Dream noiceless computer?

[yes4me2]

Hello, his is my first post. I need some help deciding the case, power supply and fans. Here is what I end up after searching for weeks.



Tower. I want a tower that is large enough so that temperature is low, while is it not noisy. On my current medium case, I had to remove the CDRW in order to leave some space between my HDs. Somehow they are so hot my CDRW couldn't work. The budget max is $180 for the tower, but I am still undecided between the following cases in order of preference(or maybe you got a better choice):

Thermaltake Xaser II A5000 ==> 5 fans 80mm
http://www.bunta.com/products/prodspec.asp?item=CATTA5000
http://www.ocsystem.com/therhigxasii.html

Cooler Master ATC-710 ==> 4 fans 80mm+13kg (lot of room no reset button)
http://www.ocaddiction.com/reviews/cases/coolermaster_atc710/

$144 ==> Lian Li PC-68 USB ==> 4 fans 80mm+weight NA but in aluminuim
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/EGBG/article.php/1439071
http://stl.caltech.edu/computer.html



Power supply: Need something silent. I end up thinking about two power supply. Not sure if 300W is enough. I am going to have the basic 2 HD, 2HD cooler, CDRW, floppy, 3D video card 128MB, ethernet card, and 4-5 fans. Assuming 300W is enough, I pick for first and second choices:

$68+TAX 800-486-0008 CA - Royal Computer, Inc.
Seasonic SS-300FS 25.8dBA
http://www.seasonic.com/products/p_atx12v.htm

$75+TAX 877-857-8824 CA - Maxcooler.com
Zalman ZM300A-APF
http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm300a-apf.htm



Fans got to be as noiseless as possible. I am going probably for Panaflo but here are the choices I came up with:

FAN 80mm: Panaflo FBA08A12L (FBA08A12L1A or Panaflo PABA08A12L1J)

FAN 80mm : Enermax UC-8FAB



Same as previously but for HD cooler.
http://svcompucycle.com/hardiscoolw8.html




So what do you think? Good config noiceless? Bad config? Can you improve this config? Thanks in advance.

 

[BladeRunner]

I gave up with fans as a cooling solution because even the quietest ones were annoying to me. True silence is very difficult to achieve if you still want high performance.
while my set-up is far to extreme or not practical for most people it is 99% silent, (will be totally silent when I finally get around to isolating the near silent HDD's).

Zero Fan Zone

If you are stuck with fan cooling then low voltage Papst fans are supposed to be the quietest. On the PSU the Enermax 550watt has two fans and the later versions a manual fan speed control and wont struggle to run most systems without getting hot. If you are not overclocking a Zalaman "flower" heatsink with a low speed fan and some low speed case fans will probably work, (depending on CPU & ambient). Also for very near silent hdd's get the Seagate Barracuda IV's (7200) in 40GB or less. The system wont be silent, (at least not by my definition), but you should be able to get a pretty high spec PC to similar sound levels of, say an old Intel P2 system.

Check out these sites for some good additional info on the quest for silent computing..........

7 Volts

The Silent PC

Quiet PC

 

[yes4me2]

Obviously a question comes up:
It may be silent, but is that kind of hardware reliable & good?

For example, I am so much used to IBM HD... which were supposed to be hell good. I tried maxtor before and that junk was soo noisy I gave up. Same for seagate a long time ago.

 

[BladeRunner]

I haven't had any trouble with the Seagate drives, (two 40Gb Cuda IV's), around a year old now, and have been run water-cooled for most of that period. Unlike previous hdd types, including Seagate's, they have a fluid bearing motor and are pretty near silent in operation. Keep in mind my system makes no other sounds at all, (when not using CD / DVD roms), so I can say they wont disappoint on the noise side. Like any hdd they should be isolated from the PC case to prevent vibration induced noise, make sure you earth them if you do this though.

As far as IBM hdd's go I bought a couple of them a few years back, mainly because IBM had a good reputation at the time. I had two of the now infamous GXP 75 IBM HDD's that both died in under 6 months losing important data at the time, lots of other people had 75's and suffered the same fate. I think a couple of other makers now produce fluid bearing hdd's but I can't comment on the quietness of them as I haven't owned any.

