mITX noise advice please?

[Goobley]

Hi all,
In October last year after advice from the forum and impulse buying that coincided with a today only, I built my current system:
i3 4130
Asus H81-I plus
GTX 670 (MSI reference)
8GB Ram
EVGA 500B power supply
1TB Caviar Blue
All this housed in a Cooler Master Elite 120.


Unfortunately I didn't realize at the time that reference 670s had quite poor fans - in fact I'd chosen the reference as it was £165 and a blower style reducing the heat in the case. However it is by far the noisiest component - and makes the 'grinding motor' noise that these cards are known for. I've put up with it so far as a lot of people have reported RMAs due to this problem being rejected and exchange cards coming back worse.

Obviously I don't know what the actual noise level of the card at idle is, but if I stop the fan then the total noise level drops by 4-5dB, which is quite a significant factor considering the 500B is considered loud and I'm using the intel stock heatsink.

I'm looking for advice for where to go with my build - clearly the GPU is loud, but there's not much I can do about the card itself (I've removed the shroud and checked the fan, there's nothing obvious wrong with it and unfortunately I havent been able to find a replacement blower unit anywhere that could just drop in (the must exist, someone produces them for all the OEMs)). Instead of replacing the card, I was looking at changing case to one that might dampen the noise a little more - it needs to remain mITX but considering that elite 120 has more holes in its sides than the average microbikini there might be other options that let less noise out. This could also deal with the second noise problem which seems to be due to the HDD and makes the entire case vibrate (I've tried adding extra rubber washers but it makes no difference).

Heat is just about bearable in the Elite 120 with both the CPU and the GPU hitting 80C under a combined furmark/linpack.

So, how do you folk think I should try to quiet my system? New Case? Sell/Trade GPU for one with a quieter cooler? (Wish I'd posted enough to get into the classifieds >.>). Ignore it and get an SSD?

Many thanks,
Chris

[Pob255]

Well with the coolermaster elite 120, my first response is, what have you done with the side 80mm fan?
I know from personal experience that that fan is the loudest thing in there once you put the lid back on, this is due to the bad vents not the fan itself.

I take it that this is the card in question http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/N670GTXPM2D2GD5OC.html
You could replace the cooler with an after market one.
this one is cheap basic and "should" fit in the case http://www.scan.co.uk/products/north...d-ati-see-info
EDIT: it should fit in terms of space, just not sure about screw hole spacing
The stock cooler on the gtx670 isn't that good or advanced.

it's just a copper plate with some aluminium fins on top and a separate aluminium heatsink on the VRM so the northQ cooler won't be any worse.

A better cooler would be the Arctic Cooling Accelero Mono PLUS but while it fits ok their probably isn't space inside the elite 120 for it.
Here's a post from a sweedish forum with the accelero mono plus fitted on a gtx670 http://www.sweclockers.com/forum/125...ero-mono-plus/ so you can see the rough size.
EDIT: Here's another on this, with a full fitting guide https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=167355.0
others you could look for is the old zalman VF830 or VF900-Cu

[Goobley]

Thanks for the in depth reply.
WRT the 80mm fan - I removed it. Originally i thought it wasn't doing much, then I saw your modding adventures (much better than my skills!) in this case and inelegantly ripped the metal bars out of its bracket and turned it to an exhaust. The temperature difference between it being there and not was well less than the margin of error (seeing at most 1C). So I got rid of it again.

That is indeed the GPU in question and I saw that wondrous piece of heatsinking technology first hand this weekend when I was cleaning the dust out. Unfortunately that northq definitely won't cut either the cooling of a 670 and the mounting bracket won't fit. (while the HS itself is almost certainly as good, the fan isn't - even though the stock fan is cheap and nasty it has decent airflow and pretty impressive static pressure - the northq was designed for cards with a TDP of <80W).

I saw this post where someone uses a GFXchilla ( http://www.overclock.net/t/1406233/a...ference-gtx670 ) which may well be an option. The Zalman vf950 may also fit too. All of the arctic coolers are too thick, I measured from the card PC to the case wall and there's just under 40mm.

While I am at uni at the moment and not able to do any modding, it might be worth considering a side panel mod of the summer allowing a 120mm intake or exhaust on one side and an arctic cooler on the other. I could cut the current sides and then possibly add some sort of flared shroud running down the sides to protect the fans.

Of course it may just be more sensible to cut my losses and sell the card effectively losing what I would have spent on a cooler for it and then get a new GPU... :/

Hmm... opinions?

[eyezpy]

A friend of mine has that GPU. He couldn't stand the noise and in the end purchased a after market cooler for it.
You can also consider down clocking and under volt it a bit and set the max fan speed lower using MSI Afterburner.

[Arenix]

Just change the cooler if you can.

[Goobley]

The main issue I have is with the idle noise, if it's at high load then chances are I'll have my cans on.

Anyone have experience of the Setsugen II? I'm fairly sure it'll fit the 670 and supposedly works for a 470 (215W TDP)

[eyezpy]

Setsugen II looks very impressive, but how sure are you that it will fit in your Cooler Master Elite 120 or the 670 for that matter?
I still suggest that you try MSI Afterburner until find a suitable aftermarket cooler for your GPU. Fan profiles can be set in relation to GPU temperature so will work even if it is in idle.
Actually depends on how much you have to pay for an aftermarket cooler I would even consider selling the 670 and get a 760/770.

[DanceswithUnix]

Edit to wipe the post: I shouldn't try an do two things at once

[Goobley]

Sorry i should have specified this before but some things slip my mind when it comes to writing my posts: I set the card power limit to 95% in afterburner and have set the idle fan profile to be as low as it goes 30%. As far as I'm aware I'd have to flash the bios to turn the fan down lower - there must be a reason it was locked at this percentage.

Given the games I play (mainly indie or strategy) and the fact that no aftermarket cooler will fit this case I'm seriously considering trying to sell the card and down-size to a 270/660/750 Ti. No idea how to convince someone to buy a noisy card though ...