Need to silence my PC

[LivingGhost]

All specs in sig. I'm getting open headphones soon, so I need to silence my PC. I don't know where to begin with this. Would I be ok just changing all the fans for quieter ones? Can I passively or otherwise quietly cool my 8800GTS?

 

I have no overclocked components, but it would be nice if I could still have that option. My CPU idles at about 32C - 34C.

 

The only fans in my computer are an intake, exhaust, GPU, and CPU. I'll gladly make an intake/duct in my side panel if it would help me silence my PC.

 

Thanks. I'm also going to read up about different stuff on silentpcreview.com and ask on their forums.

[coolcat97]

Try the free stuff? (Qfan - bios fan control, speed fan) You might be able to slow the case fans

[Bleeble]

All specs in sig. I'm getting open headphones soon, so I need to silence my PC. I don't know where to begin with this. Would I be ok just changing all the fans for quieter ones? Can I passively or otherwise quietly cool my 8800GTS?

 

I have no overclocked components, but it would be nice if I could still have that option. My CPU idles at about 32C - 34C.

 

The only fans in my computer are an intake, exhaust, GPU, and CPU. I'll gladly make an intake/duct in my side panel if it would help me silence my PC.

 

Thanks. I'm also going to read up about different stuff on silentpcreview.com and ask on their forums.

You can switch all your fans with Yate Loons, that'll make a big difference. Use D12SL for silent or D12SM for quiet with better airflow. This is one manufacturer that actually tells the truth about noise and CFM ratings.

 

For your 8800GTS, I suggest a Thermalright HR-03 Plus. A quiet fan is probably a good idea with this but I think it can do without as long as your case has decent airflow.

 

I don't know about you, but my PSU fan is the single loudest thing in my computer. I'd change mine out, but I've got a 3-year warranty.

 

I've got open headphones and my nine 120mm fans don't make enough noise to annoy me unless I run everything at 12 volts (4 YL D12SM, 3 YL D12SL, 1 Panaflo M1A, 1 PSU fan). I've got the 4 SMs and the M1A on a fan controller, everything else is plugged directly into the PSU. If I'm gaming, I turn up the fans and the volume a bit. If I'm listening to music or doing something else, the fans go down to 7 volts. The ideal solution, for me at least, is to buy some good, inexpensive closed headphones for gaming and leave my HD-595s for music. But I'm broke and cheap, so I just deal with it.

[LivingGhost]

I definitely plan on using the headphones for gaming, I'm looking at getting AKG K1000's, and they have the biggest soundstage out of any headphone (I actually don't know how it compairs to the HE90/HEV90), so they would be amazing for gameplay.

 

I had looked at that Thermalright a while ago, and actually forgot about it.

 

Thanks.

 

Edit:

Thermalright HR-03 Plus VGA Cooler - Retail

 

* Compatibility: VGA Card Compatibilities: Compatible with Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX video cards only. For 8800 GTS card, a seperate HSI heatsink is required

 

Does HSI = memory or something?

 

Edit again:

Question 2:

 

 

My 8800 video card has quite a few memory chips and some other chips. Does HR-03 Plus have them covered?

Answer2:

 

 

The 8800 series video cards have 12 DDR3 memory chips and HR-03 Plus has all of them covered as well as for the HSI chip and the PWNIC in that each one has its own RAMsink for sufficient cooling

 

Does that mean Newegg is wrong?

Edited July 18, 2007 by LivingGhost

[Bleeble]

Does that mean Newegg is wrong?

If you check the installation instructions, it shows an HSI heatsink (steps 5 and 6). So I would assume Newegg is wrong, but you could e-mail Thermalright if you wanted to be sure.

 

EDIT: Wow! What are you going to use to power those AKGs?

Edited July 18, 2007 by Bleeble

[iKillSteal]

I definitely plan on using the headphones for gaming, I'm looking at getting AKG K1000's, and they have the biggest soundstage out of any headphone (I actually don't know how it compairs to the HE90/HEV90), so they would be amazing for gameplay.

