Alright I think I'll go with the Akasa Pax Mate since it's designed specifically for the computer.
Okay how would I put pax mate on my cpu fan? Will this stuff melt if I put it along the sides of the fan between the heatsink and fan?
Hmm okay lets say I add the Panaflo fan.. Would that take up two 5.25" bays? If you head over to <A HREF="http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm" target="_new">http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm</A> you can see a few pictures with the fan mounted on but not sure if it will take up two slots... not even sure how the fan is mounted on the no vibes..
well I remember removing thermal pad before awhile ago and what i did was scrap all of it off with a pen cap and then got a small tray and dumped nail polish remover in there and let the bottom of the heatsink soak in it for awhile... I'm not sure if that just ruined the heatsink but it got the majority of the goop off so it was okay.
Well if you say the more fans the more sound pressure builds up? So then would it be better off leaving the case panels off? Then the sound pressure can expand out in open air instead of being inside a case?
Yeah $250 U.S. which would be approx. $400 CDN.... I can get a Geforce4 with that amount of cash..
Yeah there's a noise difference with the hardrives off and on... I hear a high pitch coming from the drives since it's spinning so fast..
The pax mate will help with noise but it can also help contribute to heat...
Well I'm getting the Pax Mate for sure anyways since you've convinced me it's that good.. hehe I'll probably order it in a couple days..
Well not you got me thinking because watercooling will need maintenance while fans don't except a quick vaccuum job...
Okay how would I put pax mate on my cpu fan? Will this stuff melt if I put it along the sides of the fan between the heatsink and fan?
Hmm okay lets say I add the Panaflo fan.. Would that take up two 5.25" bays? If you head over to <A HREF="http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm" target="_new">http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm</A> you can see a few pictures with the fan mounted on but not sure if it will take up two slots... not even sure how the fan is mounted on the no vibes..
well I remember removing thermal pad before awhile ago and what i did was scrap all of it off with a pen cap and then got a small tray and dumped nail polish remover in there and let the bottom of the heatsink soak in it for awhile... I'm not sure if that just ruined the heatsink but it got the majority of the goop off so it was okay.
Well if you say the more fans the more sound pressure builds up? So then would it be better off leaving the case panels off? Then the sound pressure can expand out in open air instead of being inside a case?
Yeah $250 U.S. which would be approx. $400 CDN.... I can get a Geforce4 with that amount of cash..
Yeah there's a noise difference with the hardrives off and on... I hear a high pitch coming from the drives since it's spinning so fast..
The pax mate will help with noise but it can also help contribute to heat...
Well I'm getting the Pax Mate for sure anyways since you've convinced me it's that good.. hehe I'll probably order it in a couple days..
Well not you got me thinking because watercooling will need maintenance while fans don't except a quick vaccuum job...
<i>Okay how would I put pax mate on my cpu fan? Will this stuff melt if I put it along the sides of the fan between the heatsink and fan?</i>
I would hold off on using it with the CPU fan until last as you bring up a good point. I myself wouldn't think it would melt but I will run some tests and let you know. You can also e-mail Akasa at http://www.akasa.com.tw and ask them what the behavior of the foam is like under high heat. I'm really sorry to be bringing this up so late but within the first 1-2 weeks you will have a smell from the Pax Mate. Most people get used to it, but again, I'm sorry I forgot to mention this earlier. I believe it's sound reducing properties way outweigh this smelly period though. The smell is kind of like what closed-cell foam smells like if you've ever smelled it. <i>Edit: It actually smells very strongly but only up close. I can't smell anything wafting through the air. But if you are using huge strips then you probably will. Melting also shouldn't be an issue with these.</i>
<i>Hmm okay lets say I add the Panaflo fan.. Would that take up two 5.25" bays? If you head over to http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm you can see a few pictures with the fan mounted on but not sure if it will take up two slots... not even sure how the fan is mounted on the no vibes..</i>
I just read the site. Looks like you have to buy a special version of it which comes with both the fan and mount, and in the U.S. they only carry the regular version (takes up 1 drive bay by the way). Do you have a thermometer somewhere? Over the next couple of days try measuring the ambient temperature try to get a good idea of how hot your drive will be. Remember that to determine this, just add 20 C to the ambient temperature and see if it's higher than 55 C. As long as where you live is below 35 C on hot days you can get away with no cooling at all. Also the No Vibes III actually seems to expose the drive to more air on the sides than a 3.5" enclosure will, so it should be a tiny bit cooler from that too.
