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Cooling Loud P4 Box

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Explicit, 4 Jan 2008.

  1. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    Okay, so I've a Socket 478 P4 3.00EGHZ (Prescott core), on an Asus P4P800-VM Mobo, and I use onboard video.

    I just threw all of it into a case finally (it's been sitting in the wide open on my desk), the case is a Thermaltake Lanbox Lite.

    I love the case, it's the perfect size, it looks nice etc. etc.

    But because the case is so small, the fan on my Intel heatsink on the P4 runs at 5000RPM+ and is very very loud.

    What should I do?

    Buy another cooler for the P4?
    Get an older P4 that's not a Prescott?
    Consider an external water cooling setup? (Zalman Reserator 1 V2)
     
  2. Brett89

    Brett89 Minimodder

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    I'd go for some better fans, That can be a lot cheaper than a new cooler, and judging by the size of the case, it could be a bit of a mystery as to if it would fit. then a new cooler as your second option.
     
    Last edited: 4 Jan 2008
  3. crazybob

    crazybob Voice of Reason

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    Your first step should be to look at the case fans. It doesn't matter how fast and hard the CPU fan pulls the heat away from the chip if it's still going to stay in the box. There should be a predictable airflow through the box, and all your case fans should be oriented to help this. You should have cool air coming in at the front and maybe near the video cards, and hot air being expelled opposite that. It looks like the case has provisions for a third rear 60mm fan, which would be a start but probably not enough. You might have to get your hands dirty and mod in a pair of 120mm somehow.

    If that fails, go with a new cooler. I've had a look around and it appears that both the Thermaltake Blue Orb 2 and the Zalman CNPS 7000 coolers both fit just fine, provided you don't have a video card with a wraparound heatsink.
     
    Last edited: 4 Jan 2008
  4. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    First of all, I don't have a video card.
    Secondly, there's no way in hell you could fit two 120mm fans on the back of this thing, it's not a full tower...

    I think I'll start off by trying to add another 60mm, and then I'll try to make sure there's nothing blocking flow from the front to the back.
     
  5. crazybob

    crazybob Voice of Reason

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    If you don't have a video card, I think that would safely fall under the category of a video card without a wraparound heatsink. You'll still only be able to get away with coolers the size of the ones I mentioned, because you'll start to hit the back and sides of the case.

    Second, I looked at the case before I posted. I even read a few reviews of it before I posted. I'm under no delusions that it's a full-tower case. I never said to put the pair of 120mm fans on the back, I just suggested that adding a few somewhere would be an excellent way to improve airflow. You can remove the hard drive cage, mount your drive in the floppy position, and add a 120mm in front. Alternately, you could cut a hole and add a fan to the side, hence 'get your hands dirty.'

    EDIT: Looking at the case again, if you're not using any PCI slots that might be a perfect place to add a hole for a 120mm fan.
     
    Last edited: 5 Jan 2008
  6. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    Sorry about how I might have come off earlier... To be honest this is frustrating me... :wallbash:

    I have my HDD mounted in the floppy position, I have since the get-go, theres a 92mm up front already... And really, in order to fit a 120mm up front, I would have to cut the plastic bezel on the front to pieces, and it's just not going to look good.

    [​IMG]

    The 92mm is in the center of that speaker grating there, and that grating is hardly 90mm high itself, and I have already removed the HDD cage.
    The grating is over 250mm wide too though, so what do you think about adding another 92mm fan to the front? And possibly upgrading the current one?
    The only problem I see with that is the way that the plastic bezel holds itself to the actual metal frame inside, however I'm sure I can figure something out.

    As for the back of the case... Unfortunately I am using one PCI slot for my wireless (802.11G) card, and even if I wasn't there just isn't the space for a 120mm fan there... Maybe I could fit a 92mm where they left room for a 60mm... Hmm...

    Do you think it would help to upgrade the two existing 60mm fans in the back?

    I drew this up so you could see what little room I have to work with (I added a 92mm just for scale, it's 53% bigger than the 60mm):
    [​IMG]
    Anyways, sorry for being a dick earlier, thanks for being patient with me.
     
  7. mm vr

    mm vr The cheesecake is a lie

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    60mm fans are like small turbines... they spin with an rpm of something like 5000rpm...

    IMO don't use any of them at all.
     
  8. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks...
     
  9. 500mph

    500mph The Right man in the Wrong place

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    there might be enough room for an 80mm fan where you thought to put that 60mm
     
  10. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah that seems to be a possibility... Everything with this case is really tight, if I wanted to fit a 92mm there it would end up interfering with the expansion slot retention screws... I'd like to keep the front of it looking just as it does now, but I wouldn't mind trying to fit some larger fans.
     
  11. 500mph

    500mph The Right man in the Wrong place

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    well, you could try for 2*92mm fans in the front. it looks like enough space. and if you arent using all of the pci slots you could use on of the pci slot coolers
     
  12. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    I purchased a Zalman CNPS7500-Cu LED today, and not only are my temps lower, the box is a hell of a lot quieter.

    I'd like to still throw another 92mm up front, and an 80mm in the back if I can fit it.

    I've always been a bit skeptical about those PCI slot coolers, are they actually any good?
     
  13. crazybob

    crazybob Voice of Reason

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    The Zalman is an excellent cooler, and considering how little fan space you have to work with was probably the best thing you could have done. You can still look at upgrading the case fans, and that will probably make a big difference. Remember that 60mm fans are always loud, so the fewer of those you have the better you'll be.

    My understanding of PCI slot coolers is that they're always either ineffective or loud, and either way aren't going to help you out very much. If someone else can suggest a specific example that works well, I'll defer to their experience, but otherwise I'd shy away from them.
     
  14. Explicit

    Explicit What's a Dremel?

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    Well the 60mms that came with the case aren't very loud at all. It was that damn stock Intel cooler that was so loud, I still plan to do some more work to get more cold in and heat out though. I was planning on this cooler which just barely fits by the way, or a Thermalright XP-90C, but with a fan on top the Thermalright would have left only a few mm before hitting my PSU.
     
  15. NoahFuLing

    NoahFuLing What's a Dremel?

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    For the rear 80mm fan, I'd recommend getting a Silverstone 92-in-80 (not the real name). Go to http://silverstonetek.com and look for them. It's essentially a 92mm fan blade in an 80mm frame, and it looks like you might have enough room for it. Oh, and for the 92mm in the front, if you don't want to hack it up to fit a second 92mm, Silverstone also makes a 110-in-92 fan, similar to the one above, that works with 110mm fan blades in a 92mm housing. Again, I'd look to make sure that it fits, but Silverstone makes quiet, reliable stuff.

    With the 60mm fans, if they're quiet, keep them. If they're not, you have two options. Either get new, quiet ones, or get a fan controller type thing. All you need is something that will drop the voltage, a fan controller is good, but they also sell resistors that drop the fan speed. This would let you keep the fans, and drop the noise at the same time.

    I love the Zalman, I stuck it on a resistor that needed to be cooled, and it worked great! (The resistor had a higher wattage output than a processor, and it still kept it at a reasonable temperature.)
     
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