[Brainfreeze]

Thought I'd start this thread since my last 3k budget audio system for my pc kinda turned into more of a pc cooling thread. At any rate the replies did get me thinking, with my volume at a reasonable level on my headphones I can still hear my noisy pc churning away in the background, and this is at idle. What I'm going for is a very quiet rig without throwing gaming out of the window altogether. Budget for everything together far as cooling goe's would be under 400 dollars for everything, which i think should be easily doable. Recommendations would be nice for cpu cooling/hard drive cooling/case fans/power supply.
i have to admit though right after I saw this cpu cooler I just about grabbed my wallet right off the bat, it looks so cool and has no fans whatsoever.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article181-page1.html <--Zalmans CPU Watercooler, completely passive no fans.

 

[fjf]

That thing is passive BUT it has a water pump that makes some noise and it is full of water that can leak into your computer. Remember Murphy's first law: if something can go wrong, it will. I first would try the silence air-cooling route. Less dangerous.

 

[AudioNoob]

leaks really do not pose all that of a rproblem since pure h20 is not really conductive

 

[Brainfreeze]

Its not all that big an issue, especially since you usually use deionized water in a water cooling setup. however this would be my first water cooled pc, so i'd do a leak check for 24 hours b4 i actually put it in the computer anyway.

 

[Zorander]

It would help if you can list out your computer specs, so we know what to recommend on the most practical and economical scale possible.

 

[Brainfreeze]

Sorry, I edited my signature after I started this thread. Here ya go

 

[Brainfreeze]

So far I'm leaning towards the zalman products they seem pretty nice
CPU/GPU/Northbridge Chipset cooler : Zalman Reserator 1 Plus $240 approx.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cooling/272/
Hard Drives: ZALMAN ZM-2HC2 x 2 = $40 approx.
http://www.hardcore-modding.com/modu...=leer&artid=46

All that would be left to get are a couple cheap silent fans i suppose. Im looking to get this in about 3 days if ne1 can think of something else or a better choice Im open to suggestions.

 

[darkisz]

In my search for a quiet, high performance computer, I did a lot of research in watercooling. Although the Zalman tower will probably serve you well, I think for the money you are spending on it there are many other options that would give you a better performance/noise ratio. The Swiftech HD20-120 kit is like $150 and can add a gpu cooler for $40. The setup would far outperform the Zalman with the additional noise of 1 120mm fan. From what I remember, the OCZ powersupplies have 2 fans in them already, so I doubt you'd notice the fan on the radiator anyway.

I use a silverstone s12 powersupply. They are supposedly much quieter than the OCZ's. For case fans I'd reccomend nexus/yate loon and panaflo fans. There are certainly plenty other options. For HD cooling I just have a 120mm blowing across my raptor and storage drives. They stay around 40f which is plenty cool for me, so I don't use any additional cooling.

Also, I'm not sure what mobo you have, but if you have a stock fan on the northbridge, try replacing it with the Zalman passive nb heatsink.



Anyway, just my 2cents.

 

[m0nKeY bUsiNeSs]

I was in a similar situation about a year ago. I was considering watercooling but I ended up going with just really quiet air cooling. My current set up is:
A Seasonic power supply
A Zalman CPU heatsink
A Zalman passive Northbridge heatsink
3 Panaflow L1a 80mm case fans(2 of these run at 7 volts).

It is a pretty quiet set up all around. Even sitting right next to the computer it is a just a low hum.

 

[springtide]

My HFX is now up and running....

http://www.hifiatx.com (HiFi ATX - MCubed HFX)

 

[Born2bwire]

