What can be done with this system?

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:13 am

Got this new system. It was given to me so I wasn't sure what can be done with it. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA8I848PM (microATX), with a P4 3.0 processor. Graphics card at the moment is an ATi 9200SE.

As shown in these pictures, there is a big duct for the processor fan. Ideally I'd like to put something passive on and use an 80mm fan in the back (one can see the holes already there for it).

Also, would anyone know if Gigabyte's SilentPipe GV-N66T128VP (6600GT AGP) would fit under the (Northbridge?) heatsink (the copper square thing with Gigabyte on it)?

What would people suggest I do with this? The case has an exhaust right over the processor fan so it makes a right racket.

Any help is much appreciated.

/Nik

tay · Post by **tay** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:49 am

Theres so much that you can try, but to get good pointers you need to give more info.

For example :
Your CPU and MB idle/load temps.
PSU type.
Noisiest component?

From your post it seems like the CPU fan is the loudest component. The first thing to do is to see what your CPU temps are and if you can run speedfan (google it) on your board. Try and slow your fan down using speedfan. Theres a tutorial on the speedfan site i think.

Next, if youre gonna put an 80mm fan in the back, make sure you snip out that awful grill. It sucks and will create lots of noise. You can use tin snips or nibblers (these seem to be more popular in the UK) to snip it out. They shouldnt cost more than 10 euros.

Find the next noisiest component and try and silence that.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Wed May 11, 2005 10:10 am

tay wrote:Theres so much that you can try, but to get good pointers you need to give more info.

For example :
Your CPU and MB idle/load temps.
PSU type.
Noisiest component?

Thanks Tay. Not sure how I found out the temps though. Would Speedfan do that? The PSU is some standard thing, I should have checked when the case was off, will do when I'm in there next.

The noisiest component is easily the CPU fan. When I cover the hole in the case over the fan, it gets a lot quieter.

/Nik

BenW · Post by **BenW** » Wed May 11, 2005 11:54 am

SPeedfan will take temps

You could try tidying up the cables, especially the IDE ones and remove the fan grills

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:03 pm

Speedfan does monitor temps. Depending on your motherboard, you might even be able to control fan speeds.

If you're thinking of getting a 6600gt, you're probably going to use this system for gaming. If that's the case, a passive cooling solution for your cpu probably won't suffice.

See if speedfan will allow you to slow down your cpu fan first. If it doesn't, then rewire it to 7 or 5 volts.

Or, get a fanmate.

In the end, you'll probably wind up getting a new, quiet, expensive, shiny, and high-performance heatsink & fan (that is, if you get addicted to quieting your computer

)

ditto on the fan grills, cables & wires. And suspend your HD!! It's awesome. I was skeptical when I first saw people doing it, but it's like night and day when the HD is seeking.

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:18 pm

Just leave it as it is, i was completely happy with my computer until i opened the case out of curiosity and found a fanmate, turned it to minimum, and noticed how loud my system was... I never thought about it before that. after 1½ years and a lot of money and cursing and cutting, theres not one single components left from the original computer in my current setup

Now that my machine is so quiet it doesnt bother me at night, i have started to notice the noise of ventilation, the fridge, other peoples computers, even Fluorescent lighting gets really annoying! Its dangerous i tell you! DANGEROUS!

But seriously, i dont have anything useful to say really, im just way too tired... I think ill get some sleep now, yeah.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:35 pm

Thanks for the input, Nici.

My fridge is downstairs though, so won't notice it.

I've run SpeedFan, and it says my temperatures at the moment are 45 degrees, with the hard drive at 47. I don't know where the sensors are, but some show as low as 22.

What's an acceptable temperature? I've turned the CPU fan down to 33% and it's running at 1680 rpm as opposed to 2800 rpm (there seems to be no happy medium, it's either or). If I can keep it at this level it's actually rather quiet. Just hope I don't cook the CPU...

/Nik

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:15 pm

acceptable temperatures seem to be a matter of preference. Some like their CPU's water cooled and in the 30's, others will sacrifice temperature for less noise and run cpu's in the 50's and 60's.

If the 45 is your cpu, I wouldn't worry. That's not an outrageously high idle temp (assuming it's idle). You will get different opinions on your HD temps too. Some will say 47 is fine, others like their HD's in the 20's.

I'm assuming the 22 is probably an ambient temp reading from the mobo. That's what your case air temp is. 22 is good. But, usually motherboard sensors are off a few degrees, so take those temps with a grain of salt.

