Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

I think I have the 500HP, but yeah, it's not that noisy.
And it doesn't matter what speed I put the Zalman CPU-cooler at.
Like I said, I hear "which noise" it is from all the noises in the system.
And that one just tones down a bit making the rest of the system still being noisy as ever.
And yeah, the ASUS just has the thin blower thing, a medium-sized fan I guess going at... almost down to 1600rpm currently.
Hm, the thing is really dying, it used to be 1700rpm+ I'm sure.
And I even cleaned out the dust...

But yeah, those are pretty much all fans I think.
Except I also have a normal 120mm fan by Arctic Cooling, not the patented suspended construction like the 80mms.
But I disconnected it because it is really noisy, like some kind of grinding noise almost, I couldn't use that extra noise.
I even asked Arctic Cooling about it, don't remember what they said.
But I exchanged it for a same one, maybe it would be a bad fan, but a new same one just did the same thing.

So I have the 2x80mm on the back and side blowing out.
And also the Zalman-PSU blowing out, that's about it.

 

so you have a side fan as well? The fact that your GPU fan speed is slowing suggests it may have a bad bearing, which would cause it to make far more noise than usual.

 

Yes, one of those 80mms on the back and one on the mid-side.
The 120mm is in the front but off now, still being an open "intake".
Also the holes for the 80mms are just stripped open too.
So there are no obstructions there to reduce noise and increase airflow.

I should mention though, the whole case is standing in one of those "Ikea" computer-closets.
Which also might slightly increase noise, but especially not helps cooling.
However, I made sure there is enough room on the back, I put the whole closet far enough from the wall behinds it (the back is open).
And the front has doors which are always open, so nothing there.
Only the sides are quite tight, just enough to let out hot air I felt.

I always wanted to try Zalman's GPU-fans, how are those?
But it's a bit late to buy one now, unless I could use it again for a way newer card some time soon I hope...


Actually, cases like those "Totally No Noise" ones by Zalman.
Are they really quiet like really zero noise at all?
Or will you still hear stuff coming from the insides?
I always wondered, but those things are way too overprices anyways.
You do get a massive sturdy case with cooling and everything, but blah... too expensive!...

 

Two 80mm fans for a PC used for gaming isn't very much, that will cause you issue with cooling. You should consider getting a case that can fit more fans if you want a quiet PC that doesn't suffer temperature problems - typically look for ones that support multiple 120mm fans. For quietness I recommend Nexus or Scythe fans.

Some of Zalman's GPU coolers are ok, but not all. If you're making a complete system upgrade it's easier to get a card that's quiet to start with, like the Asus 8800GS for PCIe.

As for the no noise case, it's largely bull, as a case is only as quiet as what's inside it, though it will help to cut airborne noise, so do far cheaper cases like the Antec P182.

 

Oh alright, they're less and less worth their price I see.

But I don't really have that much of a problem with temperatures really.
Not that they're low as can be, but within range I guess.
The drives are always from around 30 degrees up to 40.
The processor from say around 40 idle to 60 in games.
And the videocard from about 50 to 60.
Note that is during warm to hot days such as lately.

Last months I've been really liking the Antec 900.
All the fans, front to back to top and optional on the side.
And I've heard it on recordings, even turning up the volume it's not that noisy, except maybe on the highest setting.
But again it's on the expensive side, so that's a bit unfortunate for me.
That's the case I always added to "the list for a new system", but I had to let it go lately...

 

on high the Antec 900 blows your face off... Having owned one I can tell you. It's made of thin steel which vibrates like nobody's business, it has very loud fans when they're on high, and the front vents mean whiney hard disks are louder than you ever realised they were. As a performance cooling case the 900 is good, as a silencing case it's hands down the worst case you can buy. That said, with decent modern hard drives, setting the fans to low and not using noisy internal components you can make a PC that's at least respectable in noise, but far from silent.

 

That's too bad.

You know, I also wonder if the type of material in cases matter.
Like I have this flimsy bendy type of metal, which seems to me would make a lot more of that hollow sound than I'd have this thick sturdy metal for a case.
Like I have these fat case by DELL and Compaq, they're really heavy and have slightly less fans and drives, but they don't make as much noise, they're almost quiet.

There also must be something "studio-like" that can be done to shut these machines up...
I'm a musician myself, but I'm more on the side of making noise. XD
So I could only come up with that "sound absorbing stuff" and maybe try and seal any cracks besides the opening for the fans.

