Overclocking HTPC to 4Ghz in silence...

[sxr7171]

EDIT: This is also a GAMING PC for the living room.

This is a post I made over at SilentPCreview but I thought I should run it by the community here since I think there's more technical prowess in these parts. But over there they have silence down to an art.

I needed a quiet Home Server and I realized there's nothing you can do about 8 5400-7200RPM drives and their noise. I just put the whole machine inside a kitchen cabinet. Problem solved. Sure the drive temps are around 40-41C but I read the Google HDD reliability study and apparently their drives had the lowest failure rate running in the 40s.

I also initially put my 4GHz i920 machine in the same cupboard and my oh my did it get hot in there. Despite the fact that it never shut down due to heat, I just wasn't comfortable with how hot it was in there.

I came to a realization that as nice and airy as my Antec 300 case is, no case is even better. So here's what I propose:


I want to buy this cabinet:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40134050

and remove the shelves.

I want to place my MB Gigabyte EX58-UD4P with Megahalem HS and 140MM Scythe Fan + Intel SSD + Blu-Ray Drive + Antec 80+ 700w PSU in the left half of the cabinet. An as of now unknown GPU will be added for gaming. I intend to stick everything to the wood by way of industrial strength Velcro fastener.

The scythe + megahalem is very quiet when the CPU is idle or just cruising at 930rpm. When the CPU is hit to 100% it fires up thanks to Gigabyte's fan speed control. Yes it is noisy but if I am pegging the CPU like that I am also playing a game with speakers on in the room. Also on its worst day it is quieter than an Xbox 360. I sit about 15 feet away, but I need silence in that position so as to not interfere with my enjoyment of my audio system.

I intend to place 3 180mm Silverstone variable speed fans in the divider such that hot air is exhausted into the right chamber. I also intend to place a 240mm opening on the left of the left chamber and one on the top of the right chamber. Maybe even build a venting system that directly exhausts the air. Doors will be fitted to the cabinet and acoustifoam is an option on the doors and cabinet walls if needed. I could also run my Megahalem in Push-Pull and point a 120mm fan on the NB heatsink to cool the RAM and MB. Fan speed controllers could be used to keep the fans quiet.

Does my plan sound okay? Am I forgetting anything? Any grounding issues or other issues I haven't thought of? Thanks for reading this.

 

[sxr7171]

I'm thinking of putting an Antec Skeleton in there instead of fastening with Velcro. I could also put the whole thing on a thick foam pad.

 

[alyarb]

the skeleton is a waste of money. just figure out how you want to mount it (perhaps pull the tray out of a Lian Li case). what you need to focus on is duct work.

 

[sxr7171]

the skeleton is a waste of money. just figure out how you want to mount it (perhaps pull the tray out of a Lian Li case). what you need to focus on is duct work.

You're right. Also it won't fit a Megahalem. I found what I need:

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TopTechSTD

Ha Ha! Someone's already thought of everything.

 

[Spook]

Is anyone going to ask? What the heck do you need an i7-920 HTPC that does 4Ghz for?

Most people putting together HTPC's are looking for power efficiency... If anything you could underclock/undervolt that chip, and still run a 9500GT to offload most of the HD video playback on....

Im using an E8400, undervolted, underclocked.... 9500GT, and it runs everything I throw at it... i7-920 is just overkill.

 

[sxr7171]

Is anyone going to ask? What the heck do you need an i7-920 HTPC that does 4Ghz for?

Most people putting together HTPC's are looking for power efficiency... If anything you could underclock/undervolt that chip, and still run a 9500GT to offload most of the HD video playback on....

Im using an E8400, undervolted, underclocked.... 9500GT, and it runs everything I throw at it... i7-920 is just overkill.

Because it will also be my HT Gaming PC - I should have said that sorry. I plan on switching from Xbox 360 to buying the same games on PC and run them properly at 1080p with AA and AF and use the Xbox controller for PC and have access to Live as well via Games for Windows. Also games are $10 cheaper for Windows. I will be running a 1080p Projector to a 122" screen.

 

[sxr7171]

Figured out some ductwork options.

Duct perfect diameter for 180mm fans:

http://americanhvacparts.com/Mercha...e=FLEX706&Category_Code=duct-silver_flex_duct


My thought is to have on the left side 2 of these mounted to the left wall of cabinet and a thin filter on the end. The other end will have 180mm fans mounted to them - one blowing on my HSF so the existing 140mm fan will be moved to the "pull" position in a push-pull. The other will blow on the GPU and NB, RAM etc. The duct will be held by wire.


