SPCR Has Ruined Me

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:17 pm

After getting in on the P150 deal at outpost, I got it today. I ordered it Sunday, it obviously couldn't ship till Monday, and despite living all the way across the country, DHL ground got it to me in only two days.

I initially thought that either I had a bad PSU or one of the ones that needed a crap-load of devices pulling voltage, since there have been reports on that. I bought this combo to use on my "Back-up" computer, which is an AMD that's the equivalent of a 1gig P4, 1 gig of RAM, a CD-Rom burner, a single hard drive, and two fans - the rear and the CPU. I spent hours trying to get it to work, but apparently due to bad lighting I didn't see that the 20-pin plug wasn't pushed in far enough to make contact. Argh.

The hard drive is an old six gig I had, even suspended it makes audible seek noise, though the idle noise is mostly okay. It's usually pretty slow, but defragging gave a VERY good improvement in speed.

I used a spare Zalman resistor to undervolt the 80mm L1A Panaflo on the heatsink to inaudible levels. Unfortunately, the full speed 120mm Nexus as the rear exhaust is "loud" to me, since I'm used to running them at 650rpm in my main rig. The fan's not unbalanced or buzzy or anything, just not nearly as quiet undervolted. From what I can tell, the Neo is pretty quiet. I would rather have not spent the cash on the case and PSU, had I not given away a Seasonic 400w I hadn't been using since I went passive, since I've been trying (and failing) to get my brother to quiet down his computer.

So, now I think Nexus fans at full speed are loud

I guess I'll have to get a second resistor, or a super-cheap fan controller or something. I have a 5v cable from Zalman for a fan I got awhile back, but I'm not sure either of the two fans could start at 5v.

My GeForce 2 has a 40mm fan that stopped working years ago, but the lack of cooling doesn't seem to be causing the card problems.

spookmineer · Post by **spookmineer** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:57 pm

...so how has SPCR ruined you?

Bories36 · Post by **Bories36** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:02 pm

Hes sensitive to the quitest things know

I hope it ruins me know

My hard drive with a bad motor bolted right onto my computer is louder then me talking to someone in the room. I have to talk louder, I want to throw it out hte window so bad, if only my parents would let me

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:18 pm

You can get a cheap Samsung drive for about $40 from NewEgg. Get that and some Stretch Magic (or some $3 foam) and you'll be good to go.

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:34 pm

Just solder a 100ohm resistor in series with the +12V line on the Nexus fan connector or ty the 7 volt trick.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:21 am

Old HDDs are going to be loud now matter what you do with them.

Kremmit · Post by **Kremmit** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:17 pm

jeremy wrote:Old HDDs are going to be loud now matter what you do with them.

Not if you ebay them.

mattcoz · Post by **mattcoz** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:16 pm

I've been ruined as well. I used to be running my loud computer, my DLP tv, and my ceiling fan all at once. They kindof blended together into one big WHOOOOSH. But now, I'm sitting here with the ceiling fan off because I can't stand the noise of it, the DLP tv off because I can't stand the fan, and I'm left with my newly built computer that I spent a good amount of time trying to make silent, yet the Yate Loon fan on my CPU is still too damn loud, heh. Then of course every little sound from outside gets on my nerves.

Oh, and there's a very slight buzzing that is driving me nuts!

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:31 am

Yes, I'm certain every regular member here could tell a similar story. It starts so innocently. "Maybe I'll just put my finger on the hub of that fan to see how loud it really is. Good God! It's so quiet now! I must get that fan changed." First it's one fan that needs to be changed. Then it's two. Next thing you know you're laying awake at night dreaming of passively cooled reservoirs and water pumps encased in sand. Slippery slope, sanity is.

I still clearly remember the first time I put my finger on the hub of my Chrome Orb silencer. I almost fainted at how much noise that thing was making, once I realized what it sounded like off.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:08 am

My story started when I fitted a second hard drive to my old, flimsy, rattley case. Noise from multiple hard drives is more than the sum of the parts noise-wise

nici · Post by **nici** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:35 am

I bought my first own computer about four years ago, and had it built in a shop. I knew something about quiet computers, i asked for a zalman cooler to be fitted and i chose an Antec case and PSU. I was told a girl had assembled the machine, and my god the cables were tidy, never thought about that before. Anyway, after using the computer for a few months i decided ot take a closer look inside it, there was a strange black thing attacehd to the fan wires with a tiny knob on it. I turned it and what the HELL ASS BALLS!!, i found a fan-mate. It has been all downhill since then...

