Quiet Antec 1030 for HTPC Project

[eugovector]

Okay, here's the scoop. I'm a broke grad student 3 months away from being a less broke graduate. In the interest of saving money, I'm looking to convert my current comp into a quiet PC worthy of serving as a HTPC. Looking for input, here's my setup:

Antec 1030B
ABIT KT7ARaid
1GHz TBird clocked at 900MHz
GlobalWin FOP32
4 7200 Harddrives, 1 DVD, 1 CDR

Fans:
1 80mm Antec in HD cage blowing in
CPU 60mm blowing down
PSupply blowing out
1 80mm Antec right beneath PS blowing out

MBMonitor shows 48 CPU / 27 Case

Globalwin is Louder than hell, other seems to collectively create noise but not to the level that the others do. I'm looking for some input on he following items.

1) First I'm looking to ditch the CPU fan for one of my 2 unused Antecs. Does anyone know where to find cheap 60/80 adapters? Should I just replace it with This?

2) I read a post about cutting the honeycomb punched grills in the back and replacing them with These. Will this significantly reduce the noise?

3) Any experience with ducting systems like These?

4) Any good deals on Rounded cables (should help with cooling right?)

Any other input much appreciated...1030 owners?

The name of the game is "As Quiet As Possible" without toasting my CPU or HDs.

 

[eugovector]

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a couple items from directron:

2 x 80mm Chrome Grill, for after I dremel out the punched grates.

Fan Adapter , though won't those holes in the side let air get out and hurt cooling?

Cheap, really cheap, fan bus, any reason why this is so cheap? I'll only need to dial down the 2 case fans while watching movies, listening to music.

Any input?

 

[Jhhnn]

1. Get the speeze whisperock cooler from newegg, or the slightly pricier spire whisperock IV from kdcomputers. Should fit, it'll be tight...

2. No, not worth the effort. Use two of your Antec fans running at 7v in the rear fanholders, blowing out. All you need, honest. Not filling both rear fanholders is a mistake, allows for short-circuit airflow- in one grille, right out the fan in the other. Front fans are unnecessary with your case.

3. Not worth it with a sx-antec.

4. Your next problem will be the noise from the 4 drives...

The sx10XX cases are arguably some of the best in terms of features and airflow, even though they're an older design, and kinda B-b-big! Strong case fans are unnecessary, they practically cool themselves... I still have one, bought it when they first came out, for my ms-6309 board, overclocked P3-550, and ridiculously expensive cas2 mushkin pc133 RAM. It ran 142fsb, dead stable...

 

[westend]

I have a KT7a-r housed in an Addtronics case which is similiar in size and construction to your Antec. I also have built systems with the Antec 1030b using the Abit KT7a. Your idea about punching the grills will lower your temps, lower noise marginally, and cost next to nil. I will presume that your CPU fan is the loudest fan in the case. A 80-60 adapter will allow you to lower your DBA a lot. I use the Thermalright AX-7 on my KT&a raid. The Thermaltake HSF you linked to is cheap but my experience with their fans is that they are loud. If you are willing to do a little metal work I would suggest punching a 90mm or 120mm
hole in the front and getting a quiet fan for the new opening, using one good 80mm fan in the back (Vantec stealth or Panaflo L1a),mount an 80mm directly to the globalwin (screw the grill to the heat sink with the existing holes and mount the 80mm to the grill). If you mount the fans with rubber washers you will decrease vibration and consequently, sound. This will work for your drives, too. A good source for fans and such is KD computers as posted previously. There is a lot you can do to improve cooling and reduce noise, cheaply but I don't know if you will attain HTPC-like silence.

 

[westend]

One more thing. Reviewed your post again and saw you had that Tbird at 900mhz. Dude, that is a total wate of a great board. OC that chip to 1200!

 

[eugovector]

First I'd like to say thanks to the both of you. You've been a lot of help, seriously.

I went to KD and bought the Spire whisperock IV. I could have just bought a 60/80, but I figured that for another $8, I'd do it right (especially since the Globalwin uses clips, not screws to attach the fan and that would have been a pain.

I also picked up 4 rounded IDEs while I was they're, $2 a pop. They were purple, but no one will see the inside of this thing anyway.

Thanks to your input, I did some research and discovered that for $8 from radioshack, I'm going to hook the two rear fans to a switch that will run them at 7v/5v/off. That way I can turn them down/off while I'm watching/listening and back up when need be.

Currently I'm running 47 cpu/27 case without any front intake fans. I was running 26/25 with them. I should be able to drop the back two to 5v and keep within a comfortable temp range.

BTW, I have clocked over 1300, but the performance increase is barely noticable with todays apps (I don't game), and with this HTPC project I don't need the horsepower for mpeg decoding and capturing w/ a pvr-250 (I'd rather have the temp headroom for sutting down fans.) I'm actually thinking about backing it down to 650 if need be to control temps.

If this doesn't do it, I'm going to put this cpu on the other side of the living room wall and just drill a hole for cables.

Grand plans: 6 months from now I'm going to avail myself of a great financing plan and start paying off a 60inch Sony LCD Projection screen grand WEGA. Hopefully, it will be under $3k by then.