My quieter pc

[aristide1]

Here's what I started with:



An 800MHz PIII, whiney Intel hs and fan, el cheapo 300 watt power supply somewhat noisy, a medium speed front intake, a high speed Adda exhaust. Up top, an empty fan opening. Folded flat "Ralf" cables are already present. I chose this case years ago the old fashioned way, 6 5.25 external bays, 2 3.5 external bays.



The power supply is sitting on the shelf. Hmmm, there's a back panel that's screwed in to hold the power supply. Can I flip it over and install the ps at the top of the case? NoooOOOOOoooo.



Here's the Fortron 300 watter with the 120mm fan. I had to remove the fan guard, since the ps has to sit on the shelf and the fan guard kept the ps screws from lining up. Not a safety issue in my case.



Here's my quiet upgrade. A Soyo TISU with a 1.2GHz PIII, same memory at this point. Glad I get to install the heat sink while the board is on the kitchen table. Hmmm, the Thermaltake SLK-800 extends over the edge of the motherboard.



Oh crap. The heat sink is hitting the shelf and the motherboard screws don't line up. What to do? We're talking a problem of about 1/16th of an inch. Well I mod the case the old fashioned way. I grab the bottom with both hands and I push the shelf up with my foot. Eventually it just barely fits, the heat sink just touching the shelf. You can't tell from the photo but the 80mm NMB is sitting with the bottom side against the heat sink, and the upper side sitting 1/4 inch above it. It's close enough, the main issue is the clips hold it securely. Air flow has got to better than the Intel oem.



The end result. The high speed exhaust fan is gone. An NMB does the exhaust work and I move it up top. Damn short NMB leads. The Intel fan and hs are history. The medium speed intake is also swapped for an NMB. Eventually I figure what the hell, and I disconnect the intake.

Temps after 12 hours of folding:
34C board
43C CPU

It's really hot in here today, 32/41 is more typical. I oc'd the thing to 140MHz FSB (1.26 GHz) and cpu temps went to 47C. It didn't change the folding frame rate much so I gave up on that idea. HD temps 34-38C.

I added a GeForce FX 5200 card. It's fanless and the card's heat sink gets pretty warm, so I removed the slot cover for the slot below it. Now it sucks some air in underneath the video card. It's slightly warm to the touch, and not worth monkeying with anymore.

What's loud now? Well it's a lot quieter than before. The main culprit is the hard drive(IBM DeskStar) and the NMB exhaust fan. I order a fan speed control and grommets for the hd, hopefully that should finish the job.

[SpyderCat]

What's loud now? Well it's a lot quieter than before. The main culprit is the hard drive(IBM DeskStar) and the NMB exhaust fan. I order a fan speed control and grommets for the hd, hopefully that should finish the job.

Hi Aris,

Consider to mount the HD suspended in front of the exhaust fan, above the psu.
Where the HD is located now airflow is probably very low.

* Longer path for the noise to your ears.
* Although in a warmer environment, air movement should be higher there, probably resulting in temps lower than you have now.


Regards, Han.

[aristide1]

Hey. that's a great idea. Thanks!

[SometimesWarrior]

But then again, the hard drive might end up warmer at the top, where all the hot air is.

In a friend's reasonably-quiet case, the two hard-mounted HD's were the most annoying sound. We took some of his old (but clean) socks, laid them at the bottom of the case, and placed the hard drives on top. The whine and seek sounds disappeared--the difference in sound even surprised me, and I had already done the same procedure in my computer. The drives run cooler to the touch, too, perhaps because they are no longer exposed to hot ambient air, and they can "convect" their heat freely.

To quiet the exhaust fan, try snipping that nasty grill. My exhaust fan went from audible to inaudible when I cut the exhaust grill out of the case.

[aristide1]

But then again, the hard drive might end up warmer at the top, where all the hot air is.

SpyderCat wants me to put it just in front of the exhaust fan, so air would keep moving. I have to see how. Some people here have suspended HDs with bungy cords. I want it secure enough to be able to move the case around a little bit when I go inside. Obviously not good enough for transport.

I'm getting a little humming. When I holf the hd cage tight it goes away. So obviously I need to do something.

To quiet the exhaust fan, try snipping that nasty grill.

That too.

Now what do I do about my damn refrigerator

[SpyderCat]

Now what do I do about my damn refrigerator

Pull the plug....