My current rig is a Athlon 4000 San Diego, 2X1GB OCZ Gold PC4000, Abit AN8 Ultra Motherboard, and a EVGA 7800GT. I am currently overclocking at HTT = 248 MHz, CPU = 11*248 = 2.728 GHz, RAM @ 269 3-4-3-7. My 7800GT is o/ced to 500/1200. I use a Zalman V700Cu cooler for the GPU at 5V. My case is an Antec P180 with a Coolermaster 450 RealPower PSU. I am using a simple rheostat fan controller to run four Coolermaster silent UV 120 mm fans at around 7V. For my CPU, I have a Scythe Ninja heatsink with one of the coolermasters on it. And the AN8 has a passive northbridge cooler. All in all, I'd say it was around $250 for the case, fans, and heatsinks and the AN8 is a decent $120 or so. With rebates, I paid about $35 for the Coolermaster PSU. Also, I use a Nero plugin called Drivespeed to keep my optical drive running at a low speed so that it doesn't make noise when watching DVD's or playing games. This was my big upgrade for the summer and fall and it really has quieted down my computer. I can still hear it, but it is very quiet. I should go home to see if I can hear it with headphones on (but no sound). It wouldn't surprise me if I could not. But anyway, thought I'd give you an idea of a moderate overclockable system that's fairly quiet using air. I was contemplating water, but it's just a far more involved and expensive process.

 

[Kameleon]

Once upon a time I was a hardcore aircooling overclocker. 60dB fans didn't phase me, I could have five of them running at the same time and still sleep. Then my ears started to bleed. Zalman heatsinks, SilenX/Panaflo/Yate Loon fans, Barracuda IV hard drives. Once the quest starts it never ends - the loudest thing in my system now is my 18dBA chipset fan, it's silent in dead air, but I can hear it in my system. Thinking about squeezing a second loop in for PSU/NB/HDDs, crazy but it might just work. Watercooling is a huge step towards silence, and if you're going to do it do it properly - pick your own parts, don't try and fit a put-together system into your specific case.

Now I'm listening to music blissfully unaware that there's a computer here. My A64 is running at the rather respectable clock of 2853MHz, and the faint sounds of partying from across the quad drown it out with no headphones on, let alone with anything playing music into my ears. Worth it? Totally for someone who's also a computer nut like me, but for people who don't enjoy/know what they're doing, I'd stick with getting fewer and quieter fans.

 

[Wilson]

I use an Antec Fanless Power Supply, and then adopted good nvidia graphics card ( I don't do 3-d gaming) without fan on it, put quiet Panaflo fans on case and CPU heatsink, and it is close to noiseless.



Happy listening,
W

 

[marvin]

My computer (A64x2 3800+, 7800GT) is watercooled (with Papst 120mm fans at 7V) and it cut down noise by a lot compared to my low noise HSFs (at 7V) setup. Now the loudest things, by far, in there is my RAID-0 Raptor setup, which is pretty loud. Not the best idea when building a silent computer.

Leaks are a bitch though. Sure, you're using DI water and that ain't conductive, but you got dust in your case, and water mixed with dust is conductive. (On a side note, plastic hose clamps suck.) When I did my setup, I leak tested for 24 hrs, no problem. But, the plastic hose clamps really didn't provide anywhere near enough clamping power, and my CPU block hose connection sprung a leak and leaked onto my 7800GT.

If you have the case format for it (rear intake and output fans), a large towel or a blanket dropped onto your computer will drop a lot of dBs. Just make sure you aren't depending on any front mounted fans. Cheapest noise reducing tweak. Sure, it's annoying to reach the CD drive, but hell, it's worth it.

Oh yeah, don't get the Zalman Reserator. Those things are dead quiet when you get them, but a lot of them have issues and develop loud pump noises since the built in pump is a piece of crap.

 

[MasZakrY]

Just take dynamat and put it in the inside of your case (completely covering the walls). Use panaflow low's or Yate loon fans. As for water cooling, I had the TT Aquarius II and it was quiet but crappy, then went to a custom setup with a big heatercore, 2x 120mm's, csystems pump, 1/2 ID tubing, "custom" waterblock, etc..) and it was ok but I'm on air right now and I think after all that, air is the way to go. A good large heatsink with a large case (sonataII is very nice) and many slow spinning fans is a good setup imho. Of course get a seagate harddrive as they are sweet and quiet. Putting on a gpu cooler from arctic cooling is a good idea as well. One of the most overlooked components is the dvd-rw drive. So many out there are super loud, so do your homework and find a quiet one!