Help me cool my dual Opteron (K8WE, V2000B)

evilZardoz · Post by **evilZardoz** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:48 am

Hi all,

I've decided that my monster workstation could do with a little less noise. Currently I have:

Lian-Li V2000B with the V2000+ fan at the rear over the PCI cards
Tyan Thunder K8WE
2x AMD Opteron 250 (2.4GHz at stock) CG stepping - socket 940
Each CPU cooled with a Thermaltake Blue Orb II + AS5 paste
Leadtek Winfast 7800GTX (stock standard version, doesn't seem to get noisy and I don;t mind the GPU cooler's noise in games)
about 10 7200RPM SATA drives of various sizes (250GB->750GB)
Powered by an Antec TruePower 2.0 550W EPS12V

Currently using the regular Lian Li supplied 120cm at the front of the case cooling the disks and a CoolerMaster 120cm fan at the rear blowing *in* at low speed (from the FAN ONLY connector on the PSU). All other fans are running from regular PSU molex connectors.

The Blue Orb II coolers have decided to get a little noisy. I can't remember their dBA rating but I'm certain it's bollocks. I don't like the front intake fan for the HDDs (but it's not *too* bad), nor the noise from the rear V2000+ extraction fan (but again, I guess I can live with that).

The issue is the CPU coolers. These CG stepping Opterons put out a lot of heat, too. If a good solution includes me getting some E4 stepping Opterons (or even dual core E4 stepping) then I am willing to do it. The noise from the HDDs or the PSU doesn't bother me -they're all fluid bearing disks and don't emit much noise at all. Airflow in the V2000B is a bit sucky, too.

I'm also looking at a possible upgrade on the PSU to something a bit heavier so I can put more disks in but it needs to be a) quiet and b) EPS12V compatible.

What are the Zalman fans like these days? Is there anything else I should look for? I've heard that Thermalrigth XP-90/XP-120 + low speed panaflo fans is also an option (I've seen XP-90s on this board, not sure about the 120s).

Oh, I might add that I'm rather attached to this case.

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Ayah · Post by **Ayah** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:11 am

2 X Scythe Ninja or maybe Scythe Mines

Asian Dub Foundation · Post by **Asian Dub Foundation** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:16 am

- get 2 scythe ninja. at 5v you CANNOT hear them

- replace all case fans with the famous Yate Loons. Softmount and undervolt them with Zalman fanmates

- Get Zalman VF900cu for your graphic card and run it in silent mode

- replace PSU with seasonic S12 600W

hope that give you some ideas