Project: Silent AC Rocketfish

[jester55]

Like many here I have acquired the Rocketfish/Lian-Li for my new build. I have seen some extraordinary rigs based upon the RF and I thought I would give it a go. I have built computers for years, but never have I done any modding!:shocked:

So technically, this is my first project! With that in mind, any helpful criticism/feedback is wanted and needed. I need all the help I can get!

theplaidfad has inspired me with his Silent WC Rocketfish project. I thought I would use some of his ideas but with an air-cooled system instead. I'm not interested in WC yet, but I may go that way in the future.

I only have a few main goals in this project:
1. Silent/Very Quiet System
2. OCing my Q6600 to around 3.3-3.6GHz on air
3. Making the inside aesthetically appealing
4. Channeling the air in a way to increase air-flow with low rpms
5. And any other suggestion you good people might have!

I am coming from the following very noisy rig:
-DFI LanParty Ultra-D MOBO
-AMD Opteron 170 CPU w/Thermalright XP-90 HS and Panflo Fan @ 2.5 GHz
-G.SKILL 2GB (2x1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 PC 4000
-EVGA 7800GT 256MB GPU
-(2) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
-(1) Western Digital 74gb Raptor
-OCZ PowerStream 520W Adjustable SLI PSU
-Antec SLK3000B ATX Super Mid-Tower w/(2) Antec 120MM Tri-Cools

Here is my new rig parts:
-Abit IP35-Pro MOBO
-Intel Q6600 G0 SLACR w/Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme and Scythe S-Flex 1600RPM Fan
-G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)
-EVGA 9800GTX GPU
-(3) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
-Corsair TX750w PSU
-Rocketfish/Lian-Li Case w/Enermax Multifunction-Fan Controller Panel
-Material for noise dampening and air channeling (Peel&Seal Roofers Tape, foam floor-mats, and velcro)

I am going to use roofer's tape to line the inside of the case decrease to vibration and noise. The floor-mats will be cut and mounted via velcro in order to direct airflow and dampen noise. I am also going to create an air-tunnel with the floor mats for my hard drives. I have sketched a diagram of how I intend it direct air-flow that you can see HERE.

Click Here to View Pics!

Thanks for looking and please don't hesitate to give feedback as I update the post and pics!

-Jester

 

[Bluefront]

Another Rocketfish thread? This case is so big, any number of mods are possible..... I even managed to install two different MBs in mine(photos). If you're trying for a more standard setup that's quiet, this case has a big problem......a badly restricted intake airflow. The little vent holes on the bottom are too close to the floor, and too tiny to let much air in.....easily modified with taller feet and some cutting.

The worst offender is the front fan setup. The little vent holes in the front bezel are too restrictive, as is the rather useless filter. This also can be modified.

The rear Lian Li fan housing by the video card also needs help. The fan blows straight at the rear of the housing....bad for back-pressure. The vent holes there are too small. The result is reduced air-flow and more noise. If you must use the thing.....turn the fan around so it blows inward....... it'll work better that way.

The PSU setup will work better with fan(s) blowing straight through, rather than a bottom mounted fan. If you intend to use a bottom PSU fan...... cut a big hole in the bottom of the case.

The write-up on my on-going Rocketfish project is here. Have fun...

 

[jester55]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
Another Rocketfish thread?

Yeah, I know! Is it really that bad to add another to the pot?

Originally posted by: BluefrontThis case is so big, any number of mods are possible..... I even managed to install two different MBs in mine(photos).

Yep, you were another I was inspired from to take the jump and customize this beast a bit!

Originally posted by: Bluefront If you're trying for a more standard setup that's quiet, this case has a big problem......a badly restricted intake airflow. The little vent holes on the bottom are too close to the floor, and too tiny to let much air in.....easily modified with taller feet and some cutting.

The worst offender is the front fan setup. The little vent holes in the front bezel are too restrictive, as is the rather useless filter. This also can be modified.

Yes, this is going to be one of my first changes. My plan was to seal the bottom front half with the roofer's tap. Rotate the hard drive cage and create a air tunnel around it with the floor matting. Take the grill off the front fan. Take the front filter off, and cut the "H" bracket out. My fear is that this still will not produce enough air-flow from the front fan due to the size of the front bezel holes in the door, as you have noted.

Do you think this would be enough to get the most benefit from the front fan? or Should I scratch this idea all together and just move the fan to the bottom middle of the case? or Keep the front fan where it is with my ideas, and add another intake fan at the bottom about in the middle of the case?

Originally posted by: BluefrontThe rear Lian Li fan housing by the video card also needs help. The fan blows straight at the rear of the housing....bad for back-pressure. The vent holes there are too small. The result is reduced air-flow and more noise. If you must use the thing.....turn the fan around so it blows inward....... it'll work better that way.

