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"Silence not at a cost of Performance (Tidy too!)" - A Build. -> P182 SE here! 56k
Deusfaux
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So performance is always going to be my #1 goal; this was true when I put together my first rig in Dec '05 with an X2 4800 (fastest dual core at the time, cost me something like $900 CAD), and continues today, though I've learnt more and know where to get better performance without spending so much.
But more recently I've discovered sites like www.silentpcreview.com and also become more atuned to the growing movement towards more silent pcs. I had already made some good choices with some of my parts... I had originally vowed to try and get 120mm fans everywhere I could (just my case and PSU at the time), and started out with a great foundation, the P180.
Unlike some others who are okay with modifying their cases with a dremel or diving into their PSU or other parts to change them around, I prefer to keep things closer to "stock" and under warranty. Nothing against modding, I'd like doing it too, but not when it comes at the expense of my coverage with the manufacturer.
So I just finished putting together my latest iteration with advice and research done at this site and some others. The loudest part(s) in my case are the higher pitched whines of my idle HDDs (likely the Raptors). This doesnt seem possible to really change without downgrading in performance (though I now see talk of HDD suspension...) so I've very pleased with everything. The fridge a room over is louder by a good deal. I only hear the pc with all doors closed and nothing else electronic turned on, and even then you have to turn your head to pick up the HDD idle sound.
First things first, internal parts list:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 w/ Thermalright Ultra 120 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21F (thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme preordered)
Asus Asus P5W DH Deluxe
2x1GB OCZ EL Plat Rev 2 PC6400
2x 1500ADFD 10,000RPM Raptors RAID 0, 320GB Seagate 7200.10
ATi Radeon X1900XTX w/ Accelero X2 (becoming R600 when it releases)
Creative X-Fi Platinum
LG H30 SATA Super Multi (becoming H62 when it releases)
Corsair HX620
Antec P180 (all 3 stock fans, VGA cooler removed, no mods) (P182 SE preordered)
-All pics taken extremely hastily with SD800IS
Overview shot of PC area. edit: yes this chair is a poverty case. sigh
2nd angle. Meow!
Behind chair shot, close to what you see while sitting.
Front of case. Minimal!
Case rear. Four USB's are: LCD's hub, mobo remote sensor, mouse, keyboard. Power cable gets tucked somewhat under case, which sits on 2 spare wood slats from hardwood flooring; keeping it off the carpet and elevated a bit - it looks great from the front like it's floating a bit because the slats are far enough back as to be hidden.
Overview!
Top of case. all white antec tri-cool fan controllers are tucked away, but still accessible
mid case. only 3 cables using "gate" - none going back down to other side of lower chamber. Will likely change to 1 cable using gate with forthcoming P182.
bottom of case. Stupid non-modular 12vEPS gets tucked on top for now, isn't blocking airflow as fan is on bottom of PSU (which is elevated, remember, and also getting fresh air from 120mm in front of it). Not using PSU bracket because of new case coming, dont want to bother now.
optical and X-Fi front bay add-on cable routing. Sorry about the dust, that's gross. I blew it out everywhere else though! Plus new case is coming so I dont care.
3 HDDs in bottom cage. Raptors on outsides (hottest), Seagate in middle. Color coded! Nice PSU cable with 3 sata power connections on it and nothing more.
PSU area. Only 2 modular cables being used. One 3x SATA power, going beyond bracket on side of case and back in on other side. One 2x molex, going up side of case, to power 3 fans, X-fi front bay and optical.
Mobo connections. Front panel buttons, 4x SATA color coded, X-Fi cable nearby. Not using case firewire (never even HAD a firewire device in this house that wasnt USB as well) nor USB (monitor is 4 port Hub and closer).
CPU and top/rear case fan wiring, sneaking around in the corners, tucked away. Case fans connected eventually behind front bays/against case side.
Overview of cooling. Using AS5 for now, case closed idle CPU 21, mobo 41 (alot of that is the damn X2 accelero exhauting into case
). Scythe running mid strength at 1200RPM (/1600). All case fans on low.
External parts so you dont have to ask me in later posts after the pics:
Dell WFP 3007
Logitech Z-5500d w/ Btech stands
Logitech MX518 w/ Steelpad 4S
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech Quickcam Fusion
Microsoft Wireless XBOX 360 PC Gamepad
Linksys WRT45G v4 on Shaw Cable 10mb/1mb
What I *don't* like:
-All the things that get changed in the P182 (thick fan at bottom, no holes for routing cables)
-The bit of black tape you can see at the top for the fan wiring
-All the unsleeved wires (3 fans, sata power adapter for optical, X-Fi cable)
-My ghetto X-Fi cable. Cut 40 wires into 10 groups of 4, then spun to cut down on size, but it's still ugly grey, and bound with dirty elastics. I will get heatshrink and sleeving or send it away to get it done for me.
