Noobie needs suggestions.

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:33 pm

I have an E8400, 8800GT 512 G92 (Assuming my RMA works), ABS 700W PSU, 4 80mm fans, 500gb 32mb Cache HDD.

What can I do it quiet it down?

I'd like to stay away from water cooling.

Thanks.

Here's a photograph:

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:10 pm

It would help if you listed off exactly what components you have.

Until then, you can swap that stock Intel cooler for a Scythe Ninja or Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme, with an SPCR recommended fan.

You can swap your case fans for fans mentioned in the link above. 80 mm fans aren't quiet as a rule. You want 120 mm fans, as noise is proportional to fan blade RPM. A 120 mm fan can push the same volume of air at lower RPMs, hence more quietly.

You could swap your case for something that will dampen the sound. Antec cases are popular around here, especially the P182.

You could swap your PSU for something less ridiculous. Depending on exactly what you are running in there, you may only need something that can supply 400 W. With what you have listed, your computer shouldn't draw more than 300W even during heavy gaming.

Most importantly, have a good look at this post and this post.

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:39 am

GA-P35-DS3L
E8400
(atm) eVGA 8800GT 512 600MHz
Fans: No clue, came with the case.
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS
All stock cooling.

Used a calcuator on a site, not sure how accurate they are. It said I should get a PSU with something like 460W minimum. I went with the ABS because of quality as opposed to wattage.

I'm considering trying to actually build a case. I could get thicker plastic to help stop more sound?? And make 120mm slots. I doubt I'd be intelligent enough to work with metal.

Hope that's what you meant by components.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:52 am

I really think that setup is hopeless without extensive changes, and expense. The side fans have nothing to dampen the sounds.....only the very slowest 80mm fans would be quiet, and then they would do little for cooling. The clear plastic might look nice to you, but there is no internal dampening to absorb the noise.

You need a quieter PSU, a different HSF on the CPU, soft HD mounting, different case fans, and a wiring clean-up to improve airflow, etc. Lots of work....

Making your own case out of clear plastic.....back to stage one (noisy). If you're really into modding/building your own, I'd recommend finding an appropriate sized cheap case that looks good, and start cutting.

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:54 am

Don't bother with calculators. 460W is way more than your computer could possibly draw. The E8400 has a TDP of 65 Wm the 8800GT will draw 125 W max, and add 10 W for every hard drive and PCI card you have. Rough, but it will give you a much more accurate value.

Making your own case involves a lot of work, and will likely be more noisy than the case you have now. Most cases out there have terrible acoustics - they amplify vibrations into hums. The P182 is the result of a collaboration between Antec and SPCR, so it is a common recomendation around here. From what I have read (and heard) it is best case for reducing noise.
If you don't want to pay $140 for a case, I think the Antec NSK and Sonata series are pretty good. They both come with some form of an Earthwatts 80+ PSU, which are about as quiet as you can get with a PSU that comes with a case.

If you want to reduce noise, I think that getting a case is the best first step.

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:02 am

Thank you for the replies.

I'll have to see about getting a new case, I suppose.
The Antec NSK's PSU is only 17amp on the +12v rail. My G92 requires 26amp.

Is there any single case material that would mean it's quiet, or is it design?
If it's design, is there perhaps a webpage with a larger varierty of quiet cases?

As for the power, here's what I use:
The mobo, the E8400, 4gB DDR2 800, G92, 2 DVD, 1 HDD, 3 PCI Cards: 1 HDTV Tuner, 1 Ageia PhysX, 1 XtremeGamer Fatal1ty, 1 Floppy, 1 Memory Card Reader, 7.1 Speaker set-up (draws power from outlet, but has 3 cables into card?), 2 Joysticks, a Throttle, CH Rudder Pedals, G25 Racing Wheel, Mini number pad, Webcamera, Remote Reciever, 7-port USB HUB (does not draw power from outlet), 1 Keyboard, 2 Mice, 4x 80mm Fans, 4x Cathode Lights, microphone, and a KVM (does not draw power from the outlet).
Planned Upgrades: 1 more HDD, 4 external enclosures for DVD, more lights, printer.

How much power would that draw?

I'll try getting quieter fans to start with, but if that doesn't quiet it down to a "satisfactory" level, I'll see about getting a new case.

Thank you for the help!

