Advice on moving from water cooling to air cooling

[Brewster0101]

I started wtaer cooling over 3 years ago in an attempt to get silent computer that can sit on my desk and not hum at all.

Well 3 years down the line and a few water rigs completed I have concluded silent water cooling isn't possible unless I went with a massive mountain mod case and a few triple radiators with silent fans.

I currently have my GPU, CPU, northbridge and voltage regulators on mobo all water water cooled. Running though a XSPC dual pump res and through a triple rad. I have to have my fans set around 1000rpm's so the fluid stays cool, but the fans are no longer quiet and also the pump pump makes a humming noise.

So, I am now thinking of trying for a silent air cooled system again.

Starting with the Antec 1200 as my case. Its new, black and has plenty of room for fans.

Needs to ask what CPU coolers are silent (low rpms) and smallish

[staffsMike]

The Scythe ninja can be run passive but comes with a very quiet 120mm fan. Not bad at £30.

You could get a thermalright ultra 120 Extreme and buy a fan for it. Such as a nexus/yate loon or scythe slipstream and use a fan controller to set them to 7 or 9v. The antec tri-cools the case comes with are OK but they aren't exactly silent.

Personally if you want a silent PC I think the Antec P182 is a better case, but I havn't used a 1200 yet so I might be wrong. My P182 keeps my HDD's silent, passive graphics cool and has minimal fan noise (with tri-cools).

[inonefly]

i'd go with a different pump/radiator before going air cool'd. whats the radiator and fan combo atm?

[Jay]

get a t-balancer to control your fans, I use one in my media center and when playing A DVD the spinning disk is louder than the fans.

[F1ZZY]

That pump is not the most powerful and you have loaded it with a ton of blocks. I would bet that your flow rate is around 0.5gpm. Performance of rads and blocks tails off rapidly below 1gpm.

It would help a lot if you could list your components. What rad and blocks do you have?

Air is not going to be any quieter really. How much do you overclock?

I would be tempted to keep the cpu and NB on water (to maintain your overclock) and put the rest back on air (not so temp critical)

[Steve B]

is the pump mounted on any dampening foam?

[F1ZZY]

its mounted inside a res (as a pump res combo), so no, bit tricky to.

A better pump properly decoupled would be loads better.

[Brewster0101]

Running the XPSC duel res and pump in one.
EK Supreme CPU block
EK Mosfet Asus 3a x 2
EK Northbridge Asus 3
and guess what
EK 3850 full block

All running on 3/8 tubing and through the standard tripe rad found on a Thermaltake Armour LCS.
Fans on rad are scythe Kaze 1200rpm editions set through the scythe kama fan controller.

Also I think my Hyper R psu is not happy no more as this fan seems to be louder than when I first got it, maybe I also need to get a beefier one which can run more silent.

Also, no I don't over clock my GPU but my CPU is from 1.8 to 2.6 E6300, plan in next month or two to change to yorkfield quad core and over clock that too, but nothing over the top.

[Webby]

Had a quick play with Martins flow rate calculator (http://www.martinsliquidlab.com) and it predicts your system would be running at ~0.5gpm (american gallons per minute) and that is without including the mosfet block and it also assumes 1/2" barbs so will be over estimating your flow rate a bit. If you want to get better temps and quieter then get a better pump Laing DDC 3.2 with a top or a Laing D5. Also change your radiator I would bet that it is made of aluminium which will be eating your blocks, get a feser xchanger/ thermochill PA120.3 / XSPC RS360 depending on your budget they are probably less restrictive to flow and made of copper/brass so will not cause corrosion.

If you really want to move to air then Mike suggested the CPU coolers of choice, Mosfet and NB wise you can look at Thermalrights range the HR-05 is a great NB cooler and the is a great selection of Mosfet coolers to fit most boards. Graphics wise HR-03 (again Thermalright) is one of the best and is as loud as the fan you put on it but beware it is enormous!

[F1ZZY]

You've spent as ton (effort and money) on watercooling. A bit more and you can get it right.

Personally, I'd get a new PSU and go for dual loops (in preparation for quad cpu)

Can you fit at least 2 double radiators in your case?

The supreme loves high pressure and flow and I'd be tempted to give it its own DDC pump and rad.

Put the rest of the stuff on a second loop with maybe the bayres/pump, but ideally another DDC (both with tops and decoupled from case when mounted)

[F1ZZY]

Double post

[F1ZZY]

through the standard tripe rad found on a Thermaltake Armour LCS.

LOL - unintentional typo I imagine but, oh how so true

[Brewster0101]

You've spent as ton (effort and money) on watercooling. A bit more and you can get it right.

Personally, I'd get a new PSU and go for dual loops (in preparation for quad cpu)

Can you fit at least 2 double radiators in your case?

The supreme loves high pressure and flow and I'd be tempted to give it its own DDC pump and rad.

Put the rest of the stuff on a second loop with maybe the bayres/pump, but ideally another DDC (both with tops and decoupled from case when mounted)

Ok, so if people are conviced I can get a silent system I am willing to invest. I love playing with computer, so I am also feeding my hobbie.

My next step is to buy a Mountain mod Accention
http://www.mountainmods.com/ascensio...top-p-462.html

As above.

This will house two triple rads with no effort. This would force me into buying a new rad too as the one currently I use it part of the case and I would sell as complete.

Second thing is new power supply - (xmas time now) and probably a new pump, but only use one loop....

Sound silent yet?

[Webby]

2 triple rads with low speed fans should cope with anything you throw at them, for silence the thermochill PA120.3 is probably your best bet (thing the MM cases are designed for them anyway!) expensive but designed for low airflow cooling. A single loop will be fine pump wise I would say DDC 3.2 (also called an ultra 18W) with an XSPC top this will provide plenty of flow and it can be isolated from the case with a damping kit easily enough.

[SiM]

Personally if you want a silent PC I think the Antec P182 is a better case, but I havn't used a 1200 yet so I might be wrong.

You are wrong... the P182 is only a better choice if you can't afford the 1200

[staffsMike]

My issues with it are, the thinner side panels especially with a window, the 200mm fan being difficult to replace with something other than the antec big boy, and drive cages, do they have rubber grommets or something similar?