Spot the difference - Maze 4 GPU

[SiGfever]

Originally Posted by Cathar

Azazel, you'll get no argument from me on the "90% over-clock is good enough" attitude. I completely agree.

Still, the faint noise of a DDC or an Eheim 1048 doesn't bother me, since disk drives either make about the same noise as either, so I'm happy to live with the faint noise of a pump given that I have to live with the noise of the disk drives anyway.

I personally think the sound of a finely tuned computer is music to my ears. I guess being an HVAC tech I am used to listening to machinery run and tune myself into its sounds to monitor for problems. I used the rubber isolation mounts that came with the AlphaCool top and my UFO hard drive brackets to mount my pump motor bottom into the 120mm fans (47cfm Yate Loon) airstream keeping this puppy cool as can be. I have tried to single out the pumps sound but as Cathar stated the drives make as much noise cancelling the pump.

Here is a picture of mine mounted and I have replaced the one blue heat sink with two more efficient models. Also I took this picture hand held leaning over my keyboard and shooting into the case.

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by Azazel

Fair enough, but I'm running an enclosed laptop drive, for all intents and purposes, silent.

Well, THAT puts a different spin on things. Laptop drives are slow and pokey items compared to their desktop equivalents. Still, I've had laptop drives before that make more noise than a desktop drive, but that would most presumably be due to lack of vibrational shielding in the laptop it was installed in.

Generally take a fairly large performance hit going to a laptop drive if you're needing to do anything data intensive involving large files.

Now you're talking real noticable compromises in performance for purposes of quiet, and that's a different story (IMO).

Still, for me, with a major road about 150m from my house, albeit over a small hill, by back-ground ambient is such that my desk-top drives are only noticable either when seeking, or in the absolute dead of night at 3am.

I like my computer to be quiet, but when you start getting significantly below ambient noise levels, my opinion is that you perhaps need to re-assess what your goals are in a real-world sense.

[Joe]

Nice, and really with some of the new 16MB cache, 7200RPM 100GB drives out there for lappies, they are becoming a viable option... you just need to be careful for longevity tomake sure they dont start die'n on ya all over the place.

[ricecrispi]

I do agree wwith azazel that silent pc builds are cheaper and easier with air.
WCing I believe was never good silent option, a compromise between high OC and less noise.

WCing pumps vibs are very hard to isolate. MCP300 was the first pump I owned and the worst. Rattled like a vac cleaner. I've gone through 1250 ehiem, Hydor L30 & L35, D4, D5, and DDC is the first one I'm satified with. I might sell both my D5's to get another DDC.

A stock DDC can be improved on. The 1/2" top mod did remove the slight whoosh sound of water and I heard acrylic tops and extra epoxy helps. Vibrations are minimal when DDC is placed on the side on top of egg foam and thin neoprene sheet. If you enclose it with in a block of foam it is equal to yateloon at 7V. Easier to rig heatpipe HSF and run 7V fan but not as fun and rewarding.

[pH(x)]

Originally Posted by Azazel

Fair enough, but I'm running an enclosed laptop drive, for all intents and purposes, silent.

I tried really hard to isolate the pump noise (in one of these, with foam and a gelpack) and even tried undervolting. I really wanted to get wet again after a year of aircooling. It was a sad day realising that I'd just spent NZ$400 to prove that I could never go back to the constant light humming of a waterpump.

As always, YMMV, but my point is (was) that silence is no longer the realm of watercooling, even when overclocked. An aircooled rig unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at things) is now cheaper, easier and quieter than a water system for the vast majority of cases, while only running slightly hotter. Of course all of this may change with the next gen of graphics cards, but I really can't see anyone who values quiet computing buying a 300w (if the reports are correct) graphics card.

Azazel, I am for one sad to see the WC method slip down into the undercurrents

[ricecrispi]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/09/...ve_obsoletism/

Finally new HD platforms to replace the old platter setup.
Zero noise and faster performance that might be up to 20-25%. ATA 66 interface seems to be limiting bandwidth so this platform has even more potential smasung hasn't whooped out.

[Joe]

really the downside is price... that lil jobber may be silent and fast, but it still is nearly 800$!

[ricecrispi]

I'm just happy a new platform exist and has potential to grow.
Price will go down in the future when flash mem becomes a larger part of the market and this platform becomes more viable.

You remember when dvd burners cost $200 like 3-4 years ago and a spindle of dvd-r media cost $1-2 a disk.