Cost no object cooling..

akimball · Post by **akimball** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:57 pm

Hi all..

Well cost is always an object. But I paid to have a killer system, and I want it to be quiet, and will pay some more for that.

My system is an AMD 3800+ CPU, on a Asus A8N-SLI with a Geforce 6800GT. The Asus mobo has a horrible Southbridge fan on it.. I ripped it off and replaced it with a Zalman heatsink, but the heatsink is getting too hot. One day it'll be then end of my mobo.

I'm looking for the best way to cool the system (CPU, GPU, chipset, and maybe harddrivers) with the lowest possible noise. I'm not terribly worried about over-clocking but I'd like the option. The Reserator makes a lot of sense to me, but if I can assemble something else which will be as quiet or quieter and perform better, I will.

Any opinions?

Thanks,
Adam

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:14 pm

what case are yuo working with?

Do you want it to be internal or external?

How much modification are you willing to do?

Edit: I guess you plan to add anoth 6800gt in the near future.

you may want to look at this:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19224

veryevilmike · Post by **veryevilmike** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:29 am

zalman tnn-500af case -

cost about $1k USD but completely passive cooling with heatpipes everywhere.

jamesavery22 · Post by **jamesavery22** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:53 am

veryevilmike wrote:zalman tnn-500af case -

cost about $1k USD but completely passive cooling with heatpipes everywhere.

Yeah but thats RIGHT at the upper limit of what it can cool

Zalman recommends using this cooling system for Athlon 64 processors with ratings up to 3800+ (2.4GHz), for Athlon 64 FX and Opteron processors with frequencies up to 2.4GHz...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/ ... 0af_4.html

And if he goes SLI he's over the upper limit of the video card recommended too. Two 6800gts take 100watts+ zalman says 75watts max.

They recommend you install some 120mm fans to cool stuff down if you go over the recommendations.

Id rather have some 120 nexus fans on a 120.3 all at 5v. That would give you much better temps. Eheim 1250 isnt the most powerful but it would be quieter than everything else. You can cool the CPU, mobo, and vid cards with that setup, get great temps, and still keep it very quiet.

120.3
eheim 1250 pump
tdx with brass top
maze4 chipset with brasstop (if it will fit on a a8n-sli)
and maze4 gpu acetal top

Killer quiet setup there. Thats just what Id do though.

Green Shoes · Post by **Green Shoes** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:40 am

If cost is truly no object....then buy a villa way up in the mountains and duct air directly from outside.

Oh, and Welcome to SPCR!!

eander315 · Post by **eander315** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:22 pm

I would build an external radiator box based on a Honda civic copper radiator, an Iwaki RD30 pump (could substitute one or more Eheim or DDC pumps), and 4 or more Nexus 120mm fans at 5V with air ducts to keep the fans and any associated noise inside the box, all with half inch tubing and thorough sound/vibration dampening. Use a Storm G5 CPU block, and you'll have a very quiet and cool setup. It's going to cost quite a bit, and it's going to be pretty big, but it will do the job. If you use a larger radiator, you might be able to get rid of the fans altogether. Optimally the radiator needs to be 3/5 inch thick or less and probably at least 10x10 inches or larger, depending on the fannage. Unfortunately radiators with those dimensions are very hard to find with copper-only construction. I've never personally heard the Iwaki (partly because it's almost impossible to find one), but Cathar over at ProCooling says it's quiet, and he's aiming at close to zero sound output. The used to be pictures somewhere of a system like I'm describing, including a large car radiator and no fans, but I can't find it. You're also going to need to either build a hard drive enclosure inside your case to eliminate drive noise, or use a commercial product like the SilentStar watercooled boxes. The route you take on the drive silencing largely depends on how loud your drives are and how many you have.

phextwin · Post by **phextwin** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:53 am

Get 30 or so metres of copper pipe.

Bury it under the ground. Run your water through that. Couple it with an IWAKI MD-20rz and a block of your choice. Should give you excellent temps all year round provided you bury the tubing deep enough.

Portability would be an issue though

bobkoure · Post by **bobkoure** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:04 am

Or just hang a radbox outside your window - keep the pump and fans outside...
Come to think of it, you could put the power supply out there too, and run a passively-cooled DC-to-DC converter in your PC case - or just bring in all buses alongside the water hoses. Should be minimal losses in, say 6 gauge wires. AFAIK one of the buses is now obsolete, so you could skip... -12VDC?
You'd still need to deal with silencing your hard drives, though.
Need to be able to move the PC? Look at the Innovatek HPPS pump (basically a DC version of the Eheim 1046 - 1048 head with less noise than the 1046), and either the Innovatek passive cooling, or...Thermochill's just come out with a new radiator (PA160?) designed to be most efficient with a single low-noise fan (like a Nexus) - pretty much based on a design by Cathar with a plenum that's large enough to be at the point of diminishing returns as opposed to the "theoretical best" size that would occupy most of your case.

Plenty of interesting things to do if money's not an issue...