Plannning a quiet PC

L

lcs

For me it is time to replace my noisy out dated rig. I have come up with a
configuration that should only produce about 35dB and most of that should be
muffled by the case. In addition I need performance, I made a few trade offs
to keep the heat generated down as well. The cost for this setup will be
about $1600. Does any one have any better ideas for building a quiet beast?

Acousticase C6606

SilenX 120mm 11db Fan

Antec Black Fanless 350 Watt ATX12V power supply Model Phantom 350

ABIT AX8 Motherboard

19dB Nexus AOP-6400 Quiet Athlon 64 & Opteron CPU Cooler

Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin - 512K - Enhanced Virus Protection -
HyperTransport OEM

1GB Dual Channel DDR 400 non-ECC memory 512MB matched pair

EVGA 128-P2-N368-TX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS W/ CRT TVO &
DVI - RETAIL BOX

2 Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB BARRACUDA 7200 SERIAL ATA/SATA 8MB CACHE 8.5MS
3.5INCH,5 years warranty (For RAID 1)

NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A (OEM)

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-167T

ATI 100-703147 TV WONDER PRO REMOTE CONTROL EDITION - FULL RETAIL BOXED

3.5 Floppy with Memory card reader
 
D

Dave C.

lcs said:
For me it is time to replace my noisy out dated rig. I have come up with a
configuration that should only produce about 35dB and most of that should
be
muffled by the case. In addition I need performance, I made a few trade
offs
to keep the heat generated down as well. The cost for this setup will be
about $1600. Does any one have any better ideas for building a quiet
beast?

Acousticase C6606

SilenX 120mm 11db Fan

Antec Black Fanless 350 Watt ATX12V power supply Model Phantom 350

ABIT AX8 Motherboard

19dB Nexus AOP-6400 Quiet Athlon 64 & Opteron CPU Cooler

Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin - 512K - Enhanced Virus Protection -
HyperTransport OEM

1GB Dual Channel DDR 400 non-ECC memory 512MB matched pair

EVGA 128-P2-N368-TX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS W/ CRT TVO &
DVI - RETAIL BOX

2 Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB BARRACUDA 7200 SERIAL ATA/SATA 8MB CACHE
8.5MS
3.5INCH,5 years warranty (For RAID 1)

NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A (OEM)

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-167T

ATI 100-703147 TV WONDER PRO REMOTE CONTROL EDITION - FULL RETAIL BOXED

3.5 Floppy with Memory card reader

I think you are going to have a severe problem with heat build-up,
especially considering that the case is insulated to hold heat (and noise)
IN. As is, your one 120mm fan is going to be drawing hot air into the
system by reversing airflow through the power supply. (ouch) That is,
unless you were going to have a high mounted case fan blowing in, which
wouldn't make much sense. One case fan isn't enough to cool that rig. It
MIGHT be, if your power supply was not fanless, though. Also, you'd better
check the specs. of your video card carefully. I know much lesser video
cards require 300W MINIMUM power supply. With an Athlon64 3500 and two
raided 7200 RPM hard drives and a Geforce 6600, I think you've just
overwhelmed a 350W power supply . . . even a GOOD 350W power supply. I
think you'd be OK if you had a 120mm fan in the lower front of the case
drawing cool air in and a silent (but not fanless) power supply with a
couple of quiet fans drawing warm air out the back. But then your current
case won't allow for this. And adding a 80mm fan up front wouldn't help, as
that specific case design interferes with airflow through the front. Still,
I think you're going to have to choose a different power supply, so maybe a
different case is also something to consider. If you keep the current case,
I think you are going to have a problem with heat build-up even IF you go
with a non-fanless power supply. You really need at least one low-mounted
case fan drawing cool air in, and that case doesn't allow for it. Also,
Sapphire makes some great video cards that are passively cooled, but I don't
know if they have any passively cooled PCI Express cards yet. But it would
be worth it to check. -Dave
 
H

Hamman

lcs said:
For me it is time to replace my noisy out dated rig. I have come up with a
configuration that should only produce about 35dB and most of that should
be
muffled by the case. In addition I need performance, I made a few trade
offs
to keep the heat generated down as well. The cost for this setup will be
about $1600. Does any one have any better ideas for building a quiet
beast?

<snip specs>

I'm with Dave C. on this one.

Heat build up i going to b a big problem with that setup.

Condider getting a bigger case and fitting it with water cooling.

hamman
 
A

Al Smith

I think you are going to have a severe problem with heat build-up,
especially considering that the case is insulated to hold heat (and noise)
IN.

I've wondered to myself if insulation of the case is ever really a
problem for heat buildup, as long as you have a steady exhaust of
the air inside the case? I can't see how the heat could build up,
if the warm air is constantly leaving the case. I guess what I'm
wondering is how much of a factor is radiant cooling? What
percentage of case cooling comes from radiant cooling, and what
percentage comes from convection cooling? My own guess is around
90% convection cooling, and maybe 10% radiant cooling -- and I
only put the radiant cooling so high because the power supply is
smack against the top of the case, so it is bound to radiate heat
upwards through that thin sheet of metal.
 
