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Quiet PC Products


Date
: 02/20/01 – 10:06:55 PM

Author
:

Category
: Misc

Manufacturer: Quiet PC

Prices:

- 300W Ultra Quiet Power Supply: $75.40

- Intel Radial Fin Cooler: $16

- Intel Copper Radial Fin Cooler: $20

- AMD Copper Radial Fin Cooler: $20

- 80mm Case Fan: $20.30

- Silent Drive Hard Drive Enclosure: $30.45

Introduction

Overclockers all have two things in common:

1) They like performance and will do everything it takes to get the most out of their rig

2) To achieve their goal, overclockers use coolers, fans, … that perform very well BUT also generate a LOT of noise.

Although most overclockers don’t mind the noise, the noise is a real pain in the ass when you have your computer sitting in the same room as your television or when your computer sits in your bedroom!

Those of you that have a FOP38 cooler with that amazing Delta fan on top of it, spinning at +7000rpm, know what I am talking about. Add a couple blowholes and 2 7200rpm hard drives to the list and before you know it, you are sleeping or watching television while sitting next to a Boeiing 747 jet engine …

Most of you became used to all the decibels flying through your room, but I bet 90% or more would do just about anything to get rid of the noise while keeping the performance of course :). I felt the same way and decided to do something about it!

The way I see it there are three possibilities:

1) Throw out all that cooling gear and run your computer @ default settings (eehhmm … NO WAY!)

2) Install a watercooler setup which is very quiet and offers very good performance, but also has some risks attached to it (like getting water all over your hardware when you did not install it the way it should be installed)

3) Look for cooling gear that performs good without all the extra noise (this is what we will be doing today)

So I started my search for cooling material that would be able to keep my prescious hardware ‘cool’ but without sounding line a 747 jet sitting in your garden.

After browing the net for a few hours I found a website called Quiet PC. Quiet PC is an online store that carries everything you might need to make your rig ultra quiet (almost inaudiable).

Here is a list of all applications in which Quiet PC can help you out:

- PCs at home
: The home is a relaxing place to do work on the computer, which is one reason why working at home is becoming so popular. The trouble is that in the quiet of your home, the noise made by the PC can be extremely intrusive.

- Multimedia PCs used for playing CDs, watching DVD movies, television etc
: No longer will you have to tolerate the background whine of your machine and you will be free to appreciate the high quality audio which modern PCs can create.

- Music, audio and video production
: Your PC can be left switched on in proximity to the workplace without adversely affecting the production being worked on, be it sequencing, sampling or video editing.

- Customer service applications
: Without the running noise of a PC, it becomes easier to hear callers on the telephone and for them to hear you. The mood of phone calls becomes surprisingly more relaxed.

- PCs used by professionally creative people
: Whether you do a lot of word processing, programming, or design work, the long periods you are working will become much less tiring without the stressful background noise of your computer.

- PCs left on round-the-clock or for long periods of time
: In libraries, schools, hospitals, receptions and retail establishments, the benefits of a quieter environment can be very far-reaching.

As you can see, the Quiet PC stuff is not only intended for ‘silent overclocking’ (did I just invented a new term?) but also comes in handy in other more professional applications.

Lets take a look at all the quiet pc material I got my hands on ok?

The Goods

Quiet PC carries all kind of silent hardware: powersupplies, heatsink+fan, case fans, hard drive enclosures, cables and soon they will also sell prebuild systems that are … quiet :).

Ultra Quiet Power Supplies

The powersupply: the heart of every computer. Without the P/S nothing happens when you press the power button, and when your power supply is too weak, signs of instability may appear.

Quiet PC has a wide variety of powersupplies available to fit your needs. The smallest one is the 230W version, second in line is a 250W version and last but not least is the powerful 300W model.

The 230W P/S is inteded for small computers without much hardware: a moterboard, Intel cpu, some ram, a hard drive and a cdrom.

If you are in need of a more powerful power supply to feed those 4 hard drives, your cdrom and cd writer and possibly some other hardware, then your choice should go out to the 250W or even the 300W power supply. These two power supplies are both AMD Approved so they will work perfectly with an AMD Athlon or Duron processor. The 300W has enough juice left to power a 72W or 85W peltier in addition to all the other stuff you hooked up to it.

