Any guesses on how loud this will be?

[GTaudiophile]

Case: Antec P150
PS: Enermax Liberty 500W
Mobo: Abit KN8 SLI (Passive Cooling)
CPU: AMD Opteron 170
HSF: Artic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
GPU: eVGA 7800GT with Artic Cooling NV Silencer Rev3
HDD: WD 2500KS (250GB, 16MB Cache, SATA 3.0Gb/s)
Case Fan 1: Nexus 120mm
Case Fan 2: Nexus 92mm

(Items with moving parts in bold.)

I am still open to new ideas about the case fans. Are Nexus my best options? What about SilverStone? Panaflo? CoolerMaster?

I want a good balance of quiet/CFM with an emphasis on quiet!

 

[suszterpatt]

I'd stay away from that Chenming case simply because of the lack of fans. Go for something with more fan slots. And on that note, even if those Silverstone fans are spec'd right, they're horrible. You could get much more air for the same noise, or much less noise for the same CFM.

 

[RallyMaster]

Power supply won't make much noise due to the active PFC feature. From what my friend said, the Epox has a pretty loud NB fan. Stock HSF should be quiet enough if you use Cool & Quiet. Raptor might be a bit loud but I don't think it's going to be that much of a problem. 7800GT from what I remember doesn't have too bad of a fan (should be better than the 6800GS). Case fans that come with the case are usually pretty quiet.

 

[suszterpatt]

How does PSU fan noise relate to PFC?

 

[RallyMaster]

Eh, forgot about that part. I meant the fact that it has only a large, low RPM 120mm at the bottom of the PSU and almost mesh-like rear to let the heat get out. Most active PFC PSUs have that type of design.

 

[suszterpatt]

Oh ok, I can attest to every word of that.

 

[Wentelteefje]

I'd rate it a 6... Not inaudible, but no hoover as well... Get rid of that abysmal Sh*tMing and take a much better Antec SLK3000-B for only four bucks more... Buy yourself some silent aftermarket coolers as well, instead of getting the Antec P150...

Why a Raptor? Man, you're paying waaay too much... I know they're very fast, but they're not silent... Seagate or Samsung are the way to go if you want 'em to be as quiet as possible...

NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3 for your 7800GT... Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro (the ventilation duct will probably not work anymore) or Thermaltake Blue Orb II for your CPU... A very silent 120mm Panaflo or Nexus as front intake (the SLK3000-B only comes with a variable 120mm rear fan)... Zalman NB47J for your Chipset...

When there's enough airflow, a passive cooler for your chipset will largely suffice... This would give your system a 2 - 2.5 IMO...

EDIT: RAID the disks if you want speed, and maybe swap the Enermax for a Seasonic... The 500W version costs 20 bucks more, but those are even quieter... Not modular however... This last remark is not needed, the Enermax is very good, but the Seasonic's simply the most quiet one available (apart from passive ones)...

 

[GTaudiophile]

Okay, so the Raptor is negotiable I suppose...especially since game load times aren't that much improved over say a 250GB WD with 16MB cache/7200RPM.

I don't feel like messing with the NB or videocard fans.

I want a reliable, modular 500W PS, and the Enermax seems to be the best fit.

So, where does that leave me? Case and case fans!

Why do I like the Chenming?
It's black
No door
Only front USB/IEEE ports (no audio). My X-Fi can't accept the front leads, so why have front ports?
No PS since I am buying one anyway.
No side window!

If anyone can recommend a case that fits the above and is better than the Chenming, I am all ears. Same with case fans!

 

[gfngfgf]

Definitely replace the chipset cooler with something passive like the NB47J if you want quiet. The Epox chipset fan was easily the loudest fan in my computer before I took it out.

 

[GTaudiophile]

How is this for an alternative case? Or this?

 

[Wentelteefje]

They both are a LOT better than the ChenMing... Although the Antec may not completely justify its higher price... The Centurion 5 is very good case too...

 

[GTaudiophile]

But aren't that Antec and Chenming the same thing?

 

[GTaudiophile]

So what are the best case fans in terms of quiet/performance ratio? Made by which brand?

 

[suszterpatt]

Depends on what you favor: airflow, silence, or a healthy balance between both?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Balance, leaning towards silence.

 

[suszterpatt]

I think a low speed Panaflo will do fine then.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
So what are the best case fans in terms of quiet/performance ratio? Made by which brand?

Definately Nexus. But there are other fans that are just as good but cheaper, such as Yate-Loon (Nexus usually rebadges certain YL) and CoolerMaster.

The 74GB Raptor was known to be one of the quieter drives around, but I have read that the 150GB is a little bit louder. I also don't think this will be a problem.

The one feature that the P150 has that most other cases don't have is a built-in suspended HDD system. This can make a quiet system silent.

You definately should choose a new motherboard that doesn't have an NB fan if you want quiet. You don't seem to want to replace it, but there are many other passive NB motherboard options.

