is the SILENX still the best option for a more quite CPU fan?

[adeptio]

Hi Bryan,
in the beginning of last year we were discussing how to hush the Receptor a bit. You wrote a comprehensive answer that I never got to thank you for, quoted below.

The Cooljag that my Receptor Pro is fitted with is the model OAK-DE - Mfg Part: JAC16EC
http://www.cooljagusa.com/productshow.asp?id=64

I like the design of this unit, it is easy to unmount and refit. I have worked on much worse cpu coolers as far as installation is concerned.

I find the high pitch noise this fan is making annoying (I can easily hear it from a 20 feet long distance when inside the shut receptor. (And my receptor is even mounted in a rack unit with the front door shut). The noise can be modulated to a lower hum just by blocking the air flow a little, so this noise is very much a sum of both fan vibration and air flow.

Just pulling out the cpu fan wire turning off the fan demonstrates how quite this computer design actually is (basically the PS fan and chassie fan make very little noise). The Barracuda hard disk from Seagate is not the quitest HD around, and I see that there is no room for any rubber grommets the way the bay is designed (unfortunately). But the drive merely do a small and indifferent low hum contribution anyways.

So, I was wondering if the custom-made fan from SILENX of Korea still is your best option? Is it still available for order from Muse? Will it fit directly into the motherboard nuts fittings?

I rather replace the cooljag unit than just mounting some rubber fittings....

Alternatively I was actually thinking of creating a hole in the lid so I could use a normal cpu fan design without the angular shroud pushing the air straight up and out. This would thermally be the best solution also.

And, I guess you recommend artic silver for thermal coupling unless you guys have another opinion for this setup.

Cheers Eystein
still a receptor fan

[quote]

[quote]Bryan@MuseResearch - Thu Jan 07, 2010 4:05 pm
Hi gang

The noise you hear is the vibration from the dual ball bearing CPU fan coupling into the CPU heatsink shroud. We choose to use the dual ball bearing fans for the CPU cooler due to the fact they have an excellent track record for reliability over the long term (as opposed to need bearings that can fail after just a year or two of use).

We use a super quiet fluid bearing fan as the system fan, so if that is what you are hearing it is because its broken or your 3 year old stuck a toothpick into the fan!

We've done quite a bit of experimenting with quieting things down further, and we have decided to migrate to a fluid bearing fan for the CPU. Our initial fear was that the fluid bearing fans won't hold up as well on the road, but we've now convinced ourselves that they are suitable for our purposes. Also, quiet fans tend to be reduced airflow, and we want a certain amount of airflow thorugh the CPU heatsink to ensure cool operation even while performing during a heatwave in Arizona... or in Dubai... or in Australia.

We can offer customers who really find the noise objectionable a replacement fan, but we do not recommend modifying or installing a non-factory fan as it is imperative that you get the correct amount of airflow through the system. We've designed Receptor so that it won't overheat with a fan failure, which means the system fan can fail and the system will still work fine, the CPU fan can fail and the system will work fan, and the CPU heatsink (which is solid copper and weighs almost 2 pounds) is capable of keeping the system within acceptable operating temperature for quite some time before thermal shutdown! However, given that for optimal component life things have to be kept cool, we do not recommend long term operation of the unit with fans disconnected. (IN fact I learned an interesting thing doing some reasearch on this topic: for every 10-degrees F increase in the ambient temp you run a semiconductor it shortens its life by 50%! Yikes!)

We have a custom-made fan from SILENX of Korea that we are now using on the CPU cooler. It is substantially quieter than the dual ball bearing fan because it doesn't have the vibration that the dual ball bearing fan does.

If you would like to purchase one we can sell you one for $20.00 US plus postage, and a capable computer tech can install it for you in maybe 10 minutes.

Cheers

Bryan[/quote]
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