N00bie - advice needed

[Sunwong]

Hi all,

Though I've been reading a lot of threads here in Procooling, and learnt a lot from all of them (Cathar, Flirtol88, Phaestus and the rest are plain gurus at these watercooling thingies... ), I am still a bit confused about what would be the setup of a new WC rig for me.


I own a CoolerMaster ATC201 case, which has 4 case fans (PAPST 9db at the moment), and a decent Cooler Master Aero7+ HSF, but I have been thinking about the possibility of going WC to gain some more speed and, preferrably, silence...

I do not know If it would be feasible to stop, say, 2 of those 4 fans, if I install a quality WC setup, and what would be the overall noise of the WC rig vs. the Air cooled one, regardless of shutting down those fans. how much total Decibels would result if I install a WC setup?

I don't know if am explaining myself, what I would like to know is: Is there any WC setup that would allow me to reduce noise and heat at the same time, while still allowing high OC?

Thanks in advance and please excuse my poor english....!! :shrug:

[bigben2k]

Welcome to ProCooling!

You have an opportunity here to cool the hot spots, instead of running a large airflow through the entire case. The case however should still have some airflow, so running one or two fans should take care of that.

The hot spots include: CPU, GPU, MOSFETS, PSU. The right fans will get you to your goal.

[firtol88]

I don't think I belong on the same list as Cathar and pHaestus and you definitely left off quite a few names that should be above mine.

How much case modification are your comfortable with?
How much of an overclock do you want, and with what hardware?

If low noise is your primary concern just ask like minded people.http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewforum.php?f=21

Originally Posted by Sunwong

...what I would like to know is: Is there any WC setup that would allow me to reduce noise and heat at the same time, while still allowing high OC?...

In a way yes.
With water cooling you can certainly get a higher overclock than you currently have but 9db is going to be a challenge I sure can't help you with.

Just a WAG but 9db = Papst 8412NGLs @ 9v???

[Sunwong]

Hi

I don't think I belong on the same list as Cathar and pHaestus and you definitely left off quite a few names that should be above mine

Well I know I forgot a lot of experts here, your names came to my mind as I was writing probably because I always find them at most of the posts I review... It was just to illustrate that, IMHO, "best of the best" can be found here...

Let me see... I am comfortable with any case mod, as long as it doesn't interfere with style (i am not particularly happy with neons and such, hence my preference is still the ATCS instead of those x-alien cases...). I find no problem into it, if required and provided there are good reasons behind..!!

My current system is XP-M2500+@2400@1.8V, 1GB OCZ PC3200EL but anyhow I intend to move to a 939 Athlon64, newer Highend VidCard after summer (maybe a GPU waterblock could be considered then but not now for a Radeon9600XT)

Hmmmm.... I know it is my fault that you misunderstood me, as I probably oriented the discussion too focused on silence vs. performance, however I do prefer the "USA" style in WC setups.... So noise is not an issue as long as it is not higher than my current setup (see below).

My fans are the following:

https://www.ssl-id.de/compito.de/sho...9_db_A_962.htm (no credentials required to access)

The fans are 9db, 12V DC. However, noise is not that low at all, because there are the following airflow components:

+ Case Fans: 4x9 = 36 db
+ HSF: Cooler Master Aero7+ 23.6~37.5 dB approx. (always run at minimum specs due to high pitch noise when working at )
+ Power Supply: Zalman APS 300N (It will have to be changed for a 420+ I guess, so any recommendation on this would be appreciated as well...!)
+ Plus the Radeon 9600XT HSF...

It is not that the case itself is that noisy, so I would stick with those fans and probably use 120mm PAPST 12db for the Rad (30 CFM) but only if it provides sufficient fresh air to the Rads in your opinion...

As a side note, I have no personal preference on tubing sizes and low /high flows, I just want to build a best-possible watercooling setup with a bit of restriction on noise. If that means Cascade + Aquaextreme502 + BIX2, I'll go for it. If, in the other hand, It means NexxoS XP + Eheim 1248 + Bix or something, so be it.

So, to sum it all up, I would like to put together a highest-end-possible WC setup that keeps eveything on current noise levels at the highest....

Hope my post clarifies a bit my doubts and so...

Thanks a lot to everyone for your help!!!!!

[Glitch]

The first bit of advice i can give you is:-

if you want a quiet watercooling setup do not get yourself a BIX2, either get a BIP2, or possibly one of the alternatives touted by bill A.

Have a look through the "No competition, why only HWlabs?" thread.

[caxis0]

Case Fans: 4x9 = 36 db

that's not exactly how it works. Every 10 decibles is what we perceive to be double the volume, hence 40db is twice as loud as 30db, or four times as lound as 20db, or eight times as loud as 10db. 1db is I BELIEVE the smallest change in volume that may be percieved by humans.

You can not add the db ratings of your components together in order to get the sum db of the entire system. for instance, say you have 2 120mm panaflo L1A fans that run at 30db each at full rpm. You don't have 60db which would be quite loud, you actually have around 32 or 33 db (just my best guesstimate). The trick to silencing any computer is locating the loudest single component and removing it or finding a way to dampen the volume.

I do reccommend you visit silentpcreview.com--read the articles and the recommended list, then visit the watercooling forum. The people are mature and helpful (moreso than most other forums I visit).

As for watercooling for silence, I suggest you use an eheim 1048 pump and only cool the video and the cpu. Put a passive Zalman HS on the nb. You can suspend the hard drives (samsung spinpoint 160s seem to be the silent choice atm) to further eliminate noise. You also want a quiet PSU--the Noisetaker 470 from Enermax is a popular choice for people who want quiet but still want higher wattage performance. You should then turn off as many fans as possible and undervolt the others until your HDD temps get too high and then back off slightly. Those papst fans you have probably don't need to be undervolted though considering how quiet they are already and how little cfm they push.

Bruce

[msv]

Doubling the number of equivalent sound sources adds 3 dB. 4 fans @ 9 dB each gives 15 dB.
I fried my old motherboard with a passive Zalman HS on the northbridge. An old KT266 @ 148 MHz FSB.
Eheim 1048 is a silent one, though mine still seems to conduct vibrations to the PC case. Maybe I should try to put old mouse pads between the case and the floor.
regards
Mikael S.

[Butcher]

Eheim pumps will rumble a bit due to vibration - I'd definitely recommend putting them on a piece of foam.

[Sunwong]

I think I am now starting to determine where is my problem given your comments (thanks a lot for them). If my fans are that silent (18 db total as msv and caxis said), the HSF fan is only 21 at the lowest voltage setting (I rarely increase voltage to keep noise under control), then the source of problems is the Power Supply....

I have kept on reading and reading about WC since my first post, and I think I will wait for pHaestus' Alphacool NexxoS XP test in order to decide which waterblock and thus tubing sizes I will buy. The other contender is the Swiftech 6000

For the pump I cannot tell until I decide my block and tubing, right?

As for the rads, someone is touting a BIP2 because of noise, is there any other option to consider?

Anyone has a positive experience with Fanless Power Supplies?


Thanks!