Cooling and quieting the PC....

[VJ]

Well, I'm not having temperature issues, but I do have a loud hum from my system. The loudest part is (I think) the PC Power and Cooling PSU (510XE), my guess is that immediatly after that come my 4x80mm case fans (ADDA, supplied with my LianLi PC70), and then my harddisks (2x 10K SCSI) and CPUs (dual Xeon 2.4).

Any idea on how to silence a PSU without opening it ? (I've read about exhaust-thingies)

I'm not sure replacing the 80mm case fans will silence it, the noise seems to be a lot less when I remove the front face plate. I'm guessing the noise has to do with airflow (the front has a lot of small holes). However, would I benefit from running more fans but at lower speed ? (I have room for 2 more)

I have been looking at sound-isloating mats, more specifically these:

http://noiseblocker.shops.at12.de/servlet/de.at12.shop.servlet.ShowProducts;jsessionid=aaa_N4_1thiy31?id=70635&cs=true

The harddisk mount things look interesting, but not viable; the drives are mounted vertically in a 3.5" drive cage).


Jörg

[mutz]

Hi VJ,

I have the PC70 too. A great case, but the aluminum sides pick up all the whines, hums and thrums from everything in the case and sides then vibrate like a loudspeaker. Sometimes I could trace a source and manage to quieten it a bit, but lining the whole case with Noisblocker damping panels is what did the trick. The sides no longer act as speakers and most of the other noises from within the case, stay in the case. All I now have is the whoosh of the fans.

[GT98]

Originally posted by mutz
Hi VJ,

I have the PC70 too. A great case, but the aluminum sides pick up all the whines, hums and thrums from everything in the case and sides then vibrate like a loudspeaker. Sometimes I could trace a source and manage to quieten it a bit, but lining the whole case with Noisblocker damping panels is what did the trick. The sides no longer act as speakers and most of the other noises from within the case, stay in the case. All I now have is the whoosh of the fans.

Boy haven't seen you around here in ages....

Anyway I got a Zalman Passive HS to replace my Swiftech MC462 with a Sanyo denki fan on it and I can't believe how much more quite my computer is. I don't have this nawing low pitched wine from the fan anymore going though me.

[VJ]

Originally posted by mutz
I have the PC70 too. A great case, but the aluminum sides pick up all the whines, hums and thrums from everything in the case and sides then vibrate like a loudspeaker.

I think I've managed to limit the vibrations (except when my DVD-rom drive spins up), allthough the (thin) panels probabely indeed let the noise through very well.

Sometimes I could trace a source and manage to quieten it a bit, but lining the whole case with Noisblocker damping panels is what did the trick. The sides no longer act as speakers and most of the other noises from within the case, stay in the case. All I now have is the whoosh of the fans.

Thanks, guess I'll go the damping-panels route as well. Did it influence your temperatures a lot ? (currently, IIRC - I'm not at that computer now, mainboard is 45°C, CPU1 and CPU2 both run at 38°C; all well below limits)


Jörg

[mutz]

Hey GT! Yeah, well, the air was getting kinda thick in Murc last year so I sorta ducked out for a while...

Right VJ, damping inside the case gets rid of about all the sympathetic vibrations that build up in the case, particularly the sides.

Some say acoustic damping in the case can raise temps 5-6C. I haven't noticed any significant change. Of course everything has some kind of trade-off. In any case, I prefer the mellow whoosh to the annoying rattles, whines and mice running over tin roofs.

[az]

Tell me, what's the point of having an alu case with dampening mats, when the mats kill the better cooling and weight advantage?

AZ

[CHHAS]

Because Alu cases look damn spiffy ?

[dZeus]

Originally posted by az
Tell me, what's the point of having an alu case with dampening mats, when the mats kill the better cooling and weight advantage?

AZ

Dampening material might be quite compact, but it's not _that_ heavy.

And 'improved cooling'? I think it's mostly a marketing phrase for aluminium cases. And dampening material won't make a difference in absorbing the heat of HDDs (and other devices) through physical contact of the case with the drive chassis.

