How hot is too hot?

[PzyMazter]

EDIT: I can't count.

Unfortunately noise is an issue for me, and in my attempts to quiet my computer I have run into several obstacles. Number one is the fact that I have three loud 80mm case fans that I need to either replace or not use. Secondly is my CPU fan, badly in need of replacement.

I am trying to research what parts I should buy to replace my currently loud ones. I have a Lian-Li PC6070 case, "quiet" design, but it came with four loud 80x25 Adda fans that I just do not like. Unfortunately, my understanding of fans and undervolting is rather limited, so silentpcreview.com has not been of much assistance.

My goal is to allow my computer to run games while operating at full stock speeds, but otherwise to run much quieter for web browsing and non-demanding applications. AMD Cool & Quiet helps, as has getting a VF700-CU for my X850XTPE, but I still have steps to take.

In the meanwhile, I have tried doing the unthinkable: unplugged my case fans. Gasp!

With NO case fans, my CPU runs around 50C and the case around 40C. I thought the case might be a bit too warm, though the CPU is usually this high anyway with cool and quiet so I wasn't too concerned about it. The videocard idles at 38C, and this remained unchanged.

I tried using several temperature monitoring programs to get an idea of how much damage I might be causing, but I found that even my hard drives were staying below 40C (about 30-35). I don't know how hot is too hot, but I have been afraid I might be screwing some stuff up. No part seems to run hot, but the ambient temperature is hotter than I should THINK to be acceptable. My temporary solution is to run cool and quiet with Q-Fan and to undervolt one case fan at 5v, which is hardly audible but still not very good.

I need new fans, but in the meantime what would anyone propose I do?

And if you have suggestions, what would you recommend for replacement 80x25mm case fans, how many, and should I undervolt? If not, why not? I do casual gaming, and I already know that stresses my computer far more than web browsing etc that I am doing now without the old case fans. That's why I have avoided playing games since unplugging and undervolting, but I don't really have any prospect of the risks and what temps I need to avoid and to stay under. I also don't know what parts might be in danger if the ambient temp is too high, whereas no individual part seems to be in any danger.

Finally, I would appreciate tips on a good CPU cooler as well.

Thanks.

 

[Doctorweir]

If you run the 4 case fans @ 5v? Still too loud? Maybe 2 new quiet 80mms @5v or slightly more with a fan controller...
2 fans (intake and exhaust) should be minimum...
Are they replaceable by e.g. 2x 120mm fans?
I personally use 2x120@5V...unhearable...

What CPU? I presume the regular recommendations apply: XP-90c, Zalman CNPS7700Cu, Watercooling an option? => Zalman Reserator Plus or Thermantake Bigwater SE for budget

 

[Tiamat]

my CPU idles as 48C but the computer is quiet because i lowered all the fans. I wont take it down to idle at 53C though. In my mind, 50C is the limit. Frankly, the limit is when your computer randomly reboots or throttles.

With 80mm fans, the quietest you can go on a decent price is the Japanese made Panaflo 80mm L1A fans. I would run them at 7V and see if that is good enough.

Frankly, if you want more quiet, you are going to have to jump to a case similar to the Antec P150

Harddrive temps you want so that when you touch it, it is warm, but you can hold your hand on the drive and not be burned. 40C is decent.

Case temps shouldnt really exceed 40C if your temp measurements are accurate - it all depends where the probe is. If the probe is next to your cpu, it is obviously going to reflect the CPU temp more.

 

[klocwerk]

Panaflo's are awesome, but can be loud if run at full voltage.

Get yourself a fan controller. Zalman makes a nice one that controls up to 6 fans and fits into a 5.25" drive slot. Relatively cheap too.
That way you can crank it up when gaming, and turn it down the rest of the time.

 

[2kfire]

Your temps are pretty good. I've seen MUCH worse from cases with 60mm fans at full speed and with a stock CPU cooler at full speed.

With that in mind, I support Tiamat's answer. 80mm fans aren't really the best for quiet computing, but 4 of them @ 7V should be okay. At 5V, they'd be quieter, but wouldn't push enough air. You could also go for a case with a couple of 120mm fans, even though it would suck to have a Lian-Li sitting around doing nothing. To get 7V, hook up the yellow wire coming from your fan to the yellow wire on a molex connector and hook up the black wire coming from your fan to the red wire on a molex connector. This is risky though, since you COULD short out power connections and fry components. You could also get a Fan Bus thing from coolermaster or something, which would be safer.
For CPU cooler, I use the Thermaltake Sonic Tower with a 120mm running at 5V. To get 5V for a fan, just hook it up to the adaptor that comes with the VF700. Use one of the connectors with a red and a black wire. The fan at that voltage is barely audible when the room is completely silent. Others will suggest the Scythe Ninja, which I have read is great too. The nice thing about these heatsinks is that if you don't OC or if you have a cool-running processor and decent case airflow, you can run them fanless. Keep in mind that if you change only the CPU cooler, your temps might actually go up since more heat from the CPU is being transferred into your case, and since there is little airflow inside the case, the added heat has nowhere to go.

