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Post by munski on Feb 9, 2005 15:04:18 GMT -5
Before I start seriously modding my G3 (after warranty) with watercooling stuff, I'd like to swap out the rear cpu fams for (Panaflo? Papst? Verax? Enermax? Vantec? Zalman?) something high end and quieter. I'd like to keep the cpu shroud for now and just re-install better fans. Is the 4 wire motherboard plug on the existing fans a standard fitting?
I don't want to start hacking away untill I'm more famililar with the blue skyscraper, so I just want to drop in some better fans for now with the same (or better) air flow and regulation, but quieter.
Anybody?
XPS G3 P4 560 3.6 GHz. HT
Windows XP Home
1 Gig RAM
2x160 Gig. Maxtors in Raid 0
Audigy something sound card
Sony 710 DVD & Dell something DVD
Radeon X800 SE Video card
NEC 1920 LCD & NEC FE950 CRT
Logitec MX510 mouse & FUNC Pad
HP 2250 Printer, Canon 8500 Scanner
Dimension 4500 P4 2.4 GHz.
Windows XP Pro
1024 MB DDR SDRAM
80 + 80 Gig WD HD's
Samsung DVD & CD
Nvidia FX 5200
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Post by TRow on Feb 9, 2005 21:13:39 GMT -5
Is the 4 wire motherboard plug on the existing fans a standard fitting? I remember reading somewhere that its a non-standard fan connector. Devnull should be on later to give you a more precise answer. T.RoW |
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Post by TRow on Feb 9, 2005 22:37:08 GMT -5
He has a Gen3, Im confused because I remember reading somewhere that the Fan connector was a 4 pin, non-standard connector. Which was why Devnull powered his aftermarket fans from the Fan controller? The more I think about it, the more confused I become.
*scratches head
T.RoW
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Post by munski on Feb 10, 2005 8:55:11 GMT -5
I checked again, and they are 4 wire connections to the MB. I assume that they are thermo controled by the MB (4th wire) so I don't want to mess with hooking them up to the PSU.
I'd also like to add a fan to the inside top of the case for more exhaust. Any suggestions for a size (80,92,120) that would fit above the cpu shroud?
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Post by devnull on Feb 11, 2005 20:10:20 GMT -5
Yes, they do have 4 pins. I am currently searching through mouser electronics catalog. If I recall, they have the same one in their magazine that the mobo uses. I will try and get more info later.
Okay man, I have been in your position and I have just a bit of advice to give. The fan that you could mount on the top of the case is nice, but the metal that across the top (yeah, that metal plate with those holes in it) is nice, but doesn't allow a lot of airflow. I had an 80mm fan there for a long while but it just wasn't the most effective means. instead, I would try to just get a lot of air flowing through the case from front to rear.
What I did was this: I installed a 120mm fan in the very front, its really really snug but it works great. I used a vantec stealth 120mm. Then, I took another 80mm fan, just a standard 80mm (25dB), and put it on the CPU heatsink with the shroud still on. If you look to the right of the shroud, where the aluminum is exposed, an 80mm fan will fit RIGHT THERE. It helps a lot to push air through the case and over the CPU. Also, because your getting more fresh air through the case with the 120mm fan, you will lower the temps of the air passing over the nidec fans, making them quieter. Honestly, my case is really really quiet when I have all the fans turned down, and with an ATIsilencer, my idle temps for the gfx card and CPU are 31 and 36, respectively. During heavy gaming, they go up to 42/46. I think thats awesome.
Let me know what you think and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
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Post by munski on Feb 11, 2005 20:41:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the help - being a new guy to all this, I'm sorta out their alone with my research on this fan stuff. Yesterday I ordered an 80mm AeroCool "X-Flow" with a speed control dial on a pci slot mount ($8.50) to play around with. I'm gonna try mounting it to the top of the case for an exhaust fan first and see what happens, then maybe to that black plastic removable cage thing in the front for an intake fan.
My G3 doesn't seem to run too hot when i'm gaming, but I'd like to drop the noise levels a bit.
I'm also looking at a Silverstone or Lian-Li fan & thermostat control for a front panel fan monitoring option. 2 really nice looking units!
I'll keep you posted and send along some pics when i'm further along.
I still can't get over how nice it is to play H.L.2 in hi-rez! I hope we don't have to wait 6 more years for H.L.3.