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:18 am

I thought acrylic plastic was a good absorber of acoustic energy...or at least good at not transferring vibrations? better than thin metal anyway

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:27 am

How much power would that draw?

max power draw will be just slightly over 200W (ca. 215W). add 10w for additional hdd.

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:32 am

Well, it looks like you got me there. You are the first person I've seen here that has a computer that can draw more than 300 W. That is a massive amount of stuff.

A USB device can draw a maximum of 2.5 W. I did some digging to find out about that PhysX card, and it seems to draw 20W idle and a max of 70W. It is also apparently a major noise source.

So, this is how I see it (max power draw):
Motherboard 30W
E8400 65W
8800GT 125 W
PhysX card 70W
Creative sound card 25W
2 hard drives 20W
TV tuner 10W
2 DVD drives, floppy, memory card reader 20W
12 random USB devices 30W

Total max power draw = 395 W.

In reality, I don't think that you are going to be able to get the CPU, PhysX card, sound card and usb devices to draw that much. I can see your computer drawing 300-325 W during heavy, physics-enabled gaming though. You might want to grab a Kill-A-Watt to investigate for yourself.

A couple of things to note: speakers don't draw power from your sound card, 26 amps times 12 volts equals 312 watts - your video card would melt. I have a feeling that the wires for the video card power plug aren't rated for more than 15 amps.

Also, unless you are running fans spinning at 2000 rpm, just switching up the fans isn't going to make your computer anywhere near quiet.

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:44 am

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811146029

How is this for a case?
120mm fans.
Metal.

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:49 am

what CPU? is it overclocked/volted at all?

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:52 am

''Pros: The case comes loaded with seven 120mm fans and one top 80mm which provide great airlow without too much noise''

I think most here would see 8 fans as a con

Noise is subjective, depends on the reviewer

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:43 am

Blue_Sky wrote:Well, it looks like you got me there. You are the first person I've seen here that has a computer that can draw more than 300 W. ... I did some digging to find out about that PhysX card, and it seems to draw 20W idle and a max of 70W.
So, this is how I see it (max power draw):
Motherboard 30W
E8400 65W
8800GT 125 W
PhysX card 70W
Creative sound card 25W
2 hard drives 20W
TV tuner 10W
2 DVD drives, floppy, memory card reader 20W
12 random USB devices 30W

Total max power draw = 395 W.

a couple of points:

1) i thought the PCI bus was limited to 25W max? so how can the Physx card draw 70W?

2) your 8800GT number looks too high. xbitlabs state 85W max:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... 0gt_5.html

3) also the numbers for the sound card and the usb devices also seem too high; most usb devices will use nowhere near the maximum allowed by the spec.

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:01 pm

If you look at the card, it has a molex connector, I guess that is for power the additional watts

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:56 pm

i just realised the E8400 is the CPU...i thought it was a 2nd VGA card

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:00 pm

Good catch jaganath - I misinterpreted some numbers. It seems that it draws about 25-30 W, depending on which review you look at. Aegia says it uses a maximum of 30 W.

With respect to the audio card, my XtremeMusic draws ~10 W idle and ~15 W when in use (ie. movies). 25 W is the max it could draw, based on the fact that it is a PCI card.

I'm well aware that these numbers are very high, but that is the point. These are the maximum possible power consumptions for each part. I've seen more that one review now that shows an 8800GT drawing ~120 W at 100% load.

My expectation is that when taxed, the computer will draw 205 W -- 20W for the mobo, 50 W for the CPU, 80 W for the 8800GT, 25 W for the PhysX card, and 30 W for everything else (again taking into account a second HDD).

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:27 pm

I found someone to purchase my Acrylic case, after reading your suggestions. Money was the reason I didn't want to switch the case out unless I had to.

I am looking through some cases now on Newegg and will post them when I'm done.
If you would be so kind, I'd love to have you check them and tell me if they'd be quiet or not. They're metal cases.

Thanks. Will post in a bit.

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:48 pm

ASSUMING they are all of equal sound-blocking attributes ( I know they're not, that's why I'm asking you guys

), here are the ones that seemed they might be good. Favorites at the top:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811215006
ABS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811103014
XCLIO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811294006
Aplus

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129025
Antec

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129021
Antec

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119138
Cosmos

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Basically, which of these are "bad?"