-Non-modular 12vEPS 8pin on the PSU
-No internal leds except mobo power. It's a dark world in there
-X2 accelero exhausts into case vs stock ATI cooler exhausting out back. mobo temps up
Also the 520W OCZ modstream I just replaced needs a home, if anyone's looking gimme a shout or I'll just list on ebay.
What do you guys think? Here's my previous build of a year ago or more
(stupid serial I/O, 2 IDE cables all over the place, more visible SATA (yet less of them), more power cables, mismatched blue extension on power...)
But more recently I've discovered sites like www.silentpcreview.com and also become more atuned to the growing movement towards more silent pcs. I had already made some good choices with some of my parts... I had originally vowed to try and get 120mm fans everywhere I could (just my case and PSU at the time), and started out with a great foundation, the P180.
Unlike some others who are okay with modifying their cases with a dremel or diving into their PSU or other parts to change them around, I prefer to keep things closer to "stock" and under warranty. Nothing against modding, I'd like doing it too, but not when it comes at the expense of my coverage with the manufacturer.
So I just finished putting together my latest iteration with advice and research done at this site and some others. The loudest part(s) in my case are the higher pitched whines of my idle HDDs (likely the Raptors). This doesnt seem possible to really change without downgrading in performance (though I now see talk of HDD suspension...) so I've very pleased with everything. The fridge a room over is louder by a good deal. I only hear the pc with all doors closed and nothing else electronic turned on, and even then you have to turn your head to pick up the HDD idle sound.
First things first, internal parts list:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 w/ Thermalright Ultra 120 & Scythe S-Flex SFF21F (thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme preordered)
Asus Asus P5W DH Deluxe
2x1GB OCZ EL Plat Rev 2 PC6400
2x 1500ADFD 10,000RPM Raptors RAID 0, 320GB Seagate 7200.10
ATi Radeon X1900XTX w/ Accelero X2 (becoming R600 when it releases)
Creative X-Fi Platinum
LG H30 SATA Super Multi (becoming H62 when it releases)
Corsair HX620
Antec P180 (all 3 stock fans, VGA cooler removed, no mods) (P182 SE preordered)
-All pics taken extremely hastily with SD800IS
Overview shot of PC area. edit: yes this chair is a poverty case. sigh
2nd angle. Meow!
Behind chair shot, close to what you see while sitting.
Front of case. Minimal!
Case rear. Four USB's are: LCD's hub, mobo remote sensor, mouse, keyboard. Power cable gets tucked somewhat under case, which sits on 2 spare wood slats from hardwood flooring; keeping it off the carpet and elevated a bit - it looks great from the front like it's floating a bit because the slats are far enough back as to be hidden.
Overview!
Top of case. all white antec tri-cool fan controllers are tucked away, but still accessible
mid case. only 3 cables using "gate" - none going back down to other side of lower chamber. Will likely change to 1 cable using gate with forthcoming P182.
bottom of case. Stupid non-modular 12vEPS gets tucked on top for now, isn't blocking airflow as fan is on bottom of PSU (which is elevated, remember, and also getting fresh air from 120mm in front of it). Not using PSU bracket because of new case coming, dont want to bother now.
optical and X-Fi front bay add-on cable routing. Sorry about the dust, that's gross. I blew it out everywhere else though! Plus new case is coming so I dont care.
3 HDDs in bottom cage. Raptors on outsides (hottest), Seagate in middle. Color coded! Nice PSU cable with 3 sata power connections on it and nothing more.
PSU area. Only 2 modular cables being used. One 3x SATA power, going beyond bracket on side of case and back in on other side. One 2x molex, going up side of case, to power 3 fans, X-fi front bay and optical.
Mobo connections. Front panel buttons, 4x SATA color coded, X-Fi cable nearby. Not using case firewire (never even HAD a firewire device in this house that wasnt USB as well) nor USB (monitor is 4 port Hub and closer).
CPU and top/rear case fan wiring, sneaking around in the corners, tucked away. Case fans connected eventually behind front bays/against case side.
