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Ante Aria - how to make it quieter

R

rdbarahona

Junior Member
Hi, I've had my Aria for about 2 months now. I had it built for me with:

P4 3.2 GHz
1GB RAM
80GB drive
200GB drive
DVDRW

My goal was to have this machine run in a cabinet in the living room as a media server. I love the machine, but it just runs too loud. The cabinet doors are open, and I have even removed the side and top panels to keep the fans from running high. The case and CPU temperatures typically run between 40-44 Celsius. I have a CPU fan, PSU fan and slot fan.

I'm open to any ideas.

Thanks!

-dan
 
Liquid cool with the radiator placed someplace else (behind the cabinet) where the sound will be more deflected or muffled...
 
Find out which fan is making the noise. It is probably your cpu fan. You can test it by opening up the case and using a qtip or pencil (eraser side) to stop the fan. The cpu and slot fans shouldn't be the culprit unless the psu fan has been modified. The one on my aria never got loud until I bypassed the thermal sensor. The slot fan never got loud at all.

If it is your cpu fan, you can try a different heatsink. A lot of people have had good luck with the Zalman 7000 series.

Some people have also added an 80mm fan to the side panel(s). That seems to help.

You might also try modding the psu. The venting on the psu is terrible. You can add some venting to the psu at the bottom near the cpu. That helps. You can also switch out the Antec fan for an enermax adjustable fan. The enermax allows you to adjust the fan to your tastes.

Finally, you could switch the P4 for an Athlon 64 or a slower P4. The P4's run hotter than the A64's and generate more heat. A cooler cpu will decrease the need for additional cooling.

I made the following modifications to my aria:

Drilled about 25 holes in the psu for added venting at the bottom. Swapped the Antec fan for an enermax adjustable 120mm fan and bypassed the PSU's thermal sensor. Added a 92mm fan at the bottom of the case. The biggest change seemed to come from modding the PSU. There just isn't enough air flow through the psu to pull the air out that the P4 generates.
 
RedWolf,

Thanks a bunch for the advice. Two weeks ago I installed the Enermax 120mm, but that didn't seem to reduce the noise very much... wish I had done your pencil test. Indeed, the CPU fan was the source of most of the sound. Last night I installed a Zalman CNPS7000B CU heatsink and fan. It's definitely quieter, but not quite silent. Of course, I'm running my Aria with no side/top panels on at all, so I can hear everything. Heat hasn't been my problem as my CPU/Case temps never exceed 42C. Once I put the panels back on that may change, but hopefully not too much.

Question: At what temperature should I get concerned about too much heat? If I put my panels back on and find the system idles at 45C and under load at say 50 C, is that ok?
 
50c under load is generally fine. It really depends on how accurate your sensor is. The P4 can get up pretty hot before any damage occurs. My benchmark has always been prime95. If it can complete prime95 for an hour or two, it's not too hot.
 
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