Ultimate underclocking article

[Leo V]

Article w/pics published on Silent PC Review. Fanless GeForce4 voltage mod, CPU underclock, highly efficient cooling setup (using only two 80mm Panaflo L1A fans @7V). Temps are finally well inside the safe range. Thanks to all Anandtechers who helped me figure some of this out

Disclaimer #1: SilentPCReview is a nonprofit site. I am providing this link to share my experiences, with no motive for profit.

Disclaimer #2: as the article mentions, I have destroyed my GeForce4 afterwards. However, this has no bearing on the validity of the article: I destroyed the GF4 by (foolishly) taking electrical measurements while the card was running. All modifications listed in the actual article proved to be completely safe after ~100 hours of intensive testing.
--Leo V

 

[DaveSimmons]

Interesting article -- it's too bad that raw speed and power is what sells, regardless of noise, for desktop systems. For apps like an office PC or home theater PC some attention to lowering noise would be more valuable. Even for a light gaming PC you showed a Gf3 ti500 performance level could be attained without a fan, maybe with NV30 we could have a fanless gf4 ti4600 level.

 

[Wingznut]

Very nice, Leo. But I have one question...

Why not do it with a cooler running cpu, so that you don't have to underclock? I'll bet a .13µ 2.26ghz would do just as well in that setup.

Or is that your "next" project?

 

[Leo V]

Originally posted by: Wingznut PEZ
Very nice, Leo. But I have one question...

Why not do it with a cooler running cpu, so that you don't have to underclock? I'll bet a .13µ 2.26ghz would do just as well in that setup.

Or is that your "next" project?

In one word, yes Maybe a 1.6A @2.13. The bottom line is, this cooling setup accomodates CPU wattage in the 50's. With the heat spreader, the Northwood might run cooler at the same wattage. But my next expense is another videocard

 

[Leo V]

This is pretty neat, HardOCP called this underclocking article a "blasphemy" and insisted that "something must be done to stop it". Soon we'll have an overclocking crusade to rid the world of underclocking heathen

 

[Vinny N]

Originally posted by: Leo V
This is pretty neat, HardOCP called this underclocking article a "blasphemy" and insisted that "something must be done to stop it". Soon we'll have an overclocking crusade to rid the world of underclocking heathen

What you say?

They can't hear you

Nice article Leo V, now if you could just get it /.'d....maybe you'll have an army to fight in the crusade.

 

[Eug]

Nice work.

I'd like to have a system like that: gameable but ultra quiet. I can't do that with my system now (overclocked Celeron@880 with Radeon LE), because it'd be way too slow. For my next system though it'd be nice because my PC is my home server and I have to shut it off whenever friends stay with me, because it's in the guest bedroom.

Actually though, the Radeon currently has no fan on it. After Arctic Silvering the GPU with a new heatsink/fan and running it at 190 MHz for the longest time (stock is 143 MHz), I ended up dropping back to the 160 MHz range and removing the fan because I need the slot the fan took up for my Firewire card, and because I haven't had the time to game anyway.

Maybe I should consider replacing and undervolting some of my case fans, since that's where most of the noise comes from anyway. My CPU's Alpha heatsink has a fairly quiet Sunon fan which is drowned out by the case fans. Undervolting standard inexpensive Sunon case fans gives pretty quiet dBAs, while maintaining a fair amount of air flow. The noname brand fans I have are terrible - loud and only acceptable with undervolting.

Also, I wish I had my Seagate Barracuda IV at home. That thing is ultra quiet.

 

[Leo V]

"What you say?"

Main fan turn off! Thanks for the compliments. The article got 6000 hits and counting... interestingly, lots of referrals come from outside the US. Maybe I'll try submitting to /. but I'd better check with QPCR first.

 

[Actaeon]

I like the article! Too bad the GF4 died, I could have used it

You should send it in to VoodoooExtremeI'm sure they might find it interesting enough to post. (email: news@voodooextreme.com)

 

[Leo V]

Don't worry, the deceased GeForce4 will have a bigger, badder replacement... It's just a matter of time...

 

[AShadeOfClear]

That video card heatsink looks like it occupies two PCI slots underneath it.

 

[Leo V]

Originally posted by: AShadeOfClear
That video card heatsink looks like it occupies two PCI slots underneath it.

It occupies one, but it's optimal to leave two unoccupied.

 

[Acanthus]

very nice work