My ATTEMPT at a QUIET PC

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:09 am

I am going to purchase....
1 Antec Solution SLK3700BQE
2 Black 10" ATA133/100 Round IDE Cable
1 Akasa PAX Mate Sound Absorption Mat
1 Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu CPU Cooler

for my 2.6 ghz P4 with HT. I have an Albatron PE865 PRO motherboard and a 120 GB WD harddrive.

Any tips to a newb? or suggestions/things to change? I want my computer pretty silent but I am not gonna be nazi about it.

I think after getting all that stuff I should have a decent quiet PC.

Thanks in advance.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:30 am

seanism wrote:I am going to purchase....
1 Antec Solution SLK3700BQE
2 Black 10" ATA133/100 Round IDE Cable
1 Akasa PAX Mate Sound Absorption Mat
1 Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu CPU Cooler

for my 2.6 ghz P4 with HT. I have an Albatron PE865 PRO motherboard and a 120 GB WD harddrive.

Any tips to a newb? or suggestions/things to change? I want my computer pretty silent but I am not gonna be nazi about it.

I think after getting all that stuff I should have a decent quiet PC.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to SPCR!

Since you're going for a new case you may as well go the slightly better SLK3000B and choose a quiet PSU separately instead. One of the lower power seasonics should be more than enough for this spec machine.

If you can fit the 7700 on you should go with the thermalright XP120 instead. It will cool better and will give you the ability to go much quieter and be portable for a newer cpu should you go that way. This cpu would actually be more than adequately cooled with the Zalman 7000 at lowest voltage (a fan swap on that is harder than the thermalright).

When choosing a fan for the XP120 it's hard to beat a Nexus for silence and you could run it at ultra low speed with this cpu and still get great cooling and an inaudible cpu heat sink fan.

One last thing - people get touchy about the use of the absolute word "silent" here. You can have pretty quiet and very quiet, but it's either silent or it's not

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:56 am

ckolivas gives good advice.

Check out the review on sound dampening foams. AFAIK, the paxmate was pretty much useless. The useful ones are expensive too. Before you go for such measures, try to control the noise sources first. Dampening foam is usually the finishing touch. Which is not to say you don't need it, see below.

You have WD drives. Those are pretty noisy. Suspending them will reduce noise considerably but probably will not be enough. At this point some melamine foam might come in handy. no need to go for the expensive stuff, one sheet from McMaster should be enough.

Round cables are cool but flat ribbon cables, when properly installed, are better. We call it cablegami and the maestro of that is Ralf Hutter. Check out his rig in the Gallery Section (in the staff rigs sticky)

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:54 am

hmmm.

Price is also a concern that is why I went with the 3700BQE. With the 3000 it will be around 60$ plus a new PSU which is another 40-60$.
Also my friend bought the 3700BQE and he has had great success with. But if you truely believe that the 3000 is A LOT quieter please let me know cause I want to make this thing as quiet as possible.

How much quieter would the XP120 be? From the review with a globe fan it was 2 dBA quieter prox.

and the sound mat I bought does that work at al or do you think it will be pretty much useless?

thanks again for the tips.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:56 am

I am not trying to make a SILENT pc just a pretty quiet one. Right now I have a Cooler Master AERO 4 It hink and an Antec SX830 case that is really old and really loud it seems.

I placed the order last night but I can still change it so I am tryin to get everything figured out within the next few hours.

www.svc.com is where I am getting everything.
1 Antec Solution SLK3700BQE Quiet 75.99
2 Black 10" ATA133/100 Round IDE Cable 3.50
1 Akasa PAX Mate Sound Absorption Mat 12.99
1 Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu CPU Cooler 41.99

I am getting it thru them cause I can pick it up basically the next day I order it from there shop which is near my house. Prices are decent for the most part.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:15 am

If cost is a concern, go for the Zalman 7000A-Cu not 7700. Forget the paxmate, it really doesn't do anything (a quality quiet PSU will go further in silencing), forget the rounded cables, ribbon cables are just as good or even better, if you take the time to do it right.

So that's $3 for CPU, $3.5 for ribbons, $12.99 for paxmate, totalling $19.50

Add the difference between the 3000B and 3700BQE, you get $35 extra you can spend towards a good PSU. If the 320W Enermax Noisetaker is as quiet as they say, with an additional $10 on your part you should end up with a much quieter system. Just use the packaging foam that comes with the stuff around the hdd and you'll be set.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:24 am

Cost isnt a HUGE concern I don't wanna cheap out on this when I couldve only spent a few dollars more and gotten a quieter PC. Taking that into consideration is the 7000co still the recommend choice?

Besides the PSU is the case that much quieter?
Would the XP120 be a good choice or the 7000co is plenty sufficient.
I am going to nix the Paxmate thanks for the tips and helping me save the cash.
And the Enermax is the PSU you suggest?
http://directron.com/eg325p.html

Thanks again for your help on this.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:51 pm

So i think I am gonna drop the paxmate stuff and switch to the copper 7000. I can then eventually put in a new silent fan if I get anal about the sound it has.