 

Akasa make noise blocking material you can stuff in cases - obviously that means there's no point having a side window though...
The Antec P182 already uses this material.

My case doesn't but it's quiet enough not to need it - assuming you run your hard disks externally. Internal hard drives are the most difficult thing to silence in a PC.

 

Does it also affect cooling to put stuff in there?
I ever tried to put foam in my case, but there was barely room.
It also barely helped and it got a lot hotter inside...
Probably because behind the motherboard it was pretty much closed.

I have all 3 drives internally, and actually I'm glad they're in there.
I had the Western Digital as an external by Toshiba, which died so I had to rip it open and use it internally.
But I'm glad the humming noise and vibrating is off my "desktop" and in the case now really.
I just wish I could put this computer farther away, like next to this closet so I could just sit here away from it.
But that's not an option in the living-room.

My dad's stubborn too like "No, I'm/we're not buying a new computer (or any new part even). This computer is good enough.".
Just completely ignoring the thing is dying, while he's bothered and annoyed by the bad performance himself.
That in it's turn annoys the crap out of me too, not to forget the performance and noise of this thing.
I hate being poorazz...

 

With money comes responsibility. I'm poor because I spent money on making my PC fast and silent, and while it's not truly done in the sense of being fully up to date and super silent, I'm completely out of funds until I get a job, and that really sucks, let me tell you.

 

Just to stir things up a bit. It is nothing to swap out a power supply stock fan with something superior. Fortunately most case fans and power supply fans are exactly the same size, either 80mm or 120mm which means that many of them are interchangeable. If you've got decent power supply with noisy bearings then just replace the fan with a quality case fan. Case and point (no pun intended)I recently replaced a 120MM fan in a cooler master power supply using a $20 120mm scythe which was actually better than the original. The total time for repair was less than 10 minutes including removal and replacement.

 

Yeah, it's about the same here.
But we're (or my parents are) out of money just buying food and shit... XD
Sure I have that 3000 Euros I mentioned, but that's 20 years of savings actually being for my study or whatever.
Still unused because I don't need college or whatever things like that.
It goes into my needs for music and such, that's a rule I made for myself.
Because just using all of that for gaming and what not will just make me a lifeless gamer.
So the limitation is actually a good thing. lol
However, I'm still after just getting a good working computer to play my games without hassle.
And also the use of media such as music and internet should work better and especially faster.
Time gets wasted as everyone knows...

But I have a little extra money to spend on my entertainment.
People need that... I know I do...

 

Man, honestly, if you are low on money then making your PC dead silent is not worth it. Sam has put a LOT of money into silence for his PC.

Just get decent parts that aren't too loud and that don't cost an arm an leg. As long as you buy decent quality parts they wont destroy your ears!

BTW, check your PMs

 

There's a significant difference between having a tolerable PC and a near silent PC. The former doesn't cost that much more, the latter certainly does, but bear in mind most of the money I've spent on silencing my PC has been through experimentation purposes, a lot of it has worked, a lot of it hasn't. Knowing what I know now, you don't need to spent nearly as much.

 

Hey guys,

Any of you seen the new lineups from Nvidia and Ati? The HD4870 finally looks like an Ati card well worth buying.
800 stream processors and DDR5, reviews say this will do it's business all over the 9800GTX and be roughly in the same price bracket, available shortly (HD4850 is in UK now). GTX 280 is the new top dog, but again enthusiastically priced! I think the 4870 now gives people the option of going for an Intel chipset over a Nvid and still having decent graphics expandability. Also some really good multimedia features as standard - HDMI, and the new 'power-thingamy' HD interface with 7.1 AC3 etc.
Not for me tho! Everyone feeling the pinch a bit nowadays, I'll be trying to get another 8800GT for peanuts when the new cards have got to reasonable levels, then scrimping for an E8xxx/Q9xxx after that! - Spent far too much on my car!

 

Who needs a car when you can play GRID! XD

 

Yeah, I am liking Grid at the mo, liking my real-life GTi more tho!

 

lmao while there's no substitute for the real thing, GRiD is a pretty decent game. However it's another title I refuse to purchase properly because it's starforce infected...

 

"starforce" whats that?

personally nothing beat driving in real life. having passed in january, im still not bored of it.

 

It's a way of companies to enforce copyright. From what I understand, it installs some kind of software on your computer. I think Sam said it has screwed up one of his drives before.