OK, some background will be required here to determing my chances of any degree of success, but essentially my current rig is fairly noisy and whilst at first this semeed Ok as the price to pay for my XP3000+ now that I am looking forward to building an AMD64 3200+ into what I very much expect to be a sub 22db setup it no longer seems tolerable. This becomes especially relevant as I hope to relocate my XP3000 to be a potential network and file server here, the rest of it is up to spec and no way should I let it go to waste, but I don't really have the luxury of anywhere more remote than a hallway to locate it and it still matters to get it quiet there to not annoy anyone for 24/7 uptime.
So I am wondering what mods I can employ and what chances I have of success in getting the noise down and keeping temps acceptable - if I could get stability and cool I would even underclock.
So my "hit list" for noisy components in the old rig is something like this....
1) No name 80mm exhaust blowing from top (stop this and noise halves!)
2) QTEC Gold 400W Dual Fan PSU (this must be most of remaining)
3) Anonymous case (removing top reduces 80mm fan noise)
4) Radeon Sapphire 9700 pro fan (surely overkill for a server, could use in new rig until I can afford better)
5) Coolermaster Silent CPU fan (surely no scope here, tried stopping momentarily and cannot hear over PSU)
I should also say my system tends to run around 40oC case and 52oC CPU under load of about 80% folding. I may well leave the system folding as a server but with reduced load. The box also has in there a couple of hard drives and two optical - the hard drives would stay but the DVD would come out and just the CD stay if it were a server.
However, being a lazy so and so plus tight on funds (new rig has most of my budget!) I was wondering what advice people could give me on achieving maximum quiet for minimum outlay and fiddling. I suspect with the right PSU the exhaust fan would become redundant.... my next worry is that I am forced into looking at the case to make any further improvement (because that basically means more work than a build, have to dismantle first!).
I have no faith in the quieting systems that encase a case within a case, they must ah heck your airflow and I imagine have limited effect. Also wondering about a cool graphics card that is not totally weak, don't want to cripple the system as it may still ocassionally be used as it is now, as a backup and by others in the house so am only taking things out to A) Reduce noise B) Save money if I think it is worth the hassle.
Sorry for the long post, kinda thinking out loud here - I am imagining someone here must have been through this or something very like it and would be very appreciative of any shared experience in this area. Needless to say esoteric solutions like water cooling and heat exchangers are out of the question - but others like underclocking and thermostatic PSU's are very much encouraged (I was thinking of the "Silent" Hi-Tec 420W which I think can be had under £40 but maybe someone here has better ideas?)
So I am wondering what mods I can employ and what chances I have of success in getting the noise down and keeping temps acceptable - if I could get stability and cool I would even underclock.
So my "hit list" for noisy components in the old rig is something like this....
1) No name 80mm exhaust blowing from top (stop this and noise halves!)
2) QTEC Gold 400W Dual Fan PSU (this must be most of remaining)
3) Anonymous case (removing top reduces 80mm fan noise)
4) Radeon Sapphire 9700 pro fan (surely overkill for a server, could use in new rig until I can afford better)
5) Coolermaster Silent CPU fan (surely no scope here, tried stopping momentarily and cannot hear over PSU)
I should also say my system tends to run around 40oC case and 52oC CPU under load of about 80% folding. I may well leave the system folding as a server but with reduced load. The box also has in there a couple of hard drives and two optical - the hard drives would stay but the DVD would come out and just the CD stay if it were a server.
However, being a lazy so and so plus tight on funds (new rig has most of my budget!) I was wondering what advice people could give me on achieving maximum quiet for minimum outlay and fiddling. I suspect with the right PSU the exhaust fan would become redundant.... my next worry is that I am forced into looking at the case to make any further improvement (because that basically means more work than a build, have to dismantle first!).
I have no faith in the quieting systems that encase a case within a case, they must ah heck your airflow and I imagine have limited effect. Also wondering about a cool graphics card that is not totally weak, don't want to cripple the system as it may still ocassionally be used as it is now, as a backup and by others in the house so am only taking things out to A) Reduce noise B) Save money if I think it is worth the hassle.
Sorry for the long post, kinda thinking out loud here - I am imagining someone here must have been through this or something very like it and would be very appreciative of any shared experience in this area. Needless to say esoteric solutions like water cooling and heat exchangers are out of the question - but others like underclocking and thermostatic PSU's are very much encouraged (I was thinking of the "Silent" Hi-Tec 420W which I think can be had under £40 but maybe someone here has better ideas?)