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Watercooling (for the very bored)

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  • 22-09-2003 4:26pm
    #1
    MoSeS_.
    Registered Users Posts: 154 ✭✭


    I got one of those Innovatek watercooling kits about a year ago for a 1600XP system with a Geforce 2 I had built primarily to shut the thing up as before that the noise out of the cpu fan was brutal. (Roughly equivelant to this system )

    I have since upgraded to an A7N8X Deluxe with 2400XP and pc3200 512 X 2 on board. I have 2X120 gig Seagate Barracudas
    (had a Western Digital but it was a whiney s.o.b. so I ditched it)

    I also added a Radeon 9800 Pro and this is where the problem started. The noise from the fan on the 9800 was much louder than the rest of the system so I decided I'd get a Waterblock for it and while I was doing that I said I might as well get one for the Northbridge too.

    It's running at 13.5X156 = 2.106
    Temps with just the cpu waterblock used to be:
    System : 31-33
    CPU : 38-43

    With the northbridge and gpu waterblocks it's:
    System : 29-31
    CPU : 40-44

    The reason I want the machine super quiet is that it is in my room, I have a broadband connection and I want to have it running 24 hrs to make the moust of my expensive broadband.

    Of course because sound is relative once you have eliminated the noisiest item you always focus on the next noisiest item, this time it was the fanbus.
    I had a fan bus similar to this one controlling the fans on the radiator and the exhaust fan on the system but when I turned down the fans the fanbus started to hum, a fairly high pitched hum which was annoying.

    So I swapped the red and yellow wires on a molex extender and used that to connect the fans so they're now running on a reduced voltage and I ditched the fan bus.

    Next was the pump, the vibrations were resonating throughout the case. The Radiator is sitting in 3.5" cradle which I have screwed on the outside of the back of the pc. The pump was underneath the cradle screwed to the bottom of it.

    The pump is now suspended from that point with cable ties which absorb the vibrations and don't distribute them to the case. It's a bit messy though so I need to come up with a neater solution.

    Now the noisiest thing in the system is the power supply fan. The PSU may be a bit of an issue. It's only 300W and it's running some hungry machinery.
    I would like to get the psu fan down to the level of the radiator fans but I need to check how hot the psu fan is running at the moment.

    I have only 3 fans in the system now and they are running on low voltage so they should not provide much of a draw on current.
    There's a bit of leeway in those temps for overclocking but I dunno if the PSU is up to it.


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    #2
    PrecariousNuts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 761 ✭✭✭PrecariousNuts


    I leave my computer on all the time for the same reason although I can't download anymore thanks to netsource. Now, I find that I can sleep through almost anything


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    #3
    BigEejit
    Registered Users Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭BigEejit


    First, try the cheap option .... take out the psu and put in a very quiet fan (very good sharkoon ones at elara.ie) instead of the original ... the sharkoon has a potentiometer so you can drill a hole and have it sticking out the back to modify the speed of the fan .... NOTE: most 80mm 'quiet' fans dont push out as much air as normal noisy ones ... (cue the: "but I have this fan that does" fanboi's, I'm being generalistic - there are always exceptions to the rule)

    If that doesn't push out you boat: ... if the system is running on a 300W psu going up to a powerful psu may help ... reasoning ... many of the pfc psu's (fan speed is variable, depends on temp, which is dependent on load) can be very quiet if you get a nice quiet powerful psu ...

    For example, if you were running that 300W psu at 100% load then a 600W psu would be running at 50% (not quite, but lets keep it simple) ... a psu running at much much less than its rated max will be much much quieter .... and if you feel up to modding it you could disassemble it and change the fan(s) for nice quiet ones ....

    PS Beware turning down the speed on fans in psu's, stuff can overheat .... and also beware putting in a flippin fan backwards .. like er .. "a friend" did (no damage done, but its annoying as fúck having to take the shagging thing back out of the case and opening it up ..etc etc) ... my er "friend" was fair píssed off after that ...:o


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    #4
    MoSeS_.
    Registered Users Posts: 154 ✭✭MoSeS_.


    I have deliberately reversed a fan on a PSU.
    I have one of those Via mini-itx boards hooked up to the 32" and the surround sound system. It's booting over the network from my PC running a small linux distro Freevix
    Great for watching the movies, listening to MP3s and so on.
    It had a little fan on the cpu, noisey bastard so I checked the psu with my hand and the air being exhausted was cool. It's one of the ones that has the fan on the inside drawing air from within the case and blowing it through the power supply.
    So I figured I'd reverse the fan, which already has a resistor to slow it down to an inaudible level, and sit the psu over the cpu.
    CPU heat sink is cool to the touch.

    Mate of mine has got XBox Media player running on his XBox, seems pretty cool too.


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    #5
    BigEejit
    Registered Users Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭BigEejit


    The problem with mine ...er my friends was that it had 2 fans ... with both blowing in there was nothing moving ...:eek:


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    #6
    jow
    Registered Users Posts: 177 ✭✭jow


    Hi,
    Originally posted by MoSeS_.
    The pump is now suspended from that point with cable ties which absorb the vibrations and don't distribute them to the case. It's a bit messy though so I need to come up with a neater solution.
    There are vibration absorbers available. You can screw the pump onto them and they eliminate all vibrations. They work very good.
    Now the noisiest thing in the system is the power supply fan. The PSU may be a bit of an issue. It's only 300W and it's running some hungry machinery.
    I would like to get the psu fan down to the level of the radiator fans but I need to check how hot the psu fan is running at the moment.
    Actually 300W is on the edge for you system.
    Newer good PSUs are very quiet, you actually can't hear the fan during normal load conditions.

    In my private computer I have a fan controller which can switch the fans completely off, then a innovatek konvektor installed.

    So in normal use mode I can switch all fans off (not for gaming of course ;)) The only thing I can hear is the hard drive (even it is installed in a noise absorber kit).

    jow


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    #7
    netman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,201 ✭✭✭netman


    it would be great if they'd finally start putting those features on motherboards. i mean switching fans on/off from the front panel is great, but you're bound to forget to do it and the computer's gonna crash.

    the motherboard has fan connectors, it has cpu die temperature readings, so how hard is it to include a controller to turn those fans on/off or speed them up/down when a certain temperature is reached.


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    #8
    BigEejit
    Registered Users Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭BigEejit


    MY abit board has a "fan sqeed EQ" ...where it varies the fan speed in relation to the processor temp ... but I think the min is 60%
    Like you say it should be possible to tuen off all fans (except the CPU fan) and turn them on when case temps / cpu temps go up


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    #9
    Sir Random
    Registered Users Posts: 771 ✭✭✭Sir Random


    Originally posted by netman
    it would be great if they'd finally start putting those features on motherboards. i mean switching fans on/off from the front panel is great, but you're bound to forget to do it and the computer's gonna crash.

    the motherboard has fan connectors, it has cpu die temperature readings, so how hard is it to include a controller to turn those fans on/off or speed them up/down when a certain temperature is reached.
    Most good mobos do all that. I connected a case fan to "sysfan1" on my Abit IS7 mobo and it's speed (avg 1500~1800rpm) is now controlled by the system temp. The temp has also dropped to 28c from 32 :)

    OEM PCs tend to err on the side of caution (case fans constantly at full whack)


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