<i>Well if you say the more fans the more sound pressure builds up? So then would it be better off leaving the case panels off? Then the sound pressure can expand out in open air instead of being inside a case?</i>
Actually it's not like that. Having the case on will actually reduce sound pressure going into the air because it has to pass through the case before it can pass to the air (remember sound is essentially vibrations, and anything can absorb vibrations). So obviously taking the covers off the side will increase noise. I've been suggesting Pax Mate the whole time because it adds yet another layer that the sound must pass through before it can reach your ears. By the time the vibrations that cause sound are done passing through 1) the Pax Mate attached to your fans, 2) the aluminum in your case, and 3) the Pax Mate attached to the case, it will have dissipated a lot. Actually, if you had 6 feet of dense aluminum surrounding the fans, you might not hear the sound at all. It doesn't matter what it is, having objects between you and the source of the sound obstructs and reduces sound. Like I said, the cellular foam helps capture the sound that usually causes the case to vibrate, thereby reducing overall sound.
<i>Yeah there's a noise difference with the hardrives off and on... I hear a high pitch coming from the drives since it's spinning so fast..</i>
Thought so!
Most of that sound will disappear. People have no idea how quiet 48 db actually is when it's measured in hard drives, a) because the sound is mostly contained within the chamber of the hard drive, and b) because most users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles the case like crazy.
<i>The pax mate will help with noise but it can also help contribute to heat...</i>
This was something I heard before. Akasa actually says that it will increase case temperature by 1 C. But if you read some of the reviews, some have reported 1 C increases (but never above 1 C) and some have reported no temperature increase at all--there probably is some, but it's not a real threat. There's a <A HREF="http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/Akasa_Sound_Mat/index.html" target="_new">review here</A>. Unfortunately I couldn't find a better review because viper lair's review disappeared recently. I have an aluminum case, and I've noticed no huge temperature increases by using vibration absorbing foam.
<i>Well not you got me thinking because watercooling will need maintenance while fans don't except a quick vaccuum job...</i>
Only you know your computer best.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cakecake on 07/21/02 00:01 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
I would hold off on using it with the CPU fan until last as you bring up a good point. I myself wouldn't think it would melt but I will run some tests and let you know. You can also e-mail Akasa at http://www.akasa.com.tw and ask them what the behavior of the foam is like under high heat. I'm really sorry to be bringing this up so late but within the first 1-2 weeks you will have a smell from the Pax Mate. Most people get used to it, but again, I'm sorry I forgot to mention this earlier. I believe it's sound reducing properties way outweigh this smelly period though. The smell is kind of like what closed-cell foam smells like if you've ever smelled it. <i>Edit: It actually smells very strongly but only up close. I can't smell anything wafting through the air. But if you are using huge strips then you probably will. Melting also shouldn't be an issue with these.</i>
<i>Hmm okay lets say I add the Panaflo fan.. Would that take up two 5.25" bays? If you head over to http://www.noisecontrol.de/info/infmenu_3.htm you can see a few pictures with the fan mounted on but not sure if it will take up two slots... not even sure how the fan is mounted on the no vibes..</i>
I just read the site. Looks like you have to buy a special version of it which comes with both the fan and mount, and in the U.S. they only carry the regular version (takes up 1 drive bay by the way). Do you have a thermometer somewhere? Over the next couple of days try measuring the ambient temperature try to get a good idea of how hot your drive will be. Remember that to determine this, just add 20 C to the ambient temperature and see if it's higher than 55 C. As long as where you live is below 35 C on hot days you can get away with no cooling at all. Also the No Vibes III actually seems to expose the drive to more air on the sides than a 3.5" enclosure will, so it should be a tiny bit cooler from that too.