Overview of cooling. Using AS5 for now, case closed idle CPU 21, mobo 41 (alot of that is the damn X2 accelero exhauting into case
). Scythe running mid strength at 1200RPM (/1600). All case fans on low.External parts so you dont have to ask me in later posts after the pics:
Dell WFP 3007
Logitech Z-5500d w/ Btech stands
Logitech MX518 w/ Steelpad 4S
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech Quickcam Fusion
Microsoft Wireless XBOX 360 PC Gamepad
Linksys WRT45G v4 on Shaw Cable 10mb/1mb
What I *don't* like:
-All the things that get changed in the P182 (thick fan at bottom, no holes for routing cables)
-The bit of black tape you can see at the top for the fan wiring
-All the unsleeved wires (3 fans, sata power adapter for optical, X-Fi cable)
-My ghetto X-Fi cable. Cut 40 wires into 10 groups of 4, then spun to cut down on size, but it's still ugly grey, and bound with dirty elastics. I will get heatshrink and sleeving or send it away to get it done for me.
-Non-modular 12vEPS 8pin on the PSU
-No internal leds except mobo power. It's a dark world in there
-X2 accelero exhausts into case vs stock ATI cooler exhausting out back. mobo temps up
Also the 520W OCZ modstream I just replaced needs a home, if anyone's looking gimme a shout or I'll just list on ebay.
What do you guys think? Here's my previous build of a year ago or more
(stupid serial I/O, 2 IDE cables all over the place, more visible SATA (yet less of them), more power cables, mismatched blue extension on power...)
Deusfaux on
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How much is the P182 going for, and might you have any links handy? I've been looking at a P180 but never knew about a successor.
Where do you order from? I've had trouble finding good cooling stuff, or cases, or PSUs...though I pretty much look at a couple local shops and Tigerdirect. It sucks that Newegg doesn't ship here.
Also, I cringe to think about it, but how much has this setup cost you, roughly?
Last few parts from www.ncix.com - stuff MExp doesn't carry.
NCIX listed the P182 SE (mirror'd finish, black interior and wormlight) a few weeks ago and I preordered one.
Cost... hmmm funny enough the LAST build cost a lot more than this one, mostly because of the proc. Funny how tech works like that. Several thousand $ by now anyways
I dont know what to do with this, I may have just grown really accustomed to it.
True enough, I haven't looked for a replacement, but I know for sure I don't want an office style chair with wheels. Something I can lean back in (this one reclines to some degree when you squish back on it), stays absolutely put unless I WANT to move it, and isnt a cold ass bitch when you just get in, or a warm ass-face when you've been on for a long time (no leather!). Any ideas?
lol this one has duct tape on it
Ooooo-eeeee-ooooo!
Congrats on getting a cool, silent build. After the problems I've had with overheating components on this, my first real build, I'll definitely be incorporating these sorts of tips next time. Thanks for posting your experiences.
Also to be on topic, I've put more thought into going silent. I have a first gen Exos water cooling system with a CPU and GPU water block (hence asking about the heatlplate). Just replaced my 6 year old WD drives with a spanking new 300gb SATA one that's pretty much inaudible. The only fans I have are the 120mm PSU one which is extremely quiet, and the 3 low RPM Exos ones. All I hear is just a quiet whirr of the Exos fans.
I'm not picky about the tidyness inside since I'd have the panel on anyways, plus I'm always swapping things in and out.
2. i do love cats
3. water cooling is something ive thought about... but im not sure I'm there yet. plus air cooling just keeps getting better and getting closer to the performance of it
4. apparently to "take it to the next level" I can find a way to suspend my HDD's with bungie cord so they vibrate in mid air and not against anything. insanity! that'll be the next step, plus some special grommets to mount the fans to the case instead of metal screws
Or the X1 Accelero might fit
or you could wait for their S1/S2
heh, all of their products rule
or an HR-03 from thermalright with a fan at the right RPM
there are LOTS of passive solutions too, i think... anandtech did a roundup of a bunch?
On another note, can someone start a new "Your Room" thread, those were always interesting to read.
a) turn on the computer
b) insert a cd/dvd?
I ended up ripping the door off my case because it gave me the shits everytime i had to power up in the morning and everytime i switched game cds.
edit: Speaking of computer temps. Whats a good program I can download to monitor my cpu temp and such?
I should probably post some pics of my PC. I went the microATX route and got a Silverstone SG01E as the case. The CPU cooler sits right underneath the PSU so uses the PSU fan as it's cooler which I thought was quite smart. There's a couple of 80mm fans to help airflow but as quiet as the rest of the machine.
