OT: Quiet case help

[Overkiller]

Hey guys,

It appears that this thread can't be answered in the proper forum :*(.. so i apologize for the OT.

I need a quiet case b/c i'm sick of all the noise my current system generates. and i have it down to the Antec Sonata and the lian li-pc6070....the 6070 is very very quiet but cooling is a problem. The sonata is quiet and offers 2 120 MM fan options so they can spin slower and output less noise @ the same airflow as a faster spinning 80 mM fan....

Problem is that i intent to run a 2.8C overclocked to hopefully around 3.2 or thereabouts...i am concerned about heat but it appers that if i want a system this powerful i will have to put up w/ an amazingly loud system .

btw. i intend to run a slk-900 U w/ smart fan2...

any ideas on my route? I would really appreciate it if someone w/ one of these cases could give me an idea as to what i should expect as well.

 

[RaySun2Be]

bump up for some help.

 

[Robor]

I've got the Antec Sonata. It is a decent case to work with and it is quiet but IMO it does not provide enough air flow if you've got a system with that tends to run warm. I purchased it because the HD's mount up front and I've got a 4 disc IDE array I thought it would provide good cooling drawing air through the front. It does not. The 120mm fan is quiet but doesn't move enough air through the system and my array is running much warmer than I'd like it.

 

[dmcowen674]

I've posted a lot how I don't run any extra fans. I let mother nature do the work in that cool air will be pulled in from the bottom with the exhaust fan of the Power Supply at the top helping to push out the heated air from everything making heat inside the cabinet. The only fan inside is on the CPU HSF to prevent thermal runaway of the CPU.

If a Power Supply is wimpy(normally the 12 volt ones), I put in a more robust fan (120 volt version). Since the PS fan is bigger it generally is much quieter in nature than the small high RPM CPU fan that is pretty well masked by the case cover.

On the Hot Hard drive issue>

I did in fact have 2 7200 RPM drives that did not like being stacked tightly one on top of the other. (The combined heat of the two could not dissapate the heat quickly enough into the surrounding air inside the cabinet).

I simply separated the 2 drives by a empty drive bay in between them and they have been fine since.

I briefly tested out the little 3 HD fan combo that takes the place of the drive bay cover (1 for each drive) with the 2 drives still on top of each other and that did not help the drives when they were together. This proved that the combined metal and heat level needed the separation to prevent thermal runaway of the hard drives. No fans needed as they can't overcome the metal mass. If Hard drives had finned cases like CPU Heat Sinks, only then would increased air flow help with heat dissapation and thermal runaway prevention. Maybe a Manufacturer will come out with finned Hard drive cases at some point.

Suffice to say Fan Manufacturers I'm sure do not like me

or all of the "Heat" affionados out there

 

[Yai]

If you intend to overclock then you might have to go with a not very quiet system. I see you are going to use TT SF2, which quite lound already, so adding some 2500 RPM case fans wouldn't matter much.

I'd say get a fan controller like Nexus or Hardcano9, then you can lower fan speed at night and turn them up to high speed when needed. I, myself have 5 of 80mm case fans (2100-2500 RPM) pair with Zalman 7000-Alcu (very quiet) and currently I got myself a Nexus Fan controller to calm my system down at night.

 

[Overkiller]

wow finally some responses!

I knew that this would be the place to go.

I was planning on adding something like this in the front:
http://www.svc.com/12aocalframc.html
and one of these in the back:
http://www.svc.com/noname1.html

the front one is 30 decibels and moves 75Cu....the back one is 45 and moves 105.....

that + PSU.....how loud is 45 db? lol.

[edit: i will be running SOB (or another client) 24/7 so turning down fans wiill be irrelevant b/c the cpu will always be maxxed and needing the air movement]
[edit 2: and i will have rounded wires]

 

[ericlp]

Dunno what kinda times you are getting but I had the same problem as you.... Until I bought a dell HT 2.4C...


AhhhhhhhhhhhQuiet at last.... Only a faint fan noise even with 100% cpu going.

Oh, yeah... Get a current copy of Maximum PC. They have a pretty good section on how to make your PC QUIET.


Good Look!

 

[lobadobadingdong]

If you have room in your case, this is the fan I'd use for quietness on a higher clocked p4. They are VERY large (92mm fan which is surrounded by the hs) but should be able to keep it cooled up to around 3.4-3.6Ghz. edit: unless you have a strangly set up motherboard you should be able to use this in the antec case below. {make sure you check the hight of the caps around the cpu socket!}
If going for 120mm fans these are much quieter and should still be more than sufficient.
and depending on what case you useI'd use these for case fans (keep in mind the 3pin connectors as your mobo may run out of fan plugs)those aluminum fans are as loud as leaf blowers. 4 of these panaflo fans will move more than twice the volume for less than half the total noise. and unless you plan on running lots of hard drives you should only need one of these and your psu to adequatly do the job of cooling. (add 1 fan per each 2nd hard drive i.e. 3 hard drives = at least 2 case fans, 4 hard drives = at least 3 case fans, with 2 hard drives you have your one case fan blowing in the back to cool your proc and the psu fan can cool everything else)
This antec case has also gotten great reviews and you shouldn't need any extra case fans, it already comes with 1 120mm fan, but does have room for another 120mm in the front.

I build pc's on the side and quiet is something I go for a lot, although none of my customers overclock and most usually prefer small form factor/quietness to performance, which is why i swear by those panaflow case fans(almost pin drop quet).

 

[Overkiller]

Thank you for the continued responses,

I am a bit weary about the zalman b/c i DO intend to o/c the 2.8 to 3.2+ and while it is very quiet i have read that it does not work any better than intel's stock hsf...i will read up some more, however!

As for the 120MM fans:

The aluminum one grabbed my attn b/c:
"This fan pushes 79.1CFM of air while only creating 30dB of noise"/...the vantec steal fan pushes 59 @ 28 dB...so i'm willing to put up w/ that little bit extra .

What i might do is put this in the back:

http://www.svc.com/powcool120x2.html

and either the aluminum one or the vantec in the front...therefore the fans are all in the 30dB range...
I believe that i can put only 2 fans in the Sonata, 2- 120MM fans that is why cooling is a worry..
[edit]
http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_cooling.php?ProdID=75003
79CFM @ 29.8dB also

To note: Abit IC7-Max3, 1 Western Digital drive, 2.8C @ 3.2+, pioneer dvd-rom, tdk 48x cd-r, radeon 9700PRo, and 1 GB corsair pc-3700 is the glut of my system.

perhaps ditch the sonata for another case and just use quiet fans?

 

[JonB]

While I know that "performance is king" in this forum, if dead silence is your goal, perhaps for a computer that won't be used for gaming, you can look at the new VIA motherboards. Their integrated boards only need a passive heatsink, usually don't even have a fan. The speeds are in the 1Ghz range and have been reviewed well for Office type jobs, but they do s***uck for gaming. After all, it is a offspring of the Cyrix chip.


Press release for the VIA Eden integrated mobo
The VIA Eden motherboard - hi res picture

Note the two offset holes next to the CPU. That is for attaching a heatsink just like the one on a Northbridge chip. Passive cooling (no fan) is usually adequate.

 

[Overkiller]

Sorry jon B:

I run DC all the time.

I play the latest most graphically intensive games.

A power system is a must. I'm just trying to get away w/ it quietly