M

Michael Hawes

Dave C. said:
I think you are going to have a severe problem with heat build-up,
especially considering that the case is insulated to hold heat (and noise)
IN. As is, your one 120mm fan is going to be drawing hot air into the
system by reversing airflow through the power supply. (ouch) That is,
unless you were going to have a high mounted case fan blowing in, which
wouldn't make much sense. One case fan isn't enough to cool that rig. It
MIGHT be, if your power supply was not fanless, though. Also, you'd better
check the specs. of your video card carefully. I know much lesser video
cards require 300W MINIMUM power supply. With an Athlon64 3500 and two
raided 7200 RPM hard drives and a Geforce 6600, I think you've just
overwhelmed a 350W power supply . . . even a GOOD 350W power supply. I
think you'd be OK if you had a 120mm fan in the lower front of the case
drawing cool air in and a silent (but not fanless) power supply with a
couple of quiet fans drawing warm air out the back. But then your current
case won't allow for this. And adding a 80mm fan up front wouldn't help, as
that specific case design interferes with airflow through the front. Still,
I think you're going to have to choose a different power supply, so maybe a
different case is also something to consider. If you keep the current case,
I think you are going to have a problem with heat build-up even IF you go
with a non-fanless power supply. You really need at least one low-mounted
case fan drawing cool air in, and that case doesn't allow for it. Also,
Sapphire makes some great video cards that are passively cooled, but I don't
know if they have any passively cooled PCI Express cards yet. But it would
be worth it to check. -Dave
Most fanless PSUs dump the heat at the rear and don't pass air through.
If you put 120mm fan at top rear extracting, it should give good airflow
through. Suggest you will need 450W PSU.
Mike.
 
L

lcs

Thanks for your thoughts Dave! This case does have the option for a low
mounted 80mm in take fan and the rear exhaust fan is 120mm. Or I could go
with a more mainstream case and face the dilemma that if I go with 80mm
fans I will have to use these fans at a higher RPM's to get equivalent air
flow and hence more noise. Perhaps a better solution is for a case with two
120mm fans and to tweak the case by adding acoustic materials. Do you know
of a better case?

When I calculated the PSU wattage required I used, voltage level multiplied
by total amps ( V A = W) To calculate the processor current at 12V VMR
source :

I = [ processor core voltage processor core current ] 1.25

12


The math says 350 should do, Today I wonder if this formula is still valid.
On power more is not always better. should I bite the noise bullet and go
with a 450 Watt PSU or perhaps a 400w 0 dB Luxurae PSU.
http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=20&idproduct=104
or should I just forget to forget about a fanless PSU?

Thanks for your help,

Lee

..
 
T

Tj

Maximum PC just did an article on the wuiet PC. You might be able to read it
on the web.
'
 
D

Dave C.

lcs said:
Thanks for your thoughts Dave! This case does have the option for a low
mounted 80mm in take fan and the rear exhaust fan is 120mm. Or I could go
with a more mainstream case and face the dilemma that if I go with 80mm
fans I will have to use these fans at a higher RPM's to get equivalent air
flow and hence more noise. Perhaps a better solution is for a case with
two 120mm fans and to tweak the case by adding acoustic materials. Do you
know of a better case?

When I calculated the PSU wattage required I used, voltage level
multiplied by total amps ( V A = W) To calculate the processor current
at 12V VMR source :

I = [ processor core voltage processor core current ] 1.25

12


The math says 350 should do, Today I wonder if this formula is still
valid. On power more is not always better. should I bite the noise bullet
and go with a 450 Watt PSU or perhaps a 400w 0 dB Luxurae PSU.
http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=20&idproduct=104
or should I just forget to forget about a fanless PSU?

Thanks for your help,

Lee


Who says you need to use 80mm fans at a high RPM? For the system you are
planning, one 80mm fan in front pulling cool air in will do a lot more good
than a 120mm fan in the rear at the same RPM. You don't need tons of
airflow, but you do need SOME. I'd suggest something like the following:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-180-013&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-007&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-114&depa=0

Yeah, the fan has blue LEDs, but it's getting hard to find a good case fan
without them. This will be a good balance of airflow as you have
(essentially) 3 quiet fans pushing in the front and pulling out the rear.
No need for another rear fan at all.

But I like the watercooling suggestion that someone else made, also. -Dave
 
T

Toshi1873

For me it is time to replace my noisy out dated rig. I have come up with a
configuration that should only produce about 35dB and most of that should be
muffled by the case. In addition I need performance, I made a few trade offs
to keep the heat generated down as well. The cost for this setup will be
about $1600. Does any one have any better ideas for building a quiet beast?

