Note: I've yet to upload photos 
I will do that when the work will be deeper in progress.Latest Updates:
1. More details for: project description and hardware overclocking capabilities. Pictures added for certain hardware. Links added for certain mods. Redesigned post.
2. Updated completed mods. Added some opinions. Removed temperature section.
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Project Details:
Well, it all started when I had enough of my old Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton). Games wouldn't run anymore and it wasn't really as quiet as I wanted it to be. I had learned from my previous mistakes. The Enermax Noisetaker I had was not really silent as I wanted it to be and moving from a 1mm steel case down to a 0.8mm case really did take its toll on the resonance noise.
The Plan:
The main idea of this rig will be to find the sweet spot between good overclocking and noise reduction. I live in Israel, where most of the year the weather fluctuates between "warm" and "very hot". Something that I will have to take into account.
Hardware:
So I ordered the following (budgetish) items for my new rig:
Intel E2180 (2Ghz) 1Mb 800FSB (maxes out at ~3.8Ghz at 1.55v)
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme HSF - http://www.thermalright.com/a_images/pi ... 0%20ex.jpg
Geil 2x1gb DDR2 PC2-6400 (800FSB 4-4-4-12) Ultra Low Latency (reaches +1120Mhz at stock voltage, 5-5-5-15)
MSI Neo2-FR mobo (with passive heatpipe cooling, fsb wall at 400mhz) - http://global.msi.com.tw/uploads/prod_1 ... 1c549a.jpg
Diamond ATI HD3850 256mb (have yet to overclock)
Samsung 500Gb Sata
Corsair VX450 PSU (currently using Enermax Noisetaker 485W with makeshift molex->8pin adaptor)
Coolermaster 690 case
And several Nexus 120mm fans...
Note: The strategy in the beginning was to do the all the planned mods one after the other and each time check the temperatures and give a (subjective) noise "reading", but myself being a lazy bum, I didn't want to uninstall all the bits and pieces each time so I decided to just write it all down (the mods) and give people some ideas of what they can do with planned purchases (mobo/hsf/case) and potential modding ideas.Modding (done in bold):
On the Agenda:
- Remove goop from passive cooling on mobo and reseat with Arctic Cooling MX-2 paste
- Lapping CPU - http://www.legitreviews.com/article/402/1/
- Lapping HSF - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO5gk6mZuso
- Removed useless MSI logo from heatsink. Blocking precious airflow!
- TRUE 120 "washer/coin" mod - http://silentpcreview.com/forums/viewto ... f4284f1fe8
- Choosing good position for HSF - blowing horizontally or vertically due to the case having fan positions on the roof
- Push/Pull configuration for HSF?
- Installing Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 on the GFX card
- Mounting fan(s) on the Accelero
- Rubber grommets on the case fans.
- Cutting grills from the case
- Major ducting of air to (and from) the CPU and GFX card with PVC sleeves
- Isolating Hard drive heat from the rest of the case
- Isolating PSU heat from the rest of the case
- Checking out the viability of undervolting Yate Loon 140mm fans as case fans instead of 120mm Nexus fans.
- Really heavy dampening material that is waiting in my garage...
- Seeing whether a low profile fan on the back of the mobo (there is a vent there) improves anything
- Putting the HD in elastic instead of using the case anti-vibration solution.
- Negative/Positive/Neutral pressure...
- Cablegami
Opinions on the Hardware/Mods:
This section is for the folks, who like me, are lazy and want to know what are the most effective mods with the least amount of effort..
- Remove goop from passive cooling on mobo: Mixed opinions regarding this. Not much temp drop for the amount of work. Personally, I think that reseating this with AC MX-2 was pretty useless.
- Lapping CPU/HSF/coin mod/applying MX-2 paste - Well, too much work, really... If you're lazy DO NOT DO THIS. Sadly, I did all the lapping and modding prior to applying the MX-2 (so I couldn't compare properly due to using the supplied Thermalright paste the first time). There was a decent drop of 3-5c, but this could be due to the paste and not the lapping/coinmod. All in all, next time - only paste
- Removed useless MSI logo from heatsink - this little heatsink really heats up, so anything that blocks airflow should be removed.