I've got a Samsung Spinpoint hard drive which is really really quiet compared to my old drives. I personally don't really think you get that much benefit out of RAID if you're on some sort of budget. nVidia did a wonderful job with the 8800 cooling to keep that very quiet.
The sad thing is I picked up a lite-on SATA DVD drive and it sounds like a jet-engine taking off when it spins up.
edit: Computer temps I think I use Speedfan. http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php Although at the time it was one of the few that worked with Vista.
I'll definately been looking into cable tidying/hiding when building my next comp, probably 3 years from now.
Naw, I turn on my computer by remote. And I rarely put in a disc of any kind, only when reformatting or installing a game for the first time really does it see lots of activity.
Never bothered me to flick it open either when I had to. It's within reach and I'd still have to move my hand over to hit power or eject on the cd tray anyways. What's another second of motion/effort?
...and I should really have a look at that fan in my case that's been making noises lately.
What I ended up doing was removing the bottom drive cage and mounting my 2 piddly HDs up top, and removing the fan between the bottom HD bay and power supply bay. Most of the noise from my PC is the stock Intel HSF and the monster fan on my 8800GTX, but it's barely louder than my laptop so I'm okay with it.
PSN: Broichan
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_en_performance1.php
I'm pretty fucking pumped about this new case. The black interior is bitchin... and... WORMLIGHT?! heh
Questions:
1. Have you seen much benefit to using the X-Fi over onboard audio?
2. Do you ever use the special features on your fancy keyboard?
3. Do you really think you need 620w?
4. Ever consider going fanless?
not too happy right now.. it runs silent, but I had to send my ram in.. because I think they're bad. it sucks trying to troubleshoot blind like this with all new components. man, I can't wait until I get my comp up and running.
PSN: super_emu
Xbox360 Gamertag: Emuchop
1. Yeah, the sound quality is better, the cpu has more cycles to spend on other things, and up to EAX 5... for gaming X-Fi is the best option
2. i didnt think I would, but they are critical. media keys all the time, functions like cut copy paste are macro'd to the G keys, the diplay tells me what songs are going. USB hubs i dont use cuz my monitor has usb 2.0 powered hub. lit up keys work great
3. I dont think i do currently. But I didnt get it because its 620 W, I got it because its one of the most silent PSU's out there, on top of being a top performer in all other qualities of psus. I will be getting R600 though, and having a 620W will make things go more smoothly perhaps.
4. to passive cooling? or to water? I addressed water earlier, but passive no. Becuase then you are sacrificing some degree of performance, passive cannot keep up with active in the best of situations. this noise level is sooo close to ambient room noise, I wouldnt really benefit from going any quieter.
to guy above me ---> corsairs are made with/by seasonic. they're the best parts of the M and S series all in one package. probably the best PSU's out there apart from the higher end ones for SLI and crossfire setups
Also, how much performance gain do you see from the Raptors? I was thinking of picking up a 74GB one for running my OS. Do you think it really speeds up the computer? Would I be better off with just two SATA drives?
Maybe I am dumb and missed it but how do you turn on the computer remotely? I want to get that shit for my new rig.
Also, can we turn this into a build thread and post build pics? :P I love seeing people's builds.
most people are not going to appreciate the difference of a raptor, id say make it a purchase down the road if anything.
a particular feature of this mobo (P5W-DH deluxe) all DH (digital home) series mobos from ASUS support it. although you could possibly do it 3rd party, by having one of the USB ports set to wake up the computer, and then getting some kind of remote setup
BTW, how's the paypal thing. did you have to do the thing where oyu check the statements and get their code # to verify things?
:^: I really like the sound of that keyboard. Can you set it up for different macros with different software? Professional video editing boards have that feature.
I'll look into getting a piece of software that does, that's a pretty cool idea.
Yea, PayPal should be ready to go. Once I get off campus, I'll get with you for the monies. You'll be on tonight, right?
anyways there are 18 G keys with 3 mode sets for a total of 54 possible macros at one time
It also allows you to define a Universal / default set to use when a specific one doesn't apply.
A little tidbit about the G15 I just found out not too long ago: When you are running a supported media app (iTunes, WMP, etc.) you can hold one of the 4 softkeys for a few seconds to create a shortcut for it, so that in the future you can launch the app with 1 button press.
and so it arrives...
-MORE PICS TO COME-
and of course I'll update my entire build set within the new case.