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Building a Thin and Silent Core 2 Duo


Incroyable HULK

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Thin - yes. Silent? With that heatsink and fan, I don't think the system is very silent. The case may help to keep things quiet, but truly silent would require a larger heatsink and a slower fan. ;)

Very cool project though. I've been looking at building a simple, small HTPC box that would be used solely for streaming shows off the network to my TV.

Definately looks slick - that's for sure. :thumbup

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Behold!

The key part for the silent aspect is the following wonder:

2x Zalman ZM-MC1 5V connector

It allow all fans (4) to run silently and still provide adequate airflow!

Thin - yes. Silent? With that heatsink and fan, I don't think the system is very silent. The case may help to keep things quiet, but truly silent would require a larger heatsink and a slower fan. ;)

Very cool project though. I've been looking at building a simple, small HTPC box that would be used solely for streaming shows off the network to my TV.

Definately looks slick - that's for sure. :thumbup

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Just a word of warning (although I'm sure you've already checked this). Not all fans will start reliably at 5V. This is more of a problem for larger, slower fans, since they've got more inertia than smaller fans.

Fun fun stuff. Quiet computing has been a hobby of mine for a while, and it's now one of my jobs! :P

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I hate noisy computer... When I was hired 3-years ago at the Institute, We were buying some Pentium 4 computers. They were running so hot the fan had to run at full speed to keep the CPU stable.

People were telling me "I do my stuff then I shut off the computer until I need it!". I decided to design a new platform were silence and performance was priority. I tried many components: PSU, Fans, Hard Drive, Dampening material, etc.

I realized that fan control was the key to success.

Now, if I don't plug the blue led in front of our Antec Sonata case, people start their computer and say: "Why the heck this computer won't start".... until they see that Windows XP logo booting up! :lol:

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I realized that fan control was the key to success.

Actually... you'd be surprised how much noise a hard drive makes when bolted to your computer case. Unless the case has special damping in it (and no - those rubber pads don't count), then you'll get a lot of loud vibrations through the case.

Suspending your hard drives is the only way to go! :yes:

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Actually... you'd be surprised how much noise a hard drive makes when bolted to your computer case. Unless the case has special damping in it (and no - those rubber pads don't count), then you'll get a lot of loud vibrations through the case.

Suspending your hard drives is the only way to go! :yes:

Yeah you're right... the Antec Sonata use rubber pass-thru so you can screw the hard drive to a removable plate and there is never a direct contact to the metal of the case.

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That guy's done the suspension all wrong. The whole point of suspending the drives is that the elastic material you use absorbs the vibrations from the drives. A solid wire that's wound tight will just transmit the vibrations to the case.

Maybe it's not as bad as screws are, but it's still not as good. ;)

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The key part for the silent aspect is the following wonder:

2x Zalman ZM-MC1 5V connector

Marketing scam :whistle:

You can just splice the wires yourself ;)

There's also the 7 volts alternative (connect across the +12 and +5).

I personally don't like a completely silent computer. It's more relaxing to have a fan softly humming in the background. Otherwise if a fan dies it's usually too late to notice.

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There's also the 7 volts alternative (connect across the +12 and +5).

As long as you don't have too much current being fed back into the 5V line! Usually you don't have to worry about this, but it's definately something you don't want to do...

*poof*

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