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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 16, 2004 5:44:23 GMT -5
Have any of you guys installed sound deadening material for the XPS or have at least thought of it? I'm thinking of doing it but I'm not sure how effective it will be.
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Post by TRow on Oct 16, 2004 6:13:08 GMT -5
Long time Gdawg! I see you still can't stand that fan noise 
Ive seen arguements for both sides with a few key points.
Here is a really good review that can help you decide. Other products may have better results, Dynamat is a good sound dampener that will work too, and is available at Bestbuy, or Custom Stereo Shops.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 16, 2004 15:21:14 GMT -5
Yeah T.Row. What's new? It's not me though. My roommate can't stand the "loudness" of my computer or the clacking of my keyboard. I've decided on purchasing either a PSK5000 keyboard or a Logitech UltraX. www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=531_564&products_id=2227www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=531_564&products_id=3197I've even gone to the trouble of replacing my rear fans with the stock Nidecs from Dell. They seem to work better when they're not behind the green duct. The fans are within 300-400 RPMs of eachother and can really put it when the going gets tough. As for the sound deadening material, Acoustipack looks nice but it's pricey for me. Also, I'm not sure if installing sound deadening material would be worth it since the places I would only imagine where the material would be installed would be at the top of the case, the back of the clamshell door, and maybe along the optical and hard drives. The bottom of the case is offlimits since that's where the PSU is. Any words of advice? |
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Post by TRow on Oct 16, 2004 15:49:11 GMT -5
Find a new roomate! Kidding aside, I really never went down this road, nor did I consider fan noise when modifying. A Fan controller or cheap-o rheobus would also help to control fan noise when idle. Powering down is another option, if you dont have a Uninteruptible Power supply, I would power down when you sleep. It seems as if the Case itself has many places for the noise to leak out, specifically the front Face of the case. That seems to be where most of the noise comes from, well that and the Window Fan I installed. *************************** Cool keyboards, laptop keys are sweet! I read into the 2nd one a bit, trying to determine if its programmable for macros and time sensitive key combos. Sweet link ! T.RoW |
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Post by TRow on Oct 17, 2004 0:55:09 GMT -5
Sounds like the perfect match for a Water cooling kit. Though this may be extreme, your needs are the main arguements supporting water cooling. Now if only the technology was cheaper. THGuide did a review on a Water kit by Sanyo Denki. T.RoW |
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Post by devnull on Oct 17, 2004 20:47:24 GMT -5
Water cooling is a very good idea for the XPS owner who doesn't mind putting a little bit of risk into the endeavor. I, personally, think that the XPS is very well suited to the mod and woulnd't mind doing it to mine when in the market for a new computer (in a few years). The sheer size of the case is reason to perhaps utilize an internal radiator and use a single fan to blow excess heat from the radiator. Virtually silent? Very much so. Bad ass, also very much so.
Also, AMEN TO THE B.A. AVATARS. Thx TRow =D
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 19, 2004 16:34:14 GMT -5
Has anyone watercooled their XPS yet? I would attempt to watercool but the price and the constant worry of a water leak sets me back.
As for right now, Acoustipack is looking awfully good right now.
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Post by TRow on Oct 19, 2004 18:22:12 GMT -5
If I were going to watercool, This would be my ideal setup:D  |
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 20, 2004 21:56:53 GMT -5
Haha wow, that's pretty awesome. Hey T.Row I sure appreciate the temps you've been getting but how loud is your system? Can you hear it a room away? Can you hear the fans over music? On a side note, my processor idle is at 32 C at an ambient 68 F with the Zalman. Memory and chipset is at 30 C.  |
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Post by TRow on Oct 20, 2004 22:59:18 GMT -5
Its a bit noisy.
(3)92mm Fans at 100% speed at 75+ cfm's per fan.
Not enough to drowned music, or even notice when im in game with h.phones on. Id say around the 45-50dB mark, would be annoying to some. Guaranteed.
Current Idle Temps with ambient 23c.
