What about the AX-7 with a Papst
What about the AX-7 with a Papst
I have spent a lot of time in the noise removal area, it is almost an obsession with me. This is my old system here. I have since upgraded again, rounded the IDE cables and dressed the power much nicer, but it has most of my best tips minus the HD mounts. Maybe I will go ahead and update it later this week after I throw in the new PS.Quote:
Originally posted by WATYF
And I'm sure there is no real "quiet" case, but I was just wondering if anyone made a case with "silence" in mind.. I mean,.. there's no harm in asking. And I guarantee you that my current case is not one of the more quieter cases (with the fan vents and all) so I guess I should just make sure that the case doesn't have any side or top vents.
WATYF
Edit: Damn I just looked at my old site, I really need to update it, that is just ugly ;)
Actually, I'm kinda likin' the corkboard idea. I'm a musician (duh.. since I have a DAW) and we'll sometimes use corkboard for acoustic dampening.. it's not exactly the most "professional" way to go, but it does work.
One thing I've noticed I don't have a problem with, and that's the HD... I can't hear it at all. Even when it's accessing, it's barely a mutter.. I've got a Maxtor D740X 40GB, and I'm quite happy with it...
Here's an idea of what the system sounds like now... Listen (I left it in wav format to give you the most realistic sound. It's not too big since it's such a short clip)
You'll have to listen to it in silence to get an idea of the true noise level, and headphones help.
Keep in mind that I'm doing 24 bit recordings on this system, and that much background noise is simply unacceptable. I have a pair of studio monitor headphones, and when I put them on, I can still hear the live noise of the system bleeding through into the headphones. Another thing to keep in mind is that the clip was recorded with a dynamic mic, not a condensor mic... In other words, you're not really getting a true idea of how much background noise it makes, since the dynamic mic is focused on close-range sounds. Right now, sitting at my desk, I can hear it loud and clear, but that mic doesn't pic up nearly as much noise as you hear in real life. The problem comes in that eventually I'll want a really nice condensor mic to record vocals, and that's gonna just suck up all that background noise and the recording will sound even more messy.
WATYF
I've been looking in to doing similar for my next system. I just have 1 alternative to offer on the PSU.
http://www.zalmantech.com/ST300BLP.html
this is temp controlled but runs at max of 23dB in its spec sheet, compared to quiet PC one as <26dB, which I assume means >25dB
I have not heard either of them so can't actually comment on performance. I've also considered getting a good quality PSU and puting a Papst fan inside, I'm just worried as to whether the cfm of a papst will be enough for most PSU's, mebbe the 19dB 26.5cfm one would be? I'd appreciate any comments on my suggestions.
Honeymonster
Well, I just picked up an Enermax PS, the EG365P-VE, which is not one of the whisper series I believe, but it is a lot quieter than my other one, atleast on the bench. I fired it up real quick and could not hear it. Of course my PC was on and it is a little louder and it had no load to heat it up and make those fans speed up, but it is pretty promising, straight from the box. I may get around to putting it in later tonight, but I am lazy. I am pretty proud of myself for actually going to the store and buying, don't want to wear myself out in one day ;)
Just listened to your clip, it doesn't sound that bad, just a lot of air movement from what I can gather. I really think that a variable speed fan setup would be in your best interest. Either rheostat or voltage regulator (my preference). That way you could lower it for when you mic stuff and record and then crank it back up if necessary. The haltcooling is really a good idea as well, since the cooler the CPU, the slower the PS fan turns, the quieter your system.
yeah... like I said, I don't have a whole lot of vibration or anything like that.. it's just a bunch of loud fan/air noise.
How did you fire up the PSU without installing it??? I wanted to do that when I first got mine, but didn't know how.
And that haltcooling is definitely something I'll look into so I can do with less fans.
WATYF
Um.. O.K... change of plans... :p
I tried that haltcooling hack... holy crap... my CPU is actually cooler than the internal case temp...!! :eek:
It went from averaging around 48, down to 38.
Now get this... since it's not so hot anymore, I unplugged the two case fans that were generating a good bit of noise, so now my system is half as loud... and it's still 10C colder than it was with the fans on, before I installed the haltcooling hack.
This means I don't have to spend 70 bucks on a space-age HS/F... :p (yahooo!) Now all I have to do is throw a quieter fan on my existing HS and maybe try that corkboard option and I'll be set. :D I'll prolly throw in a papst fan to cool from the back, just for good measure.. but 12dBA is nothin'
So... I've got a Volcano 6cu HS... what's a quiet fan for that??? Anybody...??
WATYF
Plug the PS into the wall and short the green wire (on the MB connector) to any of the black wires. Black is commonn and green is the PS switch (from the MB).
I went ahead and threw it in last night. It is definitley a quiet PS, but the one I had before didn't give it much competition. I unplugged each component and fired it up, trying to find the problem children and it is my new CPU cooler. Atleast I think it is, I didn't really run it with it off for more than a second for fear of burning it up. I did buy a new CPU cooler because my old homrmade one would have required a new bracket and I wanted to get teh system up as fast as possible. I will probably throw the old one in sometime tonight after work.
One thing that I did notice with the new PS is that as the system gets hoitter it does not get noticeably louder as the old one did so it is an improvement. My temps are 30C idle and about 47C under full load using toast.
Well if you got the EG365P-VE(FC) then it has an automatic fan adjustment... when the system reaches a certain temp it will kick up the RPMs... I had to lay a blaket over the case for a few minutes just to get it to reach those temps, so I don't think I'll have any trouble with the PSU fan kicking in too much.