I am still on the wire as far as the SLK3700BQE and the SLK3000B.

Any more opinions?

Thank you guys so much for your help.

and I would like to change all my references from SILENT to pretty quiet

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:03 pm

Never take Cu versions of Zalman 7000 coolers. Always take the AlCu. The difference in cooling is only 0°C to 1°C (depending on which review you read). IMHO that little difference is not worth $8,-.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:21 pm

seanism wrote:So i think I am gonna drop the paxmate stuff and switch to the copper 7000. I can then eventually put in a new silent fan if I get anal about the sound it has.

I am still on the wire as far as the SLK3700BQE and the SLK3000B.

Any more opinions?

Thank you guys so much for your help.

and I would like to change all my references from SILENT to pretty quiet

Go the 3000B for the case.

Tibors is also correct about the Zalman cooler. The surface area and design makes the biggest cooling impact with the full copper adding only slightly to the cooling over the copper/aluminium combination. Copper is mostly a marketing improvement

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:26 pm

Ahem, I suggested the Cu version because the A revision Cu cooler at SVC was cheaper than the B revision Al-Cu

Really, the Al-Cu is a better choise of course. And as far as I can see there's no difference between A and B revisions (I have both)

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:44 am

Is the case better just because it allows you to put in your own PSU and the fact that the HD layout is back to 'normal'?

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 4:57 am

seanism wrote:Is the case better just because it allows you to put in your own PSU and the fact that the HD layout is back to 'normal'?

Yep

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 5:12 pm

Blast I can get a xp90 for cheap I might get that instead of the 7000alcu.

I cant make up my blasted mind.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:10 pm

seanism wrote:Blast I can get a xp90 for cheap I might get that instead of the 7000alcu.

I cant make up my blasted mind.

Let me make it up for you - get the 3000 and the XP90 and a Nexus92 mm.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:16 pm

Dimension: L110 x W125 x H63 (mm) Fin only, without fan
Fan size: 92x92x25mm
Air Flow: 44.79 CFM
Noise Level: 35.0 dBA
Speed: 2400 RPM
Bearing: Dual Ball
Voltage: 12V DC
Weight: 360g (heat sink only)
Weight: 80g (fan only)

it comes with that fan. So until I get the nexus That will last me.

7v mod on that and I should be find for a while.

ok you guys have been wh0red by my questions enough thanks again I greatly appreciate it!!!!

spikeIt · Post by **spikeIt** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 11:41 am

It may be too late, but provantage.com has the slk3000b for $30.10 plus shipping. I picked one up for about $47 total. And amazingly it showed up less then 24 hours after I ordered it. It was sitting on my doorstep at 9 the following morning ~17 hours after ordering it. Its possible I even failed to notice it there the night before! If you haven't ordered, this may save you a few extra to put into your PSU.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:01 pm

na I already got the 3700. This will work for now.

I got the XP90 and I am having a CPU temp of 37 c. That sounds high compared to your guys tests. The fan it came with is LOUD 35 dBa so I am gonna 7v mod it. Maybe 5v not sure what would be best.

ideas?

Case temp is 22 c which is nice.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:42 pm

Burn-in period may bring the temperatures down? I know the build in my sig showed much better temperatures after the heatsink had been in place and used for a few days.

Are you saying the 92mm Nexus is loud?

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 4:17 pm

no the fan I got with it is/was loud. Above are the specs for it.

I did a 5v mod for the fan so how its pretty quiet. I still hear something in my case but I believe its the fan of my Graphics card. Those little ones are frickin high pitched. Its a radeon 8500 so if anyone knows of a fan/hs that works well with that please let me know.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 5:32 pm

If you can't finder a "silent" VGA cooler for your card, just unplug the little whiner and point an undervolted LA1 toward the heatsink.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:13 pm

seanism wrote:I got the XP90 and I am having a CPU temp of 37 c.

37 degrees is cold. Don't fret over it. If under maximum load you stay below 60 degrees then it is fine. I often tell people to keep decreasing their fan flows until the maximum rise above ambient is 30 degrees. Any more cooling and you're just making more noise. The life of a cpu will not be shortened to any significant degree and stability will not be compromised at that level.

seanism · Post by **seanism** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 9:39 am

Cool thanks for the advice guys.

Can I undervolt the fan on the radeon? If I got a voltimeter and saw what it was running at.

I left my computer on last night and its running at 40c so yea I am straight.
before the new HSU I was at 36 I think but that was with a aero 4 cooler I think.

whats the LA1 btw.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 11:26 am

The L1A is short for "Panaflo FBA08A12L1A". The number 8 denotes 80mm. Sometimes a 9 or 12 occupy the spot where the 8 is. Of course, it means 92mm and 120mm, respectively.

The "L" in the model number stands for "low" fan speed, which is what you will want, rather than "M" for medium or "H" for high.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this is SPCR's reference fan to which comparions are commonly made in the reviews. Hence, the shorthand "L1A".

My ATTEMPT at a QUIET PC

My ATTEMPT at a QUIET PC

Re: My ATTEMPT at a silent PC