I will also mount 3 180mm fans inside the divider with a neoprene surround from here:

http://www.closedcellfoams.com/neoprene.html

That way less vibration is transmitted to the cabinet. Each one of those will have:

http://americanhvacparts.com/Mercha..._Code=FLB10X8X7&Category_Code=duct-floorboxes

Everything will be coupled with neoprene. They will be ducted out to the top of the right half of the cabinet.

I will use the extra neoprene to stick to the walls and doors with spray adhesive.

I know all this sounds like overkill but it will be very upgradable and it's not really that much more expensive than some of those crazy $$$ cases with aftermarket fans and mods.

 

[alkalinetaupehat]

This sounds pretty sweet actually, so do keep us updated with pics and details.

 

[aigomorla]

4ghz + silence?

you wont get it because of the GPU.

Watercooling is your best route if you want silence, but it will cost ya.

 

[jtisgeek]

Yeah water cooling is what you need air cooling will never meet your demands. Will be pricier but not really that much more compared to the huge copper heat sinks you will need to run a 4ghz in that cabinet.

 

[spdfreak]

Honestly, running your games at 1900x1080 will not require anything approaching 4GHz for smooth play. At that res, your video card will be your bottleneck in virtually all games. I'm currently running HAWX on my HTPC (E4500 with a 9600GT) at 1080 and it is perfectly smooth and looks awesome. You will be better served by spending your time and money on a high end cool(er) running video card like a 58xx series than trying to get 4GHz out of a cpu in a closet...

 

[aigomorla]

HAWX is nothing dude.

At least throw Boarderland, which again is almost nothing.

 

[sxr7171]

4ghz + silence?

you wont get it because of the GPU.

Watercooling is your best route if you want silence, but it will cost ya.

Well I plan on going with an aftermarket cooler it a 4850 or 4870 with a VRM cooler. But I think that when idling it should be fairly quiet inside the cabinet. When cranking up the CPU and GPU I know it will be noisy but I'll have game sounds up on high volume and it doesn't matter to me then. But I need silence when idling or doing small tasks.

I've done watercooling before and I can't say a water pump really gets to quiet levels of a well implemented air cooled system. I have decided to go with Gentle Typhoon fans and undervolted I take them to be quieter than a water pump.

The last time I did water cooling I did it the "right" way with parts from Petra's tech shop. I realized that one way or another you need fans on the radiator which need to able to push some high static pressure. There's no doubt that it is quieter on full load by far, but idling (which is more important to me) is noisier.

Right now the system operates fine thermally with the Megahalem in an Antec 300 case. The fan shoots up when there is load on the CPU but that never happens unless I run SuperPi. I take it the same will happen when I start gaming. I will replace the 140mm kaze maru with 2 gentle typhoons in push-pull. So I think even when gaming it should be quieter. But again even still I think it sounds better than an Xbox 360 which I don't notice unless I'm not playing a game.

I think my biggest concern will be cabinet resonances which I hope to subdue with neoprene foam on all surfaces.

Sometimes I think I may achieve what I need simply by changing the fans in the Antec 300 to better Scythe fans as right now it's fairly quiet but not to the point I want it to be.

 

[sxr7171]

Honestly, running your games at 1900x1080 will not require anything approaching 4GHz for smooth play. At that res, your video card will be your bottleneck in virtually all games. I'm currently running HAWX on my HTPC (E4500 with a 9600GT) at 1080 and it is perfectly smooth and looks awesome. You will be better served by spending your time and money on a high end cool(er) running video card like a 58xx series than trying to get 4GHz out of a cpu in a closet...

I get 4Ghz right now actually, but I think you're right the 4Ghz is for bragging rights. I just want to quiet down the system in idle. And I'd say for 98% of people this is a quiet PC, but I want silence in idle. I mean no sound beyond 3 or 4 feet at all.


Maybe even a better case would do the job, but such cases also tend to impede cooling. I could take it down to 3.2-3.5Ghz and everything should be fine. I also think its the stock case fans on my Antec (running at lowest speeds) that are causing the noise. I don't hear the CPU fan at all. Maybe I could just put the whole thing inside the cabinet and put some exhaust fans in there. But I almost want to do this because I feel like doing something different. I want to give this the old college try. I could always watercool it later since that tech bench is so open and I'd have 2' x 2' x 15" of space in there. I could experiment to my heart's content in that space. If it doesn't work out I'm out only $80.

 

[sxr7171]

My thoughts on GPU HS are leaning towards Prolimatech MK-13 + Thermalright VRM-5 for the VRMs. I am undecided between 5850 or 5870. But it seems an OC'd 5850 is right up there with the 5870 in terms of gaming performance.

The only game that is bottlenecked these days seems to be Cysis which hovers in the 28fps area for 1920x1080 with either GPU. If I went Crossfire that single game would be the only game that is affected. Is the game really that good? Does it really look that much better than other games?

