After shopping around and listening to all the wonderful advice here, i've settled on a new case/PS/mobo to use with my existing stuff. i think i found the best deals out there. please lemme know if you see any issues with this system:
Stuff i already own:
- Athlon 2000+ CPU (will upgrade to 3200+ some day)
- 6Y060L0 Fluid Dynamic Bearing 60 Gig drive
- 2 512 MB Samsung DDR 400
- Nvidia Gforce FX 5600 XT - (very loud fan, switchin to passive cooling)
- M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 sound card - (awesome!)
- TDK DVDR/CDRW, Sony CDRW, Teac floppy
- DYNAMAT vibration dampener- will cover all panels and spot treat drives
Pending Order at Directron
1 SLK3700BQE w/ SuperFlower PS (14 cm fan!) TT-350SS $68.99
2 PAPST 12cm Case Fan - Type 4412FGL (25 mm deep) $35.98
1 Zalman ZM80C-HP Heatpipe VGA Cooler $23.99
1 Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCU (new version fits socket A) $29.95
1 Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 grams $5.99
Grand Total: $164.90
Pending Order at NewEgg:
1 AOpen "AK79D-400VN" mobo w/ Silent Tek Fan Control $69.00
1 Spire SP-SOUNDPAD Acoustic Absorption Mats $9.99
2 VANTEC Fan Vibration Dampener Kits $6.80
1 VANTEC Power Supply Vibration Dampener $4.05
Grand Total: $106.42
The biggest concern i have is whether the CPU cooler will fit on this board:
http://club.aopen.com.tw/pss/largeview. ... -400vn.swf
Whisper Quiet SLK3700BQE System on the Cheap
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
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FusterCluck
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:06 pm
Whisper Quiet SLK3700BQE System on the Cheap
Last edited by FusterCluck on Tue Aug 31, 2004 9:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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acaurora
- *Lifetime Patron*
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I cannot answer your question as to if the Zalman will fit, but here are some things I noticed:
There is a 7000A as well as 7000B version. The only differences I"ve seen are the fan mate (different model), as well as the weight.
About the flower PSU, I'm not sure about that. Never heard of it. Personally I have a Seasonic Super Silencer 460W A3 with a L1A, and it is SUPER quiet
6Y060L0 <-- A maxtor drive, I presume? Then expect that to be one of the louder noise sources in your case. I have the 6Y200P0, basically the 200 GB version of your HDD. It is VERY noisy on seek, as you probably already know, and its idle isn't that quiet either. Also, it tends to run on the hot side. I would recommend, if you could afford it, a SpinPoint (MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE WITH THE NIDEC MOTOR!!!!), which is much quieter. Or, a Seagate 7200.7/Barracuda. It will make a big difference.
As for your Papst fans, I believe 2x Nexus Real Silent Case fans would also do the job. They move less air, but are very quiet. I would highly recommend some sort of fan controller (look in our Fans and Control section, we have some listed) if you do choose to go with the Papsts, as they are very loud at 12V.
Finally, your Zalman VGA cooler. I believe they have a "D" version, which is much less obtrusive. You may want to look into that, although I'm not sure if it cools any better, although, like I said, it isn't so huge and bulky, and it's a nice metallic blue
I think that's about it... Good luck!
There is a 7000A as well as 7000B version. The only differences I"ve seen are the fan mate (different model), as well as the weight.
About the flower PSU, I'm not sure about that. Never heard of it. Personally I have a Seasonic Super Silencer 460W A3 with a L1A, and it is SUPER quiet
6Y060L0 <-- A maxtor drive, I presume? Then expect that to be one of the louder noise sources in your case. I have the 6Y200P0, basically the 200 GB version of your HDD. It is VERY noisy on seek, as you probably already know, and its idle isn't that quiet either. Also, it tends to run on the hot side. I would recommend, if you could afford it, a SpinPoint (MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE WITH THE NIDEC MOTOR!!!!), which is much quieter. Or, a Seagate 7200.7/Barracuda. It will make a big difference.
As for your Papst fans, I believe 2x Nexus Real Silent Case fans would also do the job. They move less air, but are very quiet. I would highly recommend some sort of fan controller (look in our Fans and Control section, we have some listed) if you do choose to go with the Papsts, as they are very loud at 12V.
Finally, your Zalman VGA cooler. I believe they have a "D" version, which is much less obtrusive. You may want to look into that, although I'm not sure if it cools any better, although, like I said, it isn't so huge and bulky, and it's a nice metallic blue
I think that's about it... Good luck!
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FusterCluck
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:06 pm
Acaurora
Acaurora,
thanks!