Thanks!

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:07 pm

PSU:

I would like to keep my current PSU, it came with two (rubber?) vibration dampeners. And, I'm willing to try to replace the 80mm fans with quieter ones (though it doesn't seem loud to me?).

However, if that won't work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817703005
Is this one good?

My old 350W PSU did not have enough power to run my old machine.
(Video stutters, improved sound quality, improved picture quality on TV Tuner, being replaced with a 430W PSU)

With my new PC, I'm using even more power. I'd rather have a bit extra watts than too few watts.
--

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811998020
Assuming the case I end up with has usable front bays, should I add a fan similar to this?

--

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811998020
"Drive Gorments," no need to look.

--

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811999122
Low dbA at low speed?? Good fan? Advertised as 17dbA IIRC, 1300 rpm.

--

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6811999171
Fan controller, to make sure the case fans run quietly.

--

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6835185042
120mm HSF with replacable fan, no need to look.

--

http://www.svc.com/afm02b-8.html
Fan mounts.

--

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3039/ ... ml#options

Foam, enough for the entire case? Is this useful?

----------

Thanks for the help. Sorry if I've asked too many questions.

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:20 pm

if the fans in the antec900 are quiet enough, you might benefit from the top blowhole. The antec 182 is built for quietness and SPCRers in mind, though it might be too small for your requirements VGA-wise and heatwise

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:24 pm

I don't plan on using "stock" 80 or 120mm fans on any of these. I'll replace all of them

.

The 900 - will it be quieter than my acrylic case? I mean, the side panel on the 900 is ... plastic.. won't that defeat the pourpose of getting a new case?

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:26 pm

what are you using to get rid of VGA card heat? stock cooler? is it a twin-slot affair? have you thought of passively cooling the card in the 900 case, hot air wants to rise. With this in mind do you want a CPU HSF that blows downwards? cus when mounted this will be sideways towards the mobo, not very efficient

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:30 pm

i quite like the look of the cosmos case now, with the VGA duct....funny how my favorite 3 are at the bottom of your list

Yes, the 900 doesnt lend itself brilliantly to the foam cladding idea....but then neither do your first 3 cases that you prefer

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:32 pm

I mean the material it's made of. The posters here suggested that I get a new case because it's acrylic.. So, wouldn't a plastic side panel cause the same problems?
I know the cases on the top of my list have the panel. That's why I asked before I bought them.

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:42 pm

I posted a while back about whether I should make a window double glazed if I got round to making a window....I was told acrylic is better accoustically than the metal it replaces. Thin metal tends to resonate, acryllic doesnt, though neither does thicker aluminium. If you look back I did ask the question about the acrylic (it was ignored

). However, your case was full of holes and hard-mounted small (noisy) fans, maybe that was the reasoning behind advising on a new case. I gotta go to sleep now but will look in after work tomoz. Have you checked the forums for recommended quiet parts?

Ruger22T · Post by **Ruger22T** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:44 pm

I see! So replacing the fans will be better than replacing the entire case.

Thanks.

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 6:24 pm

i would still think the antec 182 with foam would be better sound-wise, with maybe suspended hdd and fans.

I do think the acryllic will stop vibrations better...but lack of vibrations in the first place is better....i'm not sure you get that option with the acryllic case, but I have to say no-one is backing me up on this yet

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:54 pm

Volume for volume, a metal will be better at reducing noise. Yes, it will conduct sound well and will resonate, but the sheer density and frequency deepening effects will trump that.

Unfortunately, most cases have the minimum thickness that will provide a certain structural strength. This means thick plastic or acrylic, thin aluminum and thiner steel.

On the other hand, most plastic/acrylic cases are built for gamers who only want something flashy. Many metal cases are built with some acoustic dampening in mind.

Effectively, acrylic, glass or plastic could make a decent, sound dampening case, but I have yet to see one (... or see a SPCR review of one). I believe that the P182 has such great acoustic characteristics because it has sandwiched steel and plastic.

Myth! · Post by **Myth!** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:37 pm

i forgot about the sandwich construction. Does the 900 have it aswell?

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:06 pm

I'm assuming you mean the Antec Nine Hundred.
It most definitely doesn't. In fact, a large portion (20% by my hasty calculations) of the surface area is open mesh. I really can't think of anything worse in a case.