<i>Well if you say the more fans the more sound pressure builds up? So then would it be better off leaving the case panels off? Then the sound pressure can expand out in open air instead of being inside a case?</i>
Actually it's not like that. Having the case on will actually reduce sound pressure going into the air because it has to pass through the case before it can pass to the air (remember sound is essentially vibrations, and anything can absorb vibrations). So obviously taking the covers off the side will increase noise. I've been suggesting Pax Mate the whole time because it adds yet another layer that the sound must pass through before it can reach your ears. By the time the vibrations that cause sound are done passing through 1) the Pax Mate attached to your fans, 2) the aluminum in your case, and 3) the Pax Mate attached to the case, it will have dissipated a lot. Actually, if you had 6 feet of dense aluminum surrounding the fans, you might not hear the sound at all. It doesn't matter what it is, having objects between you and the source of the sound obstructs and reduces sound. Like I said, the cellular foam helps capture the sound that usually causes the case to vibrate, thereby reducing overall sound.
<i>Yeah there's a noise difference with the hardrives off and on... I hear a high pitch coming from the drives since it's spinning so fast..</i>
Thought so!
Most of that sound will disappear. People have no idea how quiet 48 db actually is when it's measured in hard drives, a) because the sound is mostly contained within the chamber of the hard drive, and b) because most users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles the case like crazy.
<i>The pax mate will help with noise but it can also help contribute to heat...</i>
This was something I heard before. Akasa actually says that it will increase case temperature by 1 C. But if you read some of the reviews, some have reported 1 C increases (but never above 1 C) and some have reported no temperature increase at all--there probably is some, but it's not a real threat. There's a <A HREF="http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/Akasa_Sound_Mat/index.html" target="_new">review here</A>. Unfortunately I couldn't find a better review because viper lair's review disappeared recently. I have an aluminum case, and I've noticed no huge temperature increases by using vibration absorbing foam.
<i>Well not you got me thinking because watercooling will need maintenance while fans don't except a quick vaccuum job...</i>
Only you know your computer best.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cakecake on 07/21/02 00:01 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
Well if the pax mate leaves a smell and goes away within a couple weeks then I can deal with it. Like after the couple of weeks you'd literally have to put your face up to up before you can actually smell something right?
I'll send an email to Akasa and ask them for the behavior of the foam when under high heat today.
Okay. Well even if you use the regular version I'm sure you can drill 4 holes or something. Sorry no thermometer. You have any idea how sad this is? Not one single thermeter in the house or anything to measure temperature.. I guess I'll have to order one for my cpu this week.
Yes it's vibrations but lets say the vibration hits a wall? Would my entire wall make a noise? Not likley compared to a thin aluminum panel.. No I'm not looking for an alternative of the foam I'm saying having the foam on at the same time.
Anywho are you suppose to have your hardrives screwed on tightly? Because I think mine are and I'm using 4 screws..
Well if the most was 1 C I guess it can't really hurt the temp. unless your on the edge of your cpu overheating or something.
I'll send an email to Akasa and ask them for the behavior of the foam when under high heat today.
Okay. Well even if you use the regular version I'm sure you can drill 4 holes or something. Sorry no thermometer. You have any idea how sad this is? Not one single thermeter in the house or anything to measure temperature.. I guess I'll have to order one for my cpu this week.
Yes it's vibrations but lets say the vibration hits a wall? Would my entire wall make a noise? Not likley compared to a thin aluminum panel.. No I'm not looking for an alternative of the foam I'm saying having the foam on at the same time.
Anywho are you suppose to have your hardrives screwed on tightly? Because I think mine are and I'm using 4 screws..
Well if the most was 1 C I guess it can't really hurt the temp. unless your on the edge of your cpu overheating or something.
Yep, checking the ambient temperature would be a very good thing.