Acousticase C6606

SilenX 120mm 11db Fan

Antec Black Fanless 350 Watt ATX12V power supply Model Phantom 350

ABIT AX8 Motherboard

19dB Nexus AOP-6400 Quiet Athlon 64 & Opteron CPU Cooler

Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin - 512K - Enhanced Virus Protection -
HyperTransport OEM

1GB Dual Channel DDR 400 non-ECC memory 512MB matched pair

EVGA 128-P2-N368-TX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS W/ CRT TVO &
DVI - RETAIL BOX

2 Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB BARRACUDA 7200 SERIAL ATA/SATA 8MB CACHE 8.5MS
3.5INCH,5 years warranty (For RAID 1)

NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A (OEM)

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-167T

ATI 100-703147 TV WONDER PRO REMOTE CONTROL EDITION - FULL RETAIL BOXED

3.5 Floppy with Memory card reader

The big noisemakers are typically 80mm exhaust/intake
fans spinning at 4000-8000 rpm, 60mm CPU fans spinning
at high speed, noisy PSU fans, noisy ball-bearing
drives.

Key things you should be looking for in a case:

- 120mm intake/exhaust fans
- rubber mounted hard drive bays
- dedicated 120mm fan to pull air across the drives

As long as those Seagate drives are FDB (fluid drive
bearing), they should be a lot quieter then the old
style drives.

I'm not completely sold on fan-less PSUs. More modern
PSUs are quite quiet and will even throttle back their
fan speed based on temps.

My game rig is an Antec Sonata case (120mm
intake/exhaust fans, rubber mounted drive bays), Antec
TruePower PSU that controls a single case fan and also
throttles back the exhaust fan on the CPU, and an AMD
Opteron CPU with the retail heatsink/fan.

I take the built-in 120mm fan that comes with the Sonata
case, hook it to the PSU controlled fan lead and move it
to the front of the case to pull air over the hard
drives. I then use a Antec Smartcool (thermistor
controlled) 120mm fan on the exhaust port and let it
auto-regulate its speed.

The system is very quiet compared to my older, noisier
boxes and I didn't need to go overboard about it. I
even have an old-style ball-bearing 7200rpm 80GB drive
installed.
 
L

lcs

Thanks for the links., I see your point of view. Looks like I can not escape
~50dBA, but it will be quieter than what I have now for when I am working.
Maybe I will be surprised, plus there are several great new games that I can
not play now. I my revert back to more games and less work home.

Lee

Dave C. said:
lcs said:
Thanks for your thoughts Dave! This case does have the option for a low
mounted 80mm in take fan and the rear exhaust fan is 120mm. Or I could go
with a more mainstream case and face the dilemma that if I go with 80mm
fans I will have to use these fans at a higher RPM's to get equivalent
air flow and hence more noise. Perhaps a better solution is for a case
with two 120mm fans and to tweak the case by adding acoustic materials.
Do you know of a better case?

When I calculated the PSU wattage required I used, voltage level
multiplied by total amps ( V A = W) To calculate the processor current
at 12V VMR source :

I = [ processor core voltage processor core current ] 1.25

12


The math says 350 should do, Today I wonder if this formula is still
valid. On power more is not always better. should I bite the noise bullet
and go with a 450 Watt PSU or perhaps a 400w 0 dB Luxurae PSU.
http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=20&idproduct=104
or should I just forget to forget about a fanless PSU?

Thanks for your help,

Lee


Who says you need to use 80mm fans at a high RPM? For the system you are
planning, one 80mm fan in front pulling cool air in will do a lot more
good than a 120mm fan in the rear at the same RPM. You don't need tons of
airflow, but you do need SOME. I'd suggest something like the following:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-180-013&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-007&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-114&depa=0

Yeah, the fan has blue LEDs, but it's getting hard to find a good case fan
without them. This will be a good balance of airflow as you have
(essentially) 3 quiet fans pushing in the front and pulling out the rear.
No need for another rear fan at all.

But I like the watercooling suggestion that someone else made,
lso. -Dave
 
J

jaster

For me it is time to replace my noisy out dated rig. I have come up with a
configuration that should only produce about 35dB and most of that should
be muffled by the case. In addition I need performance, I made a few trade
offs to keep the heat generated down as well. The cost for this setup will
be about $1600. Does any one have any better ideas for building a quiet
beast?

Acousticase C6606

SilenX 120mm 11db Fan

Antec Black Fanless 350 Watt ATX12V power supply Model Phantom 350

ABIT AX8 Motherboard

19dB Nexus AOP-6400 Quiet Athlon 64 & Opteron CPU Cooler

Athlon 64 3500 90nm 939pin - 512K - Enhanced Virus Protection -
HyperTransport OEM

1GB Dual Channel DDR 400 non-ECC memory 512MB matched pair

EVGA 128-P2-N368-TX GEFORCE 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 PCI-EXPRESS W/ CRT TVO &
DVI - RETAIL BOX

2 Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB BARRACUDA 7200 SERIAL ATA/SATA 8MB CACHE
8.5MS 3.5INCH,5 years warranty (For RAID 1)

NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A (OEM)

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-167T

ATI 100-703147 TV WONDER PRO REMOTE CONTROL EDITION - FULL RETAIL BOXED

3.5 Floppy with Memory card reader


Tomshardware.com did a recent write-up on a Sanyo(?) water cooled
solution for $99 that only produces about 35d and keeps the chip cooler
than air coolers.
 

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