Cooling & Silencing

Soldato
Joined
31 Jul 2005
Posts
2,592
Hi, i'm thinking about changing some parts in my pc to make it cooler and quieter but not sure what I should change/add.

My cpu is a X2 3800+ @ 2.4ghz (stock volts) and it loads at 53c.
My motherboard temp is at 42c

Antec Smartpower 400W
Inno3D Geforce 6600 AGP (stock cooler)
Very cheap case
X2 3800+
Thermaltake Blue Orb II
Asrock 939 dual - No chipset fan

Can different cases make much difference to temps?
I bought the case for £7, it has a plastic window, no I/O panel with 2 case fans. When the case fans are removed the temp doesn't change and it's not any quieter.

Any ideas on what I should change to make it cooler/quieter?

Thanks
 
Soldato
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If its an old/cheap case, I'm guessing 80mm (noisy) fans, right? & 42°C is high for a motherboard, cos it might also mean your Hard Disk temps are around that mark & thats not good! I'd quickly invest in a new case that has good airflow & 120mm fans, even the cheap ones from Antec might be better :)
 
Man of Honour
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I've said this before and I'll say it again, be careful before starting to silence your PC. When I started out on silencing mine all was good. First I got w/c, which was mainly to do with silence, but I was only cooling my cpu with it so it's pretty meaningless in this area. I then replaced a couple of fans with slower ambers after buying a new case for them to fit in. THen I noticed that my 6800gt hsf was pretty loud so I got a vf700. Then came the bridge cooler. I hadn't even noticed this before, but bought a passive zalman nonetheless. Now my HDD's are audible, which is actually far more annoying than a whirring fan. Oh, also, the PSU that was totally inaudible before is now the loudest fan and it gets right on my ****. The fact of the matter is, I'm more annoyed with my PC's sound emmisions now than I was before I started, because I've spent all this money and it's still not damn silent. Now I'll have to replace my HDD's to stop me going insane, and then probably have to mount them with elastic. It'd be nice to have a silent PC, but it WILL cost you time, money and effort.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
31 Jul 2005
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2,592
Thanks for the advice, the 2 case fans are both 80mm, I don't think their noisy as when removed it doesn't sound any different. The HDD temp is at 48c, this is a maxtor 80gb ide.

Thanks Zefan, i'll have a think about that but I can't see the noise of other parts getting on my nerves when it's quieter as it is very loud just now. If it's any quieter i'll be happy. I could buy some Anti-Vibration HDD pads if the noise of the HDD does annoy me.

I'll probably buy a new case, probably a Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower, maybe a Lian-Li PC-7 if I can afford it.
 
Associate
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10 Apr 2006
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Southampton
Zefan is dead right, once you start trying for a silent PC you will become very aware of noise that is being generated by components you thought were not loud at all.

Im watercooled, and am currently running 4 VERY quiet 120mm fans in the system, and now the hard disk is the loudest part by far, and thats in a silentmaxx enclosure as it is. the only way now for me to get a silent (or near as silent) pc would be to swap the raptor out for a Spinpoint or some other quieter drive, but take a slight hit in performance.

Trust us, once you start trying to silence you WILL become obsessed with the noise that components and fans are making. Its worse than being a performance freak tbh :p
 
Soldato
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48°C for HD is HOT :eek: Also got a Maxtor (6B160P0) @ 33°C & from the SpeedFan's S.M.A.R.T. web page it says the max should be 44°C! I'm suprised your not having any Hard Disk issues.
 
Soldato
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Zefan & gr1mey, useful input but the key problem (from what i see) is tempreatures and not noise? Besides, I suggested a case with 120mm fans which will be a big difference in both areas (temps & noise) than the one he currently has!
 
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