 

I had looked at that Thermalright a while ago, and actually forgot about it.

 

Thanks.

 

Edit:

 

Does HSI = memory or something?

 

Edit again:

 

Does that mean Newegg is wrong?

Newegg was right at one point in time. The heatsink was redesigned to allow it to be used on the 8800GTS as well. Old version has 4 heatpipes while the new version(HR-03 Plus) has 6. The HR-03 Plus WILL work with the 8800GTS. As for what the HSI(high-speed interconnect I believe) is, check this review out. It has pics of the HSI, the heatsink on it and what newegg meant when they said that the 8800GTS would need a different heatsink. Those are pics of the 8800GTX so the chip is probably in a different location.

Edited July 18, 2007 by iKillSteal

[LivingGhost]

A loudspeaker amp. Probably a Firestone Audio Big Joe v1.3 amp, as there is one for sale on head-fi. I actually don't have any of the headphones or amps ordered yet, but I'm either going to try and find some K1000's at a good price soon, or I'll wait until I can afford a good external DAC also, and get everything at once.

 

Actually, I'm still sort-of on the fence on deciding between K1000's and UE-10's, but I think I'm going to get K1000's now, since the UE-11's are going to be released this summer.

 

Edit: Yeah, Newegg is wrong. I gathered that from look at Thermalright pics and reading Newegg reviews.

 

Oh also, anyone know anything about Nexus fans?

 

Edit again, anyone have any advice for cable management? I *really* need to do it, the inside of my case is terrible, and it is restricting airflow.

Edited July 18, 2007 by LivingGhost

[Bleeble]

You must have one heck of a sound system if you're looking at those cans. I'm jealous.

 

Oh also, anyone know anything about Nexus fans?

 

Edit again, anyone have any advice for cable management? I *really* need to do it, the inside of my case is terrible, and it is restricting airflow.

If you're referring to the "silent" orange Nexus fans, they're the same thing...

There's more to their popularity than their cost, of course. Yate Loons owe much of their popularity to the fact that they are essentially the same fan as the Nexus Real Silent Case Fan 120. Yate Loon manufactures a special bright orange model for Nexus, but the fans are identical apart from their speed and color.

Source: SPCR's Fan Roundup #4: 120mm Fans II

 

Do you have pictures of your current wiring job?

[LivingGhost]

I'm charging my camera now. SPCR recommended the Nexus fans to me.

 

I actually don't have a good sound system right now, I plan on getting the K1000's + amp soon, then an external DAC, so I can hook up my computer, cablebox, game consoles, etc.

[Bleeble]

I'm charging my camera now. SPCR recommended the Nexus fans to me.

Nexus: $15 from SVC

Yate Loon: four D12SL for $16, four D12SM for $20 from Petra's Tech

 

I suppose you can pay 4 times as much for a fan if you really want to...

[LivingGhost]

Bleeble, no need to roll your eyes at me. I'm just saying that's what SPCR told me to get, if Yate Loons are the same, I'll get them instead.

 

Terrible wiring at http://www.xenuonline.com/pc/ . Oh man. Didn't realize they were so blurry. I need some lights. (I took the pics in near-darkness.)

Edited July 18, 2007 by LivingGhost

[iKillSteal]

Bleeble, no need to roll your eyes at me. I'm just saying that's what SPCR told me to get, if Yate Loons are the same, I'll get them instead.

 

Terrible wiring at http://www.xenuonline.com/pc/ . Oh man. Didn't realize they were so blurry. I need some lights. (I took the pics in near-darkness.)

If I were you I'd consider a thorough dusting before even thinking about messing with the wiring! Does anybody else see giant chunks of dust just clinging onto his heatsink!? It's much easier to see in the second picture...

 

Pull your rig apart, blast EVERYTHING with compressed air and then reassemble it while routing some of the cables behind the motherboard tray to make things more tidy. Who knows, you may even see a nice drop in temps.