM through the case.
The other problem is getting air to focus where it needs to go--ie a lot of it will just divert around a big heatsink and not actually get some good cooling. You can try adding an additional fan, even better add a fan controller to that. The Noisemagic NMT's are good for that. They go 5-12V from either 28-42C (NMT-3) or 30-50 (NMT-2). You can extend the leads on their temp sensors as well. That way you can have it kick on when needed and then shut down if goes back to a low temp.
Shouldn't need an additional exhaust--at this point you are going positive pressure and the massive air inflow will take car of that for you.
Really the part that gets me about that case (and a lot of others) is where they put a dust filter over the front 120 intake. But not over the giant fan blowing directly on everything. If you just the 250 as your only case fan (plus maybe an optional fan on cpu) you should try to rig up a dust filter of some kind. Just a thin mesh is all that's needed to make quite a difference without a big impact on airflow.
Try something different and post some pics!
Not another p182/solo/sonata build nooooooo....
Noise wise the most you will generally deal with is the fairly inoffensive "whoooosh" from the airflow. You can reduce their speed and reduce that effect and still have pretty good CFM through the case.
The other problem is getting air to focus where it needs to go--ie a lot of it will just divert around a big heatsink and not actually get some good cooling. You can try adding an additional fan, even better add a fan controller to that. The Noisemagic NMT's are good for that. They go 5-12V from either 28-42C (NMT-3) or 30-50 (NMT-2). You can extend the leads on their temp sensors as well. That way you can have it kick on when needed and then shut down if goes back to a low temp.
Shouldn't need an additional exhaust--at this point you are going positive pressure and the massive air inflow will take car of that for you.
Really the part that gets me about that case (and a lot of others) is where they put a dust filter over the front 120 intake. But not over the giant fan blowing directly on everything. If you just the 250 as your only case fan (plus maybe an optional fan on cpu) you should try to rig up a dust filter of some kind. Just a thin mesh is all that's needed to make quite a difference without a big impact on airflow.
Try something different and post some pics!
Not another p182/solo/sonata build nooooooo....
-
timechanes
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:59 pm
- Location: Belgium
I found only 1 picture showing the fan upclose with the lights off.
http://www.tomshardware.com/gallery/Ene ... -jpg-.html
It seems that the grill in front of it is attached with screws (not rivets)
Would adding a single layer of a 20den light coulered nylon (cut from tights/panty) between the grill and fan keep the dust out without hampering airflow?
If all stays well at work the parts will be ordered end of April, early May.
So pictures a couple of days later.
http://www.tomshardware.com/gallery/Ene ... -jpg-.html
It seems that the grill in front of it is attached with screws (not rivets)
Would adding a single layer of a 20den light coulered nylon (cut from tights/panty) between the grill and fan keep the dust out without hampering airflow?
If all stays well at work the parts will be ordered end of April, early May.
So pictures a couple of days later.
I used some fabric once as a filter, double layered it, but it wasn't stretchy--and I think it was slightly bigger holes--maybe 1mm. Probably just go to a fabric store and look around for something that looks like it will work--you can probably check at the computer store to see what size of holes other case filters use.timechanes wrote:I found only 1 picture showing the fan upclose with the lights off.
http://www.tomshardware.com/gallery/Ene ... -jpg-.html
It seems that the grill in front of it is attached with screws (not rivets)
Would adding a single layer of a 20den light coulered nylon (cut from tights/panty) between the grill and fan keep the dust out without hampering airflow?
If all stays well at work the parts will be ordered end of April, early May.
So pictures a couple of days later.
As far as the video card goes, if you will use this fan you might be better off finding the cheapest regular card and just throwing an S1 on it. They are pretty affordable heatsinks and with that kind of airflow it should be more than enough.
Another thing you might be able to fiddle with is some ducting (more like funneling in this case) to condense air down to certain spots with a little more force.