Silencing an old computer, help please!

skyline889 · Post by **skyline889** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:41 am

Hi guys, I'm a new member here looking for some advice about silencing my pc. The computer I'm trying to silence is about 2.5 years old now so the fans have been getting louder and louder lately, I've shut one of them off but now I think my biggest problem is really my power supply. Just as a starter I guess I should probably list my system first:

Case: Themaltake Kandalf (Steel)
Mobo: Asus P5WD2
PSU: Coolmax CX-500B
CPU: 560J 3.6ghz HT
RAM: Samsung 1gb DDR2 533 4200 (x2)
Graphics: EVGA 7600GS PCI-E
Boot Disk: WD 37gb Raptor
Other HD: WD 175gb (PATA), Seagate 200gb (PATA), Maxtor 500gb (SATA)
Audio: EMU 1212m

As you can see it's not exactly a very high end rig by any standard but it was pretty decent when I bought it and I intend to keep it for a couple more years with a few upgrades in the future. Since I'm not going to be doing any dual or quad SLI or extreme OC (Maybe a little OC if I can upgrade to a C2D) what kind of PSU would you recommend? I was thinking about buying the 500w Seasonic M12 but the review I read said it would probably be overkill for anyone other than an extreme gamer, is this true? I might eventually want to upgrade my single core processor to a dual core (Would love a quad but I don't think my mobo is compatible) like an E6550 and OC to 3.0ghz and maybe a new graphics card further down the line but that would probably be the extent of the hardware modifications to the computer. So basically I'm just looking for soemthign that's silent and not overkill but still has a little headroom for possible modifications in the future.

After the PSU is installed I'll probably be more focused on replacing the old fans. Right now my case has three 90mm fans (Front, top, rear) as well as a rear mounted 120mm. They're all stock Thermaltake and there is an audible difference between when they're on and when I have them unplugged, what would be the quietest fans I could replace them with? I've heard good things about the Nexus and Scythe fans but I've only been able to find 92mm versions, would they be an ok replacement for the 90mm fans? Or would they not be able to be mounted properly? Thanks in advance!

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:08 am

I'd say you won't draw more than 250W max (CPU 80, HDDs up to 60 worst case, graphics card 40, which leaves another 70W for sound card and mobo, which is more than plenty). Any regular new processor will draw less power than your Prescott, even if overclocked quite a bit. A Seasonic S12 (or S12-II) 330W will be plenty for now, and should handle most current graphics cards too.

As for 90mm fans, I suggest you measure the size. I think they are in reality 92mm even if the specs say 90. Fans are measured along the side.

skyline889 · Post by **skyline889** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:27 pm

Thanks for the help! I was thinking about getting this psu (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/) since it's so cheap but taking a look at the reviews here, it seems that it is about 5db louder than something like the M12 or S12 Energy Plus at 250w, 26db vs 21/20db. Do you think there would be an audible difference between the two? I think this is probably going to be a one time deal since it looks like a pain to wire everything neatly so I'm looking for something pretty quiet. Another question, I think this the ebay listed psu is an older S12 so there's no PCI-E connector. If I later want to upgrade to something like the 8600GTS, is there any way to buy an adapter to supply power to it, or would I have to upgrade the psu again? Thanks again for the help!

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:33 am

Yes, but as I mentioned above, 250W is the max draw that you will probably never see unless loading both CPU, graphics card and all the HDDs at the same time, and even then it sounds a bit high. A more realistic peak number would be 200W, in which case the difference is quite a bit smaller. I guess it's your call on whether you'd want to spend an extra $60 to lower the noise at load. The Ebay one seems to be a great deal, though.

The graphics card is fanless, I hope? If not the discussions about PSU noise isn't very important, since the tiny and high-RPM graphics card fan is gonna make a lot more noise anyway.

At idle, I'd say it's gonna make a negligible difference which of the good PSUs you get.

And a year ago is about when I bought my S12-380, which has a PCI-E connector. But if it doesn't, there are adapters from 4-pin molex connectors to PCI-E.

skyline889 · Post by **skyline889** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:55 am

Thanks for the great info, I think I'll be buying the one on eBay. Do you think the buy it now price is good or should I just bid and see? About the video card, I believe the 7600 I have is the heatsink cooled one and that it's fanless so hopefully this won't be a noise problem.