Watercooling Noise

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Ĵ@®√!گ

Ĵ@®√!گ

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Hello all

Am I right in saying that watercooling a GPU and a CPU would be quieter than using good after market coolers on both chips?

Ive read that watercooling is supposed to be whisper quiet, but I find that hard to believe as not only do you have the fans on the radiators but you also have a pump churning away in the background. Obviously it depends on the quality of the kit, but a pump is a pump nevertheless and it must make some noise.

Please can someone clear this up for me :)
 
Depends how you build the WC. if your goal is silent, you can get a no fans setup with WC, just using a suitably large rad and being happy with a not so high OC.

the main sound saving measure is being able to size up everything, and having much less contraint on how you use sound deadening.

pumps are all pretty quiet. most have a very deep humming sound (when touching something) but can be isolated well. submersible pumps are prety much silent when not touching the res sides or bottom.

also, as mentioned, you can cool everything with 1 or more low speed 120mm fans. these are a lot quieter than 3-4 smaller fans. esp most gfx and chipset fans.
 
But you would have one large fan on say a Noctua NH-U12F plus 1 small fan on a GPU compared to multiple fans on a watercooling system plus a pump. I still belive that watercooling would be louder if I was intending to build a quiet system.

EDIT: sorry posted after you
 
I've hooked up my CPU, GPU and NB in a loop. Now the only fans I have are the three 120's on my rad and the 140 in my PSU.

I got an Asetek extreme pump - it's nigh on completley silent, there is a very slight hum, but you have to be right next to it to hear it.

It's variable voltage so I can adjust the water pressure / frequency of the hum.

It also has rubber suckers on the bottom as well and I just happen to have a plastic case so I can stick it wherever I like :D

My radiator will take six 120mm fans, a tad overkill, but I've got three on there and there all running at 20% because thats as slow as the software will let you take them, any less and they go off because there at less than minimal starting voltage.

At 20% there inaudable. At 100% they sound like a small jet taking off and that only makes my already cool CPU about 2 degrees cooler.

All in all I love it to pieces cause I can heavily overclock my CPU and still have great temps and silence :D
 
I can second oceaness's notion... except depending on your hardware you may even get away with completely passive (IE no fans at all!)

me, I have P4 2.66 currently at 2.9.... runs passive with no temp increase... got a aerogate1 keepin all my fans at minimum... would have Pc on 24/7 if it wasn't for the red glow at night....

I used to be a fan of 80 & 120 mm delta screamers. 126CFM @ 86db i think...
were they ever noisy... still had no trouble sleeping though... ;)

And now, my PC just hums, even running setti all day...
and when I play a game... I bring fans upto 50% (don't need to, just like it)

pc2vp5.jpg
 
I run folding at home 24/7

I can run fanless but the radiator will get pretty warm to the touch.

I just figure it's no noisier if you've got well balanced fans doesn't matter what speed tbh as long as they don't vibrate.
 
A 120x2 radiator has a massive surface area compared to all but the ridiculously huge direct coolers. This allows for slower fans making less noise. Modern pumps can be exceptionally quiet and when insulated from the case even vibration disappears.
 
My watercooling setup only includes processor so far, i've got a 120x3 rad mounted on the top of my case, with 3x Silent Eagle 2000's, run through a fan controller. On quiet its just a subtle noise, like you might expect from your average dell pc, and when you turn it up its noiser.

I do however have an ehiem 1250 pump, which is far from the quietest, and its not mounted all that well... I've also still got noisy GPU & Chipset fans. I reckon the fans on my rad, despite being outside the case are probably the least audiable. On low; my chip sits 1-2'c above ambient at idle, and maybe 7-10'c above ambient at full load. If I want to push it harder, I can just turn up the fans :).

The plan is to include the GPU at some point shortly, and get a passively cooled chipset or chipset waterblock. It will make the noisiest thing in my case the raptor, by a long margin :p
 
This is very interesting to me - but has anyone actually got their watercooling inaudible - i.e. a person with good hearing could not tell the difference between the PC being on or the PC being off in a very quiet room (they can be waring a blindfold for the red glow :P)?
 
TheKnat said:
Mines inaudible. Mainly because the PSU is so loud that it drowns everything else out :D
Click to expand...

Lol.

That hardly counts... :p

If I stop the fans on mine it becomes inaudible, when I turn it on there is no way of knowing whether it's on or off except for the little L.E.D.

I need to drill some slightly larger holes in my rad so I can use some rubber fan mounts as the fans are screwed tightly to the metal and as such there is a slight metal vibration.
 
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oceaness said:
Lol.

That hardly counts... :p

If I stop the fans on mine it becomes inaudible, when I turn it on there is no way of knowing whether it's on or off except for the little L.E.D.

I need to drill some slightly larger holes in my rad so I can use some rubber fan mounts as the fans are screwed tightly to the metal and as such there is a slight metal vibration.
Click to expand...

This is what I wanted to know. What PSU do you use?
 
You'd need a passive or watercooled PSU, and even then your pump would still make noise. Also a SSD hard drive to remove the noise from that and EVEN THEN your pc will still make an electrical hum from all the frequency clock gens
 
well, back in the day it was a chip that controlled the FSBs frequency but its usually part of another chip now. However what I mean is that all the components on your board will make a slight buzz that will only become obvious when you silence everything else
 
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rick827 said:
well, back in the day it was a chip that controlled the FSBs frequency but its usually part of another chip now. However what I mean is that all the components on your board will make a slight buzz that will only become obvious when you silence everything else
Click to expand...

Is that where the sound-insulation comes in?
 
A computer cannot be silent because electricity make's noise.

However it can be made so you can't hear anything if your sitting a normal distance away from it.

I use Xclio PSU's, using a 700watt and two 750watt, there efficient and have 14cm fans which I can't hear and my hearing is pretty good.

To be honest if you can hear your pump it's either worn down and needs replacing or you've got a naff pump. You really can't hear mine unless you put you ear next to it.
 
oceaness said:
Lol.

That hardly counts... :p

If I stop the fans on mine it becomes inaudible, when I turn it on there is no way of knowing whether it's on or off except for the little L.E.D.

I need to drill some slightly larger holes in my rad so I can use some rubber fan mounts as the fans are screwed tightly to the metal and as such there is a slight metal vibration.
Click to expand...

Can you list your watercooling spec please, pump and all?
 
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