The GPU fan has been on my mind ever since I bought the thing. It just wasn't executed very well! Anyway, last night I think I found a good solution to get the most out of it! I will post pics of what I did tonight. Besides making the fan an intake fan rather than an exhaust fan, I have also done something I have not seen yet. Based upon my measurements, there should be just enough room to mount the fan on the outside of the air vent after taking the grill off. This puts the fan closer to the GPU and NB/SB HS, and it should increase air-flow because the fan is no longer resting up against the wall of the air vent. We will see if my measurements are correct! If not I will probably re-drill the holes for the air vent a bit so it will work. From what I can tell, the fan will probably rest against the 9800gtx, of which I will then put some kind of padding between the two due to vibration. As for the vent holes out the back, I plan to drill most of the holes out to increase air-flow as well.

Originally posted by: Bluefront
The PSU setup will work better with fan(s) blowing straight through, rather than a bottom mounted fan. If you intend to use a bottom PSU fan...... cut a big hole in the bottom of the case.

The PSU is a very puzzling dilemma for me. My original plan is to drill out the bottom and use the floor-matting to divide airflow from the PSU and the rest of the case. And, install legs to increase air-flow. My fear is that the PSU will draw in what little fresh air there is from the front fan, keeping that fresh air from ever reaching the MOBO and CPU.

My other idea was to mount the PSU upside down and then seal the whole bottom with the roofer's tape. Use the floor matting as a divider to create a lower thermal chamber for the the PSU and Hard Drives, similiar to the P182s. Intake air comes into the front, through the thermal chamber cooling the hard drives. The PSU would then sucks in this air and exhausts it out the back. I would then install another intake fan in the 5 1/4 bay,like this.

Which way do you think would be better for the PSU?

Thanks for the feedback and I hope others do the same!

-Jester

 

[Bluefront]

Exactly how you would/should mod this thing depends a lot on how serious you are about keeping it quiet......and if you intend to keep the door. There's enough space behind the door for a modest amount of airflow from a bay fan setup. If you remove the door, you'll improve the airflow quite a bit....but it will be noisier. Note that I did not use any fans on the front of my setup.......I am trying for the quietest possible computer, even running both boards at once.

Concerning the PSU..... again I did not use the intended location. I moved my main PSU to the top. So I can only guess at your proposed setup. I have never used a bottom located PSU in at least five years. They are simply too much trouble with the type of airflow I prefer......which is usually extreme positive pressure, with fans on the bottom blowing upward.

If you have a PSU blowing outward and a rear fan blowing outward, they will be competing for the intake air from any front fans you have. Your proposed mod to that rear VGA fan sounds like it should work ok.....if you drill out the vent holes.

There are so many possible mods to this case...... there's no "right" way to do it. But if you're trying for a quiet setup, some mods are certainly better than others. My setup has no exhaust fans on the case, and the intake fans are internally mounted......different from any other setup you're likely to see. I like to think I have the quietest Rocketfish, and certainly the only one with two MBs. Right now that case has four 140mm fans, all turning slowly except if necessary....then they speed up.

I'm interested in what others do/have done to this case. Please report back.

 

[Tim]

The PSU isn't going to be as big of a problem as you think. Leave it bottom mounted, PSU's do not really have a problem working properly in higher temps.... they're actually built to deal with it. The PSU with a bottom mounted fan will draw enough air from those little holes and be just fine. I blocked it off on my case somewhat so it neither really contributes or messes with the rest of the airflow in the case. If you'd like to be on the safe side, just put higher feet on the case.

IMO, the more little holes you block off here and there, the better the airflow of the case is going to be. Air and sound are like water, and students, they always takes the easiest path. If you have all of those little holes closer to the fan, the air and sound is going to escape there. Use roofers tape to tape all of those holes everywhere on the case (except for the PSU's), and the air and sound will follow the path it's meant too. From the front bottom and out through the upper rear.

As far as the GPU fan, if you'd like to increase the amount of air it can move, just cut out the backend behind the fan... no more restriction. Of course, you could always mod the side panel to allow for a fan installation. I plan on doing that soon.

With your sound proofing, the 3 120mm fans that come with the case are going to be pretty damn quiet, ESP if you tape up all those little holes like I mentioned above. I'm sure you can find an adequately quiet CPU cooling solution as well. Your biggest noise maker will be your HDD's, and that can be solved by rotating the cage as you plan to do, AND moving it somewhere near the middle of the bottom of the case (what a mouthfull). Use a double layer of the roofers tape on the bottom of the case, you can even cover the HDD bay as I did, and then instead of screwing it down, just mount it in place with double sided tape. (it's not like you plan on packing your rocketfish full tower around right?) Now those HDD's are isolated from vibration, and aren't near any sound escaping openings. Your ears will be pleased.

