Hey guys. I've just built my quiet pc.
Amd 2500+
80G SATA Seagate hdd
Zalman CNPS7000 AlCu hsf
Zalman model "B" 300W psu
Antec Sonata case
SilenX 120mm 14 dBA 58cfm case fan (rear)
General comments:
Before I put together the pc, I did a benchtesting. I connected the SilenX fan and holded it up on the air. It's almost silence. You need an absolute quiet room and stick your ears to less than 30cm from that fan to actually hear it.
The fan that came with the Sonata case is quite quiet even without any voltage adjustment (e.g. using the original 380W psu). I just pluged that fan in and let it rotate at whatever speed it wanted. However, I could clearly distinguish the different between the Antec fan and the SilenX fan, the latter was more quiet.
In terms of airflow, my hand test showed that there was more airflow with the Antec fan. I felt that the Antec fan pushed air out while the SilenX fan slowly moved the air out.
When I put together all the stuff into the case, I keep the original rear case fan (27 dBA) that came with the Sonata case. I put the SilenX case at the front of the case (it's actually in the middle behind the HDD rack). I turned my pc on, and it's very noisy. Why? I found out that due to the design of the Sonata case, almost half of the front case fan intake is blocked by the HDD rack metal. That caused noise, even with a mild airflow SilenX fan. If you want a quiet pc, you just can't use any front case fan (just like what Antec said) or it will be noisy regardless of the airflow of the fan.
So I stopped using front case fan. I took away the Antec rear case fan and moved that SilenX fan to the back.
Now is what everyone wants to know. "How quiet it is anyways?"
I cannot give you any dBA numbers but I can describe what I heard (not nothing, I did hear something).
First, I set my Zalman hsf to theslowest speed (Zalman said it's 1350rpm and 20 dBA). I need to stick my ear right above the hsf to hear it (it's the most quiet component among the others). The noise from the Zalman psu was close to that from the SilenX fan, probably because they are so close together. Both of them are quiet, and you need to absolute quiet enviroment to hear them.
I put the side panel back and moved the pc to my room. I put it under my desk (it has a hole for it). I turned my pc on. It's more quiet than the air exhaust noise from my deep breath (a small one). If your house has air conditioning or heat coming out from a duct on the floor, I would say the pc is more quiet then those.
Conclusion:
PRO
The SilenX 120mm fan (and probably the others of the same brand) is really reall quiet. I bought a Panaflow "Low" model for my friend. I wound say a Panaflow vs a SilenX is like a Volcano9 vs any Zalman hsf. If you want quietness, SilenX is the end of your search. You won't hear any different even if you find another fan that's more quiet (stated in their spec), unless it's deadly silence.
CON
I would describe the air pushed out from my SilenX fan as "mild" or "floating". It's not a fan that can push and push the air out like a vacuum cleaner. The guy from the store where I bought the SilenX fan said you cannot use them with you Thermalright heatsink (that's sad, and that's why I bought a Panaflow for my friend). It doens't have enough airflow to be a heatsink's fan.
By the way, I set my Zalman hsf to the slowest speed and my cpu temp (in BIOS) reads 36C. I'm happy.
Amd 2500+
80G SATA Seagate hdd
Zalman CNPS7000 AlCu hsf
Zalman model "B" 300W psu
Antec Sonata case
SilenX 120mm 14 dBA 58cfm case fan (rear)
General comments:
Before I put together the pc, I did a benchtesting. I connected the SilenX fan and holded it up on the air. It's almost silence. You need an absolute quiet room and stick your ears to less than 30cm from that fan to actually hear it.
The fan that came with the Sonata case is quite quiet even without any voltage adjustment (e.g. using the original 380W psu). I just pluged that fan in and let it rotate at whatever speed it wanted. However, I could clearly distinguish the different between the Antec fan and the SilenX fan, the latter was more quiet.
In terms of airflow, my hand test showed that there was more airflow with the Antec fan. I felt that the Antec fan pushed air out while the SilenX fan slowly moved the air out.
When I put together all the stuff into the case, I keep the original rear case fan (27 dBA) that came with the Sonata case. I put the SilenX case at the front of the case (it's actually in the middle behind the HDD rack). I turned my pc on, and it's very noisy. Why? I found out that due to the design of the Sonata case, almost half of the front case fan intake is blocked by the HDD rack metal. That caused noise, even with a mild airflow SilenX fan. If you want a quiet pc, you just can't use any front case fan (just like what Antec said) or it will be noisy regardless of the airflow of the fan.
So I stopped using front case fan. I took away the Antec rear case fan and moved that SilenX fan to the back.
Now is what everyone wants to know. "How quiet it is anyways?"
I cannot give you any dBA numbers but I can describe what I heard (not nothing, I did hear something).
First, I set my Zalman hsf to theslowest speed (Zalman said it's 1350rpm and 20 dBA). I need to stick my ear right above the hsf to hear it (it's the most quiet component among the others). The noise from the Zalman psu was close to that from the SilenX fan, probably because they are so close together. Both of them are quiet, and you need to absolute quiet enviroment to hear them.
I put the side panel back and moved the pc to my room. I put it under my desk (it has a hole for it). I turned my pc on. It's more quiet than the air exhaust noise from my deep breath (a small one). If your house has air conditioning or heat coming out from a duct on the floor, I would say the pc is more quiet then those.
Conclusion:
PRO
The SilenX 120mm fan (and probably the others of the same brand) is really reall quiet. I bought a Panaflow "Low" model for my friend. I wound say a Panaflow vs a SilenX is like a Volcano9 vs any Zalman hsf. If you want quietness, SilenX is the end of your search. You won't hear any different even if you find another fan that's more quiet (stated in their spec), unless it's deadly silence.
CON
I would describe the air pushed out from my SilenX fan as "mild" or "floating". It's not a fan that can push and push the air out like a vacuum cleaner. The guy from the store where I bought the SilenX fan said you cannot use them with you Thermalright heatsink (that's sad, and that's why I bought a Panaflow for my friend). It doens't have enough airflow to be a heatsink's fan.
By the way, I set my Zalman hsf to the slowest speed and my cpu temp (in BIOS) reads 36C. I'm happy.
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