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Need Advice with system upgrade

Forum Homebuilt Systems : General Homebuilt - Need Advice with system upgrade

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krag123   10-25-2006 at 07:13:35 PM

Hello eveyone,

I have recently built myself a new computer, its been running fine with no problems what so ever for over a month now. The components in this system are as follows:

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
ASUS EAX1900XT/2DHTV/512 GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Rosewill RD600-2DB-SL ATX Form Factor 12V V2.2 / SSI standard EPS 12V 600W Active PFC Power Supply - SLI Ready - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
OCZ Platinum Revision 2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2P800R22GK - Retail
Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

I have no complaints about anything that i have in my case, some of you may think its a good rig, others may think i cheaped out in some aspects, but i dont mind that. My problem is, that this setup generates way to much noise. According to the ASUS monitoring software, my CPU runs around 34-38C and the system is 32C. It does not seem to put off that much heat, but the noise has made me consider a water cooled solution.

I have no plans to over clock this computer, as of yet, and maybe never will. I have read in a few other threads about the Thermaltake Bigwater 745, and i was wondering if this would be a good cooler for the setup i have? The Bigwater 745 only comes with a CPU heat block though, and i was also wondering if i could tie my X1900XT into that sytem as well to eleminate its fan.

Any information you can offer about the Bigwater 745, or perhaps even a better water cooler for my set up, or maybe even a better way to cool my system please let me know. I would like to keep this upgrade under $200 if possible, but if you can make a compelling arguemnt to spend more then i want, then i might go with that solution.

Thanks in advance for your help in this mater.

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Robovski   10-26-2006 at 04:13:00 AM
- 0 +

Water cooling is probably not the answer.

1. It's not as reliable as air-cooling and so must be checked.
2. It's not silent (most cooling solutions aren't but it's a mis-conception that water = quiet) as you have a pump either inside or outside making noise.
3. It costs more than other solutions that should work.

Some options:

1. I am guessing you are running with stock coolers on the CPU and the 1900XT. If that is the case, you should consider an aftermarket cooler for your CPU and GPU, something to get your decibels down to the 20 area. These 2 places are the most common sources of noise in any system. You might be able to get away with a fan-less CPU cooler, I don't think you can get one for the 1900XT.

2. You could also consider a replacement PSU with quieter operation as that can be the source of a lot of 'out of case' noise. This is your next best bet when it comes to noise reduction.

3. You can get sound absorbing foam to adhere to the inside of your case and/or an external 'muffler' for the PSU that is built onto the back of the case. This is more experimental territory, and the gains to be made here are probably not the first ones to be made, but it could take the noise down to something you are more prepared to live with and they don't require you to modify your rig as it currently stands.

I know that this is a lot of general information. But as you built the machine yourself, I think you can take it from here on researching components.

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