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Post by munski on Feb 11, 2005 20:57:07 GMT -5
Devnull- Sorry, I missed the second half of your reply before i answered. I'll try the 80mm on the front of the heatsink (how did you attach it to the shroud?) and look at a 120mm for the front. Did you replace the dell front fan with it or just attach it to the front wire mesh as a second fan. I think i'm gonna have to remove that blk. plastic air flow thing to keep the fan from hitting it when I close the door.
Munski
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Post by vojky on Feb 13, 2005 19:50:45 GMT -5
..."WITH THE SHROUD ON"??
That sounds a little strange given that the std. configeration of the shrouded fans (one being blocked by the cardboard) is one sucking air out and the other blowing it in. Are you adding another infront of the heat sink to blow more air out? Why then, not simply remove the cardboard and turn the fan around so that BOTH draw air out thru the CPU Heat Sink??
My second point concerns the front 120mm fan. I don't know anything about this stuff so please play along with me...
- If you have 2 (say) 70CFM fans in the rear drawing air out and a 120mm (say 100CFM fan in the front blowing air in then aren't you infact simply constricting the airflow? over that section of the grill that you just blocked?
By removing the cardboard and reversing 1 fan in the shroud so that they both draw air out. my HDD temp on the Raptor dropped 6 degrees. I imaginge that similar drops wouls have occured in the cpu.
thanks
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Post by munski on Feb 14, 2005 12:37:44 GMT -5
Well, you made a good point here and all I can say is this is gonna be a work in progress. What mods did you do to your XPS?
Untill I can monitor my case temps I won't have any way of knowing what the hell is going on, so my shopping list has a front panel fan controller with temp monitor on it. I'm leaning toward the Silverstone unit because of the extra air intakes, flat buttons that won't screw with the door and the good review in Toms Hardware.
Also, I might add that I'm pretty happy with the relative lack of noise in the stock config so far, but I love experimenting with this stuff to see if their is any room for improvements.
I'll be sure to keep everybody posted.
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Post by devnull on Feb 14, 2005 17:18:29 GMT -5
I didnt attach the fan to the shroud. Instead, I took some string and wrapped it into the headsink around the copper pipes to hold the fan lightly in place. it doesnt need to be tight.
VOJKY -- I understand your first point, about reversing the fans, but I dont really want to punch a hole there if my temps are good as they are. Also, the way my shroud is set up, i can see and feel air coming into the case. As far as your second point, having a 120mm fan in the front doesn't create any vaccum in the case. even though you might have more air trying to go out than is being pushed in by the front fan, the case isn't airtight anyhow and any real pressure imbalance is fixed by the holes in the ceiling of the case or dozens of other areas where air leaks in (that is to say, if there was even a lot of pressure in the case). the 120mm fan just helps the rear fans do their job, because honestly, those fans in the back aren't really pulling air in, they just dont have the power at lower rpms. they may do a little, but in essence they are just displacing air around the headsink and the air from the front is just coming to take its place, I would hardly call it an active intake.
If you have any further questions, Ill keep checkin' up on this thread =D. later guys.
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Post by vojky on Feb 14, 2005 20:05:09 GMT -5
I don't know what you mean by "punch a hole". I simply removed the cardboard in the shroud and turned the fan around using the existing rubber attachments so that both now exhaust thru the openings already in the rear of the case.
My point of the 120mm fan is that IF you have an opening that is able to supply (say) 150 CFM and you place a fan infront of it that can deliver only 100CFM then what's the point? If the opening can only deliver 70CFM and you place a 100CFM fan in front then again, what's the point?
As I' said, I am VERY new to this. Just trying to wrap my head aroung it all...
Also MUMSKI, I used a small program called 'fanspeed' to get the temps of my SATA drives as they are the only temp probes that I have (appart from the X850 XTPE) in my Gen 3 (it still seems weird to me when I see ppl refering to it as a G3 :-)
Thanks all
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Post by munski on Mar 1, 2005 10:01:53 GMT -5
Lanraider -
I found a black Silverstone Eudemon on sale for $24.99 and picked it up - a nice looking & high quality unit! I was also looking at the Kingwin controller for $25 since at the time it was $10 cheaper, but I liked the idea of the extra vents in the front of the Eudemon. I also ordered the Silverstone 5.25" extension bay for a future 3rd HDD and better securing of the fan controller. You have to seat it exactly flush to get the door to close. I thought it might keep my two 160 Ghz. drives a little cooler if I could install the 3rd drive in the 5.25" bay.
