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How to Build a Fast Air-Cooled Quiet PC
msolnik writes "Tweak3D.net has posted an article over how to build yourself a fast box that doesn't sound like an airplane hanger. Its nice to find something like this - most articles are just about speed this article combines performance and usability. If your interested in building a fast pc that you don't have to put in " See my thoughts on this as well.
It seems to me like it'd be a better idea to build a system that isn't quite the highest end, and don't buy expensive overclocking equipment. Then, when it seems to be getting a little slow, buy a new processor that will likely be faster than anything you could have overclocked for the same or less money. Sure it sounds cool to say you have an ultra high clocked system, but in 6 months when there's faster non-overclocked, who's laughing?
What a terrible article. With the exception of the power supply, there is absolutely nothing new! There are three really good articles on this in /. already. And he doesn't even mention the 5-1/4" sleeves for HDDs! Why is this article even posted?!
/.:
Other articles on
Shhh! Constructing A Truly Quiet Gaming PC by Hemos with 397 comments on Wednesday October 31, @08:30AM
Building the Quiet PC by CmdrTaco with 171 comments on Sunday July 01, @02:08PM
Building Quieter Computers by Hemos with 398 comments on Monday June 04, @06:51AM
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
Though I've seen this on Slashdot before, I think this is still one of the neatest ways to cool beer and maybe adapt to your overclocked CPU.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
But I LIKE my jet engine start-up...
I even give it a countdown as I power up...
"All systems, report status. Cooling 1"
"Go!"
"Ventral Fan"
"Go!"
"Fluid Pumps"
"Go!"
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.
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In Soviet Russia, sig types you!
A few weeks ago, I finished putting together a shiny new Athlon XP 1900+ for my son, and was very disappointed to see that heatsink grease is indeed necessary on the newer processors. The CPU and power supply fan worked just fine, the heatsink was in very close contact with the CPU, but there was no grease. What happened when I turned it on nearly made me cry: the CPU overheated within minutes of seeing the KDE desktop on this new system, and I was out $200 for a new CPU.
I learned my lesson the hard way: don't try to skimp on thermal grease, especially on the new Athlons. They run hotter than ever now and you're risking your system's life if you don't take the proper precautions.
-Isaac
After reading the article this is what I got out of it ..
..
..
..
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... like this ...
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Here is what I want
Here is the system I spoolley all over for
iMa leet kewl doOd
Daddy is going to buy this for me
Film at 11
I mean the the article was written without testing
The heatsink fan on the northbridge of the KR7A-RAID isn?t that loud, but it causes vibration which produces noise. For that, you could just take off the fan. The KT266A should run fine using a passive heatsink,
Should? Should? Gawd
Has this system even been built? All I see are pictures found on the products web pages.
Where is completed project?
Where is test of the decibals of it?
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
And the fans - (one to two per processor) complement this ambience with a critical indicator to health - ie: they usually start making a hell of a racket when starting to fail - along with the power supplies' fans. Time to start checking things out before your sense of smell takes over!
Of course, your mileage may vary.
db
Cig:
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Yes, and it's dirt cheap and easy.
1 - build a wooden case that allows you to slide the computer into it with about 2 inches of space all around. insulate the box with sonex. or hospital bed padding (same stuff, and loads cheaper.) make the door out of plexiglass, 2 layers spaced about 1/4 inch apart and not parallel to each other (I.E. a slant on the inside pane.
on the back you add 2 ducts, one high, and one low. duct these with dryer vent outside the room and place a blower on the out vent, a small filter on the in vent ( the in must be in the building, the out can be vented outside.)
Voila, 100% silent PC god enought for a recording both (well that's what we use in our sound booth. the equipment registers no sound change at the microphones with the computers in the box on or off. or with the blower on or off. and a human cant tell either.)
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Yes, you just need to add noise-dampening panels to the sides of the case.
A lot of the noise you hear when the case is closed is the case resonating at the 1/2, 1 and 2 * wavelengths of the sound coming off of the cooling equipment (the fans tend to put off white noise of many wavelengths).
You just gotta make sure you aren't obstructing the airflow. I'm going to do this myself, and on my case, you can put panels on the left and right, top and bottom without obstructing airflow. Front and back have to remain unblocked, although the front is possible to do too if room is left where the built-in vent areas are. Worse designed cases may make this impossible.
The stuff I'm going to use goes for about $4 per square foot, and is about 1/4 inch thick.
If you can't get this type of noise-reducing panel from your local computer retailer, go to a hardware store and get drop ceiling tile, as thin as possible (preferably 1/4 inch if they make it), cut it to size, and glue it into your panels.
Now, most people aren't going to care about this but those who are trying to build a quiet PC are -- if you put a P4 in your system you could conceivably cool it passively and take the performance hit. I don't know how much of a performance hit you'd get by cooling passively versus actively but the video on Tom's Hardware about what happens when you remove the heatsink from various processors shows the framerate of Quake III returning to something close to the original just by reattaching the heatsink to the P4...and the fan isn't running on it at the time. Of course, that's probably because the heatsink itself is cool and will warm up significantly after being attached to the CPU for a while.
My question is this: what heatsinks exist out there that are designed for passive cooling purposes? I'm sure the design of such heatsinks differs significantly from those designed to accomodate a fan.
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.