Quiet PC for LCD wall display...

[Stacey]

I've been working on a TV/image display box (for wall mounted LCD) and got
all the software/hardware kinks worked out!

Now the last problem: How to make it quiet?

Hardware is a
P3-800/133
Voodoo 4 AGP
256Mb SDRAM
Leadtek TV card w/remote
Aureal sound card


So far in my quest for silence:

I ditched the fan on the voodoo card, I'm not running 3D so figured it will
live with just the heatsink. If it smokes, I'll get something else that
doesn't have a fan later down the road.

The only things left are the PSU (which isn't too bad right now...) and the
CPU.

The CPU cooler is a factory Intel and is a screamer (at least in a quiet
room). I'm thinking about the zalman but saw the -radial fin cooler-

http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=5&CATID=3

Anyone ever use one of these?

The problem with the zalman is it isn't going to fit in the case I have as
the PSU is sideways right over the top of the CPU, the other looks like it
will. The zalman might fit but I couldn't mount a fan over it, it would
have to be in front blowing across it, would that work OK? AGain the CPU
isn't going to be very stressed, just running a TV card or displaying
images so it shouldn't need a -bunch- of cooling. How hot can a P3 get and
still be reliable?

I may go ahead and spring for a zalman quiet PSU as well just to see how
quiet they really are. The HD isn't very noisy (a newish 5400 WD 15gig) so
the fans/cooling are the only problem. Any tips/website on case mods for
slower fans/cooling etc I should know about? TIA

 

[kony]

I've been working on a TV/image display box (for wall mounted LCD) and got
all the software/hardware kinks worked out!

Now the last problem: How to make it quiet?

Hardware is a
P3-800/133
Voodoo 4 AGP
256Mb SDRAM
Leadtek TV card w/remote
Aureal sound card


So far in my quest for silence:

I ditched the fan on the voodoo card, I'm not running 3D so figured it will
live with just the heatsink. If it smokes, I'll get something else that
doesn't have a fan later down the road.

It will stay cooler if you leave the next PCI slot (case bracket) cover
off, allowing more airflow past it.

The only things left are the PSU (which isn't too bad right now...) and the
CPU.

Drop a low ~ 2000 RPM fan in it, put a ~ 47 Ohm 2W resistor or about 6
diodes in series on the fan lead, or if it's thermally controlled you may
be able to open the power supply (after disconnected from ac for a couple
minutes) and bend the thermal sensor away from the heatsink... generally
it's either silicone cemented or held down with a tiny alminum bracket if
not just sticking up from the PCB.

The CPU cooler is a factory Intel and is a screamer (at least in a quiet
room). I'm thinking about the zalman but saw the -radial fin cooler-

http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=5&CATID=3

Anyone ever use one of these?

Overrated and a poor fan, due to it's size, mostly too thin. It can cool
a Celery 800 fine, but for $20 they're ripping you off. For $20 you could
get a silent setup that can cool an Athlon XP, like a Thermalright SK-7
plus a Panaflo L1A fan.... which would be great for the Celeron too, but
could even be undervolted and might be too big for the motherboard.

It's really quite easy to cool a Celeron 800, and if it's running at 1.7V
core, you might also be able to undervolt it a bit, though that can vary.
Even at stock speed, if the base of the 'sink is fair and you use thermal
compound, there should be no problem undervolting the fan to 7V. All you
really need is a low RPM fan and any heatsink with a fairly thick base
(copper not needed). It need not be large or fancy or expensive, a $10
heatsink is more than you need.

The problem with the zalman is it isn't going to fit in the case I have as
the PSU is sideways right over the top of the CPU, the other looks like it
will. The zalman might fit but I couldn't mount a fan over it, it would
have to be in front blowing across it, would that work OK? AGain the CPU
isn't going to be very stressed, just running a TV card or displaying
images so it shouldn't need a -bunch- of cooling. How hot can a P3 get and
still be reliable?