Thanks for that haltcooling tip.. geez that thing rocks... now my options are wide open... the only reason I woulda got that Silverado is because it's so hard to keep my XP cool... Now I can use almost anything... all I need is a quieter fan for my Volcano 6cu and I'm set... (sort of.. I still may get another case without vents.)
WATYF
Whats haltcooling?
It's a hack that can be found here. It only works on the VIA 266(a) series chipsets, though.
WATYF
O.K... I've decided what I'm gonna do...
I'm getting a Silverado from someone at a pretty good price.
I'm gonna get a papst 80mm fan for the back. (minimal cooling,.. but that's all I need now that I use the haltcooling hack)
I'm gonna keep my Enermax Whisper Quiet (for now).
I'm gonna use corkboard (or dense foam) to line my case.
But I still need more suggestions on the case. I looked into the Antec 1030 clones.. they're not bad... if I get one, I'd get black. But I'd prefer a regular mid-tower case. So if anyone has a standard mid-tower case that they like, that is pretty quiet (i.e. no side/top vents), and looks nice, then feel free to throw out suggestions.
Once I get all the parts and install 'em, I'll put up wavs of the old sound compared to the new sound. I'm hoping the improvement will be very noticable.
WATYF
Thought that you would like that ;) Apparently I have gotten off my *** and started working on my system again, finishing up little projects that I had for it. I probably never would have gotten around to it if you hadn't started this thread.Quote:
Originally posted by WATYF
Um.. O.K... change of plans... :p
I tried that haltcooling hack... holy crap... my CPU is actually cooler than the internal case temp...!! :eek:
It went from averaging around 48, down to 38.
Now get this... since it's not so hot anymore, I unplugged the two case fans that were generating a good bit of noise, so now my system is half as loud... and it's still 10C colder than it was with the fans on, before I installed the haltcooling hack.
WATYF
I went ahead and re-installed my homemade cooler and made the new bracket for it. It's pretty neat, I redesigned part of it as well and made a deflector/duct for the exhaust fan. I also picked up a potentiometer and made my voltage regulator variable with a little knob on the back of the case. I can go from 6V-12V without opening the case now. And with the Haltcooling I run about 29-32C at idle with the exhaust fan at about 7V (the magic silent number). I still have something in there that sounds like a refrigerator sort of, I can't figure it out to save my life. It's really faint, but I can hear it and it drives me crazy that I can't figure it out.
It makes me feel good that my homemade HSF works better than the Arctic Cooler I had and is quieter. I am going to have to take some new pictures and update my web page, it is so much cleaner now.
See.. look at that... I inspired you!!!
do I get a cookie?
:p
(how bout a free papst fan?) :D
WATYF
I take it you've seen this site since you mention the Silverado:
http://www.aconto.de/
Cookie, sure, fan I priced some of those the other day and they wanted $20 locally for an 80mm. So, No, sorry. They look pretty nice and noisecontrol puts them in the Enermasx PS that they sell. Noisecontrol seems to have the best quiet stuff out there as far as I can tell. So they must be good.Quote:
Originally posted by WATYF
See.. look at that... I inspired you!!!
do I get a cookie?
:p
(how bout a free papst fan?) :D
WATYF
Do they sell those PSU's here in the States...?? That's something to consider...
for anyone who cares.. :p I've ordered everything...
Noblesse case.
1 80mm Papst fan (for now)
Silverado HS/F
Once I get it and install it all, I'll decide if a new PSU is necessary (since I'll be able to tell how loud the Enermax is) and I'll also decide if I need to put the acoustic dampening in. Either way you'll get wavs of the results.
WATYF
ON just TruePower: http://www.envynews.com/review.php?ID=97
For Performance Plus cases (which have the TruePower installed) http://www.antec-inc.com/news_event.html
Looks like I'm a bit late on this.
AntecRep
Thanks anyway...
WATYF
That haltcooling sounds amazing, so theres gotta some sort of catch. Im afraid of cause instability problems, or even damaging my cpu. What do u think?
I too am curious about this halt-cooling stuff...it looks a bit complex to install, and there must be a performance hit or something....
anyone care to expand on this?
Well don't look at me.. :D I just found out aboot it.. :p
I haven't noticed a performance hit... and it wasn't really all that difficult to install. The page I linked to earlier gives you pretty straight forward instructions on how to do it...
I personally would like to know if there are any downsides, but I haven't seen any yet, so I'm hoping for the best.
WATYF
Disclaimer at the end of the article...hhhhmmm...Quote:
I remind you that you use this method at your own risk. There have been cases where people have had sound corruption and some instability problems. Like any such work, there is a possibility, though slight, of physical damage to your CPU or other components.
WATYF
There is always a catch, I just can't seem to find it with this one. I benched everything before and after the hack and there is absolutely no difference, except that my PC is a lot cooler. I've been using it for about 3 weeks and have no ill effects so far. I did have a problem with Spiderman locking up on me and I thought that may be because of the hack. A fresh install later (without the hack) and the same problem was there. I went ahead and hacked it again, just too good to go without.
As for being complicated, it really isn't. The hardest part is the intimidatiing looking interface. Anything that you do in WPCREDIT is not permanent, just during that boot session. As soon as you reboot it is not a factor. WPCRSET is the one that sets the new register to load at startup. You can do the hack without using WPCREDIT, but I would do it just for a trial run first.
To do the hack all you need to do is extract WPCRSET, 1106B099.pcr and 1103B099.pcr to the same directory, run InstDD.exe to install it. Open WPCRSET and select add then set it as register=95 and Data=1E and select startup at the top. Reboot when prompted and that is it.