Not sure if having it against the wall would make more noise. What we're talking about is very hypothetical and I would suggest you just try it out and see if you can hear the difference.
Not sure what you mean by the hard drive screws. If I was assembling a case and not worrying about noise at all, yeah, I would use screws and probably tighten them.
This little cathode light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Not sure if having it against the wall would make more noise. What we're talking about is very hypothetical and I would suggest you just try it out and see if you can hear the difference.
Not sure what you mean by the hard drive screws. If I was assembling a case and not worrying about noise at all, yeah, I would use screws and probably tighten them.
This little cathode light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Okay I'm currently at 29.6 C so I think it's okay
Well if the wall is so big and it takes in such a small amount of sound energy coming at it I don't think it would have enough energy to vibrate it... Anyways I've tried it and the sound and noise level sounds the same TO ME so I'm guessing it's better if the case is closed as that's how a well designed case is supposed to be made(enough air ventilation to keep it cool with case panels closed)
You wrote:
Most of that sound will disappear. People have no idea how quiet 48 db actually is when it's measured in hard drives, a) because the sound is mostly contained within the chamber of the hard drive, and b) because most users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles the case like crazy.
In part b) you said that users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles like crazy and this is about hardrives.
And I thought hardrives are suppose to be screwed in tight?
Well if the wall is so big and it takes in such a small amount of sound energy coming at it I don't think it would have enough energy to vibrate it... Anyways I've tried it and the sound and noise level sounds the same TO ME so I'm guessing it's better if the case is closed as that's how a well designed case is supposed to be made(enough air ventilation to keep it cool with case panels closed)
You wrote:
Most of that sound will disappear. People have no idea how quiet 48 db actually is when it's measured in hard drives, a) because the sound is mostly contained within the chamber of the hard drive, and b) because most users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles the case like crazy.
In part b) you said that users simply have it screwed very tight to their case so it rattles like crazy and this is about hardrives.
And I thought hardrives are suppose to be screwed in tight?
They are supposed to be screwed in tight, of course. You don't want the hard drive to slide out and get damaged. What I mean is that having tight screws means the hard drive fuses with the case (as if it were welded in place) and the whole thing becomes one big piece of metal. Because vibrations transfer so well when things are touching each other, the effect of this is that a person's <i>entire case</i> becomes a gigantic hard drive, vibrating at the same frequency and shaking whenever the hard drive writes data.
I just wanted to give you an update. There is a very useful new product coming to market you may want to try if you can somehow get your heatsink and fan off your graphics card. The graphics card fan can be the largest contributer of fan noise in the case because it makes the add in board vibrate and is so small yet is supposed to run very fast. Well take a look at this:
<A HREF="http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm50-hp.htm" target="_new">http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm50-hp.htm</A>
Using heat pipe technology, the GPU fan can be completely eliminated! Sounds nice, I'll take one! I think this one will be a hit, because Zalman has experience with this. They had the excellent ZM17 copper cooler already but that required a fan when used with high heat output GPU/VPU's. I hope the heat pipe can fit around my RAM sinks. They are about a millimeter tall. From the picture it looks like it!
I've now managed in my own computer to reduce noise by about 50% since when I last posted here. One final thing I managed to do that cost me nothing was remove the fan guard for the lower instake fan in my Enermax PSU. Besides doing listening tests (in which I determined it was in fact quieter) there is a theory I came up with. I believe the fan guard was causing the fan to be muffled and distorted, causing annoying sounds to emanate from it. When I removed the fan guard for the back fan of the PSU (that pushes out hot air) I hear quite a bit of whining, but I believe this is because the sound is freely expelled without any resistance (surfaces to bounce off of and absorb noise). Removing the fan guard for the PSU's lower intake fan does not do this because the sound is contained better within the case. Overall, the PSU now makes a more pleasant sound. Now my hard drive is the noisiest thing in my whole case, and I'm thinking about getting one of these:
<A HREF="http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=1&CATID=1" target="_new">http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=1&CATID=1</A>
Now ordinarily with any hard drive bought a year ago you wouldn't want to put it inside one of these. But maybe my old hard drive will work with it? Who knows, I e-mailed them and asked about it. I also plan to use thermal paste to help. I will then replace my exhaust fan with a Papst 12dBA running at 1500, get the new Zalman GPU/VPU cooler when it comes out, and then get a Zalman CNPS 6000 CU cooler for my CPU. By that time my computer should purrrrr.
