How loud is your water cooling rigs? - Page 6

My SPL meter went walkabouts a long time ago, but I can tell you the loudest thing in my rig is the barely perceptible high pitched whine my AX1200i makes, which is totally inaudible when the case side is on.

I have a big rad (Phobya 1080) cooling SLI 580s and a 2600k at 4.6GHz. Rad fans are Phobya G-Silent 18, which are 700rpm at 12v but I downvolt them on an aquaero. They are so quiet you'd be hard pushed to hear them at full RPM with your head right next to the radbox, when undervolted they are absolutely silent.

If you're looking for silent, I'd go for a big rad, in an external box if necessary. Pump noise seems like it's a bit hit-or-miss with some people getting good pumps and some bad, but either way if you underspeed the pump they will be extremely quiet to silent at 70% of full speed. I use an MCP35x which can be speed controlled via PWM, or you can use something like a poweradjust on an aquaero to underspeed other pumps, or get a D5 vario which you then leave on a fixed setting (they have 5 speed settings). Aquacomputer have also just brought out their own version of the D5 which takes it's power from MOLEX and has speed control through aquabus, so you don't need a poweradjust to control it.

One more thought - a few big fans spinning slowly is invariably a lot quieter than a lot of smaller fans. Even GT1850s annoy me at full speed, but they are OK at 1300rpm or less, wheras my 180mm G-Silents are brilliant and cheap. I couldn't put up with 9 GTs on my rad.

The only sound my computer makes is the hdd's and the internal pump in my water cooled psu... I have the radiator & pump system in the neighboring room.


It's about as quiet as modern HDD....

I got 9 Yate Loons going at 1000 rpm and two MCP35x pumps in series going at 1500 rpm.

When I start a game I got a higher pitch from one of my Graphic Cards that has a very minor coil whine (Gonna sort it out soon with a couple of days of harsh folding).

~7'C Delta T also!

Silence = More Rad Space

Minimizing noise is easy. A good PSU can help, one with a silent fan / one that only comes on when needed (Seasonic X series). Scythes Gentle Typhoon AP-15 fans are great for rads, they push good air, and are VERY quiet since they are balanced well. I have a push/pull config with 4 of them on a RX240 rad, and are just as quiet as with a just pull config. Same for my RX360 with only 3 in pull. Get these down to 10v, and they would be almost inaudible.

Pumps can have a whine / pitch to them, but in my opinion they shouldn't at all. I have two watercooled rigs, and one is almost pitch quiet (my main), and one is pretty loud because of the pump rattling with the case where its mounted. I recommend a dampening pad. The bitspower D5 dress kit comes with a rubber pad for under the mounting bracket, and it works dang good. The other rigs pump is mounted with self adhesive velcro.

I must say tho, my main rig is a tech station build, so I don't have a normal case with a side panel, theres no "internal air flow" The only fans on my rig are the PSU fan which turns on when needed, and is quiet regardless. The 3 AP-15s for the rad (loudest part which isnt even loud at all), and an AP-15 on the side to keep NB/ VRMs, and RAM cool, with a resistor to help keep it quiet too. If I had a dB meter, I'd get ya a value.

My other rig is an Antec 902 normal computer case. It has your normal rear fan, top 200mm fan, mobo has a chipset fan (DFI 939 mobo) 4 AP-15s push/pull, vibrating pump, Corsair PSU with loud(er) fan thats always on, etc...

I agree, pumps should be silent, modifying some pumps can make them utterly silent, the Eheim 1046\48pumps are a perfect example, just a bit of electrical tape/teflon in the right place and they go from some noise to no noise..
Edited by SantaClaw - 3/17/13 at 6:28am