Quiet OC - oxymoron?

[Gspotter]

Hi.
I like to have powerful PC. I also like to have silent (or at least very quite) PC. Could you vets tell me if I got it wrong?
I am thinking about buying Barton 2500 + Asus deluxe. Assuming I don't need to use higher voltage, if I OC the system bus to 200 would I get the CPU as hot as non-OC 3000. And if so, I can use a good heatsink -rated for 3000 CPU- and quite fan. Am I right?

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Correct.
Let us know your results you try something out. AMD and quiet have never worked together in the same sentence...
My personal recommendation would be to remove that HS/Fan on the NB and replace with a Zalman heatsink. And on the CPU try a Alpha 8045 HS tagged with a Vantec Stealth fan. Many people will say go with Panaflo's, but my experience is that the Vantec is better.

What are the rest of your system specs?

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Or you can always experiment...
http://www.1coolpc.com/aero7p.htm

 

[thrashev]

watercooling can be silent

 

[Grimner]

Quiet OC = expensive

The trouble with "quiet" is that you press for "soundless". It is possible, but requires money, money and more money.

I'd suggest you get a good heatsink and a decent fan and otherwise follow the advice of the fellows above.


You might of course win the lottery and embark on watercooling with a watercooled power supply, a huge radiator and case draped in rubber. That's what I'd do if I wasn't happy with my current watercooling - which is quiet enough but not suited to overclocking due to tiny radiator.

 

[Yourself]

You can do a high performance water cooling build for around $110, so it's not lottery expensive . When you compare that to how much high end HSF's are, you're about half way there already. I took the plunge( no pun intended) and I am amazed at the performance and lack of noise.

$.02


Self

 

[joe4324]

Ok, not only is it possible to have a Great OC without all the noise, its not that expensive either! Even with AIR!

Now dont get me wrong I watercooled for quite some time. I had a very quiet setup. Infact I didnt even need to run a fan on my radiator unless I wanted ambient temps. But it was just too much of a hassle to mess with for someone who swaps hardware as much as I do, so I decided to go back to air and do it as cheaply and queitly as possible.

My current system is as follows

Epox 8RDA+
XP1700+ @2.3Ghz (11.5x200) vCore 1.8 38-40C idle, 40-44C Load.

SLK800, 80MM ZM-F1 Fan with resistor (rated at 20dba and 20CFM)
I have 2 more Zalman case fans with the resistors on, and I even put one in my powersupply.

My Case Airflow is pretty decent and I have a slightly higher input then output. Everything in my system seems very happy currently and it is VERY quiet. the loudest fan in my system is on my Radeon...

So I would consider this a healthy overclock and my computer is barely audible in a nearly dead quiet room. Its not "Silent" but its close enough for me.

Total Cost:

SLK800 $35
4X ZM-F1 80mm $35

Total: $70

Nearly silent, High quality components that will last a long time. You could probably get by with only a couple fans, but I am running 4 so thats what I qouted.

Heres a link to the fans:
Zalman Fans @ newegg (the ones I have are the first in the list)

 

[amcdonald]

Until my board died yesterday I was running this quiet OC. It is very possible with planning.
8RDA+, xp2100+ @ 2314 (178*13)
zm-f2 & SLK-900 (I'd recommend the almost identical 800U (or 800A) if you use the a7n8x due to heatsink space issues)
An intake (or 2) & rear exhaust fan. (panaflo or nmb) All on a rheobus for fine tuning.
When I tuned my system to silent the temps were: cpu~50ºC/mb~35ºC with 23ºC ambient.
When I say silent I mean it. The case is head level (on top of my desk) and the only thing noticeable over ambient noise is the cd-rom drive spinning up. from 5 feet away I can't tell if the computer is turned off/on. (besides initial monitor buzz)

Sinfulweeper, FYI there is no NB fan on the a7n8x deluxe, its a zalman-esque passive cooler.

As far as cost is concerned, this proposed setup would cost:
slk-800A, sunbeam rheobus, zm-f2 (fan)
$66.98 shipped from svc

The best quiet air solutions make use of cpu air ducting. Look into that for even lower temps.

 

[Gspotter]

ANY COMMENTS, INSIGHTS AND IDEAS WOULD BE VERY WELCOME!

Thanks you all!
As for my system specs:
My PC is yet to be ordered, shipped and assembled. A truly dream PC.
- I am thinking about Entec Sonata case. This is a case build to be quiet, including the included PSU and Hard disk mounting, and it is reasonably priced ? a tad more then 100$. Looks rather nice, too.
Mods that I might do: extra quite120mm fun in the front, cutting out the funs grill, fan isolators, some noise-absorbing material. I?m not sure if it will be easy to have cpu air ducting, so I?ll probably skip that.
- As for the rest: Barton 2500+ and A7N8X Deluxe, 2x 512 pc3200 (which maker do you suggest?)
- I'm not sure about what HS and fun. SLK800?
- Radeon 9600 ? as I understand, it has decent performance and does not need active cooling. Oh, and it isn?t terribly pricy.
- Hard disk: Samsung SP1604N 160G, 7.2K rpm and 8MB cache. Suppose to be very quiet.
- I already have a Yamaha CDRW 16x10x40; I?ll try to stick to it. Maybe I?ll get a DVD-rom. Does any of you have a recommended speakers, not expensive but good? I don?t need a high volume.
- I already have a new monitor ? ViewSonic P90f, a MS Explorer 3 mouse and a generic keyboard (which I have to replace every half a year or so, due to coffee spilled over)
did I miss anything?

About water-cooling: I hesitate to wet my feet there (ha ha, I?m funny!):
- Pre-made kits or case are quite expensive.
One exception that I did found, though, is KOOLANCE PC2-C case, on sale for 170$, CPU cooler included, no PSU. I am considering it. But those 3 fun in the upper side- they may not be load, but how quite can they be?
- I don't have tools or experience to build my own, and it does look like quite a bit of a hassle, and a big research. I'd rather have the machine works for me then me work for it. I already spent a ridicules amount of time on this dream machine, before I even put a single order!.
- It looks that maintaining the system has to be done regularly, which add to the hassle. But maybe I?m wrong about that point.
- I?m primitive, I am not sure if I can get used to the idea of water running inside my precious. Golom.

As I said in the beginning,
ANY COMMENTS, INSIGHTS AND IDEAS WOULD BE VERY WELCOME !

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Well... my personal recommendation is stay away from that Samsung HDD. I have never heard anything but horror stories about them. Get a Maxtor or Seagate with 8MB cache. They are pretty quiet also

For video, that will work. Albiet not the best. Try a 9700 Pro with a Zalman passive VGA cooler. Or a GF equivelent.

Alas, I can not help you in the water cooling department. That is not my area of expertice. But from my understanding the Alpha that I mentioned is better at cooling then the SLK-800.
A quiet 16x DVD-Rom would be any Samsung model. Their optical drives are of much better quality then their HDD's for some reason . Lite-On makes some good ones also.

Anyway hope that helps .