Silence Case, Isoraxx or quiet pc?

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:57 am

Hi Eric!

You should start up a firm Wink

But I guess you've allready done that?

Regards

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:41 am

Quote:

Originally posted by Henrik Ammitsboel:
I must agree with Kurt on this.
If you have a pro facility you can't rely on a modified "noiseless" pc.

I can understand your reasoning. However, the
reliability of home built systems has come a long way, without much ground being made by 'pro' manufacturers - especially the 'custom audio pc' guys. I've seen more than one 'custom audio' specialists turning out sub-par pcs in return for lower costs (Tricks such as pairing P4s with PC133 memory etc.)

I'd be more inclined to say that a pro facility can no longer rely on any kind of pcs without someone on hand who knows how to take them completely apart and take care of them.

It's not that they are unreliable, it's just that they are now such an integral part of the process, and being used in such complex ways.

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:44 am

Quote:

just (last week) finished building a silent PC for recording, and want to back up the claims regarding Zalman CPU fans and Enermax power supplies. I built my box with a 350W Enermax power supply ($45) and a combination copper/aluminum Zalman CPU fan ($27), both of which I ordered from www.directron.com.

It sounds like everyone gives the Zalmans top marks. I think I'm buying mine today.

BTW - quietpc has them too.

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 12:25 pm

Hey Jonathon - For power supplies I'd skip the fortron/seasonic/nexus/zalman and go right to the top - the silenx series. I've had all of them and these blow them out of the water. With all my other case fans off I can have my ear right to it and barely hear it.... Some of the other ones also use auto fan controls/temp sensors to speed up and slow down the fan - not good as they will get noisy as you draw more power. The Silenx ones have HUGE heatsinks inside, I haven't been happier with a power supply before....

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 6:24 pm

Eric, I can't find anyone who carries the Zalman CPUF that you recommend so I'm thinking of going with a Nexus. I was trying to find one company who had all these parts but it's been difficult. I have a GA7DX+ Gigabyte board with a 1800+ chip. I'm a little bit worried about removing the current heatsink on the CPU and the other one on the motherboard. It has one of those little fans that tends to be noisy. I want to replace it with just a Zalman heatsink. Have you had much experience with changing out parts on a pre-built board. Is it hard to get the CPU clean enough to add a new heatsink? I built the computer myself and it just has the stock CPU heatsink with the peel off paper instead of thermal grease. I'm hoping to get some lower temps by using Artic Silver thermal grease this time. I have the board slightly overclocked and it's been working fine for over a year with no problems. I think I'll have to remove the motherboard to change out one of the heatsinks. :confused:

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:18 pm

Hey John;

I've never had to use the peel off paper but I've removed lots of heatsinks from CPU's...usually those tiny fans make the most fan noise in your computer. I've never had a problem getting them off, just be gentle. I don't really like doing it as it feels sometimes like stuff is going to break...can't believe the pressure those clips have sometime! But after you get it off, try and clean the chip off as good as possible, you could even try a razor blade on the chip but a bit of Arctic Silver and your Zalman will bolt right on there. And for real quietness, dont' use the stock 92mm Zalman fan or the resistor/fan speed cable that comes with it - search silentpcreview or one of the other boards and wire up a Panaflo 'L' 80mm to the 5v buss and yer off to the races. As long as their is adequate exhaust on your case this will keep the temps fine. If
you are worried about it for $10-15 you can get one of those switch setups for the front of your computer to allow you to switch or ramp up/down the fan speed.

I'm in Canada and I thought it was a bitch trying to find silencing parts here, but once again check silentpcreview.com forums(geez i should get kickbacks for all this plugging or something) - they are all over the vendors for best prices and availablity of this stuff-here or in the US. I know quietpc.com stocks the stuff down there but it isn't the cheapest...

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:56 am

Quote:

Originally posted by John Grimm (Vintage Studios):
I can't find anyone who carries the Zalman CPUF that you recommend so I'm thinking of going with a Nexus. I was trying to find one company who had all these parts but it's been difficult. I have a GA7DX+ Gigabyte board with a 1800+ chip. I'm a little bit worried about removing the current heatsink on the CPU and the other one on the motherboard. It has one of those little fans that tends to be noisy. I want to replace it with just a Zalman heatsink. Have you had much experience with changing out parts on a pre-built board. Is it hard to get the CPU clean enough to add a new heatsink? I built the computer myself and it just has the stock CPU heatsink with the peel off paper instead of thermal grease. I'm hoping to get some lower temps by using Artic Silver thermal grease this time. I have the board slightly overclocked and it's been working fine for over a year with no problems. I think I'll have to remove the motherboard to change out one of the heatsinks. :confused:

Quietpc.com has the Zalman copper/aluminum and all copper cpu block. So does silenx.com. Has anyone installed the all copper cpu cooler? Is it as sketchy as quietpc makes it sound? Is it worth the extra hassle? I was thinking of getting one and laying the pc on it's side, so the weight is directly down on the motherboard, instead of pulling to one side, as a vertical mount does.

Just be very clean and careful when you remove or ad the goop to your cpu - if your fastidious, you can do any harm. BE EXTRA CAREFUL to make sure you don't get an heat goop on the pins on the bottom side of the cpu.