Now why am I posting all of this? Because I want to answer the question: Is water cooling cheaper? I have a feeling I might be wrong because after all of this I may have ended up paying more than I would have paid for water cooling.
(all prices incl. shipping)
Already bought:
---------------
$25 dynamat
$20 pax mate
$32 fan mates (5)
$9 one 3-pin to 4-pin adapter
$0 rubber bands for hard drive isolation
Note: my computer is as quiet as my old Pentium II 350Mhz system at this point. That system has two fans: 1 stock Intel CPU fan and 1 PSU fan for 250W power supply. The hard drives make about the same amount of noise.
Might buy
---------------
$35? Zalman video card cooler
$46 Zalman CNPS 6000CU heatsink+fan+bracket
$38 QuietPC Hard Drive Enclosure
$25 80mm quiet Papst fan
Already spent: $86
Total: $230
Assuming water cooling means that the only sources of noise you'd have is the PSU fans, 120mm fan for the radiator, and hard drive, then I'd say it's actually a closer race than I thought. This assumes that a person will have absolutely no case air flow either. To compare these two setups we'd have to remove the hard drive silencer, which gets us to $192.
Looking at an Innovatek water cooler, the price for the high quality CPU water block kit is $249 + GPU waterblock $36 + shipping $11 = $296.
So I guess water cooling still is 50% more expensive. But is it quieter? Let's compare the different choices.
no radiator - radiator with 120mm fan
3 case fans (2 intake, 1 exhaust) - no case fans
1 Zalman CNPS 6000CU - silent CPU waterblock
1 silent Zalman GPU/VPU cooler - silent GPU/VPU waterblock
Basically what it comes down to is the noise levels of the 3 fans + Zalman 6000CU cooler against the 120mm fan attached to the radiator. From this perspective it's obvious that as long as you can find a decent spot to attach the radiator to your case (not many people can) then it's definitely quieter than air cooling. Also it's arguable that air cooling is just as pesky and troublesome as water cooling. I still don't think so, but some people might after reading all of these posts I've put up.
By the way, my earlier claim that sound opwer goes up +10% for each fan you add might be incorrect. There is some sort of scale that defines dBA kind of like how 5.1 on the richter scale is actually 10x more powerful than 5.0. I believe each fan might actually add 3dBA as that's what I've read on multiple web sites. Although this poses an interesting theoretical question. What if you had the quietest fans running at 5dBA each. If you had 10 of them then would you end up with 35dBA or just 10dBA? Under my explanation it would be 10dBA but with the other explanation it would be 35dBA. Maybe it has something to do with how sound waves crossfade each other or combine in some way?
This little cathode light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
I just wanted to give you an update. There is a very useful new product coming to market you may want to try if you can somehow get your heatsink and fan off your graphics card. The graphics card fan can be the largest contributer of fan noise in the case because it makes the add in board vibrate and is so small yet is supposed to run very fast. Well take a look at this:
<A HREF="http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm50-hp.htm" target="_new">http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm50-hp.htm</A>
Using heat pipe technology, the GPU fan can be completely eliminated! Sounds nice, I'll take one! I think this one will be a hit, because Zalman has experience with this. They had the excellent ZM17 copper cooler already but that required a fan when used with high heat output GPU/VPU's. I hope the heat pipe can fit around my RAM sinks. They are about a millimeter tall. From the picture it looks like it!
