A little update.

While at it, you could also touch the fins (with caution), during load they should be quite hot. If they are not then you could assume there are mounting issues indeed. If they do run hot, I guess the mounting kit did it`s job and it`s just a matter or improving airflow. Actually I think those temps...

I think it`s more likely you got a bad sample. I have a 1600rpm sflex and it is very quiet at 5 volts surpassing even my papst fans running at lower speed.

If I understand correctly you are satisfied with your current noise levels and want a better looking case with good layout? A Lian Li will work if you carefully dampen it (adding some more mass could help), read this interesting thread : I think a ninja can passively cool a core duo. Even if you nee...

Hello and welcome, I think that a quiet case must obey to the same rules as a good pair of speakers. The heavier and more rigid the better. As you discovered, aluminium can be made quite rigid. I have a 6A19 chassis like you, it is not as rigid as my previous Lian Li PC 60 but it is quieter because ...

I dont know if a 2,5 even needs any cooling at all. I`ve tested mine under various conditions, including entombing it into sound proofing material and the temp is always stuck at 30 c.

Is it necessary to have an inverted m/b layout? The antec p180 has good reputation and keeps the psu under the other components as well. You could also look at Coolermaster cases though they are not that elegant.

I`m a big fan of lian li cases (and an owner of one) thanks to their elegant design and good quality. But while they are designed with silent computing in mind they are not your best shot. The main drawback is the material as you are probably aware of. Some mass loading/dampening can help but puttin...

"The lower chamber is just a sheer joke to me" What makes you say this? I think that having the psu in a space unaffected by other heat sources is a good idea. Or are you referring to somethng else? I have not used this case in practice but have carefully examined it. Plastics are of average quality...

hello, I was also thinking you could go for a more optimal hd setup. One hd for the os and another for your documents like you said, plus an external one for backup purposes. I`m currently running 1 laptop drive for the os and essential documents and 2 external ones, not the fastest setup but very g...

Here`s what I`d suggest although most of my points have already been made. You are looking into a lower power system with external/pico psu enclosed, laptop drives and big heatsinks. Fanless watercooling isn`t a bad idea but pumps can be just as difficult to completely silence as slow fans. A skythe...

blizeH wrote:Hmm, I might go for the E6750 then, but surely if I overclock it to E6850 speeds it'll be even hotter again? Than the Q6600?

It will be as hot as a E6850 as long as you keep the voltage at stock settings. A Q6600 is considerably hotter because it has those 2 extra cores.

What kind of cpu do you have? A top-down facing zalman heatsink could also be a solution. Thermaltake also has some compact old school heatpipe coolers. Though I`m not a big fan of their products they should be effective.
On ebay you might have more chances finding what you`re looking for.

"ll see what the HR-03 and two intake fans can do about the GPU..." Sounds good, worth trying. "That's unfortunately out of the question, since I've already ordered my Solo... Anyway, I litteraly fell in love with this case " There`s no doubt it is a very good case. You can try resolving any psu iss...

Ducts have worked for me too. The only complication I can imagine (if you use it in that p180case) is the ducted fun sucking in the heated air of the gpu.

I would say that without a duct the psu will quickly ramp up. I experienced this problem even though I used a front fan psu. A duct worked well for the cpu & psu but not for the graphics card (the cpu monopolised the exhaust). With a top facing fan psu it was even worse as adding a duct created turb...

There is a mention of typical system power needs in all PSU reviews. Take this for instance: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article753-page1.html

Hello and welcome :) It`s a reasonable selection of components so I`ll go straight to your questions. 1) You cold consider a slower C3D cpu to drop the cost a little. Also, you could choose one with a slower fsb, as it will be easier to match it with memory speed during overclocking. 2) The skythe n...

Excellent temps on the gpu. The cpu duct also looks very efficient yet for some reason I believe there is some room for improvement on the core temps. Have you tried alternative configurations? How about placing the top fan on the heatsink facing the excaust?

My eye went immediately on the voodoo3! I too have a p3 paired with a voodoo3 in the closet and a 12cm fan mounted on a zalman bracket

How about a WD scorpio? The seagates are not considered the most quiet laptop drives though they should still be quieter than a single 3,5 drive and easier to cool, suspend or enclose.

I think it is a third m/b sensor, it is indeed described as such by speedfan (screenshot in first post) . I still don`t know which is the correct temperature. Without adding compensation sensor#2(socket) is around the high 30ies and #3(vrm`s) in the high 60ies.

Thanks for replpying, what you suggest is pretty much the approach I used. I was able to match the first 2 readings with etune/bios the manufacturer provided monitoring as you say so they must be the motherboard sensors. The 3rd reading closely follows cpu activity and closely reflects airflow aroun...

A foam pad should take care of the remaining vibrations of an enclosed drive. I think an enclosed soft mounted drive is your best bet for minimum noise. You could possibly mount 4 drives in a decently sized case. 4 on the floor of the chassis or 2 with another 2 in the 5,25 bay depending on your cas...

Greetings, I am running a test on my temps tin order to fine tune my system cooling. But to do it right I need to make sure my temperature readings are correct. This is where you could help me. I have an old gigabyte 7VT600P socket A mobo. It has 2 temperature sensors labeled system and cpu, on the ...

I would take some time and experiment, with a little effort even your current chassis could work well with 5 drives. You have space for 2 12cm fans at the front. A little more than 24cm`s in height which should be enough for a stack of 5 drives enclosed or suspended. Suspending can minimize vibratio...

I vote for both! A 2,5 drive sandwitched between 3,5. Expect a moderate sound reduction. In a well dumped case like the p180 it might be close to inaudible. If you have a pair of spare drives you can try it now on your existing drive. I have heard good things about the skythe enclosures, and those h...

The last couple of quiet nights allowed me to do a tough test on the acoustic performance. The last time I could hear the fans working. After fine tuning them and dampening the case I was able to pass the 1m test. The hard disk sandwich made a big difference in noise. At this time the system is clos...

thank you for the comments and feedback. The sonic tower is not well adapted to socket A because on most motherboards, it will face the power supply. It is possible to use it efficiently in a p18x case using the top exaust or by modding it. It`s fin density is balanced out by lower surface so it per...

"Many generic PSU's have a fan zooming along at 3000 rpm. That's gotta suck." I thought the same but he adressed it with a 7v nexus fan. The case doesn`t help either, it looks like a thin 0.6mm steel, amplifying the main noise source. Probably the hard drive what do you think? A p150 is cheaper and ...