First silent build: SOLO, Q9550 & Scythe Ninja, etc.

[limawhiskey]

This is my first silence oriented build. I've just finished installing the hard drives and Windows 7 is now installing.

Case: Antec Solo (P150) with Arctic Cooling 12L exhaust fan @ 12V, 2x Acutake 92mm intake fans @ 6V each (wired in serial).
PSU: Antec Neo HE 430 PSU
Mobo: Asus P5Q-E
CPU: Q9550 cooled by Scythe Ninja Rev B (including backplate assembly) with Yate Loon DS12SL-12 @ 6V (wired in serial with GPU fan)
GPU: Gigabyte GV-R485MC-1GH (silent HD 4850) with the other Yate Loon @ 6V
RAM: 4x Corsair 1GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz CL4 with heat spreaders
HDDs: Western Digital 120GB 2.5" (system), Samsung HD103SI EcoGreen F2 1TB 5400rpm (data) mounted with the "suspension system"



Yate Loon fans seem a bit clicky (I'm clearly struggling with fan noise vocabulary) which surprised me. I might send them back yet.

Acutake seem good, low noise, however the two fans each draw a different current, meaning one is running at ~5.6V, the other at ~6.4V. I originally ordered Nexus but the supplier said they'd had a problem with the batch and recommended these. They come with a rubber washer for mounting with screws but I have used silicone "screws" in the end.

Arctic cooling fan is great. I'm really impressed with the very low noise.

Overall I'm really pleased with the low noise level from this build, though I've yet to put it through its paces. It's certainly not silent, but compared with every other system I've had over the years it's damn close!

[SteveRCE]

Yate Loon fans seem a bit clicky (I'm clearly struggling with fan noise vocabulary) which surprised me. I might send them back yet.

I've experienced the same issue with the 120mm Yate Loons. However, I don't remember the manuf. numbers. Replaced them with 800rpm Scythe slipstream fans, no issues so far. They were decent budget fans in the beginning (earlier production lots), but I've since moved on. At least they weren't wobbly like my old behemoth Panaflo 120's were.

Sticking them in a file server that's located in another room seemed to silence the audible clicking

[FraGGleR]

Are you sure you need all those fans?

My computer is based on the P150 as well, with a Silverstone 700watt PSU (the stock fan died and has been replaced by a Scythe 1200rpm Slipstream @ ~5v using a Zalman fanmate), a passive Ninja on my Q6600 @2.8ghz, the stock Antec Tri-Cool on Low, with 4gb G.Skill DDR2-800 ram, a single 200gb 3.5" Samsung drive (old, but a recommended one from a couple years ago and with seeks that I cannot hear when in the case) suspended. To complete things, I have a Sapphire 4850 with a newly installed Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 rev 2 running passively.

Using Prime 95, my CPU temps never went over 61c (dropped by 2-3 degrees by increasing the speed of my PSU fan). Idle is usually around 45c.

I haven't loaded up any super graphics-intensive games, but when using the Catalyst Control Center to test overclocks on the GPU, my temps didn't go over 80c.

The temps are reasonable for the parts, and the computer is as quiet as I can imagine. I suppose I could get another Slipstream to replace the Tri-Cool, but I would lose a bit of airflow and my temps might get too high. If the house AC is running, my computer is completely inaudible on the floor next to me. If everything is off I can hear some airflow and ever so slight resonance in the case, but only if I am specifically trying to.

At any rate, I am super pleased by my build and was wondering if you tried running your computer with fewer fans to further cut down on vibration and noise.

[ntavlas]

It`s a very clean build though I`m going to agree with FraGGleR in that you could do with fewer fans.
Negative pressure could be enough to cool your hard drives while the ninja should be able to cool the cpu with no fan on it. However I would keep a fan on the gpu to cool the power circuitry. If you have another fan around you could use it to replace that clicky yate loon, the size doesn`t matter as you basically need it to cool a specific spot on the video card.

[sNNooPY]

@limawhiskey

what temps are you getting with 9550S? Normal use, gaming, stress tests?

[ghia]

Clean work !

Really need 5 fans ? Experiment with removing at least one of the front fans and the cpu fan (if not ok-ing).

Nexus rules !!!

[colin2]

Ditto the above: I would do some temperature monitoring, and then then start removing fans and seeing what happens. I really doubt you need those intake fans, for example. Try some Nexus or Noctua fans.

Sometimes this case works better if you block the vent holes above the PCI slots, so that all the air has to come in from the front.