The thing with networks is that they work if everything is correct but if one thing is odd then it manifests errors all over the place. Over time you learn the symptoms and fixing them becomes easier, although this browser master thing is something I've never heard of. One of the strange things abou...

49W by the rest of the PC. What CPU is that? It's pretty low powered, not at all typical. The nice thing about having good cooling is that you know nothing can go wrong. It may become 36C that day and you know that none of the heated air is being trapped in the case, raising the ambient to worrying...

Question: Will that be more or less noise added than the one reduced by cooling off the PSU? Yeah, it'll be less because the PSU fan has to spin fast enough just in case someone relies on it alone to cool their system. The PSU maker doesn't know how open the case is. Another point, high exhaust tem...

Check out typeracer.com, good for practicing typing. I'm averaging 85-90 WPM.

Does that mean you are thinking of doing something like I suggested to make it quieter?

Thanks, Victor. That sealed tunnel will definitely help to keep the hot air in the case away from the PSU.

That's odd. In my SLK3700BQE, I have a similar thing and the PSU definitely blows air out. One idea is to slow down the case fan, another is to allow more air to enter the case. Perhaps you can remove a grille or filter or something.

First, thank you for everyone who offers friendly and helpful opinions and advice. I am disappointed in some of the comments like "if I were you I'd leave this project for later" that assume I am dumb just because I ask questions. I do have my own answers, but I felt like it was OK to ask questions...

I can't see a good way to make that PSU fan quieter. It's in the hot air so a sleeve bearing fan might not last long. Using it as an intake makes it difficult to get rid of the heat. One idea is to duct the PSU to the bottom couple of pci slots (move those USB plugs closer to the video card) and fli...

That In Win model on NewEgg is interesting, but I'd like something I can stick a different PSU in. Still, I might not have that luxury, so maybe I need to think outside the box a little.

Yeah, although that case can't take normal PCI cards so it would be incredibly limiting.

Those big heatsinks will cool it just fine. This small copper heatsink could almost cool my 65W CPU passively, it needed just a little airflow.

Ignore my previous post. I didn't realize till now that some cases take really small PCI cards with smaller brackets. Such a case would not be worth while.

There are small cases available. Here is a random one I found on NewEgg but the PSU looks noisy.

I don't know much about HTPC systems but trying to find a thin one to fit a Ninja is probably not going to work (but that's just a guess).

When I studied Information Technology, there were quite a few ladies there (about 1/6). Computers are so pervasive nowadays that is not at all surprising to all types of people involved.

Hi, I didn't see this till now. I used a plastic container and a measuring spoon and water. The container weighs as much as 1 tablespoon of water, 15g. Roughly, I measure 70g for the spacebar and 50g for the rest of the keys. It's pretty much just a membrane keyboard but in a nicer shape. If you can...

FWIW I have: Antec Solo BIOSTAR TA690G BE-2350 with Ninja Antec Phantom 500 PSU four 2.5" HDs and one 3.5" GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H video card All cooled with a single 120mm fan, in the regular place exhausting from the back. AFAIK the backup fan on the Antec PSU has never come on, and the whole thing...

It's not a good idea. Your PSU will be fed hot air from the case and will likely overheat, I think. A fanned PSU will spin up the fan if it needs to, which is better if you're feeding it hot air.

Edit: your other idea sounds fine. The noise level won't be a problem.

Nice duct, frenchie. Keeping the system temp low is very desirable, I think.

Is it best to exhaust through the top of the case or through the rear of the case? Also should the intake be at the front of the case, or should I block that off and let the power supply be the intake at the bottom? Readk, if I were you I'd leave this project for later. You really need to have a go...

If you want to understand what makes them good, do some reading about hard drives. Read about platters, sectors, cylinders, seek time, random access, sequential access, etc, all the jargon. Read about laptop drives and desktop drives, what makes them different? Read about IDE, UDMA, SATA, how do the...

I think you'll struggle to quiet 6 hard drives in any case. A better idea would be to fix the overheating issue and use that machine as a file server, or replace those drives with one or two quieter drives.

That's all I can suggest.

Using a fanless PSU as an intake is better (I think) because that way you know it is getting cold air. As an exhaust, you'll not notice if the air it relies on is getting hotter. Your first sign will be when it breaks. So use the top fan as an exhaust with the bottom PSU as intake. The PSU must allo...

Even their previously coveted heat sinks are now just mediocre performers.

Why do you say that? Arguably, the Ninja looked a lot better than most other heatsinks. They definitely helped heatsinks become a bling item. Do you mean people don't like the look anymore?

... and try to find out what parts are making the noise. Perhaps you can quieten them down too. Hiding the noise is usually not very effective.

I'll mention that anyone considering spending money on a custom keyboard should first try the MS Natural 4000. Buying a custom keyboard has downsides. In particular, they are expensive to replace and may not be durable (eg TypeMatrix). The Natural 4000 is good enough, I think, to be a more sensible ...

The XP-90 would have cooled any CPU you could put under it. Pity it clashed with that board.

If you want a quick and nasty fix before you spend money, rest the case on a few (not too many) layers of bubblewrap just to see how reduced the noise is.

Speaking of reliability, here's some general advice for PC users: Hard drives don't like to be subjected to shocks, so take care not to knock the machine while it is running (or any time really). Remove dust from the fan blades, heat sinks, grilles, vents once in a while. Clean, replace fan filters ...

Well I said that grommets can be effective, but there is no (DIY) alternative to using a tray, the work required wouldn't be worthwhile. Making a tray wouldn't be too difficult but it'd need to be secure when in place. Better to buy a case with trays I would think, but you can always suspend the dri...

I don't know if it was mentioned but remember that sometimes, if you get hot air cycling, the temps will ramp up and you'll see no sign of it.

Air that gets heated up must get removed. Don't let it concentrate below your video card. Sometimes removing a pci slot cover can help.