[dhwilkin]

Hey guys, well I finally got a new computer!

Check this out:
- Athlon 2000+
- Asus A7V-333 motherboard
- 512 MB DDR 2700
- 80 GB WD hard drive
- GeForce 4600
- Hercules GameTheater XP
- Enermax FS710b case
- Logitech Optical Mouseman Wheel
- Windows XP Pro.

It's a great comp (well, once I got it working, video card was damaged during shipping, but anyways), but it comes w/ a couple of 80mm case fans, and man are they noisy! Enough so that some detail at my normal headphone listening level is drowned out. Now, I don't want to have to turn off the computer everytime I listen to headphones, nor do I want to turn the volume up. So what 80mm case fans do you guys recommend that are ultra-quiet?

 

[Magicthyse]

The question I guess is: Do you need case fans?

 

[mlchang]

I like the Panaflo L1A series. Pretty quiet with decent airflow. What heatsink are you using? Probably the first place to change fans would be there? Do you overclock at all? If not then you could probably go quieter there. People also like Papst's quieter series. Expensive though. Also I believe Vantec has a new series of "stealth" fans that are supposed to be competitive.
Also don't underestimate the amount of noise that a powersupply can put out. Consider changing the fans there too. Of course, you have to take apart your powersupply and void the warranty.

But like magicthyse asked, are you sure you even need case fans? Heatsink and fan, yes (2000+ Athlon, hehe), but maybe not case fans.

 

[dhwilkin]

That's the thing, I really don't know if I need the fans. W/ all the reported heat being put out by components these days, I'm a little wary of removing them, but I was considering it. Do you guys think I can get away w/ it? And I'm not overclocking, nor do I intend to. Those days ended, for me, w/ the legendary Celeron 300A. And I bought this computer from MicroPro, so I'd have to go back and look to see what brand of fans/heatsinks are already in there.

 

[aeberbach]

Verax fans. They're not just quieter they're dramatically quieter. Inaudible! A new design eliminates a lot of blade noise and they are available with built-in thermistor variable speed control. Unfortunately they are not yet available in 120mm, they cost up to $50 each and suppliers are few right now. But if you've got to have the ultimate...

http://www.siliconacoustics.com/ver801.html

 

[mlchang]

My bet is that you don't need them. Or maybe you don't need them all. The 2000+ and the GeForce4 4600 put out a lot of heat sure, but they are also supposed to operate correctly up to ridiculous temperatures. There's always the stability test. Turn off the fans, use your computer like you normally would and see what happens. If it starts to get buggy, then turn a few fans on at a time. If it continues to work normally then you don't need them. You should remember some stability tests from your prior life, oldtimer (300A

)

 

[dhwilkin]

LOL, back in the day I was using an Abit BX6r2. Good overclocking board, but getting that thing to cooperate was as much of a stability test as I wanted to deal w/... For some reason, it would hang if you tried to run anything off the primary IDE channel. It took SO long to diagnose that problem. It was also quirky w/ what cards it would and wouldn't run in certain PCI slots. Yup, good times.

Anyways, I'll give the no-case-fans solution a test run. If that causes problems, I'll look into some of the fan suggestions here.

 

[ArChaos]

Hi dhwilkin-enjoy your new computer!!!
here's a link to the *cooling area* at anandtech:
http://www.anandtech.com/cooling/index.html
many of the the athlon cooling systems are known to be noisy... I wouldn't light-mindedly turn off the cooling on today's components - you could never know the effects on the long run... the GF 4600 causes a lot of heat (and has it's own cooler, of course) the same with the CPU... the 2700 memory modules always cause a lot of heat which is sometimes overlooked (did yours come with heat-sinks or without?-brand-name,OEM or no-name?) The efficiency of the case fans also depends largely on the placing/location of the fan in relation to the layout of the specific motherboard you have - so it may be a good idea to open it and see for yourself - this way you could also diagnostic which is the fan/s that make/s the noise. Although today the system you got is a strong working horse one or two years from now you may want to squeeze the last drop of strength out of it and may change your mind about overclocking...at least keep the fans as an option even if you decide to remove them now. Hope it helps ...

 

[blip]

The thing with modern systems is that without case fans they are pretty good at dissipating heat away from components. (CPU, videocard, chipset, memory etc.) What a system without case fans isn't good for is getting this heat out of the system. So overtime heat builds up and (even though it is well with in spec) funny stuff happens.

If you are looking for a cheap alternative, go to www.bgmicro.com. They have cheap fans that are fairly silent. Also, consider building some sort of a fan control device. On my system, fan speeds are controlled by rheostats allowing me to adjust the amount of sound the case is putting out to adapt to my needs. (i.e. the 6 fans I have in it sound like a jet engine while I'm playing a game and stressing the system, but are whisper quiet while I'm typing this message.)

 

[Aong]

i second the Panaflo L1A recommendation. Quiet and cheap ($2.50 from bgmicro). And if you still think they are too noisy, they are definately silent under 7volts. Or, you can do what i did, and chuck the computer in the closet

(yes, silent)

 

[andrzejpw]

I have to third the suggestion for the Panaflo L1A series. Quiet, reliable, and pretty powerful. I use 4.

 

[dhwilkin]

The no-case-fan trial is a no-go. Apparently, the nice people at MicroPro figured I would have no reason to switch case fans, as the power wire connections appear to be directly soldered to the fans! Which means I don't know how I'd remove them, since I lack any soldering ability.

On the hopeful side, I took a closer listen and it seems the CPU fan is what's making the most noise, and it has pin connectors, so I could switch it w/ something else. I think the CPU fan is from CoolerMaster, don't know what model. I figure I probably can't get away w/ just unplugging it, so how about some ultra-quiet CPU fan recommendations? Does Panaflo make them as well?

ArChaos, thanks, and the memory is by Corsair, which I believe is a pretty good memory company.

Aong, how far away is your closet? Did you have to find really long cables? If I have to, I'll consider something like that as a last resort.

 

[SBomm]

I use THIS on my XP2000+. It made a huge difference and still keeps the CPU cool.
Now the biggest noise maker in my box is the hard drive.

 

[penvzila]

Quote:

Originally posted by Magicthyse The question I guess is: Do you need case fans?

Absolutely. Overheating is a huge issue with performance pcs. I'd suggest thermaltake, or antec or enlight. I think enlight also has a line of extra quiet power supplies (in the 550 watt range).

 

[penvzila]

Or do like me and build a water cooling system!

dangerden.com


Right now i'm running my newly built pc wtih

120 GB hd (8ms seek 8mb buff)
GF4 Ti4200 128mb
512 mb PC2700 Mushkin Enhanced DDR
DVD-ROM
CD-RW

Before i replaced the stock ribbon cables with teflon ocated bundled ones, and upgraded my heatsink, I was running about 140+ F. Now, I'm down to about 105 F (that's cpu temp). I know my water cooling sys wont be much cooler, but boy will it be quiet!