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:45 am

Shadowknight wrote:...but apparently due to bad lighting I didn't see that the 20-pin plug wasn't pushed in far enough to make contact. Argh.

This is a solvable problem.

sareiodata · Post by **sareiodata** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 2:16 am

Dose any one has medication for this ? Cause I really need it! I can't hear my computer during the day (is a bit noisy during the day in my room due to cars outside, but is not really bothering me). During the night it's a completely different story! I feel like it's a turbine and I know it's all in my head because it's a lot more silent the I bought it (suspended HDD, 12 cm side fan(5V) with duct directly over the CPU), some power source with temperature fan control(when it's not in load you can't really hear it.)...Any way...

I was actually considering building a new case from scratch ...

I just guess I have to put my marbles in one place...!!!

shawn122 · Post by **shawn122** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:50 am

lol...I am in the same boat.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:10 am

sareiodata wrote:I was actually considering building a new case from scratch ...

Assuming you want to make the jump... Buy the Xclio case from Newegg: $35 + shipping. Transfer your existing stuff, including the PSU, from your existing case. Get, or make (if you can solder) a 5V adaptor cable to power the big fan. Next comes the hard part:

You need to cut down the internal 3.5" disk mounts to make room for HDD suspension, which you are already using. First, remove the front bezel, which requires first unscrewing the 6 screws that now firmly attach the bezel. Then remove the sheet metal top of the case. This allows access to the four rivits that attach the top of the 3.5" disk cage. Drill these four, and the bottom four, out using 9/64" drill bits. This is non-destructive; the cage can be remounted using #6/32 hardware.

But with the two sides of the 3.5" internal cage in your hands, you can decide if you want to keep 0, 1, or 2 external 3.5" slots available for action. If zero, store the two cage sides someplace in the event you change your plans. If 1 or 2, use a hacksaw to keep the portions of the two sides that are needed and discard the remainder, freeing up over 9" for the HDD suspension you're already using.

Do not use an exhaust fan. With the 220mm fan running off 5V and your HDDs continuing to use the suspension you're now using, you have a cheap quiet case that has a lot of potential for additional quieting. When you have time, here are some ways to further improve your system:

Use tin snips to remove the rear panel fan grille, immediately providing improved cooling air flow.

Remove the cooling fan from your PSU. The 220mm side fan provides more than enough air to cool your case and your PSU!

Apply Dynamat Extreme or McMaster 1/8" adhesive-backed rubber to seal the front panel behind the bezel. This will require removing some non-functioning plastic from the bezel near the power switch. This will block any remaining noise from exiting via the bezel. But you'll have to provide a spot-cooling fan to keep your HDD(s) cool.

These are just some ideas. You'll undoubtedly think of others. Enjoy!

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:48 am

Bories36 wrote:Hes sensitive to the quitest things know

This site ruined my computing experience. 4 lyfe.

spookmineer · Post by **spookmineer** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:04 pm

That's odd. It made mine a lot better.

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:17 am

Shadowknight wrote:You can get a cheap Samsung drive for about $40 from NewEgg. Get that and some Stretch Magic (or some $3 foam) and you'll be good to go.

problem for me: Newegg doesn't even ship to Canada!

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:59 pm

spookmineer wrote:That's odd. It made mine a lot better.

I was being sarcastic.

It ruined me in the sense that now I'm obsessed with noise; the more you try and get rid of it, the more it seems to crop up.

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:17 pm

Beyonder wrote:I was being sarcastic.

It ruined me in the sense that now I'm obsessed with noise; the more you try and get rid of it, the more it seems to crop up.

yeah me too, that's why i'm trying to save money for an Asus Radeon X1600Pro Silent 512mb (fanless, so 0dbA noise)

so no cheap-ass fan on the video card, and if there's a fan getting noisy, i'll know it's not the video card fan, so it would be the rear exhaust tri-cool fan or the CPU fan (for now, it can't be the PSU fan, my PSU is brand-new).

maybe i would add a slow fan on the front, soft-mounting it too, to add a little bit more of airflow (Nexus at 7v?)

