• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

Quiet down! Water cooling? Wood case?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
I

ImNotRyan

Grizzled Veteran
Jan 29, 2007
188
0
Florida
#1
Alright, I've got a typical computer, 2 hard drives whining, a PS whining, a video card with a giant fan, 2 case fans, a giant CPU fan... I've ignored it for 10 months, but I'm not going to anymore.

I've got a boatload of ideas... Would anyone with knowledge and experience be willing to help me out?

I could build an enclosure out of really thick, dense particle board, which I think would soak up nearly all of the sound and vibration. What say you? .....and what are the realistic odds of a computer starting a fire? I mean lets say I don't put enough cooling holes into this box, likely for the sake of noise, and that AMD64 does what it does best, make heat. Has a computer ever started a fire? In a wooden case? lol (I'm embarrassed even asking this) But half of the idea here is to leave the computer on indefinitely, never shutting down. Maybe I could screw the metal brackets to the wood through some soft foam.

Water cooling... I was thinking of doing it on the cheap possibly using a water pump and upward of 3+ gallons (over 10 litres) of water in hopes of simply using so much water it won't need a radiator or fan. What are the odds of an AMD actually heating that kind of volume of water? Than run one of those underwater pumps in the reservoir in keeping with the low-noise theme. I have no idea how much heat a computer can generate... But I do have the kind of room under my desk to secretly run an entire 10 gallon fishtank full of water if thats what it would take to avoid expensive equipment!

Any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
#4
I woulden't worry too much about fire, my bet is the components will die from overheating long before there is a fire..

Your best bet is watercooling, since heat will allways be a problem if you try to build a big wooden case (remember that components like the HDD's will die if the ambient temp in the case gets to around 45c or above), i'd look around for special cases build with watercooling and low noise in mind, i've come across such things in the past, they are out there..
 
Upvote 0
#5
Yeah I tried lining my old PC with that car sound damper stuff. It worked alright but not that great. whatever you do the material has to be HEAVY in weight meaning very dense. If you just have something thick it won't matter unless that material is also highly dense. Density blocks sound. Alternatively you could try and find some sort of mouse/keyboard wire extenders and just put the noise box in another room away from you. Additionally you could try this case fan as a start:

http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-S12...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1190819008&sr=1-2

It's supposed to be extremely quiet.
 
Upvote 0
#6
Its doesen't have to be dense, shape can also dampen sound, such as the packaging egg's come in (dont remember the english word right now..), many a garage band have used thouse to dampen their garage ;)

That shape also comes in foam rubber form, usually used for lining flightcases and such, but it can be bought by the meter.
 
Upvote 0
#9
Alright, I simply threw out one offending fan and things are much improved...

However now the issue is the 6800 Ultra. The rest of the PC sounds as though it's off when I hold the fan on the Geforce still! Surprisingly the gigantic fan on the AMD makes no noise on it's own.

Does anyone know of any possible options for cooling a video card more silently. I'm no longer thinking about water cooling since the AMD's fan doesn't make any noise. What are the odds that I could strap another big processor-style air-cooler onto the Geforce? The only significant problem is that the design of the cooling solution on the 6800 Ultra is... less than simple. See?

6800ultra1.jpg
 
Upvote 0
#10
ImNotRyan said:
Alright, I simply threw out one offending fan and things are much improved...

However now the issue is the 6800 Ultra. The rest of the PC sounds as though it's off when I hold the fan on the Geforce still! Surprisingly the gigantic fan on the AMD makes no noise on it's own.

Does anyone know of any possible options for cooling a video card more silently. I'm no longer thinking about water cooling since the AMD's fan doesn't make any noise. What are the odds that I could strap another big processor-style air-cooler onto the Geforce? The only significant problem is that the design of the cooling solution on the 6800 Ultra is... less than simple. See?
Click to expand...

Engineering a better cooling solution for your video will probably entail a whole buncha carefully breaking what's there.
I see no reason you couldn't engineer something like a better CPU cooler for your video card, you could either cement it on with thermal conductive cement, or better if you can do it, devise (or find) a bracketing system for your GPU that will allow you to eventually change out the cooling option on it.

See how they water cool Video cards.. they have to break off the existing cooling as well, so you can probably learn the easy and non-breaking way from there.



As for a case, i'd see if you can mount all your fans and HDDs with rubber o-rings on the screws.. my Antec Sonata case does that, and it helps minimize the noise from vibration alot.

Also see about removing offending/dying fans.. looks like you already did that once.
a Larger fan will also have to move less to move the same volume of air.. if you've seen those cases that are setup like giant turbines, a friend of mine has one, they are extremely quiet because the 240mm fan doesn't have to spin that fast.

Wood? I'd only build a wood case if you wanted to design something funky.. else there is no point. You can spend almost as much on making a nice wooden case as you would buying an engineered quiet case online somewhere.

If you are worried about heat, I'd recommend a liquid cooled solution (note I didn't say water.. although water works too.. it's just not the best)
 
Upvote 0
#16
Search on Newegg for graphic card coolers. There are cooling solutions specifically for this. The existing fan and such look complicated but ultimately thats all just parts of the manufacturer's cooling solution. I'm sure there are quieter cooling solutions available. Heatsinks with low RPM fans. For instance:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887009


Its all about the thermal grease used and good contact between the heatsink and processor. You don't necessarily need an enormous fan to get rid of the heat.