CPU: 31c
Chipset: 27c
Mem: 26c
VGA: 34c
T.RoW
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Post by devnull on Oct 21, 2004 1:04:17 GMT -5
Yeah, I think I am in a similar mode TRow. I would say mine isn't too bad, even when nothing is going on, but when benching it can get a bit noisy, probably in the 40dB range, otherwise its just above ambient. I live in downtown milwaukee so thinks are typically pretty loud anyway, so my 'ambient' is a lot louder than most.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 21, 2004 5:20:24 GMT -5
So devnull, what have you done to your XPS?
As for me, I've replaced the intake fan with a 80mm Thermaltake Adjustable Smart fan and the rear fans with 92mm Enermax Adjustables. I've also installed the Zalman CNPS 7000A Al-Cu heatsink/fan. Check out the Zalman post for pics.
Living in Berkeley, it gets very quiet so the noise of my computer is even more noticeable.
As for the Acoustipack, it's pretty much a go. I'll order post pics once I'm done and tell you guys how effective it is. At an ambient of 65 degrees F, my processor is at 29 degrees C and memory and chipset are at 27 degrees C at idle. Load temperatures was 42 degrees C for the CPU and 31,33 degrees C for the memory and chipset respectively. Not too shabby.
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Post by devnull on Oct 21, 2004 15:32:41 GMT -5
Not bad at all. I havn't done all that much to my XPS but the key has been modding while keeping the warranty intact. I have added two fans, each being 24dB LED fans by coolermaster, one has gone to an apparatus toward the front of the pc, said by dell to 'split' airflow. This fan now actively pushes air from the front of the case to the rear, in particular the video card. The second fan is attached to the ceiling of the case, actively getting rid of hot air at the top of the case. To make sure that these fans aren't going full blast all the time, I have installed an Aerogate II to monitor temperatures and fanspeeds. Aside from this, I have changed all the thermal compound from Dell's stock goop to AS5. In a few weeks I plan on placing a VGAcooler4 on my X800XT. The hottest my VGA gets, during repeat of mother nature in 3d03, it about 59.5C, which I think is damn good. Again, the ambient is much lower here, as its fall in Milwaukee, but I think its a natural benefit to my computer.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 22, 2004 4:25:30 GMT -5
Ah I see. You have a Gen3 XPS? An X800 XT? That's nice. AS5 is good stuff. What system temperatures are you getting now?
Almost close to purchasing the Acoustipack. Will keep you guys posted.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Oct 22, 2004 19:39:41 GMT -5
Alright, just purchased the Acoustipack. It's coming from Washington so hopefully it shouldn't take that long to ship. Will keep you guys posted.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Nov 2, 2004 21:39:25 GMT -5
After one weird week of UPS coming at all different hours during the day and me having to drive to the UPS hub to pick up my package, I finally have my Acoustipack. I have a final this saturday so i'm going to wait a few days before i install it. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and to tell you how quiet my XPS will be.
First things first, the Acoustipack stuff looks like it will do the job. It's heavy stuff with high quality foam. Hope this works!.
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Post by devnull on Nov 3, 2004 12:06:19 GMT -5
I am interested in the issue as well. though, the XPS does have quite a few 'holes' in it. I mean, the whole rear of the case is fanholes and such, and the top-rear of the case has holes and fins that let air (and sound) out. Hrm, it might just end up changing the tone of the sound, but not the amount.
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Post by gdawg8947 on Nov 6, 2004 19:09:59 GMT -5
Well well well guys. Take a look at this.     I must say this is one of the best mods I've done apart from the Zalman Installation. My computer is a lot quieter now with the Acoustipack installed. I can play my music at a softer volume and still not be able to hear the fans. The temps are also pretty good. At idle my CPU is at 32 C, memory is at 28 C, and my chipset is at 30 C. Ambient is 66 F right now. Another good thing is that the XPS barely uses one sheet of Acoustipack. Thus if you can find a buyer for the other two sheets, you'll only be spending 20 bucks or so making your computer quiet. Sorry for the low resolution of the pictures. |
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Post by gdawg8947 on Nov 6, 2004 19:11:19 GMT -5
Just to clarify, the pitch and the volume of the fan noise both have been lowered.
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Post by devnull on Nov 6, 2004 21:06:48 GMT -5
that is awesome. you did a REALLY nice job on the motherboard side. I like how you adapted it even though it was difficult with the clamshell design....
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