 

[jester55]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
IMO, the more little holes you block off here and there, the better the airflow of the case is going to be.

That is exactly my plan with the roofer's tape. Thanks for reassuring me that I am on the right track!

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
As far as the GPU fan, if you'd like to increase the amount of air it can move, just cut out the backend behind the fan... no more restriction.

That is exactly what I did. I'm not a big fan of side fans.

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
Use a double layer of the roofers tape on the bottom of the case, you can even cover the HDD bay as I did, and then instead of screwing it down, just mount it in place with double sided tape. (it's not like you plan on packing your rocketfish full tower around right?) Now those HDD's are isolated from vibration, and aren't near any sound escaping openings.

Again, you have described my plans. What can I say? - I really liked your project and I'm going steal every idea I can from yah!

Thanks alot for your feedback. I was hoping you would visit!

-Jester

 

[jester55]

Time to update what I got done last night. Seemed like a lot of cutting because it took me so long. If you would like to look at pics as I explain my progress feel free to view my album. My pics kind of jump around because I was kind of bouncing around a lot on what I was doing. My main objective last night was to get all my aluminum cutting finished. Everything I cut was to increase air-flow and hopefully reduce turbulence thereby reducing noise too.

I reversed the GPU/PCI fan to make it an intake and mounted on the outside of the air-duct to reduce drag from being so close to the wall of the air-duct. My 9800GTX should still fit nicely assuming my measurements are correct. If not, I will probably then use the dremel on the fan, or re-drill the mounting holes a bit. I also cut out the rear grill covering the GPU/PCI fan air-duct. This should increase air-flow as well. I plan to put trim around the edges to hide my dremel job.

On the front I cut the "H" bracket out after taking the fan and filter out. The edges came out pretty smooth. I don't plan on using the filter due to noise and air-flow restriction. With the door closed there seems to be inadequate air-flow due to the restrictive holes on the sides of the front door. As stated by BlueFront, if I take the door off I start to work against a silent machine. In order to increase air-flow through the front fan, I drilled ten 1/2" holes in the front lip that support the front face. The hole shouldn't be seen at all, once everything is together.

Next, I cut out the two bottom grills for the PSU. I plan to close off the PSU in the case to prevent the PSU from working against the direction of air-flow. By cutting the bottom grills out, I should have adequate cooling for the PSU, once it is closed off from air in others of the case. The feet on the case should still be adequate for air-flow since I keep my computer on my desk. I plan to put trim around the edges to hide my dremel job.

So, this is where I am at so far. I do have a few concerns as I mull over what I accomplished last night. I have read several times that impeded air-flow results in turbulence and noise. Hence why I have gone to such extremes so far to make the air as free to flow as possible. My concern is that I am also creating a dust magnet that I can not control. I do blow-out my cases every month or so.

Another concern I have is whether the front intake fan will produce enough air-flow at a low rpm. I am tempted to re-work my air flow by creating a shelf similiar to the P182/180's that closes off the bottom the case from the top. For that to work, I would need to install a drive-bay fan. My fear in this is more noise with the added front intake.

Thanks for looking and thanks for the feedback!
-Jester

 

[Tim]

Looking good so far, keep us updated. Definately interested to see how close that side fan is to your video card.

 

[jester55]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
Looking good so far, keep us updated. Definately interested to see how close that side fan is to your video card.

Thanks for the encouragement. I need all I can get!

Quick update on what I finished last night. I had a pretty long day at work yesterday, so I didn't get much done at all. Basically, as you can see in the pics, I have started applying the Peel & Seal roofer's tape to the front of the case. The Peel & Seal is going on nicely. It does smell a little if I get my nose within an inch of it. Overall, so far, there's no smell at all within my room. And, that is with the complete roll of Peel & Seal opened and sitting in my room! I am happy so far because the possibility of smelling like a roof was a concern. From what I have read at silentpcreview.com forum, any smell I might have will dissipate/dissolve if I set the case outside for a couple hours on a hot dry day. I am really impressed how well this stuff deadens vibration in the case. When I thump the sided with my finger, you can definitely hear a difference! I hope to get a lot more done tonight - possible finish apply the Peal & Seal! I did purchase some rubber window trim for the aluminum edges and double-stick tape to apply the floor tiles when I get to that. Until next update....
-Jester

Pics:
http://img356.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2132vi9.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2131nw1.jpg
http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2130xa1.jpg