Silence my old computer

[Seedog]

My computer sounds like a jet engine so I'm going to replace a few components that I know are noisy. This is an OLD computer. I'm going to replace the heatsink and fan, video card, and case fans.

The motherboard is an Abit KR7A-133 (Socket A/Socket 462) AGP 2x/4x (manual) with VIA VT8366A and VT8233A chipsets. The CPU is an AMD Athlon XP 1700+. The GPU is a GeForce3 Ti200.

I'm not sure what to pick for a HSF, maybe a Zalman or Thermaltake? I'd prefer the video card to be NVidia and it has to be fanless and it doesn't need to be more powerful than what I have now. For case fans I'm going to go with Scythe probably. I don't want to spend more than $200. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Here's what I've been thinking about so far:
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-ALCU 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan

I really have no idea what to pick for a video card. Maybe ASUS N6200/TD/128 GeForce 6200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X or EVGA 128-A8-N303-L2 GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X would be ok? Thanks for the help.

 

[TC91]

the s-flex fans are very nice, moves a good amount of air and are very silent at the same time. the heatsink doesnt look too bad, but i never had a zalman before so i couldnt comment on that. for the video card, it depends on what you are planning to use it for, you may want to look at something a little stronger if you were gaming or doing anything graphically intensive, but between the 2 you have in your original post, definately go for the geforce 6200. it would run laps around the fx5200 and then some, and it has support for pixel shader model 3.0 as well i believe a better video engine. i have used an fx5200 before, and it had poor image quality, most notably for me the image output was a little grainy compared to a radeon 9250 used on the same machine.

 

[Blain]

Get a nice quiet 7300GT. >> Handy Link for finding power sipping GPU's <<
But remember that even though the video card is "fanless", it still needs some kind of air flow across it.
Youe case may need a little modding. The best bang for the buck (if you are handy), is to simply cut a hole in the side panel and install a quiet fan.

Here are some different views of my handywork. :laugh:
* I used a 120mm-to-80mm fan adapter to allow for maximum air filtering, yet still using a quiet 80mm fan. My theory is that by using a smaller fan than filter, you get plenty of air flow even if the filter starts to become dirty.
I didn't want to starve the fan of air.
* I used an aluminum mesh filter for easy cleaning. Hit it with a vacuum hose a little and the job is done.
* The fan is an Arctic Cooling Pro 2L model. I like that particular model for it's three speed switch, quiet operation and low price.
>> Sweet SVC price << :thumbsup:

The fan on the adapter is moved closer to the CPU HS/fan (than it would be simply mounted on the panel), and also hits the AGP area.
You have to position the panel fan in a way that isn't directly in-line with the CPU HS/fan.
If they are in-line you will get greater turbulence and therefore more noise.
Before mounting I held the panel fan at about the depth it would be when mounted and moved it around to find the best spot for air-flow and low turbulence.

 

[0roo0roo]

the problem with 80mm is it makes a higher pitched noise than a 120mm. higher pitch generally is more annoying and sounds louder.
its still better to get a slow quiet 120mm.
as for $200, thats a bit much.
if the vid card heatsink is open design a bracket fan might be enough blowing over the cards
easily made or bought cheap. strapping a slower fan or mini fan controller to the heatsink fan and or replacing it with a quieter model is enough.
that cpu isn't hot at all, a new heatsink is hard to justify, let alone a premium one. the case psu is probably loud at all.
if you want quieter the case has to be well designed. perhaps search for one of those antec sonata deals.. ~60bucks and includes a 120mm cooled psu.
also has thick steel panels that block noise/vibration and harddrive on rubber grommits to isolate vibration/noise. old lousy cases generally defeat most attempts to quiet the computer.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/ forums is probably a better place to look for information

 

[Seedog]

I'm just guessing at what needs to be replaced. I don't really want to replace the case and CPU if I don't have to. I think just the HSF may need to be replaced and not the whole unit since my CPU temp is around 50C. I am going to get a laser temp gun and a decibel meter to see what is exactly going on inside my case. Anyone have recommendations? I'll be building a new system in a few months so I will use them more than this one time. I just want my current system to be quiet since my new one will be. Thanks.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Seedog
I am going to get a laser temp gun and a decibel meter to see what is exactly going on inside my case. Anyone have recommendations?

Yes, don't trust a "laser" temp gun in an environment like a PC case. On large truck tires, yes you can trust them.

 

[Seedog]

What do hardware reviewers use then?

 

[Blain]

Just because some may use them doesn't make them accurate for tight quarters. :roll:
The problem is the reading area cone and distance from component measured.