Do read through the links I gave as there is some good & usefull info if you really want the quietest PC possible for your budget.

 

[BZeto]

I have a 40gb Seagate cuda IV 7200. I love it, its fast and very QUIET! I cant hear it unless I put my ear right up to it and even then I can hardly hear it. I have a hard drive cooler on it and its running great.

 

[yes4me2]

How about the most expensive item: The case


I am thinking more and more to pick the Thermaltake Xaser II A5000, because the Cooler Master ATC-710 doesn't have a reset button, and the Lian Li PC-68 USB is too small. Is that a good idea or do you have a better choice?

 

[BZeto]

This outa set you right:

Cheiftec case

Antec True 430 PS

(the first link)

$137 plus shipping.

 

[yes4me2]

I prefer aluminium cases for obvious reasons, ranging from weight to heat.

 

[BladeRunner]

Here's a nice full tower in alu Lian-Li PC 70

comes in $2 over your budget including shipping from Here in the USA

 

[dnoyeb]

If the case has active cooling, ala FANS, I would not care about its size. A bigger case will just require more fans to keep the air from stagnating in pockets.

 

[yes4me2]

The only reason why I prefer a high case is because of this: http://svcompucycle.com/hardiscoolw8.html
HD coolers. If you have two HDs on your computer, I assume the HD coolers need at least a slot above the HD. Hence a medium tower is not tall enough. Not sure if that's true... it is just my opinion.

BTW, I heard these HD coolers are really good and silent.

 

[yes4me2]

After a month undecided, I finally decided to pick the Cooler Master, because it has fan mounts in front of the HDDs.

 

[L00PY]

Why not get the Aluminum Chieftec? Same basic interior design but you can get the case for $69 + $18 S&H. Add one of the quietest PSUs out there now, an Antec True430 for $78 + $7 S&H and you're set.

Keep in mind the only advantage you get from aluminum is weight. There's no advantage gained in case temps.

That 300W number you threw out is probably low.

The FBA Panaflos are a good fit.

It won't be noiseless, but it'll be very quiet.

 

[theNEOone]

OMG Bladerunner, I love that Gainward ti4600 watercooling mod. I wanted silence too, but I ended up going with the zalman zm80-hp. It works beautifully, but it's big and bulky and doesn't allow for much overclocking. Would you ever consider selling your services?

 

[yes4me2]

Arggg... after one month, I am getting again confused... ok ok... I give up... I call them up and cancel my previous order of cooler master $150 and get the following:



$69 - CHIEFTEC Server Chasis (Aluminum Workstation Tower with Plastic Front Cover) Green w/acrylic window No Power SupplyFront Accessible: 4 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5", Internal: 4 x 3.5". Compare to Antec SX1040 and Save Weights Only 18LBs! Model#: AX-01GND SPX-02GN.

and the Antec 430W Power Supply TRUE430 ATX Form Factor, ATX12V compliant for Pentium 4 (backward compatible with previous Pentium versions) and AMD systems, you mention

get 4 fans Panaflo FBA08A12L from CaseCooler.com.



Just wondering... what about the Seasonic SS-350FS for $93.40+tax? Is that not supposed to be more silent with less power or is that going to be not enough power? I also heard that Enermax is king for power supply. If that's true, should I get one from them instead? If yes, any advice what I should get? All I want for power supply is something silent yet not too extremely pricy.

 

[Ausone]

You should go for a steel case if quietness is your top priority. An alumininum case is prone to vibration and resonance and generally noisier than a steel case. If you go for an aluminum case, try to pick one with thick side panels. Avoid Chieftec aluminum case since it only uses 1mm/0.8mm (I forgot the exact figure) panels. Probably Cooler Master is a safe bet among Al cases. Alternatively, Bean Tech's Igloo could be a viable choice for an Al case. Even with these aluminium cases, you will have to use some noise dampening material inside. A steel Chieftec/Antec/Enermax case, BTW, is a good choice if you don't mind the absence of a removable mobo tray.

If you just want the look of an aluminum case, go with your original choice, CM ATC-710, which is actually a steel case with an aluminum front panel.

