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Old 02-08-2006, 01:26 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Cooling and keeping my computer quiet at the same time possible?

What do people recommend that I do to get my system as quiet as possible. Currently I have a bunch of fans running to keep the system cool. I'm thinking of trying out water cooled system but I'm not too familiar with it or if its still advised and safe anymore. Any suggestions would be great!
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Old 02-08-2006, 02:08 AM   #2 (permalink)
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You need higher airflow and lower decibel rated fans.

If you have 4 80mm fans, then you can probably get the same result with 2 120mm fans rated at lower DB.

Your major issue is flowing the air through the case properly.
Get the cables neatened, the less hot PCI cards moved to lower slots to leave space for your grapihics card.

Possible to try a heatpipe type cooler for your graphics card?

Also, check the direction of airflow in the case fans.

You want one in for each one out or they fight against one another, increasing their load and noise.
Another option is to use a cutout on the side panel and place an input 120mm fan and 2x 80 mm outward blowing fans at the back and lower front of the case.

Keep enough room around the case for warm air to get to the fans too.
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Old 02-08-2006, 02:12 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Location: San Francisco
120mm case fans, you really shouldn't need more than two of them, and organize the cables and things in your case such that there is good airflow between the front and rear fans. Unfortunately I'm not sure how well simply replacing the fans will work with your case if it's designed for 80mm fans since I have a case that originally had 120mm fans.

You can also try replacing or slowing down any CPU heatsink, video card, motherboard chipset, etc. fans that may be loud. The most annoying, if not the loudest, fan in my main system is actually the one on the chipset, because it makes an incredibly annoying high-frequency sound when it's running full tilt. I fixed it by installing a Zalman fan controller to reduce the speed about half, and the temperature is none the worse. I also have for the CPU another fine Zalman product which is big and has a big controllable fan which is the best you can look for when you want quiet. It's running about 25 degrees F over room temperature. (granted Athlon; I can't guarantee any level of performance on a P4. )

Another computer of mine, that I don't use and thus haven't bothered to fix this, has a CPU heatsink fan that is incredibly loud like there is a jet engine running out behind the building; the moral of the story is replacing even one part can make a big difference. (it has only three fans total: CPU, GeForce 2, power supply, and it's much louder than my main with seven: two 120mm case fans; CPU heatsink; a stock X850XTPE cooler, which is surprisingly quiet because the fan never runs in "dustbuster mode"; the previously annoying chipset fan; and two in the power supply)

The bottom line is, you certainly don't need water cooling to have a quiet high performance system. It's probably easier if you originally buy components with noise in mind, but I'm sure there's still a lot you can do like this to assuage the problem.

PS this site is really helpful: http://www.silentpcreview.com/
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Last edited by n0nsensical; 02-11-2006 at 12:16 AM.. Reason: add sig
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Old 02-08-2006, 01:57 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Location: Sydney, Australia
I have been thinking about spending a bit of money for one of these:
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_p_Phantom.html

It has a large heatsink and the fan only runs if it needs to - just need to convince my wife it is more important than the new pram she wants
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Old 02-08-2006, 05:33 PM   #5 (permalink)
 
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Location: Waterloo, Ontario
I have a case with two 120mm fan bays and have been meaning to get a completely fanless CPU heatsink and a completely fanless PSU. Since my video card has no fans, this will make the 120mm fans the only fans running, which will make it very quiet, indeed.

Perhaps you can go this route?
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Old 02-08-2006, 08:01 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Location: Central Coast CA
open the case, both sides, and get a large copper heat sink for the CPS, GPU and the bridges and a slow large fan to blow on on them all.
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Old 02-08-2006, 08:23 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Location: AWOL in Edmonton
I bought a Antec Sonota II which is designed to be quiet. (comes with a variable speed 120 in the back and a PSU with fans that only turn on when it gets too hot. Only happened once so far and it wasn't too loud)

I replaced the northbridge fan on my board with a large zalman heatsink. Put an oversize d heatsink on my CPU with a variable speed fan controlled by software. Also put an oversized heatsink on my graphics card. Installed a second variable speed 120mm at the front.

Both 120s are on low. The CPU fan has turned on enough that I can hear it once or twice. Unless I'm loading up the system and extra fans are kicking in, I think my adsl modem is about as loud and it doesn't have any fans.
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