Get something like the Asus Extreme N7800GT TOP SILENT/2DHTV video card if you don't want to replace your video card cooler. Also, doesn't eVGA let you replace your cooler without voiding your warranty? (someone please correct me on this)

 

[Shadowknight]

A case can only help so much; I would spend that money to replace the CPU heatsink, MB heatsink, and VGA heatsink first

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
So what are the best case fans in terms of quiet/performance ratio? Made by which brand?

Definately Nexus. But there are other fans that are just as good but cheaper, such as Yate-Loon (Nexus usually rebadges certain YL) and CoolerMaster.

The 74GB Raptor was known to be one of the quieter drives around, but I have read that the 150GB is a little bit louder. I also don't think this will be a problem.

The one feature that the P150 has that most other cases don't have is a built-in suspended HDD system. This can make a quiet system silent.

You definately should choose a new motherboard that doesn't have an NB fan if you want quiet. You don't seem to want to replace it, but there are many other passive NB motherboard options.

Get something like the Asus Extreme N7800GT TOP SILENT/2DHTV video card if you don't want to replace your video card cooler. Also, doesn't eVGA let you replace your cooler without voiding your warranty? (someone please correct me on this)

I think you're right about this one...

 

[GTaudiophile]

Well, I think I am back to the P150 case...but maybe willing to try the PS before buying another.

I'll buy a 120mm and 92mm Nexus for the case. Perhaps an XP-90 with a 92mm Nexus as well. Still don't think I'll mess with the NB or vid fans though. Those passive NB solutions don't seem to cut it for the NF4 from what I read at NE.

Edit: But I do still like the Chenming based on the two reasons, 1) It doesn't come with a POS PS, and 2) It has no front audio ports.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I revised my list. Please take a look!

 

[Wentelteefje]

That really looks much, much better... :thumbsup: Nexus fans are about the best you can get... They won't make much noise... Leave the Enermax, I had a couple of 'em, and they were all very silent and powerful... The WD isn't the quietest around... Maybe swap that one for a Seagate (however, these don't perform as good, I know)...

The AC Freezer 64 Pro is very, very silent, but of course a XP-90 or 120 with a Nexus or Panaflo are even quieter... Those cost more however... Passive NB heatsinks are more than enough if your case has a decent airflow, which will be the case (no pun intended)...

I wouldn't worry much, your system will be very quiet right now... I'd rate it a 2.5...

 

[GTaudiophile]

Yeah, I know about the HD. Seagate concerns me at the moment, though. The 7200.9 series was announced a good 2-3 months ago and all you can find are the 500MB/16MB cache units and the 8MB cache units. I think they are having problems. Maxtor was just bought by them, so I would wait until the dust settles before going with them again. I suppose the Samsung Spinpoints aren't bad though.

Thanks for the info!

 

[imported_Sincity]

Your system should be very quiet. My PSU is a Antec TruePower II Blue 480W (I just wished it had passive PFC). I also have a Seasonic on my wife's box. Both very quiet units. The P150 is nice since the panels have some insulation. My front fan is the stock Antec 120mm fan that was in the rear. I moved it to the front. Antec PSU have a built-in automatic fan controller that you can plug your fans into. The front Antec fan runs off the PSU controller at about 900 RPMs. In the rear, I have a Aero Cool Turbine 3000 that runs off the motherboard header spinning at 900 RPMs.

The NV Silencer is virtually silent once inside the case. Best of all, the combined price of the Arctic Cooling CPU and GPU cooler is only a few bucks more than a single Zalman CNPS9500.

When shopping for a intake/exhaust fan, look for something that spins very slow to keep the noise down. Just make sure your wires are neatly bundled for good air flow. Your setup will have 3 exhaust fans (PSU, rear exhaust, Arctic Cooling NV Silencer) so you should have good airflow and might be able to get away with using slow-spinning fans like myself.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Originally posted by: Sincity
Your system should be very quiet. My PSU is a Antec TruePower II Blue 480W (I just wished it had passive PFC). I also have a Seasonic on my wife's box. Both very quiet units. The P150 is nice since the panels have some insulation. My front fan is the stock Antec 120mm fan that was in the rear. I moved it to the front. Antec PSU have a built-in automatic fan controller that you can plug your fans into. The front Antec fan runs off the PSU controller at about 900 RPMs. In the rear, I have a Aero Cool Turbine 3000 that runs off the motherboard header spinning at 900 RPMs.

The NV Silencer is virtually silent once inside the case. Best of all, the combined price of the Arctic Cooling CPU and GPU cooler is only a few bucks more than a single Zalman CNPS9500.

When shopping for a intake/exhaust fan, look for something that spins very slow to keep the noise down. Just make sure your wires are neatly bundled for good air flow. Your setup will have 3 exhaust fans (PSU, rear exhaust, Arctic Cooling NV Silencer) so you should have good airflow and might be able to get away with using slow-spinning fans like myself.

Agree completely... So basically what you have right now, is great and will be silent...