Efficient and Silent

Dreamforger

Dreamforger

Dreamforger

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4 Nov 2011
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963
I'm currently attempting to build a home server as part of a project so it's pretty low budget and it's being designed to store media files, 1080p films, music, tv shows and all the rest of it.

Anywho, this machine is planned on being on 24/7 and I need some help picking silent cooling fans, cpu cooler and a psu. One thing I've noticed with a lot of the reviews that some say that a particular product is amazing whilst on others will say the complete opposite on the same product so I thought I'd ask for personal feedback and preferences as to which you use.

My current components are:

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz
Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" SATA-3 Solid State Hard Drive - Boot Drive
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB - Video Drive (Already in possession)
Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB - Music Drive (Already in possession)
Cooler Master GX 650W '80 Plus' Power Supply
BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case

I am aware that for a home server I'll need more drives to RAID and Backup which I intend on doing at a later date.

I need it to be as energy efficient as possible but equally as importantly to me is for it to be as quiet as possible. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Dreamforger
 
the i3 has a very low idle power consumption so nice choice there.
Only thing I'd say is that you wouldn't need a PSU anyway near that powerful.
Have a look @ Seasonic's Seasonic X-400 FL or Seasonic X-460 FL.
They are about £30 more than the GX but are gold rated and fanless, therefore quiet.

As for fans Scythe do some 850rpm gentle typhoons which are very quiet yet still shift a decent amount of air.

As far as a cooler goes the CPU shouldn't be doing too much work at all so anything with a half quiet fan should do you.
 
I can happily recommend the Fractal Silent Series fans as I installed a 120mm and a 140mm in my HTPC case yesterday and they are extremely silent whilst moving enough air to enable me to not use a fan on my heatsink.
 
this current build claims to be able to play back 1080p films quite happily, so i cant see a reason that it wouldnt be powerful enough for your needs


YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus AMD E35M1-M PRO AMD Hudson - micro ATX £109.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £83.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-430CXUKV2) £37.99
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
Total : £303.95 (includes shipping : £12.50).

you may also want some fans to go with this, because the PSU fan might not give enough airflow for the passively cooled processor. if you do i would suggest the scythe gentle typhoons, preferably a lower RPM model

this will obviously be far less powerful than the i3 2100, but it is almost completely silent, and should be powerful enough for what your using it for (although i'd wait to get confirmation on that one)
 
hmm I might get the Fractal fans as my fan are pretty loud both about 1800RPM which is mad lol. yeh anything under 20db is inauduble really which is great.
 
I wish the fractal fans were a bit cheaper but since they're silent I shan't be complaining as long as they can push around sufficient air flow.
In my current machine I only have a 140mm running in front of the HDD bay to keep them cool, which it is doing but my goodness it's loud, turns out it's running at 2,834RPM and with no fan controller it's ice cold but sounds like a washing machine! On the upside, the CPU is only peaking 30*
 
If it were me, I'd drop the Z68 board and go for a H61 alternative instead. You're using onboard graphics and you won't need the features of the Z68 board, so it's only spending more money on something you don't need. I'd also agree with the others that a lower PSU would be better for this build. Something like the Corsair CX430 would do great. Have you considered going for a small form factor case too, or do you definitely want a tower?
 
I'll lower the PSU as everyone has advised it. I was tempted by a smaller form factor but I was worried about room for additional drives in the future. Using a H61 had crossed my mind but I had noticed that they lacked SATA connectors (all motherboards of H61 chipset on Overclockers only had 4 3GB/s) whereas the boards on the Z68 had 2 6Gb/s and 4 3GB/s which means two additional drives with a lot quicker transfer speeds. This in my mind rules out the H61 chipset which leaves the H67 and the P67 and price compared to the Z68 I picked, there's hardly anything in it at all.
 
the reason the fractal fans are so quiet is because they shift about as much air as an asthmatic blowing through a straw. the lower RPM scythe gentle typhoons are really quiet while managing to move a reasonable amount of air

if you need the extra power of the i3 2100 over the hudson then as you said it would be best to go for the cheapest H67 motherboard, and if you really need quietness then something like the gelid tranquillo would really cut the noise of the stock cooler down. i'm not sure but you mightbe able to get away with using something like the silver arrow or megahelms passively with n i3 2100
 
I'll take your comment regarding the Fractal Fans into consideration. The spec says they produce 38.3 CFM
Scythe @ 50 CFM
Viper @ 57.53 CFM
Looks like I'll get what I pay for.
 
Dreamforger said:
I'll take your comment regarding the Fractal Fans into consideration. The spec says they produce 38.3 CFM
Scythe @ 50 CFM
Viper @ 57.53 CFM
Looks like I'll get what I pay for.
Click to expand...

to be honest those numbers that the manufacturers spout out are rubbish. have a look around for fan reviews where they make their own measurements and you'll see what i mean
 
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