- Choosing good position for HSF - I chose blowing horizontally and not vertically due to clearance issues and because I didn't want to HS fan to get hot air from the GFX card. I may change my mind but at the moment, this is staying as is.
- Push/Pull for HSF - For the Thermalright U120Ex paired with silent fans, the 1-2c drop (at load) doesn't justify the noise increase of another fan.
- AC Accelero S1 - Well, the voltage regulator heatsink did NOT match the HD3850 so you HAVE BEEN WARNED. I took out my cheap dremel-wannabe tool and cut off the voltage regulator heatsink section from the original cooling of the card. I also had to shave down the screw mounts because the heatsink was not making contact with the regulators (good thing I checked). Fits the card great and mounts without problems with the S1. I have my gripes with the S1. The main issue is the completely cheap feel of the whole package. The aluminium fins are easily bendable and were actually slightly deformed where the plastic casing of the S1 was placed. After a bit of bending, everything was aesthetically pleasing. The ram heatsinks are very crappy. The "thermal glue" on the back of them doesn't stick to ram to say the least, but it was also irremovable from the heatsink itself! I ended up leaving the glue on it "as-is" and just applying MX-2 on the ram along with 4 drops of superglue on each corner. I think that will work ok, as I tried to pick up the GFX card with each one of the heatsinks and it held up ok
Mounting the S1 itself was a bit tedious, due to adding the extra support clips (didn't go as smooth as it should imho), but in the end - this is the best mod done so far! Temps dropped from 90c at full load to 58c passive and 42c with a 120mm fan blowing at full speed in an OPEN CASE LYING DOWN, less than optimal for airflow. Worth the money, time and effort for this kind of improvement. Two thumbs up!- Rubber grommets on the case fans - I am using the grommets that come with the Nexus 120mm fans (whoever doesn't know, Nexus now package their fans with these). Removes a substantial amount of vibration but not all (if anyone expects zero vibration from these...). Good because they are free
Regarding the hardware I chose, some notes:
- Shame there is no optical out on the MSI Neo2-FR. I have an external DAC and adding another PCI Card solely for the optical out is useless.
- Passive cooling on the mobo does get hot, so you need good airflow in the case (if it wasn't obvious already).
- CPU for overclocking... I think next time I will just get a cheap silent HSF combo and spend the extra money on a better CPU instead of wasting time lapping/modding just to get some extra "cheap" juice, while costing myself more electricity $$$ due to the O/C as well.
- Clearance issues with the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme... blocks the 2 top fans of the Coolermaster RC690. So mount your fans before you put in your mobo. Also clearance issues with the panel. I cannot mount the top panel fan AT ALL even if I wanted to because the heatsink is too high. This will also probably be an issue when I will add the dampening foam (it is thick foam).
- The RC690 hd anti-vibration scheme does not compare the to true and tested elastic cord mounting. The HD cage vibrates a lot while running seek testing. The case is also kind of short. I wish it was a bit taller because now it has crippled my ducting plans. The cable guidance scheme also gave me a bit of a problem with the PATA cable. On the Neo2 the PATA IDE slot is at 90 degrees to the mobo and sadly there is one of those "cable holders" of the case EXACTLY where the PATA slot is. It cannot be unscrewed, so I just had to bend the holder until I could insert the cable.
- Regarding the Neo2-FR overclocking capabilites. I cannot for the life of me get windows to boot at anything over 400fsb (I haven't tried pumping more volts to the NB/SB/VTT). It is also highly unstable at this FSB (even with reduced multiplier). One MAJOR note, after updating the BIOS from 1.2 (supplied) to 1.6 I noticed that instead of overvolting like it did it now seriously undervolts. The CPU is now at 1.375v in the BIOS and will reach 1.34v while at full load. On the other hand, the ram is at 2.1v in the bios and speedfan says it is around 2.21v. I don't know what to trust, but I had to definately pump more voltage to the CPU in the bios menu to make it stable with the new firmware, compared to the old one. YMMV.
Pictures up soon after I finish running overclocking tests.
maxxy