silent running

[speardane]

ok maybe that's a dream (or a film...)

I have an AM2 processor in a silverstone SG01 case, with 4 "quiet" silverstone fans

It's really noisy, especially in comparison to my wife's eee box.

I am considering switching to a watercooling (kit) and SSD disk.
If anything I'd rather a faster cpu, but will probably leave alone.

I'd be interested in opinions on the simplest and effective ways to get a quiet high performing system...

[Webby]

Okay how mod friendly are you? Fitting water cooling in to the SG01 while not impossible is pretty difficult without some serious modifications.

As to silencing your PC first thing to do is find out what is causing the noise so unplug all the case fans and see if that helps, it will for sure but if the main source of the noise is your CPU cooler or PSU fan then swapping out your case fans would be pointless.

Check each component until you find the ones making the most noise if it is your PSU then quieter ones can be found the same with fans and CPU heatsinks.

If watercooling still appeals then the easiest method is to have a radiator hanging off the back or make a rad box (a separate case which will house the radiators, pump and reservoir) although since you have a SFF PC i guess the radbox is probably not an option. What you will need cooling wise is a pump, reservoir, CPU block, radiator and fans, plus fittings (barbs), tubing and coolant. It will not be a cheap process though expect to spend a minimum of £100 (for a Swiftech kit Compact 220, probably the best affordable kit available) to as much as you can spend, £300 can easily be swallowed up.

[Koolpc]

What heatsink have you got? What PSU?

Most noise comes from Fans.

You could buy some very quiet fans. Nexus and Noctua do some very quiet ones and as for PSU, Corsair and Enermax have great reviews.

Also, what graphics card, if any, have you got? You could put a better cooler on one if installed.

[Hawker1986]

Well I have that same case, and those silverstone fans are far from quiet, but the advice you have been given is completely sound, you need to find out what components are making the noise, Mine now just hums in the background because ive got a quiet enermax PSU, new CPU cooler (NT06-E modded with a scythe S-Flex fan under it) and replaced the GPU cooler with a zalman VF-1000 (running at low RPM) and also replaced all the case fans with quieter ones on silicon pads to reduce vibration. I know watercooling a sugo is possible, but if you dont know what your doing you could easily just ruin the case.

Hawker

[speardane]

thanks - the PSU is a Coolermaster also (long story - not my first choice)

perhaps I should do a new build - to make it easier to go watercooled...
I have several spares

• a Coolermaster Mystique case
• a Silverstone ST50F "silent" 500w PSU - claims 22dba
• a PCI-E Nvidia card - it was high end a couple of years ago, but I have no major demands on it

I'd add

• an m-Audio 192 soundcard
• I have a server for storage so I am tempted to use just a 32GB SSD locally
• a DVD for convenience

In this scenario I would have thought I only need to cool the CPU?
I'd prefer a kit
some of the reviews said the swiftech was noisy?? what did you find?
what do you think is reliable and quiet (and not in the £200+ range)
What are sensible quiet case fans?

cheers

[Webby]

Well decent CPU watercooling for less than £200 can be done lets see,

Pump: DDC3.2 + XSPC Res Top £65
Radiator: Swiftech MCR320 £40
CPU Block: EK Supreme (+ Backplate), Swiftech GTZ, D-Tek Fuzion v2 all about £50 or the XSPC Delta V3 ~£35
Tubing: 7/16" ID 5/8" OD - 10 feet/3 metres £10
Fittings: 1/2" barbs £1.50ea + Hose clamps or Compression fittings £3.50ea x6
Fluid: Distilled Water + Biocide or Feser One £8
Fans: 3x 120mm Yate Loon £4ea

That probably comes in somewhere around the £200 mark, you may also consider a pump mount which will cost another ~£10 but will really help cut down vibrational noise from the pump.

For a cheaper system which will still perform well you could consider the following

Pump: D-tek DB-1 £28
Radiator: Swiftech MCR-220 £33
CPU Block: XSPC Delta V3 £35
T-Line: Fillport £6 and T-Piece moulded with barbs £3 or threaded without barbs £5 + 3x fittings
Tubing: 7/16" ID 5/8" OD 10 feet £10
Fittings: 1/2" Barbs £1.50ea + Hose clips (from 10p each up) x6
Fluid: Distilled Water + Biocide or Feser One £8
Fans: Yate Loon x2 £4ea

Total cost: £140-153

[hank]

I'd add

• an m-Audio 192 soundcard

Are these sound cards any good? What do mp3's sound like from them?

Last year, I installed the xonar dx in my system but found no significant improvement for mp3 playback and got rid of the card. I know how the mp3's sounded in my earlier soundstorm setup so I know there must be a better solution out there.

[speardane]

re

Originally Posted by speardane View Post

I'd add

* an m-Audio 192 soundcard

Are these sound cards any good? What do mp3's sound like from them?

I use the M-audio Audiophile 192 are they any good - yes

re mp3's - well I'd recommend a lossless format like FLAC if you're going to spend that kind of money

Indeed one of the reasons is that it can play files at a higher resolution than CDs - see for instance Linn Records -downloads
put simply CDs (WAV files) are mastered at 16bit/48kbps - the original recordings are done at 2 or 4 times that rate - hence the 192 - this M-audio can handle 24bit / 192kbps.

The good news is the clarity - the bad news is less room to hide for the engineer.
PS not all FLAC 192 test files appear playable. I always try a sample before I buy from the site...

I have a pretty high end CD player that is never going to be replaced. This is for sure better.