I've now managed in my own computer to reduce noise by about 50% since when I last posted here. One final thing I managed to do that cost me nothing was remove the fan guard for the lower instake fan in my Enermax PSU. Besides doing listening tests (in which I determined it was in fact quieter) there is a theory I came up with. I believe the fan guard was causing the fan to be muffled and distorted, causing annoying sounds to emanate from it. When I removed the fan guard for the back fan of the PSU (that pushes out hot air) I hear quite a bit of whining, but I believe this is because the sound is freely expelled without any resistance (surfaces to bounce off of and absorb noise). Removing the fan guard for the PSU's lower intake fan does not do this because the sound is contained better within the case. Overall, the PSU now makes a more pleasant sound. Now my hard drive is the noisiest thing in my whole case, and I'm thinking about getting one of these:
<A HREF="http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=1&CATID=1" target="_new">http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=1&CATID=1</A>
Now ordinarily with any hard drive bought a year ago you wouldn't want to put it inside one of these. But maybe my old hard drive will work with it? Who knows, I e-mailed them and asked about it. I also plan to use thermal paste to help. I will then replace my exhaust fan with a Papst 12dBA running at 1500, get the new Zalman GPU/VPU cooler when it comes out, and then get a Zalman CNPS 6000 CU cooler for my CPU. By that time my computer should purrrrr.
Now why am I posting all of this? Because I want to answer the question: Is water cooling cheaper? I have a feeling I might be wrong because after all of this I may have ended up paying more than I would have paid for water cooling.
(all prices incl. shipping)
Already bought:
---------------
$25 dynamat
$20 pax mate
$32 fan mates (5)
$9 one 3-pin to 4-pin adapter
$0 rubber bands for hard drive isolation
Note: my computer is as quiet as my old Pentium II 350Mhz system at this point. That system has two fans: 1 stock Intel CPU fan and 1 PSU fan for 250W power supply. The hard drives make about the same amount of noise.
Might buy
---------------
$35? Zalman video card cooler
$46 Zalman CNPS 6000CU heatsink+fan+bracket
$38 QuietPC Hard Drive Enclosure
$25 80mm quiet Papst fan
Already spent: $86
Total: $230
Assuming water cooling means that the only sources of noise you'd have is the PSU fans, 120mm fan for the radiator, and hard drive, then I'd say it's actually a closer race than I thought. This assumes that a person will have absolutely no case air flow either. To compare these two setups we'd have to remove the hard drive silencer, which gets us to $192.
Looking at an Innovatek water cooler, the price for the high quality CPU water block kit is $249 + GPU waterblock $36 + shipping $11 = $296.
So I guess water cooling still is 50% more expensive. But is it quieter? Let's compare the different choices.
no radiator - radiator with 120mm fan
3 case fans (2 intake, 1 exhaust) - no case fans
1 Zalman CNPS 6000CU - silent CPU waterblock
1 silent Zalman GPU/VPU cooler - silent GPU/VPU waterblock
Basically what it comes down to is the noise levels of the 3 fans + Zalman 6000CU cooler against the 120mm fan attached to the radiator. From this perspective it's obvious that as long as you can find a decent spot to attach the radiator to your case (not many people can) then it's definitely quieter than air cooling. Also it's arguable that air cooling is just as pesky and troublesome as water cooling. I still don't think so, but some people might after reading all of these posts I've put up.
By the way, my earlier claim that sound opwer goes up +10% for each fan you add might be incorrect. There is some sort of scale that defines dBA kind of like how 5.1 on the richter scale is actually 10x more powerful than 5.0. I believe each fan might actually add 3dBA as that's what I've read on multiple web sites. Although this poses an interesting theoretical question. What if you had the quietest fans running at 5dBA each. If you had 10 of them then would you end up with 35dBA or just 10dBA? Under my explanation it would be 10dBA but with the other explanation it would be 35dBA. Maybe it has something to do with how sound waves crossfade each other or combine in some way?
This little cathode light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Ah alright then I see..