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:58 pm

my plans are:

-Buy an Asus Radeon X1600Pro Silent 512mb
-Buy 2 x Noctua 120mm "fast"
-Buy 1 x Noctua 80mm (for CPU heat-sink?)
-Buy one or two 9v and 7v adapters from Jab-tech.com website

Noctua fans are going to be bought on NCIX website, since they do ship in Canada since they are actually located in Canada.

and the Radeon card will be bought by a friend living near Vancouver, near th US border who have a relative in USA, so shipping stuff from Newegg to that relative, he drive there to get the stuff and ship me the video card. Instead of paying around 175$CAN (150$+taxes), i'll pay around 140$CAN

the Noctua fans, with shipping from NCIX, will cost me nearly 80$CAN X_X

and the 9v and 7v adapters + shipping, probably around 12$CAN.

Noctua fans are what i need to quiet down my computer, without losing the amount of airflow (Nexus fans doesn't have enough airflow and are not quiet enough for my computer, i need around 52CFM)

and since SPCR recommend them as their "top 120mm fan", i might switch my tri-cool for a Noctua for the Exhaust, using 9v adapter, and putting one on the front of my computer at 7v, and maybe trying to switch my ThermalTake CL-P0200's 80mm fan for the Noctua 80mm fan (is that doable?).

so good airflow, quieter and better temps in my computer, also good airflow for the passive-cooled video card. I might consider buy the Noctua North Bridge cooler someday too...

i might try the Noctua exhaust 120mm at 12v before (and even before that, i would need to clean the honeycomb holes of the exhaust).

so....i think the Noctua fans is the answer to my problem: good airflow, less noise while the fan turn less rapidly.

so yeah....silent computing is going to ruin me

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:19 am

wussboy wrote:Next thing you know you're laying awake at night dreaming of passively cooled reservoirs and water pumps encased in sand. Slippery slope, sanity is.

It doesn't end there.....

I've a passively cooled reservoir and use convection instead of a pump for my CPU & GPU cooling...

You'd be surprised how much noise slowly moving water makes.........

Am currently investigating foam lagging, commonly used to insulate water pipes against freezing, as a sound deadener............

RaptorZX3 · Post by **RaptorZX3** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:27 am

peteamer wrote:Am currently investigating foam lagging, commonly used to insulate water pipes against freezing, as a sound deadener............

we have that kind of material here on our heat pump outside. Something strange happened, water froze in the pipe during summer

we had to stop the pump for a few hours so it would defrost. i heard it happen sometimes with heat pumps during summer.

so try to be careful, maybe that problem would happen with that kind of material around your pipes (i don't know anything about watercooling, so i'm only guessing there)

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:28 am

Do you have any links to your system peteamer? I've probably asked this before, but i've had plenty of time to forget how your system works...

mjw21a · Post by **mjw21a** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:40 pm

Seriously, just run the fewest quiet fans your system can handle (during summer). Quiet HDD's, quiet video card cooling solution, quiet CPU HSF combo and quiet PSU.

The most noticeable noise in my system are my two Samsung SpinPoint HDD's, and I'm afraid I really can't be bothered suspending them and they're not going to get quieter on their own.

I used to not worry about noise in order to achieve that nice big overclock (120CFM fans etc), I tired of the noise after realising that sure my computer was fast, but I didn't really need the additional performance, plus it was interfearing with me listening to my music.

I then went the other way and tried to quieten my computer down too much. Removing too much cooling isn't a good idea here in Australia. Now I'm happy with not being able to hear my computer. There is a low sound of air moving, but I don't notice it unless I listen for it.

I don't.

This is as silent as I'm going to get, then again, I won't let my pc get any louder.

PopCorn · Post by **PopCorn** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:52 pm

ignorance is bliss...... thanks to spcr now i have nightmares about huge thermal take fans chasing me

.... i acutally came across this site when i was finding reviews to a p180... i so gald i got out of the compitetion with my friend about who could get the most cfm... i was using 5 80mm thermaltake smartfan 2s (75cfm each) and 2 120mm thermaltake smartfan 2s (95 cfm each)... so glad i sold that beast

SPCR Has Ruined Me

SPCR Has Ruined Me

Re: SPCR Has Ruined Me

medication any one??

Re: medication any one??