My quest for silence.

Wedge · 2 May 2006 at 21:51

Hey

There is a lot more talk about how much noise our PC's make than ever before, and i must admit i would really like a quieter PC, Ive had the current set up for over a year, and have been really happy with it, highlights:

Lian-Li PC50
Ernamax `noisetaker` (not) I find them noisy!
A Zalman Flower. Again to noisy (also I have had to mount the fan sideways because the PSU is mounted sideways in the case right over the top of the cpu…..doh!!
6800GT (bought last summer)
Abit NF7
AthlonXP 2800+
1gig of Geil value ram

But it just makes to much noise ive upgraded bits, such as the Zalman and fitted a Artic cooler to my GFX with no real success. I just want quieter computing, so as you can see from my spec I have not upgraded for a while, so tis the perfect excuse to buy some new kit!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache
Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Thermalright V-1 Ultra VGA Heatsink
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939)
Leadtek GeForce 7600 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Antec P150 Quiet PC Case - 430w HE Modular PSU (case had to be less than 450mm tall to fit under my desk)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I did some research and read some reviews and decided on the above (which will arrive tomorrow cutesy of OcUK and Citylink)

Im sure you will have views on the good and the bad that I have chosen but I am confident I will have a fast, quiet computer come tomorrow night (Thursday latest

)

Wish me well and I will report back once it’s built.

I might write and photograph a review of the build (just for something to do) I have not come across to much about the P150 so might be of some interest to someone.

DazedNFuzed · 3 May 2006 at 07:12

Hi,

Dontthink 430w PSU will be enough?

hp7909 · 3 May 2006 at 07:42

Good luck in your quest m8!

I'm also working on quieting my rig. Started by reducing FAN speeds in the BIOS – surprised how high/loud I had them running for nothing. In fact my temps are much lower, maybe was just pushing warm air around :confused:

Next try and change the 80mm fans to 120mm with appropriate adapters. The thing is, the quieter you make it, the more quieter you want it to be!

Looking forward to your build PICS - inspiration

Wedge · 3 May 2006 at 08:17

DazedNFuzed said:
Hi,

Dontthink 430w PSU will be enough?

Really? What makes you say that.

I found this review and they are using almost the same components as the ones i have just bought.

http://www.hardware-review.net/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=786

hp7909 · 3 May 2006 at 08:26

Should be just fine

pcoltrane · 3 May 2006 at 09:16

LOL - that PSU will be plenty. I'm not sure what planet dazednfused is on! I have an almost identical system and including PSU loses it only uses 176W full load measured at the wall. That means once you take PSU inefficiency out of the equation you can work out that the PC only uses about 132W Somehow I think a 430W PSU is fine

I'd definitely swap the hitachi drive for a samsung spinpoint for silence.

The 7600GT I have (and XFX model) has such a noisy little fan it's quite horrific. It sounds like a dentist drill even in 2D. The card is low power compared to most its rivals so that thermalright cooler should do nicely with the minimum of airflow.

The rest looks great though. The ninja is fantastic - I think the p150 is the best case out there at the moment. The Neo HE PSU is the quietest off the shelf you can get. Check out the TDP thread in the CPU section of the forum too - most 3700+ chips don't use more than 38 - 44W. You'll have no trouble cooling it passively with the ninja in the p150

Marc

Edit just noticed that you already bought all this. I'm suitably jealous despite having a very similar system - I want a P150

I hope the hitachi isn't too loud - try suspending or foam mounting it

Wedge · 3 May 2006 at 13:06

marc mercer said:
LOL - that PSU will be plenty.

I'd definitely swap the hitachi drive for a samsung spinpoint for silence.

The 7600GT I have (and XFX model) has such a noisy little fan it's quite horrific. It sounds like a dentist drill even in 2D. The card is low power compared to most its rivals so that thermalright cooler should do nicely with the minimum of airflow.