AT 800MHz the core isn't anywhere near it's ceiling (which was typically
around 1.1-1.3GHz depending on stepping, so it's going to be pretty
tolerant of heat, should be stable past 60C easily.

I may go ahead and spring for a zalman quiet PSU as well just to see how
quiet they really are. The HD isn't very noisy (a newish 5400 WD 15gig) so
the fans/cooling are the only problem. Any tips/website on case mods for
slower fans/cooling etc I should know about? TIA

Presuming the power supply fan is the only (major) fan providing chassis
cooling, increase the air intake in front of the hard drive bay if
necessary (it will help more than just the hard drive) and if there's a
stamped-in grill over the fan, cut that out. The less constricted the air
passage way the more efficiently the fan can move air and so it can run at
lower RPM.

The cheapest way to get the present cooler quiet (without cutting wires
and soldering) would be to buy the following power supply adapter and swap
it's ground and 5V leads to end up with 7V across the heatsink fan. You
might even find 5V to be sufficient cooling (depending on chassis airflow
and whether your OS is using ACPI/HALT cooling) but 7V may be quiet
enough, it'll certainly be much quieter than 12V.

http://www.svcompucycle.com/3pinto4pinad.html

 

[Forrest]

After getting my machine as quiet as I could, I found that the power supply
sounded like a wind tunnel. I wired it up with a toggle switch. One position
is the stock 12 volts and the other is 7 volts. I also wired a front and
rear case fan at 7 volts. It's a P-4 2.4g in a mid tower. I have yet to
have to run the PS at the 12 volt setting. I have a Radeon video card in it
that was loud. I removed the little stock fan and replaced it with a fan
from an old Pentium 1 that I also wired at 7 volts. All is cool and quiet.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[Noozer]

I've been working on a TV/image display box (for wall mounted LCD) and got
all the software/hardware kinks worked out!

Now the last problem: How to make it quiet?

Consider dropping the P3 for one of the VIA C3 chips (if it will fit the
board), or underclocking the P3, and running a much smaller heatsink fan.

 

[Last Boy Scout]

I have a 800Mhz Via Mini-ITX Motherboard that has a tiny fan on it.
They make some newer models that have a Fanless 800Mhz CPU. Some
older 600Mhz motherboards were fanless also. These were typically
really small computer motherboards with integrated video. They had
some quality of TV output as well.

Try looking at this site:

www.mini-itx.com

They have a new motherboard coming out in NANO-ITX form factor.

If you cant get a device that converts computer analog VGA to TV
output. I think Viewsonic makes some devices like that. Either that
or just buy a small LCD Monitor instead of a TV. Some companies make
some 15inch LCD TV's like Sam Sung.

 

[Stacey]

http://www.svcompucycle.com/3pinto4pinad.html

Thanx for all the tips everyone! I think I'm going to try a Cu zalman for an
AMD sized chip (the older ones are about $20 with a 92mm "quiet" fan
included..) and run the fans as slow as it can tolerate and stay under 60C.
It never get's over 40C with the stock cooler in this use so the PSU fan, a
slow 92mm front fan (case mod it) and some vents over the CPU in the top of
the case might be enough? This case does have vents in the back at the top
so that might be enough and wouldn't let dust in like top mounted vents
would. Might be able to get by 5Ving both fans or at least the front one.
Looks like the zalman will mount with the fins vertical so convection
should move some air through it as well if the vents in the case are placed
right.

The rest of this project is turning out nice, once I get the LCD mounted on
the wall and the box quiet, I think it's going to be really cool. The
leadtek remote control TV card works great and the included DVD software
works good too. My other hobby is photography and I have thousands of
images I've been wanting to display!! Found a freeware slide show screen
saver that can deal with an unlimited number of files, just drop them all
in a folder... All in all this "hack" is going to be cheaper than a LCD TV
of the same size, will be smaller (no built in speakers etc) and will be
able to display images when the TV is off, plus play DVD's etc. Also when
they start selling "movies for download", I'll have something that can do
that as well!

