TMM's Quiet Rig

TMM · Post by **TMM** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 7:30 pm

After determining my overclocked, overvolted Athlon64 beast (sig) wasn't going to be quiet no matter how hard i tried, i decided it was time to build a quiet rig that i could leave on at night an still get some sleep while my torrents downloaded

At hand i had everything except a powersupply and case. So i went out and bought an Antec SLK3000B and an FSP BlueStorm 400w PSU.

Specs:
CPU: AthlonXP 1800+, overclocked to 1.8ghz (9x200), and undervolted to 1.45v - Zalman CNPS7000A-cu (atleast thats what it said on the packaging, though the actual HSF looks like a 7000B compared to another 7000A i have, yet it was still bundled with a Fanmate1)
Motherboard: Abit NF7-S w/ Zalman NB47J
RAM: 256Mb Samsung TCCC
GFX: GeForce2 MX400 w/ Passive cooling (Zalman mount that i had spare + modded stock A64 HSF.. nothing like a bit of overkill)
HDD: 120GB Western Digital 1200JD Sata (the loudest part of the computer

... need to suspend it or something)
Rear fan: 120mm Globe
Front fan: none
PSU: FSP BlueStorm 400w
-Stock PSU fan replaced with Antec Tricool, as the stock fan was having trouble starting at low voltage, and had an audible ticking at low speed. The Antec has a much smoother sound to it, and has no problem starting at low voltage.
Case: Antec SLK3000B
-Side door covered with foam to dampen noise

On to the pics... yeah, i know my camera is crap:

With the Zalman at the lowest setting on the fanmate1, the CPU is 36*c full load, if the NF7-S sensors are anything to go by

.

Things to do:
-Dampen Harddrive noise
-Mechanically decouple PSU and rear fan with gromets

Questions/Comments?

swaction · Post by **swaction** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:32 am

Looks good - I like the heat shrink on the cables.

Maybe try swapping out the fan on the Zalman... Welcome to the world of silent computing where once you think it's quiet, there is always something else to quieten down.

Decoupleing the HDDs is going to make a massive improvement. Check out the HDD suspension thread in the gallery, great for ideas!

Thumbs up.

toNka · Post by **toNka** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:10 pm

Study this thread for HDD silencing: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19147

What ids that big silver box under your VGA?
Is that a heat sink?

TMM · Post by **TMM** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:24 am

Thanks for the comments guys. I should be suspending the hdd soon enough, and i have plans on fitting a 120mm fan to the Zalman.

It is indeed a heatsink on the graphics card. Its the stock Athlon64 heatsink attached to a mounting piece that came with a passive Zalman HP80C cooler.

Skylined · Post by **Skylined** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:01 am

Hi my dear kangaroo!

TMM, why don't you underclock that beast?
You may go fanless with it, or is it a Palomino?
Why don't you use a "1 fan solution", I mean, only one fan to cool down the HDD, CPU and PSU, a big 120x38 with a fan controller.

TMM · Post by **TMM** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:12 pm

Hey Skylined!

Right now i've got it down to 1650mhz @ 1.3v (its a Tbred B) which seems to be the sweet spot. I don't want to compromise performance too much as it runs Folding@Home.

I may replace the Zalman's fan with the 120mm Globe exhaust fan (just remove the 92mm zalman fan, and plonk the 120mm on top of the heatsink :p) and rely on the PSU to exhaust the hot air from the system. The major deciding point is the harddrive, as it gets pretty hot, and i may need to keep an exhaust fan to keep that cool, or make some heatsinks for the side of the harddrive (which will be suspended when i get the time to do so)