By the way, where did you put the 3 sensors? I stuck the cpu sensor in the fins at the bottom of the HS, the sys sensor on the northbridge HS (it ran 5 deg. hotter than the cpu temp) & the hdd sensor in the HS on the X800 (stoopid cause it reads too cool). Right now I'm playing with the sys sensor at the top of the cpu HS (2-3 deg cooler). I'm finding it hard to unpeel the brown tape from the sensor head without an electron microscope & tweezers.
I just got back from Home Despot (that store gives me a headache!) with some aluminum bar stock so I could try and fashion a fan mount that would put a fan right in front of the exposed heatsinks and right behind the Eudemon bay intakes. I'll be working on it (and taking pictures) when I get some more fans.
Sidewinder had an 80x25mm NMB 3110kl-04w-b19 for $5 that I just bought to play with - the specs looked great for a low rpm fan, but it died on me in the first 15 min. so I'm sending it back for a couple of Panaflo L1a's.
It turns out that the NMB fan I got was the exact fan Dell uses in their XPS 650 server cases in the removable "air splitter" cage by the bottom front intake.
It might be a moot point to put a fan there if I get the $ for an ArcticCooling Silencer 4. We'll see. I did find some great pics on the Dell forum site on exactly what and how to cut on the Silencer alum. HS for the XPS install.
I'm also plunging ahead with case insulation foam. I had some 1/2" melamine lying around that I stuck in as an experiment and it did make it a bit quieter, so I found some insulation by Spire (Akasa) for $13 shipped and will be photographing the install along with everything else I'm doing for posting on this site.
Once again, I'm very greatful for everybody's help here and for all the ideas you've given me. It's a good thing I'm an unemployed photographer right now - I finally have the time to fool around with all this stuff.
Munski
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Post by lanraider on Mar 3, 2005 16:51:35 GMT -5
Wow, munski - sounds like you're heading for the super modz page  I just found out the other day about the brown tape at the sensors, I'd thought it was just protection. I was thinking about using thermal paste to stick them on. The cpu sensor is between the HS and the cpu. Be careful though, when I pulled it out it had thermal paste on it. Made contact with the core and removed some paste  The sys sensor is at the roof just below the vent. I will have it monitor the vc when I go in to install the 2 fans just purchased. The hdd sensor is resting between the hdds but will soon be plastered against the 0 drive. So you're a photographer? I'll be looking forward to some great shots. Detailed but forbidding shadows and sparkling highlights ;D lanraider |
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Post by munski on Mar 4, 2005 17:44:16 GMT -5
lanraider -
Hopefully my 3 fans & the ATI Silencer will arrive this weekend so I can fool around in my basement workshop with all this stuff. I was thinking of doing all the photos in a grainy, sepia tone look, as befits my age.
My cpu probe is stuck in the bottom HS fins and is reading 43c idle and 52c with games.
The hdd probe is on top of the bottom Maxtor 160 gig hd and has been reading 48c to 50c average & 54c on games. I stuck it on with a small piece of mylar reflecting tape so I don't know if that affects the temp yet. It was the only thing I had that wouldn't melt.
The sys probe is still stuck in the Radeon X800 HS fins for now cause I'm using my temporary 80mm fan in front of it as practice untill I put a Panaflo there. Temps are 39c idle & 47c in game.
I put an old photo analog dial thermomitor on the top of the cast above the vents and it's reading 90 deg. - 93 deg. f when I'm getting killed by combines & headcrabs.
The Spire foam install went well. The stuff is around a 3/8" thick so I had enough to put 2 layers in alot of places with left overs for my Dimension 4500 case. I figured that it was worth the $13 and every little thing helps with noise. The photos came out bla, but should work after I scrub them thru Photoshop.
I got my heart set on the new Maxtor 250 gig 16meg HDD (around $158.00) as my 3rd drive. I have no complaints on the 2 - 160 gig Maxtor raid o's I have now - I can't hear them doing anything. Now, if I could just sell one of my photos to pay for it!
Munski
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Post by munski on Mar 11, 2005 0:22:16 GMT -5
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