hey
I've been really happy with my setup until recently. My Zalman CNPS7000A Cu makes a very fast clicking noise. It's very audible outside of the case; you would have to strain to hear it at night with everything else off. But the fact that I know it's producing noise bothers me. It's audible if you take off the side panel.
When I have the case opened, I stop all the fans and then let one run after the other. The loudest things in my case right now in order are Zalman CNPS7000A Cu > Raid-0 36Gb Raptors > Zalman 80mm Slim fan on ZM80-D > SilenX 120mm Fan behind harddrive rack.
Does anyone else have this problem with their CNPS7000 or are they all really silent? I thinking about buying a new CNPS7000A Al-Cu or CNPS7000A Cu, or is it worth waiting for teh CNPS7700's? Isn't that supposed to have a 120mm fan? How the hell is that going to fit? Lol.
Also, the raptors are suspended on sorbothane strips on the original harddrive racks that came with the my case (Antec Sonata). I know that WD drives are louder than others, but I wanted the performance of the Raptors so that's one sacrafice I dont really mind. Would it make much of a difference if i suspeneded the drives some kinda of material? With my hand on top of my case I feel no or miniscule vibrations.
Also would it be worth it to buy the Zalman fan adaptor so I can put a 120mm fan blowing on the ZM80D? Bigger fan, slower speed, same air flow, less noise... Or should I try ducting the 80mm fan? That would run cooler but let out air. Are there any filters out there that let a decent amount of air in, but dont really let noise out?
i guess while this is up... one more question... anyone have any idea how to keep a computer silent w/o using MASSIVE heatsinks? Right now my case is a 45lb beast. Not fun for LANs. Maybe it's worth looking into a Al-Cu or the new Thermalright XP-120. The ZM80D isn't going anywhere, unless the new ATI silencer is even quieter. Those are the only two things i can really change. 3 Harddrives, 2 Optical drives, and the case can't really be changed. But I'm assuming that changing from a Sonata to a Aluminum case would be a few lbs, but it was a gift from my girlfriend. So that's out.
time for a new cpu cooler?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
I also have a 7000Cu at 5V with no clicking, there is probably not much you can do about it, although you could try replacing the fan.
As for the raptors, you could put them in silentmaxx HD enclosures and they should run both quieter and cooler.
Ducting would lower the temps of the vga card, and should let you use a quieter fan or maybe even not use a fan at all. You could try an actic cooling vga silencer V3 to replace the zalman - they are very cheap and could be quieter than the zalman fan.
As for the raptors, you could put them in silentmaxx HD enclosures and they should run both quieter and cooler.
Ducting would lower the temps of the vga card, and should let you use a quieter fan or maybe even not use a fan at all. You could try an actic cooling vga silencer V3 to replace the zalman - they are very cheap and could be quieter than the zalman fan.
hmm i guess i'll check out the new 7000B. the raptors i can't really do anything about because that would mean I would have to cut out the hard drive rack in my case.... too much work and i like the rack anyway. I have teh Arctic silencer rev3.... it was louder than the 5v Zalman. It almost the same clicking noise as the cnps has. I'm waiting on reviews or the money for a ATi Silencer 3 and 4. They're available at newegg. I may pick those up after I get my x800xt. Still backordered tho.