Yes I remember seeing the Zalman heat pipe heatsink for vga cards I think at either tomshardware or vr-zone.. but the question is would it really cool your video card better than it's retail fan? I mean if I remember, using an active cooling fan would have much better cooling performance than a heatsink since the fan constantly blows the heat away. But I guess I'll have to wait and see when people review the product..
But you can't do much about the PSU fan then right?
The only problem I see is that silent drive will sure cook your hardrive.. It'll basically insulate your entire hardrive in that foam to keep your hard drive quiet..
If that silent drive only had some sort of cooling it would make it a whole lot more attractive. But yeah this also depends of what kind of hard drives you are using... though I still wouldn't use it for myself because it seems risky at times if your hard drive is at full load.. can shorten hard drive life also.
Well I still think water cooling is still the best solution for quiet high performance cooling though it all comes at a very high price... Until then I'm just going to stick with air until they either figure some way of not using a radiator and making it built into the pump or lower the price significantly then I might consider of getting that. Other than that I'm just sticking to air cooling. But I can't think of anything that can be troublesome to aircooling other than dust...
Yes I remember seeing the Zalman heat pipe heatsink for vga cards I think at either tomshardware or vr-zone.. but the question is would it really cool your video card better than it's retail fan? I mean if I remember, using an active cooling fan would have much better cooling performance than a heatsink since the fan constantly blows the heat away. But I guess I'll have to wait and see when people review the product..
But you can't do much about the PSU fan then right?
The only problem I see is that silent drive will sure cook your hardrive.. It'll basically insulate your entire hardrive in that foam to keep your hard drive quiet..
If that silent drive only had some sort of cooling it would make it a whole lot more attractive. But yeah this also depends of what kind of hard drives you are using... though I still wouldn't use it for myself because it seems risky at times if your hard drive is at full load.. can shorten hard drive life also.
Well I still think water cooling is still the best solution for quiet high performance cooling though it all comes at a very high price... Until then I'm just going to stick with air until they either figure some way of not using a radiator and making it built into the pump or lower the price significantly then I might consider of getting that. Other than that I'm just sticking to air cooling. But I can't think of anything that can be troublesome to aircooling other than dust...
Fan life perhaps? The lowest life of fans is usually rated at 5.5 years... but by then computer speeds will have doubled 3 2/3 times according to Moore's Law.
But then there's that horrible clicking noise that accompanies old sleeve bearing fans whose oil has <A HREF="http://www.tech-review.com/articles/article.cgi?id=229" target="_new">dried out</A>. Well, <A HREF="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/TANSTAAFL.html" target="_new">TANSTAAFL</A>, huh?
The PSU fan can be replaced but it's dangerous. The components in your power supply can maintain their charge for days even after you disconnect it and can electrocute you.
Someone here mentioned Noisecontrol power supplies. Maybe they're worth looking into. Also you can try quietpc.com's PSU's. They just added a 400W one that should be able to handle any processor out there and appears to have only slightly less power than the Enermax and Antec PSU's. Don't get their 460W one though. That one has the same power output for its combined 3.3V and 5V lines as the 400W, so its main benefit is attaching USB and firewire devices, and ends up costing a lot more.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cakecake on 07/27/02 07:50 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
But then there's that horrible clicking noise that accompanies old sleeve bearing fans whose oil has <A HREF="http://www.tech-review.com/articles/article.cgi?id=229" target="_new">dried out</A>. Well, <A HREF="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/TANSTAAFL.html" target="_new">TANSTAAFL</A>, huh?
The PSU fan can be replaced but it's dangerous. The components in your power supply can maintain their charge for days even after you disconnect it and can electrocute you.
Someone here mentioned Noisecontrol power supplies. Maybe they're worth looking into. Also you can try quietpc.com's PSU's. They just added a 400W one that should be able to handle any processor out there and appears to have only slightly less power than the Enermax and Antec PSU's. Don't get their 460W one though. That one has the same power output for its combined 3.3V and 5V lines as the 400W, so its main benefit is attaching USB and firewire devices, and ends up costing a lot more.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cakecake on 07/27/02 07:50 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
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