The Sonata TP380S can be made silent (virtually)!

trpltongue · Post by **trpltongue** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 6:16 am

Hello all,

Well, thanks to the prodding of Edward NG, MonsterMac, burcakb, and bomba, I have finally made my TP380S virtually inaudible.

It actually was a lot easier than I thought. Previously I had my Sonata in the standard layout with 120mm case fan connected to the "fan only" connector and the standard AMD heatsink on the processor. The only mod I had done was to open up the intake on the bottom of the Sonata.

The PSU fan always seemed to be running at about 1700rpm and was quite loud at this rpm. So, while I was installing my new Zalman 7000A-Cu and NB47J I decided to duct my PSU using only my upper 5.25" drive bay.

Well, the results have been 2 fold. First off, the PSU fan spins at about 1300 rpm now, and is virtually inaudible from 1' away except for a slight ticking sound that disappears from 3' back. The other positive result is that my case temps have gone down about 3C as well. Now that the PSU has it's own channel for air, all of the cool air being drawn in from the front intake is cooling the case instead of cooling the case and PSU.

Needless to say, I'm stoked! So unless you sleep next to your case, a simple PSU duct will make the Sonata PSU virtually inaudible from 1' and completely inaudible from 3'.

You can see pictures here:
http://www.anycities.com/user/trpltongue/sonata.html

By the way, I never realized how loud my HD's were

Russell

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:29 am

Do you still have the front door of your case? I think most people will use their Sonata with the door closed.

A closed door and an intake filter will impede airflow considerably. It will be interesting to know how that will influence the rpm of the PSU fan.

trpltongue · Post by **trpltongue** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:36 am

Tibors,

That's a good point! I don't use the front door. My case is in desktop configuration (htpc) so the door had to go. That's another reason that I get so much noise. If one were to keep the door, you would have to cut out a section of the door to get fresh air in. You could do it and make it look pretty good IMO.

Russell

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:11 pm

trpltongue wrote:.... virtually inaudible from 1' and completely inaudible from 3'.

Aaahh, good ol' days when I could say the same. Alas, as I quieten my parts my hearing gets better. Search for the post "The Vicious Circle".

When I first got my Sonata, I tested the stock PSU against a Vantec Ion in open air. The stock PSU was running 1300 rpm at the time but I found the Ion marginally quieter and went ahead with that. I even started leaving my PC on at night (that's how I climbed the folding ranks so fast). A few weeks ago, I realized I couldn't sleep with the pc on, the PSU was too loud. So I did the acoustifan mod and got a quiet PSU.

Right now, I can sleep with the PC on if I'm really too tired to keep my eyes open. Otherwise the CNPS7000A-Cu on low (1400 rpm), the Acoustifan 120 (@ 1100 rpm) and the ACVS on low sound like a rock concert.

Argh! the good ol' days!

MonsterMac · Post by **MonsterMac** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:23 pm

due to the way the doors are on the Sonata and most antec cases, the gaps on the sides and bottom of the door provide a sufficient ammount of air into the duct with the door closed. In my parents Antec tower, I keep the door closed all the time, and the duct works just as well with the doors open

.

trpltongue · Post by **trpltongue** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:42 pm

burcakb,

No kidding? Wow, from 3' away in the living room with no other appliances running, I can't hear the PSU at all. I imagine some of that is because the rear of the case is clear of all walls and is actually inside my AV rack instead of free air next to my bed.

MonsterMac,

I haven't even tried with the door closed but it sounds like it works well enough for you.

I have noticed a slight resonance when the PC is in the AV rack that isn't there when it is in free air. I might have to add some egg crate foam to the inside of the AV rack.....the cycle begins.

Russell

bomba · Post by **bomba** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 12:57 pm

As burcakb points out, silence is relative and silence modding can be a vicious cycle. In my Sonota quieting quest, I tackled the TP380S right off, by swapping to a Panaflo M1BX. Once warmed up, the modded PSU's fan spun ~1200 RPM under light load and 1300+ under load. I was quite happy as I couldn't hear it over my Zalman 7000 CPU cooler or stock case fan.

But as others SPCRers can attest, my hearing seemed to get sharper with every noise reducing mod. Instead of being thrilled with the lower noise level, my noise sensitivity would increase correspondingly. After swapping case fans, slowing the Zalman HSF speed to 30% (~3Vdc) and quieting the HDD seeks, the TP380S once again became the loudest noise source in my system. So much so that it had to go!

Now, Russel, don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that you're happy with your mod, just beware the vicous cycle!

dasman · Post by **dasman** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 3:10 pm

trpltongue wrote: I have noticed a slight resonance when the PC is in the AV rack that isn't there when it is in free air. I might have to add some egg crate foam to the inside of the AV rack.....the cycle begins.
Russell

That might be resonance from the HD on the mounting sled -- it's a somewhat common issue with the Sonata/3700BQE cases. I had a horrible resonance with my Spinpoint before I suspended it but didn't have the problem when I had a bunch of Seagate 7200.7's in the box.

When you rotate your box, it may change how the drive sled sits enough to cause the problem. Once you suspend your drives, it may go away.

Dave

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 3:25 pm

MonsterMac wrote:due to the way the doors are on the Sonata and most antec cases, the gaps on the sides and bottom of the door provide a sufficient ammount of air into the duct with the door closed. In my parents Antec tower, I keep the door closed all the time, and the duct works just as well with the doors open .

Those gaps seem so small to me, that I was thinking it might not be enough.

How heavily loaded is your parents computer

In another thread somebody had a fat gaming rig simillarly ducted. He had to leave the door open. The machine I am planning will be folding 24/7. (P4 2.8C; VGA on Mobo; 1 harddrive)

I'd like to have some more comparison before I decide on a particular design.

JvT · Post by **JvT** » Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:13 pm

trpltongue: I can't see the pictures on the page you link to

Do you have another link, or can you possible mail them to me on [email protected]??

Thanks in advance.

JvT · Post by **JvT** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 2:46 am

JvT wrote:trpltongue: I can't see the pictures on the page you link to Do you have another link, or can you possible mail them to me on [email protected]??

Thanks in advance.

Never mind. I can see them now

trpltongue · Post by **trpltongue** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:55 am

bomba,

I don't doubt the vicious cycle

I still have to remove my video card and try to silence my HD's. Once I do that, I may very well hear the PSU again. Luckily, I'll be putting doors on the av rack shortly so that will be another barrier to the sound escaping. Oh, and I sit about 13' away from the PC so that'll help some also. As long as it's inaudible from where I'm sitting, I'm fine with it

Russell

dasman · Post by **dasman** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 7:43 am

trpltongue wrote: Luckily, I'll be putting doors on the av rack shortly so that will be another barrier to the sound escaping.

Careful with doors on the rack, they also create a barrier to fresh air...

Dave

The Sonata TP380S can be made silent (virtually)!

The Sonata TP380S can be made silent (virtually)!

Re: The Sonata TP380S can be made silent (virtually)!