Arbiter's Quiet X-Dreamer II (big img warning)

arbiter · Post by **arbiter** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:39 pm

This is my now quieted Home PC / Budget Gaming Rig.

Motherboard: ASUS P5PE-VM
CPU: Core 2 Duo E4300 (stock)
HSF: Zalman CNPS9500 (@minimum speed via Fanmate 2 controller)
Video Card: Gigabyte 7600GS AGP (passively cooled)
PSU: Enermax Noisetaker 380 Watt
Hard Drives: Hitachi 120GB for PVR, 250GB Seagate for OS & general storage

The rear 120mm Fan is an Antec 3-speed salvaged from an SLK1650bk (I think). I'm testing the Zalman 9500 setup vertically feeding hot air into the PSU for the time being. It seems to be helping move exhaust air well for now. I added stick on memory coolers to the motherboard southbridge, just for added cooling. If you look in the top of the case you can see that I've removed the top exhaust fan. I added a trimmed down duct from an older socket 478 Zalman cooler to feed cool air into the front vents of the power supply. The side panel window has been rotated 180 degrees from the factory position to place the noisy side fan near the hard drives to act as a fresh air intake. This case has very poor front ventilation. I've disconnected that fan, and am working on an air filter to replace it. The case is decoupled from the desk by a spare pair of Auralex "Mopads" which are just fancy blocks of a very dense foam. (you can make your own...I just happened to already have these)

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:54 pm

O_o i have the same case, but blue fans.

question, why the flip on the side fan to near the HDDs? positive pressure would draw air in the front cooling them, its how my case works.

looking good though...last question, where'd you get the duct you have by the PSU? i experimented with that idea, but it never really worked out.

only suggestion i could give you is to rotate the CPU heatsink 90 degrees counter clock-wise. make the fan blow the heat towards the rear fan, thus leaving the case entirely. brings down system temps.

arbiter · Post by **arbiter** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:11 am

I found the front vents were not allowing much fresh air into the system, especially when the rear fans were drawing air in the side vent instead of pulling from the front of the case. I figured by flipping the glass at least it's moving the fresh air across the whole case instead of just the CPU area.

Currently the HSF is feeding into the 120mm intake on the PSU then the hot air is being expelled by the 80mm on the back of the PSU.
I'm trying this for a week. If that doesn't work well, I'm going to go back to the horizontal mount with it feeding the 120mm rear fan.

The CPU seems to be running 38 to 42 C almost all the time in this setup.

The duct came off this cooler:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/vie ... 4&code=009
I had to trim about 1 centimeter off the lip and flip part of the mounting bracket to make it fit.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:41 am

i just wouldn't want to heat up the PSU any more than necessary, as its the lifeline of a computer.

dangman4ever · Post by **dangman4ever** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:16 pm

Have you thought about cutting out the fan grill in the back of the case? On my X-Dreamer II, temps for the CPU and system dropped down 3-4 degrees when the grill was cut off.

Here's a pic of my X-Dreamer II with the back cut out, excuse the rough edges, got too lazy to smooth them out :

Oh yeah, thanks for the idea about flipping the side panel around. Never thought about that. I just zipped tied a 120mm yate loon in front of the hard drives to cool those down. Maybe the flipped side panel might bring down temps even more.

arbiter · Post by **arbiter** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:38 am

Yes, I want to cut the grille off, but I don't have a pair of tin snips yet.
I'd use my dremel, but I figure I'd have to remove the motherboard to avoid getting conductive dust into everything, so I'd rather just use snips.

I did end up turning the cooler back horizontal. It didn't really change temps at all.

I am trying to come up with a way to duct the video card.
it seems like that rectangular vent on the back near the PCI slots would be a good exhaust or intake. I'd prefer it as an exhaust.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:47 am

how does the zalman sound to you? the only way I could make mine quiet was via fan swap. The only problem then is minimal airflow. A slow spinning fan doesn't seem create enough pressure to effectively cool the cooler, at least from my experience with it.

arbiter · Post by **arbiter** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:57 pm

The Zalman doesn't bother me. I turn it way down with the Fanmate that came w/ it. The E4300 doesn't get very hot even at low speeds. The LED version I have doesn't go slow enough via Q-fan to make it quiet. The 9500AT version that has 4-pin is pretty manageable via motherboard control though.