To sum it up...nothing is going to burn up at your temps. But if you go the route of the fanless 6600gt w/heatpipes, you're going to increase your case and cpu temps a bit. From what I've read, those things throw off a LOT of heat. Best bet is to buy a NV Silencer for it. It will exhaust all of the hot air out of the back of the case via an empty pci slot. It's also VERY quiet.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Wed May 11, 2005 2:16 pm

nici wrote:Now that my machine is so quiet it doesnt bother me at night, i have started to notice the noise of ventilation, the fridge, other peoples computers, even Fluorescent lighting gets really annoying! Its dangerous i tell you! DANGEROUS!

He's right....it'll grab you and never let you go!!!!

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz <- light over my head right now...AGHHHH!!!!!!

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Wed May 11, 2005 3:29 pm

I suggest you download Prime95 and run that for a while to get an idea of how hot your CPU will be under load. Then you can make a final decision as to how fast to run the CPU fan (if you're going to run at fixed speed, make sure to account for summer temperatures)

sarbz wrote:
nici wrote:Now that my machine is so quiet it doesnt bother me at night, i have started to notice the noise of ventilation, the fridge, other peoples computers, even Fluorescent lighting gets really annoying! Its dangerous i tell you! DANGEROUS!
He's right....it'll grab you and never let you go!!!!

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz <- light over my head right now...AGHHHH!!!!!!

I think it's time for LED lighting.. expensive, but it'll pay for itself in a few decades.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Wed May 11, 2005 9:35 pm

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm probably going to go for a fanned 6600GT and get the NV Silencer 6 for it. Does anyone know if it fits the AGP version? Or should I go for the Zalman VF700-Cu?

The processor fan needs to be sorted though, so any suggestions on what to get (brand new shiny heatsinks'n all) are most welcome.

I guess I have to consider the PSU as well to make sure it gets anough cool air.

tay · Post by **tay** » Thu May 12, 2005 7:28 am

Nik7304 wrote:Thanks for all the advice.
I'm probably going to go for a fanned 6600GT and get the NV Silencer 6 for it. Does anyone know if it fits the AGP version? Or should I go for the Zalman VF700-Cu?

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/pics/nv_comp_1024.gif. AGP bridge chip might be getting in the way, but *shrug*. Considering you only have an 80mm fan an silencer is much better than the zalman.

Nik7304 wrote:The processor fan needs to be sorted though, so any suggestions on what to get (brand new shiny heatsinks'n all) are most welcome.

A Thermalright XP-90, Zalman 7000, or AC vga silencer should all be fine. The XP-90 will be the best and you can couple it with fans from http://www.dorothybradbury.co.uk/ (she has the latest panaflos)

Nik7304 wrote:I guess I have to consider the PSU as well to make sure it gets anough cool air.

Can you make sure your front intake is nice and open too.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu May 12, 2005 9:32 am

As far as a PSU is concerned, I just installed a Seasonic Super Tornado 300w, and couldn't be happier. It's VERY quiet.

As for cpu heatsink/fan reccomendations, I have a Zalman 7000cu on my a64 2800+, and it's also VERY quiet.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Thu May 12, 2005 10:55 pm

tay wrote:AGP bridge chip might be getting in the way, but *shrug*. Considering you only have an 80mm fan an silencer is much better than the zalman.

Yeah, it looks like there's no clear alternative cooler for it at the moment, so I'll get the fanned version for now.

tay wrote:A Thermalright XP-90, Zalman 7000, or AC vga silencer should all be fine. The XP-90 will be the best and you can couple it with fans from http://www.dorothybradbury.co.uk/ (she has the latest panaflos)

Exellent suggestion! Going to order it right up. Dorothy Bradbury has the Panaflos as well (and answered e-mails at 11 o'clock at night!).

I'll see how this goes and report back. Massive thanks to all who replied, I really appreciate it.

Nik7304 · Post by **Nik7304** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:19 am

Just an update on this "project": I got a Gigabyte 6600GT with fan and an XP-90 along with a 92mm Panaflo fan, and I'm quite happy with the system. It's not whisper quiet, but a lot better than it was, even with the fan running at the max speed.

I get idle temps at about 50 degrees and load temps of about 57. Are those ok for a P4?

/Nik

benx · Post by **benx** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:30 am

If it is a prescot cpu its normal:)