Duration: 1:15:19

1,569 views

40

**Read below for corrections and updates. ---I didn't think this would work, but preliminary testing is looking good. Noisy, but good. Now, the trick will be to see how quietly we can make this work, while still being effective. With that said, this is a laid back video of me doing the project start to finish. There is no editing, and I do make mistakes. 99% of people will probably be bored by this. But, so far, it looks like this wasn't the worst idea for a mod that I could have done. The GPU is much cooler, after doing this. (so far... I've only tested for about two hours) (I'll post a definitive update, after I've played with fan speeds)

Note: The mini ITX Gigabyte motherboard that I'm using has a ridiculous system to let me control these little fans. It will talk a lot of playing with it to get them exactly where I want them. I have Asus ATX motherboards that have much simpler fan controlling interfaces.

With all of that said, these two fans are working fantastically, so far. My CPU is cooler by 13-14 deg, and my GPU is cooler by 7 degrees, which makes things better, all around. The problem is the fans have a terrible noise profile, at the moment.

I think if I improve the CPU cooler (I'm currently using the stock cooler on a 4690), it might make things even better, over all.

I'll also be pitting this setup against a Node 202, next week. (I'll literally just transfer all the PC components (minus these fans) into the Node 202, and see how things breathe and perform in there.

***Correction: I said, multiple times, that the GPU's were hitting thermal limits, and I believed that the be true, because I do have graphics cards with about an 84 degree temperature limit. However, it looks like I wasn't quite hitting the temperature limit, before I installed these fans. I'll have to double check to see what the actual temperature limits are for the 1060 and 1070, but I wasn't hitting the limit, as I thought I had.

*Update 1: Cooling wise, this works amazingly well. The computer can survive Aida 64, and both the GPU and CPU are much cooler, in gaming. However... It is way too loud, even with the "Ultra Quiet" adapters, to use this solution, with the computer near me. It is a tedious sound. It should be noted, however, that for this to "really" work really well, you should not use the "Ultra Quiet" adapters.

The "regular" Quiet Adapter works, as a compromise, but it's still pretty loud.

Using these fans, with no quieting adapters at all, gives honestly surprising results, but it is so loud, that you can hear it, even while gaming.

It should also be noted these results are with a stock CPU cooler, and my Gigabyte motherboard's case fan header is influenced by the CPU's temperature, which is part of why these little fans ramp up so much. I will be trying an aftermarket CPU cooler to see if that makes these little fans work at a lower speed.

As a side bar: My Asus Sabertooth motherboards seem to give better control over fans than most other motherboards I've used. It's a shame that more motherboards don't give better control over fan speed.

Update 2: I've turned the speed up, on the stock cooler, to influence the 60mm Noctua fans to be quieter. They are less tedious, now. I'll be updating, over time, to let you know if this solution is satisfactory or now.

Update 3: This motherboard's lack of fine control over fan speed is really one of my bigger hurdles. The case fan's speed is tied to the CPU's temperature. If I turn the CPU fan up really high, it keeps these 60mm Noctua's from being loud, but I'm using a stock cooler, so then I just end up hearing that be really loud. So... I'll be upgrading the CPU fan, soon. (I've been using the stock fan so far, mainly to get a feel for what it can do)

I think this might actually work, for real, once I have a quieter and more effective CPU cooler. I ordered the CPU cooler, and now I have to wait for it to come in.


I got the Node 202 in. I'll be testing it, with the two 120mm fan support. I'll update as to whether or not that is sufficiently less tedious.

Final update, for now: I got a Noctua CPU cooler installed, and for 1080p, this system is great. I was trying to make 1440p be good, and even light 4K gaming, all while keeping the PC quiet. To be honest, you need different hardware to do that. I built just such a system, in a different case, and that will get its own video, hopefully, in the near future. If I could change one thing about this build, though, I would consider a short AIB 1060, instead of the reference style. The reference fan is louder than I like. With that said... I'd have to test an AIB card to make sure it makes sense, from a thermals perspective.