Re: A challenge!
Water is/can be better than a top-end 120mm heatsink with a single 120mm radiator and a low-noise fan. The "cross-over" point moves about, of course, depending on the waterblock installed. You need at least a double-120mm rad, or something like the PA160, if you want to obtain a significant gain over top-end air though in the noise vs performance stakes. A triple-120mm rad just allows you to move further up the performance vs equal-noise curve at the expense of space consumed.
Pump noise is often largely affected by plumbing concerns. Pumps will get noisier/rattlier if they have to struggle to suck water into the intake. Very low flow resistance systems also makes for noisier pumps as many pumps will cavitate under low flow resistance scenarios, plus the impeller spins faster, equals more noise.
Definitely going for silence requires careful planning. I do think though that if you're having trouble getting your fans and pump to be quieter than most any hard drive's whine, then something is being done wrong. My disk drive is about the equal noisiest thing in my system aside from the low-speed PSU fan.
|