 

[Shadowknight]

Is this the plus or the non-plus version? The non-plus version, if I remember correctly, has extremely restrictive grills. You'd get better airflow and less turbulence noise by cutting them out. But yeah, get a fan controller.

 

[Operandi]

PzyMazter I have the Lian Li 6070 (non plus) and have done exactly what are seeking out to do with it, though I thought all the 6070's had 3x 80mm fans not 4? Regardless, I'll run though what I did with my system to make it quiet.

- Replaced the stock Adda fans with Panaflo L1As soft mounted E-A-R fan mounts. The restrictive stock exhaust fan grill was cut away and replaced with a wire frame grill. A 2nd 80mm exhaust was also added directly below the one original 80mm fan using a 3" hole saw. I also opened up the intake vents for the intake vents to make better use of the dust filter and perhaps cut down on noise a bit.

- Intake fans run at a fixed 5v, exhaust fans are controlled by SpeedFan react to system temp have a min speed of 40% (roughly 4-5v) and a max speed of 70%. They start reacting at 35c.

- CPU is a AXP 2500+ and is cooled with Alpha heatsink with a 80mm Sanyo Denki (very good fan btw). The CPU fan is also controlled by SpeedFan; speed ranges from 1550-2400 RPM, it starts increasing speed at 55c.

- The graphics card is cooled by a passive Zalman heatpipe heatsink. Not really an option for you though so I recommend the VF-700.

- All three of my HD's are mounted with E-A-R HD mounts. These made a huge difference with seek noise. Idle noise was less noticeable; probably because the 6070 is pretty sealed and dose a good job of covering up most of the idle noise.

- I should note my nForce2 AOpen board came with a stock passive heatsink on the northbridge. If your board has active cooling that should be one of the first things to go.

That pretty much covers my system and I think I'm done, for now . As it is now it's to the point where I have to wait till 1:00-2:00AM when it's quiet enough to notice any changes I make. If you have any questions feel free to ask or shoot me PM.

 

[PzyMazter]

Hey wow I can't count, there are three fans. Not four, I think the reason I said four was that I was using four different fans and switching them around to try to make things quiet.

I believe I have the non-plus version, I wonder if 3x 80mm fans at 5v would be enough cooling. For some reason, Speedfan doesn't seem to work. Perhaps because I use AMD/ASUS Cool&Quiet, which controls the CPU fan rather well.

VF700 works well, at 5v it's inaudible and gives me idle temps of 38C, stresses to about 70 max.

CPU = Athlon 64 3200+ socket 754, crappy cooler. I need to replace it.

So Panaflo L1A's are my best option I take it? I'll probably want to undervolt any fan anyway.

 

[amd200mhz]

I understand your situation. My computer fans also make big noise. And, OOPS! So do the hard disc and the CD rom. God bless my computer!

 

[tallman45]

All of my systems are silent, they have the following
1) CPU XP-90 (Vantec Stealth 92mm) or Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro (X2 4200+)
2) Seasonic S12 PSU
3) Seagate HDD
4) Arctic Cooling Vga coolers (exhaust hot air directy out of the case)
5) 120mm exhaust and Intake fan (Nexus Real Silent Fan)

The freezer 64 is great becuase it blows are directly towards the rear exhaust fan, thus getting rid of the hot air vs circulating it around the unside of the case.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: PzyMazter
Hey wow I can't count, there are three fans. Not four, I think the reason I said four was that I was using four different fans and switching them around to try to make things quiet.

I believe I have the non-plus version, I wonder if 3x 80mm fans at 5v would be enough cooling. For some reason, Speedfan doesn't seem to work. Perhaps because I use AMD/ASUS Cool&Quiet, which controls the CPU fan rather well.

VF700 works well, at 5v it's inaudible and gives me idle temps of 38C, stresses to about 70 max.

CPU = Athlon 64 3200+ socket 754, crappy cooler. I need to replace it.

So Panaflo L1A's are my best option I take it? I'll probably want to undervolt any fan anyway.

I would say your best option is either Panaflo L1As running at reduced speed. I would try to control them via Asus's Q-Fan BIOS control if you can't get SpeedFan to work; you're not by chance running a nForce4 chipset are you? It won't give you the fine tuning options SpeedFan offers but I've setup several systems using BIOS control on all the fans and it's a better option then a manual fan controller. I don't think I'd try to run just one L1A @ 5v as an exhaust, maybe with two but with just one I think you'd run into heat problems.

Or? another option would be to pickup some of some of these super quiet NMBs. They top out at 1200RPM so running them at 12v is viable and should move more air then L1As at 5v. For the record I do have several of these and they are very high quality and very quiet though I haven't actually cooled a case with them yet.

For cooling your A64 I suggest the Thermalright XP-90 with this Panaflo.

You also didn't mention what PSU you're running or what type of cooling you have on your northbridge, unless I missed it? But you will defiantly want to make sure to pay some attention to those areas as well.