I have this heatsink on my processor and it runs very, very quiet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887002

These things are pretty cheap, however they will void your warranty (if they are still under warranty) and you should definitely read instructions on how to apply the heatsink and applying thermal paste.

Anyway that's my humble opinion, and there are other forums all about cooling and such you should check out.


Hat

P.S.
If you used the radiator that'd be sweet too :D
 
Upvote 0
#18
BuddyLee said:
What about an automatic transmission cooler? They make fancier ones than this... http://www.pfyc.com/mm5/merchant.mv...=GP3006&Category_Code=RGUNDER&Affiliate=yfeed

You could locate it remotely, and zip tie a couple of 120mm fans to it.
Click to expand...

That's rather brilliant actually! I think I have a spare 86 Corolla oil-cooler I could clean out and use!

Seriously though, I have a plan. You don't have to read it unless this is your kinda thing. ;) It's long and dorky!

I had a look thru the computer and determined all the noise-making elements. One by one I'm rectifying them, and at the same time improving cooling.

First I noticed the PSU exhaust fan is seized... Nice for how long? The underside PSU fan is blowing hot PSU-air back into the case via inside grilles. So I removed the exhaust fan, and taped up the inside grille so that the underside PSU fan is exhausting outside the case. Cooling was greatly improved, the case-top is no longer warm to the touch, and all temperatures dropped 5-10 degrees F. The "buzzing" sound coming from the seized fan was removed.

Than I decided intake fans are garbage and threw it into a rear slot as an exhaust fan, below the PSU. Must have done something right because that single act dragged temperatures on the GPU down from 120 to 100, 170 while playing RO, to 140-150 while playing RO. CPU temperature also dropped a few degrees.

Now the loudest thing in the computer is the 6800 Ultra's monstrous cooling solution, so I ordered a gi-normous passive heat sink off newegg.com to completely eliminate that problem, most user reviews claim a significant cooling advantage in the passive heat sink.

That left me with Hard drive whine, which after the fans had been replaced would seem like the last significant source of noise. Encasing them in something doesn't sound wise since heat kills HD's. So I decided to simply isolate their vibration from the case by suspending them. I took some para cord I had laying around and strung them up under the HD. Not only did this eliminate all sound from them, and make reading "tics" nearly inaudible... But the temperature on both hard drives dropped over 20 degrees F. (pictures at the bottom)

That leaves me with three 80mm fans, PSU, CPU, exhaust. I may replace all 3 with silent Noctua or other fans depending on how it sounds when the GPU heat sink comes in. Than I'll possibly attempt to rubber gasket EVERY component to the case to minimize vibrations into the case. Than I'll possibly attempt to seal EVERY single hole in the case to optimize airflow through the path I've envisioned, as well as silence the remaining components. Than.... If need be. Out comes the soft-foam. :)

HDsusp.jpg
 
Upvote 0
#19
ImNotRyan said:
That's rather brilliant actually! I think I have a spare 86 Corolla oil-cooler I could clean out and use!

Seriously though, I have a plan. You don't have to read it unless this is your kinda thing. ;) It's long and dorky!

I had a look thru the computer and determined all the noise-making elements. One by one I'm rectifying them, and at the same time improving cooling.

First I noticed the PSU exhaust fan is seized... Nice for how long? The underside PSU fan is blowing hot PSU-air back into the case via inside grilles. So I removed the exhaust fan, and taped up the inside grille so that the underside PSU fan is exhausting outside the case. Cooling was greatly improved, the case-top is no longer warm to the touch, and all temperatures dropped 5-10 degrees F. The "buzzing" sound coming from the seized fan was removed.

Than I decided intake fans are garbage and threw it into a rear slot as an exhaust fan, below the PSU. Must have done something right because that single act dragged temperatures on the GPU down from 120 to 100, 170 while playing RO, to 140-150 while playing RO. CPU temperature also dropped a few degrees.

Now the loudest thing in the computer is the 6800 Ultra's monstrous cooling solution, so I ordered a gi-normous passive heat sink off newegg.com to completely eliminate that problem, most user reviews claim a significant cooling advantage in the passive heat sink.

That left me with Hard drive whine, which after the fans had been replaced would seem like the last significant source of noise. Encasing them in something doesn't sound wise since heat kills HD's. So I decided to simply isolate their vibration from the case by suspending them. I took some para cord I had laying around and strung them up under the HD. Not only did this eliminate all sound from them, and make reading "tics" nearly inaudible... But the temperature on both hard drives dropped over 20 degrees F. (pictures at the bottom)

That leaves me with three 80mm fans, PSU, CPU, exhaust. I may replace all 3 with silent Noctua or other fans depending on how it sounds when the GPU heat sink comes in. Than I'll possibly attempt to rubber gasket EVERY component to the case to minimize vibrations into the case. Than I'll possibly attempt to seal EVERY single hole in the case to optimize airflow through the path I've envisioned, as well as silence the remaining components. Than.... If need be. Out comes the soft-foam. :)

HDsusp.jpg
Click to expand...

wow i'd pay you to do all this to mine :D
 
Upvote 0
#20
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Community News
Forums
Merch
Menu