minor upgrades, but very much noticeable.
replaced the heatsink/fan for the northbridge and cpu, on my msi k8n
neo4 platinum motherboard (xxxx has an identical board, dunno who else)
I can say, it's made a HUGE difference in the noise levels. For one,
removing the 40mm northbridge fansink, removes the biggest source of
noise in the system... the neo4 is infamous for it's motherboard fan.
two... I like the scythe ninja... my cases airflow makes it perfect to
use, passively.
http://www.chenbro.com.tw/workspace/pdi ... deview.jpg
As you can see, air runs from the top 120mm in the front of the case...
across the cpu area, and then a second 120mm, pulls it out the back.
There's no intake underneath the psu, in fact the case blocks that...
which is kinda annoying, but no real issue. In any case, it makes for a
nice wind-tunnel effect across the cpu. I could probably make a nifty
cardboard duct, especially given the proximity to the rear case fan from
the ninja, and drop the temps even further. we'll be tweaking all that
more, later.
the northbridge is directly in the airflow from the lower, front
mounted, 120mm fan... and also with a zalman 700 gpu cooler on the
graphics card, it gets a nice breeze, so passively cooling it is working
like a charm so far.
Notes... the scythe ninja is broad enough, with the mounting clips, that
it overhangs the ram.. if you have tall ram, you wont be able to use the
first two slots on the board, which is annoying, but doesnt seem to be
causing any problems. fortunately, the board is layed out so that you
use adjacent slots, to enable dual channel ram, otherwise this would be
a real issue. as it is, so far, I'm relegating it to 'quirk' level.
Also... the zalman northbridge heatsink I installed, uses pushpins and a
spring, to hold itself onto the motherboard... and I really wish it had
stronger springs/firmer fit. It holds, I just wish there was more
pressure involved. Assuming no issues arise there, tis possible I could
replace the mounting system with thermal adhesive later on.
Oh... due to proximity to the video card... I did have to modify the new
northbridge heatsink, cause it's taller than the stock unit. It involved
removing 10 of the aluminum 'fins' on one corner, to make room for the
stuff on the video card.... easily, if a little sloppily done (no dremel
to cut it with, etc... but perhaps I can polish it a bit if I ever take
it off again. In any case, it works just fine.
Overall, mission successful. I dont have a DB meter to use, but I'd say
I've easily cut my noise levels while the computer is on by 50%... and
the noise character is much better now too. no more buzzing whine from
the northbridge fan, for one thing.
Next step, if I take it, is probably a psu swap... my psu is very very
good, but it's not very very quiet. Swapping to a Seasonic like I
recommended to xxxx, would knock another big chunk of noise out of the
equation.
/me wanders off mumbling..... the addiction has spread by one...
For the record, if anyone wants to know, the PSU is a pcpower and cooling turbocool 510 SLI.
Oh, and I need to go at the case with some nice snips... the fan grills need to go, methink.
I've had the current case, etc, for about 9 months at this point, I just kept stalling on the improvements. Finally go _really_ annoyed, when one of my fans.. not sure which, didnt check... changed character and started with a higher pitched metallic grating noise... not super loud, but very irritating. not sure what happened, dont care. It's gone
TAK
(at this point, I wouldnt call it 'quiet'... mebbe 'average'... but it's getting there...)
potential changes... psu swap, fan grills, duct cpu to exhaust, undervolt fans, move the dvd-burner down to the bottom 5.25 bay, and install a mesh cover for the top two, so the psu can suck air straight from the front. mebbe a little ducting their too. Oh, and suspend the drives, though that'd require pulling the bays and suspending from the main case, which I havent felt like doing yet. Fortunately it's not a 'permanent' modification.