Mrs Rathji recently started using my PC for work stuff and she is complaining about the noise the fans are making. My preliminary inspection indicates that both GPU and case fans are making a slight amount of noise, so I thought water cooling might be a good option. Problem is, I know next to nothing about these things, other than the idea of water + computer seems pretty strange.
Can I eliminate fans entirely?
What should I be looking for in such a purchase? Certain brands? Are there different types?
I will likely upgrade the case at the same time, do I need a specific type of case, or will any random case work?
I am planning on upgrading my mobo/processor/RAM later this summer, I assume it will be compatible? Safe to assume I would need a new heat sink for new processor? Moving from a Q6600 to an i7 most likely.
Same question about video card, is it safe to assume that an upgrade to the card would require a change in the heatsink?
How about the size and 'hose' configuration, will it get in the way of SLI/Crossfire? Not sure if I will go that route, but don't want to lock myself into something that ends up limiting my choice.
My final question, and likely the most important one, is it worth it? financially or time-wise? I have always viewed water cooling as a overclocker's realm, and that is normally something I really don't care too much about, but that's partially due to the fact that I have never had the funds to put into a high end PC.
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What's the size of the case fans? 80mm fans are pretty noisy. If you can get 100mm fans in there it will make a big difference which costs next to nothing.
There are specialty fans like Scythe fans that are noted as being extremely quiet.
Before you spend any money. Is it possible to move your PC somewhere else? If it's on top of a desk, it possible to move it under it? Or something like that.
Just 80mm case fans I am sure, but it doesn't look like anything else will fit. The case I have is garbage HP OEM, which I am sure is part of the problem. If I wasn't 100% sure that the video card was making some/most of the noise as well, I would likely just replace the case and leave it at that. My thoughts are that the fan on the card might be dying, because it is making this noise while under little load, so if I need to spend money on replacing that, I might as well consider all the options.
The PC is on top of the desk, and with my kids, I can't risk putting it under.
edit: Let me clarify some here - I am not against spending money that makes my wife happier with our computer setup, because if it is bugging her while she is working then she is that much more willing to have it come from somewhere other than my 'Geek Budget'. I would just like to figure out what I would need in order to do this, so I can come to her with a budget and she can decide if it is worth it for her.
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I don't think there's any reason to go to water cooling to get a near silent PC, until very recently I would say that water cooling usually ended up with a louder PC vs air cooled (with good air cooling) unless you were doing significant overclocking. The most recent water cooling are at least competitive sound wise, but still more $$ for the same level of silence.
My PC is nearly silent and not water cooled.
Just good case/fan/heatsink choices are needed.
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For video cards, the Asus DirectCu video cards have good coolers that are very quiet. Other cards by Gigabyte and MSI sometimes have good coolers, and sometimes have coolers that LOOK good but are noisy.
Arctic Cooling's range for video cards are quite good for being quiet if it's an aftermarket heatsink that you need.
If you are not overclocking, I would not water cool your PC. At standard clocks with a standard build, you won't really get any acoustic benefit.
What I do choose watercooling for however is for a clean case and better airflow design which can contribute to increased cooling and decreased noise.
Instead of hanging a giant heatsink with two or three 120mm fans on it off the motherboard and generally being a pain and in the way and also a large weight on your board, I prefer to use the all-in-one water-cooling solutions.
This also allows me to mount the radiator by the 120 or 140mm exhaust vents of my PC and reverse the airflow to intake so that cool air comes into the radiator first, then I can exhaust it to the front or top of my PC. I find that this creates better cooling and also adds to a quieter PC.
Also, I will never buy an Arctic Cooling product for a videocard ever again. I forget what those specific components are called but they are like mosfets and generate enourmous amounts of heat. The AC solution for my 5870 came with tiny heatsinks with poor adhesive tape that constantly fell off or provided no cooling to these units leading to 125° + temperatures which exceeded the operating temperature of these components according to their data sheets. It caused me an enourmous amount of headache and crashes. Eventually the fan controller burned out on the AC Accelero as well and I had to chuck the whole thing in the bin and put the stock cooler back on. A terrible waste of money with poor engineering.
Last edited by Hack&Lube; 04-30-2013 at 10:43 AM.
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I think replacing the case and getting some quieter fans will be the best first step and then I can proceed from there.
If it turns out my card fan is dying as well, which I strongly suspect, then I will probably just replace the whole card rather than messing with some aftermarket cooler, water or otherwise.
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When I recently upgraded I went to a new Corsair C70 case with larger fan mounts, switching my old cheap 80mm's (only 3) to 120mm (now 6 Corsair AF120). With the higher quality fans, the pc is now virtually silent when operating on typical loads as it drops the rpms to bare minimum. The odd hard drive click is all I hear. I used to hate the sound of my jet engine style cooling on my old case and extremely pleased on how this turned out.
When I'm playing games the fans do ramp up and can be heard again, but still isn't bad and since your wife doesn't use the pc to play games, that won't be a problem.
IMO, water cooling won't necessarily net you even more decibal savings especially considering the cost.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 04-30-2013 at 11:33 AM.
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Don't be afraid to let things run warm(ish) either - the thermal envelope on most components is way higher than most people give them credit for. You can trade noise for temperature, and find a balance point where you are within spec and at a noise level you can tolerate (which for most PC's with typical components, should be close to silent)
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I'll just toss this out there as well, as a resident old timer…The air-cooled mainframe was a holy grail of datacenter engineering at one point. I have no idea what you PeeCee kiddies are doing salivating at the thought of going back to water cooling.
Just a follow up to the noise issue, because I know you are all on the edge of your seat in suspense.
Logged into my PC tonight and the video card was a toasty 103C under no load, so I pulled it out and the noise was greatly reduced. Still issues with case fans, so I will likely proceed with my new case as well as replace the video card tomorrow.
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PS, don't use case like mine if your ultimate goal is silence. While it works great and is still considered quiet, mine has a mesh sidewall that allows some sound to transfer outside. Tons of reviews and first hand experience for both cases and fans on the above sites. Lots of factors and options to consider.
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Last edited by BlackArcher101; 05-01-2013 at 12:29 AM.
Just a follow up to the noise issue, because I know you are all on the edge of your seat in suspense.
Logged into my PC tonight and the video card was a toasty 103C under no load, so I pulled it out and the noise was greatly reduced. Still issues with case fans, so I will likely proceed with my new case as well as replace the video card tomorrow.
Definitely a defective card then. I found the best way to kill noise to use the natural rising of heat to generate airflow.
I also don't buy videocards with rear blower type fans (like the one you wanted the cardboard mockup of). I buy videocards with large axial fans that exhaust partially into the case. They have lower static pressure but have more airflow at lower decibles. I have three 120mm fans mounted to the top of the case at low RPMs that pulls air out the top.
I want to ask you anything about Water Cooled PC
