Making an Alienware Aurora R4 quieter

[dupre_7]

Hello,
I have a Alienware Aurora R4, with a Alienware 07JNH0 A00 A10 bios motherboard, a Dell N875EF-00 PSU (input : 100-240V -12.5A, 50-60Hz / output : 875W Max 80 Plus Silver), CPU is I7 3930K.

My CPU stock cooler looks like this one : http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine-Del ... SwSHZWguyE, the name might be "5560W".

The CPU cooler is defective and in a result very noisy and nearly ineffective. All my research pointed toward replacing it by a Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 on the CPU, and a Be Quiet Silent Wings 2 on the back of the case (left part on the picture). However it seems that a part is preventing to use the huge Dark Rock 3. Any idea on what is the thing circled in red ?



If there is no way to replace anything there, is buying a new watercooler and mixing a Be Quiet Silent Wings 2 with it is a good solution ? How to know how much noise does a cooler pump can do ? Is it more than 15 dba on idle ?

Thank you.

[quest_for_silence]

Any idea on what is the thing circled in red ?

Probably the CPU power circuitry/VRM cooler. BTW, the proposed Dark Rock 3 though expensive is nothing special, noise&thermal wise.

If there is no way to replace anything there, is buying a new watercooler and mixing a Be Quiet Silent Wings 2 with it is a good solution ?

It could turn out as a workable option, but with a custom loop would be quieter/more flexible (though expensive).

How to know how much noise does a cooler pump can do ? Is it more than 15 dba on idle ?

It depends of the specific cooler/pump: I guess you also need a dedicated fan controller for that pump.

[edh]

Something to be careful of is that as a mass market pre-built system (Alienware are a subsidiary of Dell) is that things are very non-standard. Trying to retrofit anything into it may be opening a mine field up. Coolers and how they mount may not be as expected in a normal system.

I would think that that VRM cooler fan can't be the quietest of things either! Possibly overkill for it to be fan cooled when most motherboards don't even put heatsinks on them. It may also be that not enough air moves over that area as there is no fan close by.

I think you need to take a tape measure to the inside of your system to know for certain what can fit. I have a Scythe Ninja 4 which is one of the better big heatsinks that you can get. Scythe are very good at providing technical drawings of their coolers so that you can check dimensions against the space available:
http://www.scythe-eu.com/fileadmin/imag ... nsions.jpg

Maybe the graphics card is a bit close to the CPU socket as well for some bigger coolers so I would check this dimension too.

[dupre_7]

The graphic card position should be fine, however I was wondering if it's possible to replace somewhat easily the VRM circled in red ? As easy I mean using another part for less than $50, allowing a bigger cooler to be used.

If I get another watercooler it'll probably be the stock cooler. The question would be to know if it can pull 15 dba or less on idle with the Silent Wings 2 used instead of the "Nidec" stock fan attached ? I assume the pump noise will not increase a lot on load and will remain roughly the same. I could be wrong.

I'll check the Scythe Ninja 4. It seems that it's effectively a very good cooler, and it seems that it's also smaller than the Be Quiet Dark Rock 3. This should be an interesting extra option to consider.