 

[Noozer]

Remember... We want to see pictures!!!

Thanx for all the tips everyone! I think I'm going to try a Cu zalman for an
AMD sized chip (the older ones are about $20 with a 92mm "quiet" fan
included..) and run the fans as slow as it can tolerate and stay under

60C.


<snip>

 

[Norman Meyer]

I've been working on a TV/image display box (for wall mounted LCD) and got
all the software/hardware kinks worked out!

Now the last problem: How to make it quiet?

Hardware is a
P3-800/133
Voodoo 4 AGP
256Mb SDRAM
Leadtek TV card w/remote
Aureal sound card


So far in my quest for silence:

I ditched the fan on the voodoo card, I'm not running 3D so figured it will
live with just the heatsink. If it smokes, I'll get something else that
doesn't have a fan later down the road.

The only things left are the PSU (which isn't too bad right now...) and the
CPU.

The CPU cooler is a factory Intel and is a screamer (at least in a quiet
room). I'm thinking about the zalman but saw the -radial fin cooler-

http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=5&CATID=3

Anyone ever use one of these?

The problem with the zalman is it isn't going to fit in the case I have as
the PSU is sideways right over the top of the CPU, the other looks like it
will. The zalman might fit but I couldn't mount a fan over it, it would
have to be in front blowing across it, would that work OK? AGain the CPU
isn't going to be very stressed, just running a TV card or displaying
images so it shouldn't need a -bunch- of cooling. How hot can a P3 get and
still be reliable?

I may go ahead and spring for a zalman quiet PSU as well just to see how
quiet they really are. The HD isn't very noisy (a newish 5400 WD 15gig) so
the fans/cooling are the only problem. Any tips/website on case mods for
slower fans/cooling etc I should know about? TIA

Hi Stacy,

I'm using a Zalman CNPS6000-Cu heatsink without the fan on a Celeron 733
and seeing temps in the mid-30's with light use (surfing, ripping CD's,
text editing.) The PSU is a Seasonic SS300FB with a slow 120mm fan and
other features specifically for low noise; it is the only fan on the
system. A review of the Seasonic is here:
<http://www.silentpcreview.com/article107-page1.html>.

The silentpcreview.com site has articles, reviews, and forums devoted to
silent/quiet pc's.

HTH, Norm

 

[Max]

I've been working on a TV/image display box (for wall mounted LCD) and got
all the software/hardware kinks worked out!

Now the last problem: How to make it quiet?

Hardware is a
P3-800/133
Voodoo 4 AGP
256Mb SDRAM
Leadtek TV card w/remote
Aureal sound card


So far in my quest for silence:

I ditched the fan on the voodoo card, I'm not running 3D so figured it will
live with just the heatsink. If it smokes, I'll get something else that
doesn't have a fan later down the road.

The only things left are the PSU (which isn't too bad right now...) and the
CPU.

The CPU cooler is a factory Intel and is a screamer (at least in a quiet
room). I'm thinking about the zalman but saw the -radial fin cooler-

http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=5&CATID=3

Anyone ever use one of these?

The problem with the zalman is it isn't going to fit in the case I have as
the PSU is sideways right over the top of the CPU, the other looks like it
will. The zalman might fit but I couldn't mount a fan over it, it would
have to be in front blowing across it, would that work OK? AGain the CPU
isn't going to be very stressed, just running a TV card or displaying
images so it shouldn't need a -bunch- of cooling. How hot can a P3 get and
still be reliable?

I may go ahead and spring for a zalman quiet PSU as well just to see how
quiet they really are. The HD isn't very noisy (a newish 5400 WD 15gig) so
the fans/cooling are the only problem. Any tips/website on case mods for
slower fans/cooling etc I should know about? TIA

Antec have just released a case called the Aria, supposedly the quietest
case on earth. You may have to change your spec a bit but have a look and
see.

http://www.antec-inc.com/aria.html

HTH