HTPC Silent Cooling

BigEejit

I have a nice Coolermaster case (http://www.coolermaster-europe.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=CAV-T02&other_title=CAV-T02Cavalier%202 and recently put some old desktop components into it. It works fine but is too noisy for my liking. There is no way to get a 120mm fan or anything like that in it and so I need suggestions for cpu cooling (P4 2.4 northwood) and graphics card cooling (Ati 9800pro 128mb) ....

For real silence I know I would need something like a Zalman watercooler (Reserator1 would be ideal) but they are too damn expensive ... I was looking to spend no more than €150 for the whole cooling package (may also need a northbridge passive cooler)

Spec is
Abit IC7-G
P4 2.4 that can overclock to 3.2 easily
1 gig of good mushkin pc3200 ram
Ati 9800 pro 128
Sound blaster live (onboard sound on motherboard is crackly)
Twinhan Mini Ter DVB-T

Any suggestions would be welcome (even if they are a bit over my budget)

SouperComputer

if you dont need the CPU horsepower right now, you could undervolt and underclock the CPU. Throw an XP90 onto it with an 8cm fan with a resistor in the circuit to slow it down and you have a quiet package.

For the GPU, the answer is the Arctic Freezer. Great cooler and very quiet.

/pedant you cant have a silent computer only a quiet one.

What have you done regards northbridge, HD and PSU for noise reduction?


Also, there is a quiet PC sticky on the Tweaking\Modding forum if it helps.

Also, grab an old Audigy 1 from ebay. The difference in sound quality is amazing!

BigEejit

I know I'll never get silent, just as long as it is not noticeable from 2 or 3 meters during quiet parts of movies/tv programs

my hard disk is a nice quiet 7200.7 Seagate jobbie with rubber washers between it and the disk bay. I have a Zalman 6500alcu on the cpu with a 90mm zalman fan... that is turned down pretty low ... probably the biggest noise souce in it at the moment is the fan on the 9800 ... after that it probably the power supply (which is propietary) but I would have no problem taking it apart and sticking in a quiet fan or two....

8T8

According to a review;
the PSU uses an 80mm fan
an intake 80mm fan
dual 60mm fans

You could replace those with Akasa's amber 80 & 60 fans which are designed run quieter.

As for the GPU any of Zalman GPU coolers would probably be the best option, though if performance isn't an issue why not replace the 9800 Pro with a current low end part that uses passive cooling, would be only a little more than the cost of a new cooler.

SouperComputer

As for the GPU any of Zalman GPU coolers would probably be the best option, though if performance isn't an issue why not replace the 9800 Pro with a current low end part that uses passive cooling, would be only a little more than the cost of a new cooler.

yea, theres another option if you aren't gaming heavily you could get a passive FX5200 for about 25-39 euro.

BigEejit

Unfortunately I do want to game (connected by VGA to my 32" LCD TV ... games are pretty good when sitting well back, not so good when sitting closer) so am not keen on underclocking and reducing gpu power .... I will have a look at replacing all the fans and the 9800pro HSF ...

Anyone here using water cooling for htpc setups?

8T8

Well water cooling does not come cheap especially if you want one of the better kits that can daisy chain connection from the CPU to the GPU & motherboard chipset.

There is also space considerations, maintenance & cleaning of the system cant say I'd recommend it for a HTPC unless it was an entirely self contained unit.

Best GPU cooler to get is probably this VF900-Cu one from Zalman & set the fan to it's slowest speed.

It's a pity you don't have a PCI-Express motherboard as even a 7600GS will outperform a 9800 Pro these days plus many of the 7600GS cards come with passive cooling no fan needed at all! If you prefer ATI there are even one or two passive X1600 Pro's out there as well.