SN41G2 - silence would be golden

[Brownie]

I'm the happy new owner if a Shuttle SN41G2, after a wee bit trouble with the onboard LAN it has turned out to be about the most stable system I've had the pleasure of owning and it's so much quieter than a regular Tower........ but .... there had to be a but didn't there ..... I'd lover it to be even quieter :D I've been reading the forums re various mods but I doubt I'm capable of taking the PSU to bits and changing the fan :( so what I want to know is what can be achieved by swapping either the case fan, northbridge fan or power supply for alternative components? Can much be achieved? Is it worth the effort? If so what component swaps would you suggest?

Cheers :D

SN41G2, Athlon XP 2.6, 512 PC2700 OCZ, 80gb Barracuda, Bluetooth Adapter, Samsung DVD Combo

[Dizzie]

i've just put a papst 19db fan for the rear CPU fan and it's cooler aswell as slightly quieter. it's the Radeon's mini fan and HDD that I can hear the most. if I stop the PSU and CPU fan the noise hardly changes.

Time for another VGA sink and replace the WD SE Caviar for a Seagate

[ZStation]

The big 80mm fan at the back is dire. Shuttle should be shot for using that Sunon job.

I changed my fan for a Panaflo M1A - the medium speed Panaflo fan.

With fan Guardian it runs pretty really quiet, and when required shifts a load of air through the machine. The fan on my 9700 Pro was the noisiest part of the Shuttle.

[james123]

with regard to changing the 80mm fan, can pretty much any fan be placed in there while still retaining the functionality of fan guardian? or does the new fan just run at a constant level?

thanks.

[Kynoch]

The fan guardian is software based so it will work with any fan that uses a 3pin connector and has a speed sensor line.

[ZStation]

Actually, Kynoch, you're wrong.

Fan Guardian is hardware controlled by the BIOS and works via the CPU temp. You don't need a fan with tacho to use Fan Guardian.

[Brownie]

Make your minds up :eek:

[ZStation]

Fan Guardian works with a 2-pin fan plugged into the motherboard. It needs no software to work, so therefore is hardware based.

It's simple, I'm correct :p

[Kynoch]

Ok i was wrong about the monitoring cable, it adjusts the fan speed by altering the voltage to it, hence why when the shuttle is first started the fan runs at full speed because some fans can only be started at 12v then operate at a lower speed afterwards.

But a BIOS is software and the BIOS does the job of monitoring the system and CPU temps, so it is software controlled, just not sotware as normal people think of it. :D

[ZStation]

Ah, you're just getting picky Kynoch. To most people, software is stuff you install on Windows. As it's controlled by the BIOS, it's more hardware based - IE it works with no OS on the machine.

If you want to be REALLY picky, you could say it's firmware based. Firmware being software used exclusively to run hardware. :)

[james123]

cor, my first post causes mucho controversy ;)

cheers to both of you anyway :)

[PJ Matthews]

Actually chris is right, the BIOS is the first code your computer executes on startup so is NOT hardware but is contained inside a storage device (the BIOS chip). Its like saying Windows XP is hardware because its on a hard disk!

:)

PeeJ

[ZStation]

No, PJ, it's not. Your example is different. :)

When I did system architecture, BIOS was regarded as firmware.

Check out this link. (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=firmware)

I'll quote:


firmware

n : (computer science) coded instructions that are stored permanently in read-only memory


Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University


firmware


Software stored in read-only memory (ROM) or programmable ROM
(PROM). Easier to change than hardware but harder than
software stored on disk. Firmware is often responsible for
the behaviour of a system when it is first switched on. A
typical example would be a "monitor" program in a
microcomputer which loads the full operating system from disk
or from a network and then passes control to it.


Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2003 Denis Howe


firmware

/ferm'weir/ n. Embedded software contained in EPROM
or flash memory. It isn't quite hardware, but at least doesn't have
to be loaded from a disk like regular software. Hacker usage differs
from straight techspeak in that hackers don't normally apply it to
stuff that you can't possibly get at, such as the program that runs
a pocket calculator. Instead, it implies that the firmware could be
changed, even if doing so would mean opening a box and plugging in a
new chip. A computer's BIOS is the classic example, although
nowadays there is firmware in disk controllers, modems, video cards
and even CD-ROM drives.


Source: Jargon File 4.2.0

[PJ Matthews]

But now you've changed your argument, firmware is not hardware.

[ZStation]

But it's not software either, so you've changed your argument too. :D

Firmware is software that runs hardware. It's not software. Nor is it hardware.

[PJ Matthews]

WTF? You just said "Firmware is Software" TAADAA. I havn't as of yet even said that, Ive just confirmed the BIOS isn't hardware.

[ZStation]

;)

[Brownie]

Getting back to my problem :D any thoughts on the Papst 8412NGL do you think it'll do the job?

[ZStation]

It should do - it's similarly specced to the Panaflo M1A

[Brownie]

"cool" I'll let you know how I get on.:)

[jackass]

would this fan do the job on my shuttle:

YS-TECH FD8125 SILENT 80mm fan

Speed - 1850RPM
Output - 27CFM
Decibels - 20dBA
Dimensions - 80x80x25