It's oh so quiet...

Nutcase · 31-10-2007, 22:29

my HCPC has been annoying me by drowning out the fan on the projector. And that's noisy in itself. I decided the biggest problem was that the case was just a posh looking rack mount jobbie:

So I invested in a new case. Spent far too much money, and ended up with one of these:

It's quite snazzy - understated looks which is fine with me, space for 6 (!) hard drives, the psu sucks in air from the side and dumps it out the back, no taking of the already warm air inside the case. Rubber mounted hard drives etc. etc.

Came with 2 rear mounted whisper quiet fans, and space for 3 more (2 at the front, one at the side:

The posher version comes with remote and VFD, but I decided against that as the VFD has to use the supplied software and I don't know how compatible it was with my software (and it was another £60!).

Everything went in no problems, but a couple of niggles that I found:

The optical drives aren't rubber mounted, and I know they can be pretty noisy themselves.

It comes with a card reader in the 3 1/2" bay, but the connector isn't a normal USB plug, but one for motherboard headers. And no instructions on what they convert to. I used the motherboard's USB header for the front mounted sockets anyway. I have an addon usb card that has an internal normal socket. Fortunately I have another card reader that DOES have a normal plug I can swap it over for.

And finally it has two LED's on the front - power and HDD. And for some unknown reason, both are ultrabright blue led's, most distracting

It also has front mounted firewire socket and audio, but I don't have anything to plug those into.

And how quiet is it? Even with the lid off, I can barely hear it

Mark · 31-10-2007, 22:42

Looks good.

Due to its size and the somewhat challenging thermal design my own HCPC has started to BSOD if I leave it under full load for more than a few days (and I always leave PCs under full load), it looks like I might have to rebuild the HCPC before I rebuild the main PC, which is tres annoying (for now I've slackened off the load to extend the life as long as possible). I'd be looking at an understated case for a new HCPC and won't go as small as I did last time, so this looks like it might just fit the bill. Would certainly be interested in any additional comments you may have (e.g. how heavy is it? Does it have suitably positioned feet? etc.)

Nutcase · 31-10-2007, 23:10

According to the box, the net weight is 8.9kg. I think it felt a little lighter, but couldn't say for sure. It's a heck of a lot lighter than the original case though!

The feet are trying to look hifi-esque. Suceeds to a point, but up close they look cheap

They're positioned roughly where the feet on an amp would be. The case will be going in my hifi rack.

I like big cases for this type of thing to allow plenty of room for cables and airflow (I still have IDE cables for my drives, so no SATA think cable thingys yet). The case takes a full ATX board as well which is important to me as I like options

Here's the link to the manufacturer's info on it:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...pno=gd01&area=

edit:

There's one other thing worth mentioning. Becuase the PSU sits to the other side of the case to normal cases, you need a psu with a long main power lead. I've got an Antec performance non-standard thingy that comes with a nice long lead on it, so it's fine for me.

I got mine thorugh ebay for about £100 delivered.

Garp · 01-11-2007, 00:24

You had it in an F5 case?! LOL no wonder..

My Shuttle SN25s do me very nicely. The one with only on-board gfx and integrated cooler is quiet as a mouse, I have to peer around the monitor and grab a quick look at the power light to tell if it is on (or switch displays on my KVM which takes longer / is noisier)

Nutcase · 01-11-2007, 08:19

Well it was only a fiver and it looked nice

Nutcase · 01-11-2007, 20:08

A pic with just a mobo installed, and the 5 1/4" and HDD drive cages removed:

And a wonky pic of it in the rack

A couple of other minor niggles - the screws they supply to hold the HDD's in are slightly too short - they are standard length, but with the rubber bits it means they're too short. Using screws from compaq hot swap caddies seems to work though

And the lid is a very precise fit. Took ages to get the last screw lined up.

But apart from that, fabulous

Mark · 01-11-2007, 20:12

Ouchies that's rather deep. Might actually be too deep for my rack, and I can't hang it off the back due the rather large nest of cables out there (god knows what they all do, but I think I put them all there). Will have to measure up before considering.

Nutcase · 01-11-2007, 22:25

It's about 2" shorter than the f5 case, so it actually fits in my rack

But then I did buy the deepest rack I could find (it's american, they make everythinh hooge!).

Nutcase · 15-01-2008, 21:51

Decided a while back that the dvd drive was far too noisy, and as it had a beige front, looked silly too. So had a hunt round, couldn't find a slot load, so ordered one of these:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...itemaster-sata

as reccomended over on AV forums somewhere.

Also while i was at it ordered one of these:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...ling/samurai-z

and some of these:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...olink-av-bolts

Unfortunatley, the DVD drive needs the sata power connector, so I reckon a trip to maplins is in order tomorrow.

Not convinced the fan "bolts" will do much, but we'll see. And the standard P4 HSF is probably noisier than the replacement.

Need some acetone from the van to clean the proc before I can put the hsf on, and need to enlarge the fan holes slightly.

Hopefully, it really will be whisper quiet now

The old dvd drive will go into the "new" server I'm cobbling together.

Del Lardo · 15-01-2008, 22:01

What do people actually use their HCPCs for? Is it just watching films/tv shows/music or is there something else?

