When I bought my PC; I thought this time - this time I will get a silent pc. So I bought a silent cabinet (expensive). I bought a silent video card (expensive). Bought a silent chassis fan. Bought an Asrock x58 Supercomputer motherboard + core i7-920 with box cooler. Now the issue is that it goes up to 65 degrees very quickly. Even if it is doing small things such as displaying a 720p movie. And when it hits 65 degrees, the cpu cooler comes on very loudly. When it goes below 65 degrees again, Asrock has supplied a tool (ASRockOC) that will let me press a button, and the fan noise goes away. So up to 65 degrees its fine. After that is makes noise until I get it below 65 again and press the button. My question is, can I raise this limit of 65 degrees some how, so that the fan doesn't come on until 70-75 degrees? Or is there anything else I can do?
Added bit of info that I just discovered. The CPU fan has 10 levels. When it gets above 65 degrees, it goes directly to level 10. There seems to be no way to get a middle ground.
Ez fix either start using Speedfan Or replace the stock cooler with something alittle more high quality.
If you don't mind my asking -- did you put this PC together before or after Sandy Bridge launched? Do you have room in the case for a self-contained fluid cooler (e.g. Corsair H70)? Also -- don't the HTPC folks usually underclock in situations like this?
I'm probably wrong about that, and I apologize -- I made an assumption based on the mention of the 720p movie.
He probably put it together well over a year ago and probably closer to two years ago. The reason is the motherboard. The ASRock Supercomputer motherboard was IIRC an X58 launch motherboard that may have been a limited edition since it wasn't available for very long. Coincidentally I have one new in box. Strange, but true. The H70 is not very quiet. For a self contained liquid cooler that is quiet, the new Corsair H60 and Antec Kuhler are quieter than the H70 and even H50.
Can you fit a 120mm fan anywhere in that case? Try running one of those and see if it allows your cpu to do a little more before the fan comes on. If it helps then you can look at ways to reduce the noise of the 120mm fan, if need be. Also there might be a setting in the bios that you are missing. The cpu fan might be set in a non-PWM mode when it should be or vice versa. I have a cpu fan that does something strange. When I boot up in a cold room, the temperature is below some threshold that I cant control. So the fan just runs full blast. Not even speedfan will slow it down. I have to run prime95 for a few minutes and then reboot, then it runs fine. Something like that could be happening. Have you tried rebooting immediately after running your temps very high?
Can anyone suggest a good supersilent "money is no object" 120 mm fan? And also, what would be the quietest high quality fanned PSU around 600 W?
No but I can tell you that you cant trust the idiots on newegg. I tried the 3 highest rated 120mm fans. They are not quiet. Not by a freakin longshot. They do move a helluva lot of air though. What works for me? Simply solder a resistor into the 12V line. lol. I can get all the parts I need from the trash heap at work, but a ZALMAN FAN MATE 2 System fan speed controller works wonders too, and it is only a couple bucks. Basically I just drop the voltage to about 7-8 and they get whisper quiet.
Noctua fans. or scythe slipstreams, www.silentpcreview.com has tons of info about quiet stuff. XFX makes a very nice and highly rated modular 650w PSU
As Zargon said, Noctuas (I find that the NF-P12 is quieter than S12B) or Slipstreams would be good. I've tried a few pricey silent/quiet fans and have found these and the Nexus 120mm Silent fans to be the best. The Noctuas come with resistors which allow you to adjust the speed/noise of the fan without having to buy a fan controller or tinker with Speedfan.
Thanks for the info. I'd read somewhere that NF-P12 is a very silent fan. I've just checked the Noctua site but can't find any mention of the resistors. Are they included? And the Nexus 120mm Silent also doesn't have any way to change the speed, as the site says it's fixed at 1000 rpm.
