Quiet Computer Case

[Detale]

[Rart]

have you looked at netbooks?
Unless you are into gaming, they are probably all you need!
Quiter than the quietest desktop; then cheap and portable to boot!

Yea there will most definitely be a focus on gaming, so netbooks are little out of the question.

Detale: I noticed that some (non PWM?) fans have been rated on certain forums to be able to "handle" PWM well, and then there are also fans that seemed to be specifically labeled as "PWM" fans, such as these.

What are the differences between a normal fan and one labeled as PWM such as the one previously mentioned? Does it mean that normal fans will only utilize PWM on places such as the CPU mobo socket with temp sensors, and that the PWM fans will work as PWM fans no matter where its plugged in (ie it has its own temp sensor, and could be used as a case fan with variable speeds)?

[stoi]

Bit late on this, and i have just skimmed posts to this point, but i have a Q9550 and was running at stock speeds (2.83ghz) with the intel fan, my temps were in the 80c bracket and it sounded like a tank (coolermaster striker storm case)

I thought sod this last week, bought myself some arctic silver 5 thermal paste, and a coolermaster V8 CPU cooler, remounted the CPU, put the arctic silver on, installed the V8 and got temps of 40c at stock, i have it OC now to 3.6ghz and its still low 50c so i could push it a bit more if i wanted to.

and the best part is, it is ultra quiet, when the monitor goes to sleep, I keep thinking its crashed it is that quiet lol

Morale of the story.

Even with a good case, if you have a crap fan it will still sound loud.
With a good cooler, maybe even with a crap case, it will have no sound.

(problem is the V8 is huge, so you need a wide case for it to actually fit, but it fits into the sniper storm with no modificaions at all)

it does fit 775 and AMD 2 and 3 processors as well as the newer intel mobos.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-055-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-194-_-Product

[MadIrish]

I'm open on any suggestions you have for aftermarket coolers for GPU's though if they work well, anyway to silence the GPU would be great.

Are GPU heatsinks significantly more difficult to replace though? I know CPU's are pretty simple with a little screw in over the motherboard, but I'm worried that I might break something wrenching off a GPU cooler (again, I'm very new to this stuff, you probably have magnitudes of more experience than I do). You also have to replace memory heatsinks? Or are they already put on a stock cooler?

Vid card coolers can be a bit tricky to remove because they cover so many components- not just the GPU itself but typically all the RAM chips as well.
You're removing a lot of thermal tape at one time.

Not difficult, just be aware and prepared.

I wish I dared do this.

My 4870x2 has a terrible stock fan, its intermittently loud and generally useless so the card runs crazy hot with it.... I'd just love to put one of these on it - http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1616

I just haven't been able to bring myself to risk mucking it up. The issues aren't anything I can't live with, but a broken card would be a serious pain.

[Detale]

Tricky? MAybe but not impossible. Just really give yourself the time and environment to do it . What I will recommend to people who aren't really technically inclined. Is before you remove any screws draw a diagram of the project, in this case the vid card on a piece of paper noting where the screws you plan on removing go, then when you remove each screw place it on the appropriate spot on your diagram. From what I have seen though there are usually 1 or 2 types of screws on a vid card so it doesn't matter in my experience where they go back. When there are 2 or 4 screws inside where the fan is they are usually different, but not always.

Honestly Clocker is doing the responsible thing and saying it's tricky, This guy has been rebuilding a bad ass car for a year and a half now, so I doubt removing 8-15 screws is tricky for him. Not to mention he taught me everything I know about water cooling.

Now it's not that hard I'm sure there are even tutorial videos on youtube for each card. Like i said just give yourself ample time and a clean quiet place to do it with the proper tools and voila