31-10-2007, 22:29	#1
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	It's oh so quiet... my HCPC has been annoying me by drowning out the fan on the projector. And that's noisy in itself. I decided the biggest problem was that the case was just a posh looking rack mount jobbie: So I invested in a new case. Spent far too much money, and ended up with one of these: It's quite snazzy - understated looks which is fine with me, space for 6 (!) hard drives, the psu sucks in air from the side and dumps it out the back, no taking of the already warm air inside the case. Rubber mounted hard drives etc. etc. Came with 2 rear mounted whisper quiet fans, and space for 3 more (2 at the front, one at the side: The posher version comes with remote and VFD, but I decided against that as the VFD has to use the supplied software and I don't know how compatible it was with my software (and it was another £60!). Everything went in no problems, but a couple of niggles that I found: The optical drives aren't rubber mounted, and I know they can be pretty noisy themselves. It comes with a card reader in the 3 1/2" bay, but the connector isn't a normal USB plug, but one for motherboard headers. And no instructions on what they convert to. I used the motherboard's USB header for the front mounted sockets anyway. I have an addon usb card that has an internal normal socket. Fortunately I have another card reader that DOES have a normal plug I can swap it over for. And finally it has two LED's on the front - power and HDD. And for some unknown reason, both are ultrabright blue led's, most distracting It also has front mounted firewire socket and audio, but I don't have anything to plug those into. And how quiet is it? Even with the lid off, I can barely hear it

31-10-2007, 23:10	#3
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	According to the box, the net weight is 8.9kg. I think it felt a little lighter, but couldn't say for sure. It's a heck of a lot lighter than the original case though! The feet are trying to look hifi-esque. Suceeds to a point, but up close they look cheap They're positioned roughly where the feet on an amp would be. The case will be going in my hifi rack. I like big cases for this type of thing to allow plenty of room for cables and airflow (I still have IDE cables for my drives, so no SATA think cable thingys yet). The case takes a full ATX board as well which is important to me as I like options Here's the link to the manufacturer's info on it: http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...pno=gd01&area= edit: There's one other thing worth mentioning. Becuase the PSU sits to the other side of the case to normal cases, you need a psu with a long main power lead. I've got an Antec performance non-standard thingy that comes with a nice long lead on it, so it's fine for me. I got mine thorugh ebay for about £100 delivered. Last edited by Nutcase; 31-10-2007 at 23:15.

01-11-2007, 00:24	#4
Garp Preparing more tumbleweed Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 6,038	You had it in an F5 case?! LOL no wonder.. My Shuttle SN25s do me very nicely. The one with only on-board gfx and integrated cooler is quiet as a mouse, I have to peer around the monitor and grab a quick look at the power light to tell if it is on (or switch displays on my KVM which takes longer / is noisier) __________________ Mal: Define "interesting"? Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die"?

31-10-2007, 22:42	#2
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Looks good. Due to its size and the somewhat challenging thermal design my own HCPC has started to BSOD if I leave it under full load for more than a few days (and I always leave PCs under full load), it looks like I might have to rebuild the HCPC before I rebuild the main PC, which is tres annoying (for now I've slackened off the load to extend the life as long as possible). I'd be looking at an understated case for a new HCPC and won't go as small as I did last time, so this looks like it might just fit the bill. Would certainly be interested in any additional comments you may have (e.g. how heavy is it? Does it have suitably positioned feet? etc.)

01-11-2007, 08:19	#5
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	Well it was only a fiver and it looked nice

01-11-2007, 20:08	#6
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	A pic with just a mobo installed, and the 5 1/4" and HDD drive cages removed: And a wonky pic of it in the rack A couple of other minor niggles - the screws they supply to hold the HDD's in are slightly too short - they are standard length, but with the rubber bits it means they're too short. Using screws from compaq hot swap caddies seems to work though And the lid is a very precise fit. Took ages to get the last screw lined up. But apart from that, fabulous

01-11-2007, 20:12	#7
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Ouchies that's rather deep. Might actually be too deep for my rack, and I can't hang it off the back due the rather large nest of cables out there (god knows what they all do, but I think I put them all there). Will have to measure up before considering.

01-11-2007, 22:25	#8
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	It's about 2" shorter than the f5 case, so it actually fits in my rack But then I did buy the deepest rack I could find (it's american, they make everythinh hooge!).

15-01-2008, 21:51	#9
Nutcase Moonshine Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chelmsford, innit! Posts: 3,979	Decided a while back that the dvd drive was far too noisy, and as it had a beige front, looked silly too. So had a hunt round, couldn't find a slot load, so ordered one of these: http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...itemaster-sata as reccomended over on AV forums somewhere. Also while i was at it ordered one of these: http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...ling/samurai-z and some of these: http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/pro...olink-av-bolts Unfortunatley, the DVD drive needs the sata power connector, so I reckon a trip to maplins is in order tomorrow. Not convinced the fan "bolts" will do much, but we'll see. And the standard P4 HSF is probably noisier than the replacement. Need some acetone from the van to clean the proc before I can put the hsf on, and need to enlarge the fan holes slightly. Hopefully, it really will be whisper quiet now The old dvd drive will go into the "new" server I'm cobbling together.

15-01-2008, 22:01	#10
Del Lardo Absinthe Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cambridge Posts: 2,539	What do people actually use their HCPCs for? Is it just watching films/tv shows/music or is there something else?