Silenx Products

The forum for non-component-related silent pc discussions.

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m_yates
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:32 am

Silenx Products

Post by m_yates » Fri Mar 05, 2004 8:23 pm

I just silenced my computer using nothing but products purchased through silenx.com:

300W Silenx power supply with active pfc
80 mm 11db case fan
Swiftech MCX462-V with preinstalled silenx fan

After reading this forum, I discoved the deception that Silenx pulled with sales reps posting to the forum as if they were users of silenx products. I just though I'd give an unbiased opinion of my experience.

First, the service is incredible. I ordered some things from Newegg the same day, and they arrived 1 day later than my Silenx products, even though Silenx used priority mail from california and Newegg used FedEx saver from New Jersey (I live in New York state ). My order was shipped within hours of being placed. I had some questions about the thermistor on the CPU fan and CPU fan RPM monitoring. Silenx tech support responded to my questions within a couple of hours. Overall, I have never experienced better customer service during on-line ordering. I'm a big fan of Newegg, and Silenx is the first copmany to beat them in shipping time and quick reponse. (Unfortunately Silenx doesn't beat Newegg in prices).

Second, the noise level on my computer has gone down significantly. It is very quiet, but not silent. I seem to have dog ears and pick up high pitched noises that don't bother most people. For me, it isn't the volume of noise so much as the pitch. Fans that make high pitched, ringing, whining, type noise drive me loopy. The three silenx fans I have in my case put out a very low volume of noise. However, if you are near the PC and the room is quiet, you do hear a high pitched whining from the fans. Mind you, this is very slight and others might not even notice it. It is also the most quiet I have ever heard my PC. Reducing the noise has become somewhat of an obsession since I sit next to it all day. Silenx has provided the best solution to date and I am happy with my purchase.

Finally, the thermal performance with the fans is acceptable, but not great. I have an Athlon XP 2000+ and the three silenx fans provide all the cooling. It has been running continuously for 2 days. My processor at idle is 40-45 C, while running CPUburn, it is 55-60 C, and the case temperatures are 28-33 C. Those numbers aren't fantastic, but I think I'm in a safe operating range. The air coming out of the power supply seems quite warm, but I don't have anything to measure it. The power supply is also under a 1 year warranty, so if it is too hot and dies, I'll get a new one. I have to trust Silenx designed it well. It is an office PC, so the processor is idle most of the time anyway.

Overall, I would give Silenx a thumbs up.

zuperdee
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:24 pm

Post by zuperdee » Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:06 pm

Just for the record: I think your temps are okay. Definitely within AMD's specifications, and my system also runs at similar temperatures. I don't think there's anything wrong with your system.

zuperdee
Posts: 310
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:24 pm

Re: Silenx Products

Post by zuperdee » Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:24 pm

By the way,
m_yates wrote:Reducing the noise has become somewhat of an obsession since I sit next to it all day.
Welcome to the club. Who knows--you may soon even discover that the JOURNEY is the fun part. :lol:

Rusty075
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Post by Rusty075 » Sat Mar 06, 2004 8:49 am

Radeonman wrote:Since your swifty isn't the best low airflow cooler out there, and those XP's know how to heat up, I REALLY doubt your temperature numbers unless you have the case side off - I don't acheive temps anywhere that good with three L1As on my duron.
Actually the temps are about right. He's getting about a 0.5°/W, which corresponds pretty well with what I get with the MCX462-V and a low flow 92mm fan.


One thing to remember, Silenx doesn't actually make any of the things that they sell. They're just a relabeler, they buy the products wholesale, slap a Silenx label on them and then resell them at a mark-up. As for PK himself, well that's a long, long story, but its pretty clear that the guy has some issues. The "forum thing" they did wasn't sales reps, it was the owner of the company attempting to defraud potential customers and slander the companies that he's involved in a trademark dispute with.
Last edited by Rusty075 on Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

Rusty075
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Post by Rusty075 » Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:08 am

Even for an 80mm fan those temps are ok... a 0.5°C/W probably means that the thermally controlled fan is running at about 7volts, pushing 14-15CFM.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:17 am

Radeonman wrote:This feels like another PK ad. It wouldn't be the first recurrence. The claims to having better shipping than newegg is hilarious, and why you would have to call tech support about a fan, power supply, or heatsink is also amusing.
Funny how many people shared exactly the thought with me privatey... it must be general pkaranoia. :lol:

m_yates
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:32 am

Post by m_yates » Sat Mar 06, 2004 5:37 pm

Well, folks I can promise you it is not another silenx add. I'm not sending these forum posts through a proxy, so you can probably see my IP address is in Rochester, NY. My name is Matthew Yates and I teach at a local University. Look me up if you don't believe me. I don't appreciate the suggestion that I am lying about anything. Although I can understand some paranoia given the history here. I was just posting because I couldn't find a lot of posts from first-hand users of Silenx products and I thought I might be helping others make an informed decision.

About the shipping: Silenx mailed me everything by priority mail. It was in fact placed in the mail a few hours after I placed my order. The order I placed with Newegg was sent the following evening even though they were ordered at the same time. My Newegg order arrived 24 hours later. Why would I make something like that up? I still love Newegg.

About why I would ask questions to Silenx tech support: The CPU fan has a thermistor on it. I have never used a thermistor fan on a CPU so I asked them for advice on how/where to position the thermistor. I ended up jamming it between the aluminum pins on the heatsink near the copper baseplate. Silenx recommended taping or gluing it to the copper part of the heatsink. The other problem I had was that the CPU fan was causing my BIOS to freeze if I attempted to view the RPM. The BIOS has a problem with RPM monitoring with that fan (it is an MSI K7N2G motherboard). Silenx tech support informed me that others have had similar problems. I ended up connecting the CPU fan directly to the power supply using the 3 pin/4 pin adapter that came with my Silenx case fan.

About my temperatures: Those numbers are approximations and I didn't do a detailed analysis. I ran CPUburn for 10-15 minutes and my CPU temperature was somewhere between 55-60 C. After sitting idle the temperature was around 40 C the first day and 45 C the second day (a warmer day in my office). I mentioned the temperatures to Silenx tech support and they told me that temps were nothing to be alarmed at because Athlon XPs are designed to run at temperatures up to 90 C. That part is laughable. I know AMD gives 90 C as a maximum die temperature, but I don't think that is meant to be a continuous operating temperature.

Finally, the noise level is low with Silenx, but not perfect. In fact, I mentioned that there is a faint high pitched whine with the fans. The Silenx products were used in my office computer. I am currently silencing my home computer that sits in my living room. Since the whing does bother me, I have ordered a Nexus NX-3000 power supply, Panaflo case fan, and a Zalman fan mate; following advice and recommended products from this site. Hopefully, these will make the perfect system, but I am not counting on it. By the way, all of those things were ordered from Silicon Acoustics and were shipped the same day using Fedex Express Saver. I haven't gotten the products yet, but the shipping response time and communication from Silicon Acoustics was just as good as Silenx.

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