silent setup review

[Vadi]

I got two Noctua 140mm fans, the NH-C12P SE14 CPU cooler, dust filters.
The rest is a Enermax Modu87+ PSU and a Revoltec Sixty 3 case. (The old CPU cooler was a Scythe Shuriken.)

The two fans are blowing from the side panel through the dust filters at about 530RPM via Zalman Fanmate 2 on lowest setting (CPU fan too). I wanted to create pressure preventing dust entering the case, however you can barely feel any "wind" from the fans.

According to the motherboard idle-CPU temp is lower by about 17°C. It's not the actual core readout though, more like the socket temperature. Load-GPU decreased by 10°C.

The PC is noiseless - only the bearing of the HDD is noticable. (I have to use MSI Afterburner to lower the fan speed of the HD5750 though.)


edit:
The temps were actually recorded with all three 140mm fans standing still. I have the problem now that they won't start up reliably at 530RPM.

 

[Rolf N]

The PC is noiseless - only the bearing of the HDD is noticable.

I've switched to 2.5" drives when I switched to SATA -- four~five years ago maybe -- and am quite pleased.

140mm fans are overkill IMO. 120mm is already plenty, even good 92mm fans are good enough. I like my Yate Loons. They've been very very quiet, and have already lasted me four years.

Other components I can recommend for silent operation are Scythe Shuriken B CPU coolers and Seasonic PSUs. I used to have a HEC Windmill 350W in my main rig, and it was great when it was new, but the bearings became all rattly after a while.

 

[Vadi]

I'll try an 2,5" HDD surely.

Yes, the Shuriken I used was loud-less too (I have an undervolted X2 3800+ still). The Noctua was an impulse buy, but it did improve all temps a lot and it should be fine for a Phenom 2 X6 too.
Even with none of the new fans running my HD5750 was as cool under load as if on an open test bench.

I initially wanted to use 120mm fans, because they seemed to be a sweet spot in performance according to specs from manufacturers.
However I'd have to get them via mail, and the ones I wanted (BeQuiet) are not much cheaper than theses Noctua units. My old 120mm Papst did develop a ball bearing rattle - these new ones are even useable horizontally, should I ever need it.
An annoying issue is the higher minimum RPM, I guess 120mm fans wouldn't have a problem starting at about 500RPM. Now I "have" to turn the speed up and down again each time the PC starts up.
Anyway they look impressive, they almost cover the whole motherboard area.

 

[BRiT]

Switch to a SSD drive for pure silence nirvana. You'll also benefit greatly from the performance increase.

 

[Davros]

I've switched to 2.5" drives when I switched to SATA

don't 3.5 drives (unless they are ssd) offer less performance

 

[Rolf N]

don't 2.5 drives (unless they are ssd) offer less performance

(fixed)

Indeed, and they are more expensive too. Noise is more important to me though. I've gone as far and picked a 5400rpm model.

 

[Vadi]

I guess Readyboost should help a bit with the slower performance? Anyway the 5400RPM models should be silent - yes - and SSDs are becoming more affordable quickly too.

I found one fan controller which has a "kickstart" for low voltage operation (T-Balancer/miniNG). It's actually made for watercooling systems, but it applies 12V for eight seconds to the fans/pumps, before switching to the lower voltage.

 

[Neb]

Check out www.silentpcreviews.com . They have excellent reviews.

Anyway SSD would be ideal. Cant offer more help than this though since my knowledge about quiet HDDs are about 5 years outdated. Though with my Black Edition WD 3.5" 640GB HDD I am quite content as it is connected with rubber gromets and produces no vibrations and has very low read/write noise.

 

[Neb]

I guess Readyboost should help a bit with the slower performance? Anyway the 5400RPM models should be silent - yes - and SSDs are becoming more affordable quickly too.

My experience with Readyboost has never been good. Sure it helps out (in most cases) but it also produces CPU usage spikes that can produce hitches in programs and games.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Check out www.silentpcreviews.com . They have excellent reviews.

Anyway SSD would be ideal. Cant offer more help than this though since my knowledge about quiet HDDs are about 5 years outdated. Though with my Black Edition WD 3.5" 640GB HDD I am quite content as it is connected with rubber gromets and produces no vibrations and has very low read/write noise.

Depending on location (urban or rural), case and HDD bushings/isolation certain 3.5" driver are inaudible also. You obviously sacrifice some performance, but it's still better than 2.5" drives.

For example, I have a few of the newer 2.0 TB Green drives from WD as well as the newer 2.0 TB Seagate low RPM drives. In an open dock (HDD exposed) in an Urban environment (so ambient noise from outside) it's almost inaudible from 2 feet away except when seeking. And the ones installed in my case with rubber bushings are completely inaudible even with ear next to case.

Overall the computer itself is very silent. However, if I take it out to the family ranch where there is no ambient outdoor noise (when we aren't working ) the single 120 mm fan sounds incredibly loud. And it's a very quiet Noctua running at ~600 RPM.

Out at the ranch the only way I'd be able to get a silent or near silent computer would be to run a fanless system with SSDs. Anything else would be very noticeable. And even then I'd have to choose components wisely to avoid slight electronic "squeel" that some PSU's, MB's and other components make.

Regards,
SB

 

[MfA]

It's easier to just get a couple of long cables.

 

[Vadi]

Long cables may be an alternative - still you have to consider where these cables run.

Readyboost hasn't caused any troubles for me.

I can't stand it, when the system is audible during a quiet passage/situation.
My case does have rubber mountings for the HDD's. I guess due to the perforated case panels the bearing sound leaks easily through though. Also the fan of the graphics card has an awful whine too.
The fans themselves aren't audible, it's the air rushing which you notice, if I turn the fans past 550RPM.

Luckily there isn't any noise of the coils either - my old fanless 350W Fortron PSU had that (the new one should be stressed past 60% at load), and it died after a year or so. (That was an Athlon64 system.)

 

[Vadi]

Now I suspended the fans midair inside the case, they "only" move air, when there is about 2cm clearance between them and the (perforated) case walls.