New case (P180B) and some upgrades (chipset & VGA)

[bottekott]

Hey Guys!


Its getting close to christmas and this year i thought id give myself a less noisy PC as a christmas present.

This is my current setup:

CPU: Amd Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Motherboard: DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D
Memory: OCZ 2048MB Dual channel platinum edition (2x1024MB PC-3200 400mhz)
Graphics card: Club3D Geforce 6800GT
Sound card: Creative X-Fi Platinum
PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W
DVD: NEC ND-3520AW

Hard drives:
WD Raptor 74GB, 10,000 RPM (SATA)
WD Caviar 80GB, 7200 RPM (PATA)
WD Caviar 200GB, 7200 RPM (PATA)
WD Caviar 320GB, 7200 RPM (SATA)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB (SATA)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB (PATA)

Case:
BeanTech Igloo 3


Heres some pictures:

The outside


Hard drive mess


The inside

The red lines are placement of 80mm fans and the blue is 120mm.


As you can see its pretty stuffed... I even got one of my hard drives on the top of the NEC (i guess i could make room for it if i wanted to). Ive replaced the original fans in the case with Zalman ZM-F1 fans and the CPU cooler is Thermaltake Big Typhoon with stock 120mm fan. VGA and Chipset coolers are both stock.


I want a bigger case, but not one too big. I want to get writh of all the noise from my computer, right now i hear all sorts of frequencies from it. The result does not have to be inaudible, but as quiet as possible would be nice. After looking around on the net and this site ive come up with this:

Case: Antec P180B
Chipset: NB47J (Im going to have move the g6800 card to the lower PCI-E slot and run 8x (sli-mode))
VGA: Zalman VF900CU

From what ive heard the antec fans are a bit noisy. Would it be wise to replace them with some Noctua 120mm fans (if so should i get the 1200rpm or 800rpm? Or maybe some of each?)? Im also going to have a fan on the upper drive cage. I think ill go for the Noctua 120fan there.

So... Im looking for some feedback before i buy all this stuff. Will this be a nice setup? Any tips or recommendations? Should i replace the Antec fans with Noctua fans?

Im just looking for the most effective (and not to expensive) setup in the P180 case for my equipment!

I know its a lot of questions, but what would you do if you were in my position?


Edit: Im open to suggestions if someone thinks another case then the P180B would be better!

[bottekott]

Heres a screenshot of speedfan. I dont know why it says that my cpu fan speed is that high. Its usually around 650rpm at that temp.

[where?wolf]

First thing. Do you really need all that hd's in the case?

Maybe try to move some of the "least important" ones to external USB enclosures as backup disks?

That many hds will produce a lot of heat and noise.
And even if you use rounded cables for all those hd's. You will have problems with that many hd cables probably obstructing the airflow.
In a P180. you will have a really hard time arranging those neatly.

Try to stick to 2 or 4 max. And put them in the lower "wind tunnel" of the P180.


I also have the NEC 3520. It's a pretty noisy drive, but good. Maybe later you should consider ditching it for a Lite On or an LG. Nero Drive Speed helps some. But I will soon swap mine for a more silent drive.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/nerodrivespeed.html

Yeah, the Antec Tricools are pretty noisy. Even at "low" if you compaire them to Noctua or Nexus fans.

I have 4 Noctuas myself. (In a P180 B). 1 x 1200 rpm in the lower windtunnel. 1 x 1200 rpm as rear exhaust, and the same fan as intake (Removed the upper hd cage). And 1 x 800 rpm Noctua as top exhaust.

I have removed the stamped fan grilles + the small doors in front of the filters. And have a 120mm fan filter in the CD bay area, as extra, passive intake.

Very quiet and cool running system! I just invested in a Scythe Ninja Plus rev. B. And ducted it to the rear exhaust Noctua with a home made duct. Great cpu cooler! No cpu fan needed on my 400Mhz oc'ed AMD64 3000+ cpu.

As for very good videocard cooling. Maybe you should check out Thermalright HR-03?

I'm pretty sure you can run it without fan, if you keep your Gf 6800 at stock speed.

Even 2 X 6800 with HR-03 would work I guess. Maybe even passive.

See picture in the link.

http://www.ocxtreme.org/joomla/images/r ... /slicf.jpg


Also take very good time when planning how to assembly the cables in a P180.

I dont know if the Hiper psu have long enough cables for the P180.

But I know that Silverstone have a cable extension kit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812162004

Use Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal paste for the ZALMAN ZM-NB47J, and Scythe Ninja, Thermalright HR-01, Noctua or whatever cpu heatsink you are planning to get? It will earn you a couple of degrees lower temps.

Also tape up all unesissary holes in the case. This will improve the airflow.

[jackylman]

For Speedfan, you need to click the 'Configure' button and go under Advanced options. Use the pulldown menu at the top to select your sensor chip. Now play with the Fan1 divisor, Fan1 div, and perhaps Fan1 mult until you obtain the right reading (Hint: Your sensor looks to be reading 64x the actual value.)

To where?wolf: A request. Please remove the quote (or at least the images) from your post as it makes it difficult to read this thread. Thanks.

[jackylman]

From what ive heard the antec fans are a bit noisy.

I doubt you'll ever hear the Tri-Cool on its 'Low' setting until you get rid of some of those HD's.

If I was in this postion, I would buy a new 500GB SATA drive (Samsung 501 or WD 5000KS) and sell my 3 PATA drives to finance it.

[bottekott]

I had a chance to get $90 discount and bought P180B, Zalman NB47J, VF900CU and some noctua fans on tuesday. Too bad i didnt get your advise before that .

At the moment I am in need of all the drives. But I'll consider an upgrade once I get the system up. I will assemble it piece by piece and look into every part and see how much noise it makes. I'll try to keep you updated as i go :p.

Thanks for tips about case modification. Thats the first thing I'll do (starting sunday).

As for cpu heatsink.. I'll stick with the thermaltake big typhoon. In my current system it is inaudible and never lets my temp go above 50 degrees. Even when clocked +400mhz.

[bottekott]

I dont know if the Hiper psu have long enough cables for the P180.

But I know that Silverstone have a cable extension kit.

How long does the cables have to be? Ive ordered a kit to be sure, but I can always cancel it if I get to know in time. It is a tad more expensive over here. $20 including shipping :/

[where?wolf]

I had a chance to get $90 discount and bought P180B, Zalman NB47J, VF900CU and some noctua fans on tuesday. Too bad i didnt get your advise before that .

At the moment I am in need of all the drives. But I'll consider an upgrade once I get the system up. I will assemble it piece by piece and look into every part and see how much noise it makes. I'll try to keep you updated as i go :p.

Thanks for tips about case modification. Thats the first thing I'll do (starting sunday).

As for cpu heatsink.. I'll stick with the thermaltake big typhoon. In my current system it is inaudible and never lets my temp go above 50 degrees. Even when clocked +400mhz.

O.k
Pity.

But the Zalman is a nice vga cooler too. If you get another 6800. You can always try a HR - 03 on that card.

And the Typhoon is a pretty silent cpu cooler.

And after you finished the new rig. It will be easier to judge HOW silent or noisy you think it is?

You're welcome.

Merry christmas!