I'm also overclocking a gigabyte board. By some twist of logic, I can get it to run cooler (ie lower fan speed) by overclocking it and raising the voltage a tad, than by running it at the regular speed and having the cpu workload go up. Strange.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:11 am

I don't know anything about quiet PC's, but in many cases you are going to be using a slew of other gear that might also be noisy - external drives, other things that have fans, etc.

Even if they are all individually fairly quiet, the sum total of their noise could get intrusive. So I think there is merit to trying to isolate them acoustically from your tracking and mixing space.

I think it is almost as important to keep the noise floor down in the mix room as it is in the tracking room. White/Pink noise from various pieces of gear can mask one's ability to hear certain details in the mix, unless you want to mix constantly with your monitors cranked - which is also not the greatest idea.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:02 pm

I've decided to try to tackle the noise at the source so I'll keep you posted on how well it goes. The SLK-800A CPU heatsink seems to be a bit better than the Zalman so I've ordered it along with some Panaflo L1A fans. One for it and an extra for the case. Most have noted a 10 degree C. cooling improvement from the heatsink and it has tons of rave reviews. I'm going to use a Zalman passive heatsink for the Northbridge to replace the noisy 40 mm fan that's on there now. My current powersupply seems pretty quiet but I'll take it apart and replace the fans if I need to, or buy another.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:21 pm

Good start John - As for power supply mods there are lots that can be done...a couple easy ones:

If you have the punched out style fan grill(not the round wire ones that are attached with the fan screws) then use tin snips or a dremel to cut these out and put a wire one on - turbulence noise due to the fan grill and the proximity of the fan to the inside parts are a big part of PS noise. Replacing the PS fan with a Panaflo L1A 80mm and running it at 12v will probably have a drastic influence(uh, good drastic!), but depends on the wattage of your PS really...no guarantees. A good power supply simply shuts off if it's overheating...a bad one goes south.

Anyways, another trick I used on my home computer to make it's PS quieter(it's a cheapo) was to dissasemble the PS, cut out the stamped fan grill and put the fan on the OUTSIDE of the PS. So it's sticking out of the back of your case. This gives it another inch or so away from the internals and improves suction and cuts down on turbulence noise. before you mount the PS back in your case put a bit of thin adhesive foam(the stuff for weatherproofing your house)around the back inside of your computer case where the supply will be touching it. And if you put rubber O-ring washers on the screws connecting it to the case you will have significantly reduced any sympathetic vibrations the case might cause.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 1:03 pm

So moving this discussion past power supplies and CPU fans. I've read about numerous techniques for mounting and enclosing IDE hard drives for maximum isolation, but at the root, who makes the quietest IDE drives out there? I have 2 Seagates and one Maxtor, all 7200 RPM's, and I've noticed that the Maxtor is significantly louder than the Seagates. What are others' experiences with hard drives?

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 2:37 pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Eric Warren:

If you have the punched out style fan grill(not the round wire ones that are attached with the fan screws) then use tin snips or a dremel to cut these out and put a wire one on - turbulence noise due to the fan grill and the proximity of the fan to the inside parts are a big part of PS noise. Replacing the PS fan with a Panaflo L1A 80mm and running it at 12v will probably have a drastic influence(uh, good drastic!), but depends on the wattage of your PS really...no guarantees. A good power supply simply shuts off if it's overheating...a bad one goes south.

Anyways, another trick I used on my home computer to make it's PS quieter(it's a cheapo) was to dissasemble the PS, cut out the stamped fan grill and put the fan on the OUTSIDE of the PS. So it's sticking out of the back of your case. This gives it another inch or so away from the internals and improves suction and cuts down on turbulence noise. before you mount the PS back in your case put a bit of thin adhesive foam(the stuff for weatherproofing your house)around the back inside of your computer case where the supply will be touching it. And if you put rubber O-ring washers on the screws connecting it to the case you will have significantly reduced any sympathetic vibrations the case might cause.

My power supply has the wire grill already so that won't be neccessary in my case. I read with interest about the fan on the outside. I may try that if I end up replacing them. Do you know the recommended max heat for a 1800+ chip? My bios has an alarm that can be set as an extra precaution against overheating.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 3:29 pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Jamie Smith:
So moving this discussion past power supplies and CPU fans. I've read about numerous techniques for mounting and enclosing IDE hard drives for maximum isolation, but at the root, who makes the quietest IDE drives out there? I have 2 Seagates and one Maxtor, all 7200 RPM's, and I've noticed that the Maxtor is significantly louder than the Seagates. What are others' experiences with hard drives?

Definitely Seagate Baracuda IV's. And if you get a smaller(40GB) instead of a larger(120GB) drive it will have less platens/heads/mechanics and even less noise.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 8:35 pm

It's hard to find the 'cuda IV's these days. The V's are pretty scarce as well, but from what I've read they are pretty much the same as the newer 7200.7's (but the new ones have a few cost-cutting corners implemented). Be sure to spring for the 8mb cache versions:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=14&manufactory=1305&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

The seagates aren't the fastest around, but they are *vey* quiet.

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 11:07 pm

FWIW,

Finally, my SilenceCase arrived this evening - I'll try it out tomorrow, and post findings.

Cool you guys are building your own - I agree with the post(er) earlier: my efforts to put one together would be a hack job. The Silence case looks pro: I am desperate to believe something will slience my hoover G4 Smile

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