Page 2 - advice on building a pc

Well i used to build computers as a job in a pc store. Normally had two machines going at once.... would put one together and while windows was installing on it (45 minutes max) I would have the next machine built and starting to install windows.

Check out these fans from http://OverClockers.co.uk/

Akasa LED fans (colorful) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...sa_Fans_97.html

Sanyo Denki fans (quiet) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acata...o_Denki_73.html


nao

Talking of building computers, has anyone ever purchased one of those Terminator barebones systems, the little mini things?

I bought one last year, thought I would set up a little file server at home and by christ it sounds like a bloody plane is taking off when you boot the damn things up.

So a warning if you ever think of buying one, only buy it if you have somewhere sound proofed to keep it!

Yeah, I got a 'Shuttle' (ASUS) and no kidding, it sounds like a real space shuttle taking off when I boot it up. There's not much you can do though...

I thought about building/buying a box for it (wood) to sound-proof it externally. I guess that's one thing that's good about it being so small. I never actually did it because by the time I opened up the IKEA catalogue I found that, just like on a real aeroplane, I got used to the ambient sound (sound?! more like ROAR!).

Nice little machines though.


nao

Well mine produces some really wicked heat so I had to change the original fans for larger ones which made the noise even worse.

I was also thinking of some mods. Perhaps create a tray to cary some water which sits either on top or below with some smaller silent fans for cooling and then stick a waterblock on the CPU instead, I got around to putting sketches together but never got around to implementing it.

I might have a play when I get back to the UK.

Silky,

Can you elaborate on the 'waterblock' - what is it/how does it work?

Ta,

Nao

A waterblock is part of a water cooling system and it replaces the action of your heatsink.

If you take a look at the Water Cooling category on Overclockers they have a few blocks at the end of the category listing.

Or have a read of this article: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzU3

The whole system is basically the same as a car, water is pumped through the engine to the radiator where the fan then cools it down. In a computer system the waterblocks are used to transfer the heat from source (Note I didn't say CPU because you can buy blocks for video cards, memory etc) to the water, the water then gets pumped around to the resevoir where the fans take care of the heat.

Is it quiet? (hard to tell from the picture). I presume it's got some kind of pump in there, so I'm thinking about the noise...

Monster piece of kit!

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?i...klfMV80X2wuanBn

Nao

Have you ever heard a small pond pump? A small buzz sound.

That is really all they are, in fact most kits use a pump from a pond pump manufacturer. Eheim is very popular for it's low noise production.

I guess the noise wouldn't be so bad then. I wonder if it'll make my whole computer vibrate... loose screws are the worst - it's like you're playing an LP - only - its my head doing the spinning...



nao