[Fat Tone]

My dampening material does affect the case temp because it blocks all the small holes on the side panels of the case, but its still only 5 degrees above room temperature. I keep my side blow-hole active with a slow-speed (1600rpm) fan.

FT.

[VJ]

Noiseblocker has two types of matts, what exactly is the difference between them ?

http://noiseblocker.shops.at12.de/servlet/de.at12.shop.servlet.ShowProducts;jsessionid=aaafCmg8SP56Xb?id=70065&cs=true

Mutz: I must say, I don't have that much rattle-noises (at least, non that can be identified as such - perhaps some high frequency rattle that I'm mis-identifying). Have you done anything to minimize the "whoosh" ? (replaced the fans or so)

Az: The weight-advantage is probabely not really lost by using dampening mats. Besides, merely judging by the size of the PC70, I can't imagine many people carrying it around a lot. I also think the "better cooling" of alu-cases is a marketing gimmick. Sure, aluminium transfers heat better, but most heat is transferred through the air and fans; it is not as if the case is mounted as a big heatsink.

Fat Tone: Ah, but the LianLi has no side-holes...


Jörg

[az]

VJ, the expensive stuff works better, of course.. though I have not seen a comparison between them.

Another shop carrying dampening mats is www.noisemagic.de and you can get self-adhesive foam mats for 5 eur/m² at www.conrad.de, if you don't want to spend a lot of money.

AZ

[az]

Uh, sorry, not 5 eur/m², but 5 eur per mat, which is 100x40 cm.

http://www.conrad.de/scripts/wgate/ZCOP_B2C_NJS62b06063/~flNlc3Npb249UDkwV0dBVEU6Q19BR0FURTA0OjAwMDAuMDE5Yi45ODU0YzJhNSZ+aHR0cF9jb250ZW50X2NoYXJzZXQ9aXNvLTg4NTktMSZ+U3RhdGU9MTI0NTYzMzY4NA==?~template=pcat_product_details_document&r3_matnr=000000000000342840&object_id=0000000000000000000000000000000000342840&object_guid=B3EC793BE710F421E10000000A010221&p_load_area=COOLEGEHAEUSE&text_ztab=&area=COOLEGEHAEUSE&page=1&price=Kein+Preis%21

AZ

[mutz]

...well, put it this way, it's like the difference between driving a BMW and a VW. Both will get you there, but some differences are very apparent and some are more subtle. The dampened case is not heavier than steel, but it has that solid feeling. You know, like when a car door shuts.

I think the heat dissipation through the alu is minor, if at all. Undampened, alu is metallic noisy. That grates after a while. In order to dampen the noise, the mats have a textured surface which may cause some turbulences in the airflow, thereby affecting cooling values. But not by much.

The whoosh is pretty much determined by what you've got in the case producing heat and how much air you need to move. My highest temps are produced by the Parhelia and the Northbridge. Suprisingly, 3 hds totalling 240 gig and 1 gig RAM don't produce much.

One day I might give up on air and move to H2O or check out a Badong.

[az]

Mutz, I know what you mean, but actually, my CS601 steel case (miditower weighing 15Kg empty) feels very solid and satisfying My only gripe is that I should've gotten the doorless version.

The few Alu cases I've seen (Lian Li, I think) didn't look at all good to me.

AZ

[VJ]

Originally posted by mutz
The whoosh is pretty much determined by what you've got in the case producing heat and how much air you need to move. My highest temps are produced by the Parhelia and the Northbridge. Suprisingly, 3 hds totalling 240 gig and 1 gig RAM don't produce much.

My temps are mainly produced by my CPUs (2x Xeon 2.4 GHz, FSB533) and my harddisks (Quantum Atlas 10K + IBM Ultrastar 36lzx (also 10K)). Allthough I think the i7505 chipset also runs hot (judging by my mainboard temperatures), it is not actively cooled.

Az:
Well, the aluminum cases do appear more fragile (the panels are thinner, the feel is different - perhaps because of the wheight; and this is even moreso with big cases). Nevertheless, I really like the construction of the LianLi PC70 (it is all in details, the feel is a bit "fake); but of course, a steel case will be "tuffer" euhm, tougher), but must admit my first feelings when it arrived were also a bit reluctant.


Jörg