Power Supply Specifications

Mains input – 230W and 250W models	100-127 or 200-240 volts AC, 50-60Hz, manually switched
Mains input – 300W model	230 volts only (will not work in USA/Canada)
Physical dimensions	Standard ATX (86mm high, 150mm wide, 140mm deep)
Noise level	Less than 26 dB(A)
Operating environment temperature	0C to 40C
Shipping / storage temperature	-20C to 70C
Remote power on / off	Yes
Mean Time Between Failure at full load	More than 27,000 hours at 25C ambient
Power rating	230 / 250 / 300 watts (depending on model)
Short circuit protection	Yes, on all outputs
Over voltage protection	+3.3V, +5V, +12V > 130%
Power conversion efficiency	More than 65%
Fan speed control	Thermal
Number of hard drive / floppy drive power connectors	230W & 250W: 4 / 1, 300W: 5 / 2
Length of motherboard power connector cable	30cm (approx)
EMC	CE / CNS / FCC / CISPR22
Safety	CB, NEMKO, UL, SEMKO, CUL, DEMKO, TUV, VDE, FIMKO

I tested the 300W model and I am very pleased with it! I have been using it for the last 1.5 months and it never failed on me and always delivered clean current to the computer parts. The first time I turned it on, I had to hold my hand close to it to see if it was actually working because I could not hear it! Quiet PC says this P/S generates less then 26dB of noise, and that number sounds very accurate. Also note that the fan in the power supply is thermal controlled which means it will only turn on when the temperature reaches a certain level.

Processor Cooling

Next product we fooled around with are the Radial Fin coolers that Quiet PC is selling. They have coolers for both AMD and Intel cpu’s, with or without a copper base to improve cooling performance.

These Radial Fin coolers feature a unique design which allows them to give optimal cooling without needing a 7000rpm fan we see on the FOP38 coolers. The heatsink is about the same size of those black Intel coolers that you get with a P3 700E cpu (I say 700MHz because Intel ships larger coolers with the faster cpu’s).

The Radial Fin design is made so that the wind coming from the fan can flow naturally and is not forced into a certain direction. This reduces noise a lot and still delivers an optimal cooling performance.

The slow spinning fan (3500rpm) is also helping to keep the nosie down as it is barely audiable!!

The Intel and AMD cooler are both identical, but the AMD model has a small angled side that will inhibit you from crushing the cpu core when installing it.

Installation

Installing a cpu cooler can be a huge pain in the arse because some retaining mechanisms require the use of screwdrivers or other non-human material. Quiet PC uses a very handy clip with a huge handle on it to make the installation of the cooler a breeze! Apply thermal paste, hook the cooler on one side of the socket and then hook it on the other side. Done! Uninstalling it is just as easy :).

Specifications

- No other product gives so much cooling with so little noise

- Recommended for processors up to and including speeds of 1 GHz

- Surface sound pressure level (ISO 3744 8.5) measured at just 22.12 dB(A) !

- Wide market appeal – from quiet PC applications to high-speed PCs which cannot be adequately cooled by conventional methods

- Patent pending unique folded fins show innovative mechanical design

- Lightweight – from as little as just 90g (3.2 oz)

- 360 degree airflow produces high thermal efficiency (0.70 C / Watt)

- Fan comes with 3-pin motherboard connector and supports speed feedback

- Supplied with pre-applied thermal interface compound

- Design approved by IBM, Compaq, Packard Bell, NEC, HP and Intel

Performance

These coolers are not intended to be used as overclocking monsters! The goal of these babies is to make your computer silent while keeping your equipement cool. Of course they will not be able to cool down a heavily overclocked cpu that cooled by a 85W peltier!

AMD Cooler

The first cooler I tested was the AMD one. I installed it on my AMD Duron 600 that runs at 1000MHz with a core voltage of 1.85v. After booting in Windows 2000, I started an copy of Prime95 and let it run for one hour. After that I used the onboard thermal diode that comes with my Abit KT7A RAID to measure the CPU temperature.

As you can see on the graph on the above picture, the Radial Fin cooler is resulting in a cpu temperature that lays about 10 degrees celcius higher then the FOP38. While the cpu reached 60 degrees celcius, the system never showed a sign of instability and Prime95 kept on crunching prime numbers. Please note that the cpu was dispating about 50.3W of heat, which is quite a bit!

Intel Cooler

Because Intel processors don’t get as hot as AMD cpu’s, I expected that the Radial Fin cooler would perform better in combination with a Intel processor.

To test the performance of the Radial Fin cooler on Intel cpu’s, I used my P3 850E @ 1003MHz with a core voltage of 1.95v. Just as I expected the cooler can keep the Intel cpu at reasonable temps since Intel cpu’s generate way less heat then AMD cpu’s. The P3 850 generates about 36.3W of heat, which is way less then AMD cpu’s heh ;).

Just as the stats are showing, the Quiet PC coolers are able to cool your cpu quite well, but if you are into serious overclocking they are not what you need. The Radial Fin cooler and an Intel cpu are a good combo, but when you are using an AMD cpu, I suggest you don’t use the cooler for anything above 1GHz because then the cooler won’t be able to keep your cpu at a safe temperature.

Case Cooling

After you have taken care of the processor, the next thing on the list is the case cooling. It is very important that you bring cold air into the case and that you take the hot air out of the case. Otherwise not even a FOP38 will be able to cool down your cpu because its 7000rpm fan will be blowing air that has the same temperature as the heatsink onto the heatsink, meaning the cpu will overheat!

The easiest way to bring cold air into the computer case, is by installing a couple of fans in the bottom front of the case (most cases have a reserved space to install fans) sucking air into the case. Of course you also want to take the hot air out of the case so you should also install some fans at the back top of the case to expell the hot air (since hot air rises it is best to install the fans at the top of the case).