-when i have money i'll take your advice on new HD
-either the new A or B version will work. the only difference i can see is 'fan mate 1 or 2'
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/cod ... p?code=005
-i opted for the Aopen mobo (very limited availability for socked A btw) instead of a fan controller. it has onboard control for 2 system fans + CPU. it appears you can set the voltages for each fan for idle temps, and then adjust the speed to ramp up as the PC gets hot. i *think* each fan is adjusted independently by the bios (ie: on a cold winter day with cool room temp of say, 65 degrees - when i start gaming, the CPU fan will need to speed up more than the case fans).
this appeals to me more than reaching for fan controls. once you've set it up and tweaked it from the bios, you don't have to keep fiddling with it. besides, trying to keep COSTS to an absolute minimum here
-the valman cooler i picked is actually 25 grams lighter (1 heat pipe instead of 2) and CHEAPER, but otherwise looks identical... not sure though
thanks!
-when i have money i'll take your advice on new HD
-either the new A or B version will work. the only difference i can see is 'fan mate 1 or 2'
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/cod ... p?code=005-i opted for the Aopen mobo (very limited availability for socked A btw) instead of a fan controller. it has onboard control for 2 system fans + CPU. it appears you can set the voltages for each fan for idle temps, and then adjust the speed to ramp up as the PC gets hot. i *think* each fan is adjusted independently by the bios (ie: on a cold winter day with cool room temp of say, 65 degrees - when i start gaming, the CPU fan will need to speed up more than the case fans).
this appeals to me more than reaching for fan controls. once you've set it up and tweaked it from the bios, you don't have to keep fiddling with it. besides, trying to keep COSTS to an absolute minimum here
-the valman cooler i picked is actually 25 grams lighter (1 heat pipe instead of 2) and CHEAPER, but otherwise looks identical... not sure though
Last edited by FusterCluck on Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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FusterCluck
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:06 pm
Super Flower PS with 14 cm case fan
SF-350SS 350W Silence Power Supply w/ 14cm LED Case Fan
This power supply looks awesome with it's 14 cm fan. What should really excite SPCR readers is the 3 speed thermal control switch. It allows you to select quiet, medium, or high power mode for the PS.
here is the SuperFlower's series with 14 cm fans, although this new model isn't shown yet. http://www.super-flower.com.tw/english/14cmfan-psu.htm
this review shows very good voltage regulation, stability and extremely low noise: http://www.overclockers.com/articles966/index.asp
you can buy it dirt cheap at directron: http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sf350stainless.html
don't confuse it with the old version (TT-SF-350SS), with dual smaller fans: http://store.yahoo.com/directron/blackps.html
for reasons i don't understand, SuperFlower also marketed it as TTGI-SF - this appears to be the manufacturer: http://www.ttgitech.com/Products.htm
Unfortunately, they put some LED's in the thing. Does anyone think i'll mess it up if I open up the PS, find the lights, and cut them out?
This power supply looks awesome with it's 14 cm fan. What should really excite SPCR readers is the 3 speed thermal control switch. It allows you to select quiet, medium, or high power mode for the PS.
here is the SuperFlower's series with 14 cm fans, although this new model isn't shown yet. http://www.super-flower.com.tw/english/14cmfan-psu.htm
this review shows very good voltage regulation, stability and extremely low noise: http://www.overclockers.com/articles966/index.asp
you can buy it dirt cheap at directron: http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sf350stainless.html
don't confuse it with the old version (TT-SF-350SS), with dual smaller fans: http://store.yahoo.com/directron/blackps.html
for reasons i don't understand, SuperFlower also marketed it as TTGI-SF - this appears to be the manufacturer: http://www.ttgitech.com/Products.htm
Unfortunately, they put some LED's in the thing. Does anyone think i'll mess it up if I open up the PS, find the lights, and cut them out?
Hi, The Zalman should fit on the motherboard. See here (noting the possible PSU clearance issue). The Aopen SilenTek feature is pretty good, my experience is that it will control the cpu fan and a case fan very effectively. The ones I've used need a bit of playing with in the settings page in the software so they don't "hunt" (speed up and slow down every few seconds) but other wise its a very good feature. According to Papst's website the 4412 FGL uses 1.25w so you could run both off the one mobo header. I would also experiment with no intake fan or fixing it at 5v to provide a little HDD cooling.
Seb
Seb
Eh, I have the same motherboard and SilentTek didn't like me undervolting my motherboard. It crashed too many times. Ultimately I uninstalled it and just used a hardware fan controller.SebRad wrote:The Aopen SilenTek feature is pretty good, my experience is that it will control the cpu fan and a case fan very effectively. The ones I've used need a bit of playing with in the settings page in the software so they don't "hunt" (speed up and slow down every few seconds) but other wise its a very good feature.
Also, though I'm not positive, I think SilentTek uses PWM to regulate control. In any event, I found SilentTek and Aopen's internal fan controls to be louder than simple linear regulation. Note that this was simply my experience with a Panaflo L1A. Your experience may be better though.