As for PSU, Enermax is nothing but noisy. Sea Sonic is probably the best bet now. Still, you'll want to change its fan eventually, if you want something close to silence. Since you'll have to change PSU fan anyway, if you want to go cheap, you can choose a solid PSU like Sparkle and mod it.

As for fans, you'll have to undervolt them anyway, whatever you choose. The difference in quality of fans emerges when they are undervolted. Panafo, which may be good for its price, is not really optimal in this respect. Among fans available in the U.S., I'd prefer Papst and PCP&P Silencer to Panaflo.

As for HD, even if you go with a Cuda IV, you'll have to put it into Smart Drive or suspend it using something like NoVibes. Use either of these instead of a HD cooler, which does nothing to lessen HD noise. Idle noise, not to mention seek noise, is still audible from Cuda IV installed normally in a HD cage.

 

[BladeRunner]

theNEOone

When sitting at my desk all I can hear is the faint buzz of my monitor, but that's only if I turn my head towards it. It's strange because I don't really remember all the work I did to get to this level now. It just seems normal to have a PC that makes no noise.......... can't ever imagine going back to forced air cooling in the future. Coming up to a year now and no leaks or disasters YET. I've also made it "safer" now with a low or no flow shutdown system, using a flow switch, pulse gen & with motherboard monitor & shutdown now. More about it in my replies in this topic HERE

If you check out my site the latest news is I've just bought a new mill, hopefully I'll be able to reproduce my blocks for others sometime in the near future

 

[MainFramed]

i havent really read the thread thurlly so if you have already said i apoligze but bladerunner, you dont use fans what do you use?

 

[BladeRunner]

here4amission

All explained on my site, read the intro and follow the "Stealth Cooling" link, eveything in the PC that needs it is liquid cooled CPU, NB, VGA GPU & RAM, HDD & PSU

ZeroFanZone

 

[Pothead]

With HD coolers, you are def. not going to have a quiet computer.

Don't go with the Zalman PSU. Check the reviews. The craftmanship is not that great. It gives off 32db while a quietpc.com PSU gives off 26db (and the fan is undervolted). Check the reviews again and you'll see quietpc psu's are good quality stuff BUT pricey. I think quietpc may still has a sale on the 300watt PSU.

 

[yes4me2]

After the interesting post of Ausone, I have decided to go back to a steel case in order to reduce noice. Never seen the use of removable mobo tray. Any particular preference on the steel case?

I heard the PCP&P Silencer has a different pitch than the Panaflo, something that would make it easier to heard them. Now that you remind me, fan filters are supposed to reduce dust coming in the fan. Does anyone use them? How hot get your case?

The reason why I wanted so badly a tall tower and HD cooler was because of my 2 IBM HDs. Somehow, they are very hot... Would you buy for a full case if I want the HDs not to overheat when place next to each other? That way I can also use a smart drive to reduce noice, instead of having to buy HD coolers. Or maybe you have a better combination.


The best bet seem to be:

UNKNOWN STEEL CASE
Antec 430W Power Supply TRUE430 ATX Form Factor
4 fans Panaflo FBA08A12L
4 fan filters
HD coolers OR smart drive

Intel: Pentium 4-1.6 GHz (Socket 478, Retail)
Intel Heatsink-Fan: Included Retail HSF
Pentium 4 Motherboard: ASUS P4S533
512MB PC2700 DDR from crucial or Samsung
leadtek GeForce4 Ti 4200 128mb
SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 OEM
two 40gb Seagate cuda IV 7200

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: BladeRunner
here4amission

All explained on my site, read the intro and follow the "Stealth Cooling" link, eveything in the PC that needs it is liquid cooled CPU, NB, VGA GPU & RAM, HDD & PSU

ZeroFanZone

Thanks BladeRunner,
Your site, and the links provided are sweet, i think this will help me making my new system....

 

[dmcowen674]

Holy Moly Janathan (Bladrunner),

Looks like you are building robots, very, er, cool

Just like our bodies need heat regulation. It is mainly to stop thermal runaway. With your water cooled wares you can push existing technology to it's limits.

 

[yes4me2]

Hopefully water cooling will be standard procedure in a close future.

 

[dmcowen674]

Why would you want to add the expense of water cooling if not needed? I personally don't like mixing water with my electrons, not a good combination.