On Sat, 23 May 2009 00:22:15 +0100, "Jim"
wrote:

OK first things first I'm not O/C clockingthe machine but wanted to post in
here as i know you folks know your stuff and I'm hoping some of you can help
me out.

I have an old Antec SX-1030 a simple review can be found here
http://tinyurl.com/pttyb9 but i have upgraded power supply to there
TruePower II (550w)

I have one, but the aluminum version. The steel is quieter.
They are nice cases, lacking some modern features but
solidly built for their size and price (though for awhile
the Antec name kept prices artificially high).

The one thing I dislike most about them is they were
designed during an era where 80mm fans were considered
acceptible, but then the fans needed higher RPM to move the
same amount of air.



Now for ages it was way too noisy for my liking so I replaced the stock 80mm
fans with x4 XILENCE Red Wing 80mm http://tinyurl.com/pqpf76 as a rule I'm
very happy with the fans themselves they make a huge difference in the
general noise (or lack of) of the case but I do keep on getting an annoying
buzzing /humming sound which is a real pain in the rear end as the case is
in my living room and only 2 feet from my ears when I'm at the desk using
it, it's not there all the time it comes and goes sometimes for just a few
seconds sometimes for hours.


Those fans do look like a good low noise option, but not a
low lived option. Their use of sleeve bearings (what they
call hydro) may be the problem, that the bearings have dried
out. Take them out, clean the dust off, peel the sticker
off and remove the plug to put a couple drops of oil in the
bearing. If the bearing has worn too much this will have
limited effectiveness and/or they may need to be relubed
more often, if the wear is slight they may run for a few
years before needing relubed again.



So i went ahead and bought some more stuff hoping it would cut the noise
down even more and more importantly get rid of this buzzing noise, which is
coming from one of the fans in particular so I bought some of these
AcoustiFeet http://tinyurl.com/39uao9 as well as four of these AcoustiFan
Anti-vibration Fan Gaskets http://tinyurl.com/ojyps7 in 80mm format, but my
problem is still there, main reason being i was unable to fit these gaskets
to my case, if i show you some images of how and where my fans go you might
get more of an idea of what I'm getting at.

http://tinyurl.com/qy7hot

When you first installed the quiet fans, did the system buzz
then? If not, it is unlikely you will need to add something
new to make it quieter, only to restore it to the condition
it was in when last quiet.

It is possible the fans have worn too much, or some are
imbalanced. We can't hear the system either so one man's
idea of too much noise may be different than another's.

I haven't closely looked at the fan mounts in my version of
that case in a long time, but I vaguely recall they used
some kind of cage that slides into slots in the case wall.
If you put electrical tape around those case wall slots,
that should prevent movement if there is any movement
present, though if it is not the problem it might make it
fit too tight to easily remove or install the fan cages.

There is also a lever on the drive racks, it may be subject
to rattle a bit due to the hard drives or imbalanced fans.
That is another area where a piece of electrical tape, foam
tape, or slightly bending it may help.


Just to finish of things I have another fan in the bottom of the case under
the final 3.5" cage to improve cooling even more plus 2 fans at the rear
extracting the warm air, now given all this it would seem I have done all I
can to keep things cool and quiet except going water route and that would be
overkill for me given I'm not overclocking anything in this system.

You didn't enumerate what parts are in the system so it is
difficult to be certain whether the level of airflow is
enough, but in general that setup will cool a system fine.
You might fan a bit higher airflow fans if you have drives
in every rack slot, but otherwise it should be enough given
moderate ambient temperatures.



I tried to use the 4 AcoustiFan Anti-vibration Fan Gaskets but once they
were in place my fans failed to clip into the purple holders that come with
the case, so i thought OK no problems just use the screws and screw it into
case but it seems I'm unable to do this, here's a couple of pics of the case
with front panel removed http://tinyurl.com/q5upzw and
http://tinyurl.com/qcm8hj

That picture does a good job of showing the fan bracket
mounting slots I wrote about above. If the fans themselves
are excessively vibrating then the clearest solution is to
replace them with some that are better balanced, but try
relubing them first. Also try putting pieces of electrical
tape on the case cutouts where the brackets slide on.

However, if you were dead set on screwing the fans to the
case, you could mark holes where you need them to be, drill
them out. If the existing cutouts make this a problem, put
large washers on the screws before inserting them through
the holes. A typical washer good for this would be a fender
washer at a hardware store, since it has a smaller than
average ratio of center hole to outer diameter. However, I
don't think you'll need to go to the trouble of drilling
holes and if the fans are wearing out then they will get
worse at an accelerated rate due to the play in the bearing,
and potentially fail. I would lube them now just to rule
that out.




I'm at a real loss what to do next, I was looking at one of the following
bits of kit http://tinyurl.com/q9t5el or http://tinyurl.com/obtdxr or lastly
http://tinyurl.com/34thww but unsure if they would even work in my case.

Take your hand and grasp each of the various parts when you
hear the vibration, so you can hope to locate which parts
are doing it. You won't need fancy case quieting supplies,
just some electrical tape, foam tape, bending a part of the
metal a tiny bit, or replacing a fan(s) if they are too far
worn or imbalanced.


I have tried to give as much information as possible, but if you need any
more info just ask and I'll do my best to supply it, so it's over to you lot
know what are your suggestions for trying to eliminated this annoying
buzzing/humming sound, if it would help I can even cap the noise and host it
somewhere so you get an idea of what I'm having to put up with.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Sorry it was so long.


If all else fails, start unplugging things. Leave a fan
unplugged, next a hard drive, next two hard drives, etc.
That may or may not indicate the part itself is going bad,
it could instead indicate which case part that it's sitting
in is vibrating against the adjacent case part.