 

[klocwerk]

I was surprised by how much difference an SSD made for my noise levels.
The noise I'd been attributing to case fans was actually the idling of my HDDs, which are all on SPR's quiet recommended list. Swapped to an SSD and my system was dead silent from 4 feet.

Also yes, no need for 4ghz for what you're doing, you're just generating extra heat. Drop your voltage and run 3.6 or so. 95% of the performance and a LOT less heat to shed.

 

[luv2liv]

i see the Megahalem does not come with a fan on newegg. do i need one?
the scythe cpu cooler i used to have didnt need a fan on a 2ghz amd 3800+ dual core.

 

[klocwerk]

i see the Megahalem does not come with a fan on newegg. do i need one?
the scythe cpu cooler i used to have didnt need a fan on a 2ghz amd 3800+ dual core.

Now I'm tempted to try my rig with no HSF... Will turn it off tonight and see what temps look like.

That said, you'll probably want a fan of some sort. Any 120mm low noise fan will do you well, reuse one from your current rig if you have one you like.

There's a huge thread down in cases & cooling where people are duking it out for which 120mm fan is best if you're inclined to read such things.

 

[peonyu]

The key to having a functioning cabinet is you simply need to add a intake fan on the side of the case, preferably large enough to put a 120mm fan on there. And have that side fan pumping air in [paralell to your cpu HSF so the air is going straight to your cpu]. Also make a duct for the fan so that it has access to air outside of the cabinet. I have my system OCd to 4.4ghz with a old XP 120 HSF, in a sealed cabinet and it never hits higher than 65c load. Without the side fan on, I sit idle at 70c. So sidefan is your answer. For GPU its the same deal, a 120mm fan should cover that aswell.

That serves me right for skimming through the thread, I see your already onto using a sidefan /w duct. Gl on it though.

 

[sxr7171]

I was surprised by how much difference an SSD made for my noise levels.
The noise I'd been attributing to case fans was actually the idling of my HDDs, which are all on SPR's quiet recommended list. Swapped to an SSD and my system was dead silent from 4 feet.

Also yes, no need for 4ghz for what you're doing, you're just generating extra heat. Drop your voltage and run 3.6 or so. 95% of the performance and a LOT less heat to shed.

Agree. Also yes the HDD makes a lot of noise. When you have something spinning at 5400-7200rpm it just makes noise. There's nothing you can do. However with this cabinet I could make a little neoprene filled hush box for any HDD I may need. I'll certainly have the free space to try all sort of ideas. Maybe a neoprene lined box with the HDD suspended inside it with elastic.

It also turns out that my HTPC machine is in fact very silent but the noise I hear is actually my 8 drive Home Server which is inside a kitchen cabinet and I can hear those 8 drives through the cabinet from my living room. I actually disconnected the front case fans and lo and behold those 8 drives are impossible to silence even when inside a cabinet. I may come up with some elaborate case-less scheme for those as well. Maybe hang 8 of them from an elastic band attached to the top of the kitchen cabinet. Or develop a hush box with a quiet fan lined with neoprene and also line the walls and doors with neoprene.

Maybe I should do a case fan replacement for the HTPC/Gaming machine and develop this cabinet idea for the home server instead. However that would move the components from the kitchen into the living room. I'm going to try something different for this multi drive home server. There must be a way. There is nothing in SilentPCReview that talks about anything on this scale. The forums is all about individual drives. It seems nobody there runs a home server or storage server.


EDIT: You know what the funny thing is? When I removed the 2 front case fans and just left the front panel off of the Antec 300 case my HDD temps DROPPED 10C on average even inside the cabinet. Funny how less fans = more cooling. The actual Antec supplied case fans are silent inside the cabinet and the overall noise went down since I disconnected those 2 front fans.

 

[Claudius-07]

Interesting. I currently have a small Acer Windows Home Server box in my office. I has 4 1TB drives in it. All 4 are WD 1 TB green. I don't want to toot my horn, but the damn thing is practically SILENT. By this I mean that the drives themselves don't make up much noise at all. Granted I can't run anything on this box, even if I were to install windows 7.... but again it's just for storage and backups. All the noise normally comes from the fans, the CPU fan, some power supplies and mostly the video card in some cases.

On a side note I have been thinking of just such a cabinet (thanks for the links), and doing some mods to have a system in my living room. Nicely hidden away inside just like you detailed (black casing, sound proofing etc) to match my home theater. I was gona use it a dedicated HTPC and was simply gona leave it in there and just Remote desktop into it whenever I would need to access it, add movies, music, upgrades, patches.

Anyhow great work in progress. Please keep us posted.