A golden rule is to have as much air coming in the case as you are sucking out of it. Otherwise the air into the case will get warm because of the pressure that is building up inside.

Because the people at Quiet PC are aware of the need for good case cooling, they have some very nice case fans in their shop.

Specifications

Air volume throughput	47 cubic metres per hour
	28 cubic feet per minute
Fan speed	>1600 rpm
Acoustic noise level	20 dBA
Rated voltage	12 VDC
Operating voltage range	6-14 VDC
Power connector type	Hard-drive type connector
Power consumption	0.9 W
Bearings	Ball bearings
Approvals	UL, CSA
Physical dimensions	80mm x 80mm x 25.4mm
Weight	79g
Mounting screws included	No

If I tell you these fans are quiet, I really mean QUIET! They produce about 20dB, which is as good as nothing! When I turn them on and I hold them next to my ear, I still can’t hear them (I almost lost a piece of my ear because of this test ;)). Because they are only rotating at 1600rpm, they are providing a breeze of 28cfm which is good enough to get cold air into your case. These fans are also very good if you use watercooling. You can use them to cool the radiator and that way your system stays quiet. Most watercoolers are silent, but then you see noisy fans on the radiator destroying all the other efforts of getting a quiet pc …

The only downside about these fans is that they are only available in 80mm size. I would like to see a 92mm and 120mm version of it also!

Hard Drive Enclosure – Silent Drive

When you installed the Radial Fin cpu cooler, the Ultra Quiet Power Supply and the quiet case fans there is one more noise producer left … the hard drive. Today’s hard drives are all spinning at a minimum speed of 5400rpm where the majority of computer users own 7200rpm drives. SCSI drives are available in 10.000rpm models and not so long ago IBM announced their 15.000rpm drives! As expected these drives can produce a serious amount of noise when spinning at those high rpm’s.

That is why Quiet PC came up with the idea to encapsulate the hard drive in a special package so that the noise is reduced to a minimum without overheating the hard drive of course.

This ‘package’ is called Silent Drive and consist out a black plastic case, containing a sound isolating enclosure. The Silent Drive can handle all 3.5′ drives that are not thicker then 1′. The Silent Drive fits right into a 5.25′ slot, which might be a problem if you have a midi tower that already contains a cdrom, cdwriter and maybe even a Live Drive! or a DigiDoc.

Specifications

Weight	526g
Physical mounting requirements	5.25′ bay
Enclosure material	ABS plastic
Fire retardant specification	UL94V-0 / UL94HF-1
Drive type compatibility	3.5 inch
Drive height	1′ (2.54cm)
Drive maximum heat dissipation	Around 6.8 watts

Installation

First you open up the Silent Drive and take out the front bezel containing some sound dampering material. Then you slide in your hard drive and connect the IDE or SCSI cable to it. Then you install the sound dampering material and after that you connect the power connector to the hard drive. Once that is done, you just click the front bezel back in place and the hard drive is secured.

Locate a free 5.25′ slot in your case and install the Silent Drive into it the same way you would install a cdrom drive.

Now some of you are thinking: ‘Won’t this package overheat my hard drive?’ The answer is no because first of all there is a small hole in the Silent Drive to let the hot air escape, and secondly Quiet PC includes thermal stickers. You stick on of these on your drive and after some time you remove the hard drive from the Silent Drive again and the sticker will show you the highest temperature that was reached inside the enclosure. My IBM DeskStar 30GB drives (RAID0 setup) reached a maximum temperature of 49 degrees celcius. IBM says that 55 degrees celcius is the highest temperature that should be reached so we are safe because we are 6 degrees under that temperature.

How does it perform?

The Silent Drive is working very well as I can’t hear my hard drives spinning anymore! Quiet PC says the Silent Drive is able to get the noise of most hard drives below 30dB, which is a very good aim because anything below 30dB is almost unhearable for the human ear (at least my ears don’t hear it … you decide if I am human or not ;)). The Silent Drive may also help preventing damage to your hard drive caused by a shock when transporting your rig to a
LAN party ;).

Conclusion

You probably guessed that I am very satisfied from the Quiet PC products. If you are looking for the perfect way to make your computer totally silent, then these products are what you need!

The cpu coolers perform well if you do not plan on overclocking much, but that is not what they are designed to do. They are designed to cool your cpu silently and that is what they do best heh.

The power supply performs just the way you expect a 300W P/S to perform, but unlike many other power supplies, this one is silent.

The Silent Drive hard drive enclosure manages to decrease the annoying hard drive noise by several dB’s, which is always a good thing!

Note: I ordered my stuff on tuesday morning, and thursday the UPS guy was at my doorstep with the material! And Quiet PC also has a page with an explanation on how to install all the products they sell.

Good

- Very quiet indeed

- Performance is great

- Quality products

Bad

- Cpu coolers are not overclocking friendly

- Price may be a bit high for some people