I am leaving on a white shark expedition in six hours! I’m excited. :)

But first, check out this cool case:

Lian-Li PC-V1100 Silent Aluminum Computer Case

I love this thing. It’s designed to have plenty of airflow while remaining quiet (rubber gaskets, high-frequency blockers over fan openings, acoustic dampening foam lining side covers, big fans that operate at low RPMs, etc.). Check out the reviews. This case rules.

I have a computer with seven drives in it, and the sucker used to sound like a jet when it was housed in a cheapie plastic case (I had something like 6 fans attached to it). In the new case, it’s still clearly audible, but .. I was amazed at how much of a difference it made. I believe I can now shove the thing under the stage area in my place and have it be nearly inaudible to the living area. If that is the case (har har), then I will forego spending $1.5K on an acoustic enclosure that can dissipate enough heat to house two servers. So you see, I’m spending money to save money. Yeah. :)

all the bits of my server

My only complaint about the case is that the power supply area is a bit small. I have a huge power supply, which I managed to attach by using screw risers; this leaves some open space for sound to sneak out of, so I’ll have to seal it up with something, eventually.

UPDATE I’ve finally placed the server under my stage area, where it will live. With the bit of ambient noise in my loft, I can’t hear it at all, which is fantastic. I ran the server under load for awhile today, and the temperature leveled off at 46 C.

Current Stats: (P4 2.8Ghz, 1 x 160GB ATA, 8 x 300GB S-ATA)

CPU Temperature 39 C MB Temperature 32 C CPU Fan 2556 rpm Chassis Fan 1442 rpm

Very cool. :)