The rest looks great though. The ninja is fantastic - I think the p150 is the best case out there at the moment. The Neo HE PSU is the quietest off the shelf you can get. Check out the TDP thread in the CPU section of the forum too - most 3700+ chips don't use more than 38 - 44W. You'll have no trouble cooling it passively with the ninja in the p150

Marc

Hi Marc, thx for reply..........

Yeah, was not really sweating about the PSU

The hard drive...yeah did look at that, but if the only thing i have to worry about is one HHD then its all good. (will set it up and see) ::edit:: ((doh, samsung is cheaper to, doh..doh))

Sweet on the GFX

CPU Stepping is:
ADA3700DKA5CF
CCBWE 0541TPMW
1369106K50519
Not sure if its a goodun.

Now for the bad news, all goods have arrived BUT the Antec case is damaged

, OcUK have been there usual good self, collecting this one today (sameday) and should have a new one out to me by Friday,..... just gutted i now have to wait.

Think someone dropped it? http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/02.jpg

ps. my god how big is the Ninja heatsink :eek:

pps. Suspend the HD, yeah that is one of the reasons for choosing the P150

pcoltrane · 3 May 2006 at 13:52

Really bad luck with the case. defintely looks like someone dropped it - or dropped something on to it!

Download tcasemax to see what TDP your 3700+ is rated at.

marc

Admiral Huddy · 3 May 2006 at 15:39

Putting aside the noise of the GC, CPU HSF and PSU, look at the case fans.. 120mm fans really do make the difference so make sure you invest in a case that supports these. So the the P150 you have chosen should do the job.

However, id go for the P180... It's been highly rated as an excellant case for all the right reasons including it's near silent operation with good cooling.

Wedge · 3 May 2006 at 17:16

Admiral Huddy said:
Putting aside the noise of the GC, CPU HSF and PSU, look at the case fans.. 120mm fans really do make the difference so make sure you invest in a case that supports these. So the the P150 you have chosen should do the job.

However, id go for the P180... It's been highly rated as an excellant case for all the right reasons including it's near silent operation with good cooling.

Hi, the Antec P150 does come with a 120mm exhaust fan

Also it takes 2 x 92mm front fans, i want to try and mod this area if possible to take one 120mm fan.

ps. I would have bought the P180, but the case could not be over 450mm tall to fit under my desk

marc said:
Download tcasemax to see what TDP your 3700+ is rated at.

marc

Marc, i presume i need the system built and chip installed?

pcoltrane · 3 May 2006 at 21:12

yup, but nothing to stop you building the pc ghetto stylee on your desk to test it all works. Might even be a good idea .. would be a nightmare to wait for the case, then find something doesn;t work and you have to wait even longer for a replacement

Marc

Wedge · 3 May 2006 at 22:46

marc mercer said:
yup, but nothing to stop you building the pc ghetto stylee on your desk to test it all works. Might even be a good idea .. would be a nightmare to wait for the case, then find something doesn;t work and you have to wait even longer for a replacement

Marc

I would if i had a PSU, unfortunatley its attatched to the case i sent back

DazedNFuzed · 3 May 2006 at 23:04

DOH!

sorry just checked thread again, was half asleep when i posted this morning.
For some reason i was think GC was bigger.

:rolleyes:

Wedge · 4 May 2006 at 00:50

Ok, thought i would tackle the GFX card and CPU whilst i wait for me case.

The CPU and Scythe ninja was a piece of cake to install 10 mins all done!

http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/09.jpg
http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/10.jpg

The Thermalright V-1 Ultra VGA Heatsink on the other hand was tricky.

http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/04.jpg

Removing the original HSF, no problem....attaching the new clamp was a nightmare, it just would not fit properly, i had to file the inside (right and left sides) to make the square big enough, also the screws provided to fit the HSF to the clamp were just not long enough,..the whole job is just a bit fiddly.

But looks good once its on

http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/05.jpg
http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/06.jpg
http://www.btinternet.com/~wedge007/mynewbuild/07.jpg

What do you think are the chances of running both these without the fans? Im confident the Scythe ninja will be ok, but not sure about the GFX.