Although the ASRock ION 330 does make less noise than most other pc's, it is not completely silent. The external power supply is completely fan less and noiseless. The case isn't.
The noise level from the ASRock may vary depending on you system configuration (which fans are inside) and how you use your system. I'm running linux and Mythtv. Al the video encoding and decoding is done by the hardware (tuners encode, ION decodes). So the average load of the CPU is close to 0. On the other hand if you're running a CPU hungry OS like M$ Windows, the CPU gets stressed much more which will result in higher temperatures, resulting in higher fan speeds that will produce much more noise.
My ASRock ION 330 contains two fans:
CPU: 30x30x10mm 12V YS-Tech fan FD123010LS 0.07A brushless fan. (some have reported a Power Logic PLA03010S12M 24dbA)
Case: 50x50x20mm 12V YS-Tech case fan FD125020ML 0.10A brushless fan. (distance mounting holes = 40mm)
The small (CPU) fan is (in my case) making the most noise. The fan itself is pretty quiet but because it is fixed to the heat sink with metal screws, it causes the fan to transfer vibrations from the fan to the heat sink creating more noise than necessary.
Below are some images of the case fan (50x50mm)
And this is the 30mm CPU fan
This is how the fan was fixed to the CPU heat sink :
I removed the screws, added some Rubber Dualhead fan mount rivets (that I got from an old P4 CPU fan), cut one side of the rivets and attached the fan using a rubber band. Now the annoying high pitch noise is gone. The result looks like this:
Now the sound level is acceptable to me although it's still not 100% quiet.
UPDATE...
After about one year, I opened the case to blow out some dust that was collected after running 365*24 hours. I noticed that the rubber band lost all its flexibility and was becoming crispy :-) (This was predicted by some forum writers that pointed to this page)
So I decided to remove the rubber band and fixate the fan with a glue gun. The fan is now separated from the heatsink which results in the same low noise as with the rubber band. Be careful that you don't glue the fan itself. Check it when the glue is still a little hot so the fan can easily be removed if necessary. The result:
Other options to consider:
1) Replacing the fans with some others might help. Although it will
be hard to find a good 30mm fan replacement with a lower dba.
Alternatives?:
- Fractal Design 50mm Silent Series Cooling Fan (19DB)
- Titan TFD-3007M12S 30mm (20dba)<br>
2) Another option that crossed my mid was increasing the inlet, removing the 30mm fan and replace the 50mm fan with an ultra silent version that can move more air. Maybe add some guiders for the right airflow through the CPU heatsink.
3) Some users replaced the thermal 'gum' with a good quality thermal paste.
4) Installing fanmate controllers to lower the RPM's. Watch out! this can cause the chips to overheat!
5) Last option: buy a new passively cooled pc :-)
Here are the specs from Y.S. Tech:
| Download Series Specification in  |
|
| No. |
Model |
bearing |
rated
voltage
(V) |
operating
voltage
range
(V) |
power
(W) |
rated
speed
(RPM) |
max
airflow
(CFM) |
max
static
pressure
(mm-H2O) |
noise
dB(A) |
life
(Hour) |
weight
(g) |
| 1 |
FD123010LB |
2B |
12 |
9.0~13.2 |
0.50 |
5800 |
2.6 |
2.0 |
19.0 |
80000 |
9 |
| 2 |
FD123010MB |
2B |
12 |
9.0~13.2 |
0.60 |
6800 |
2.9 |
2.6 |
23.0 |
80000 |
9 |
| 3 |
FD123010HB |
2B |
12 |
9.0~13.2 |
0.78 |
7800 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
25.5 |
75000 |
9 |
| 4 |
FD123010EB |
2B |
12 |
9.0~13.2 |
1.20 |
10000 |
4.3 |
4.5 |
31.5 |
75000 |
9 |
note that there is no
FD123010LS according to the website of Y.S. Tech
L=sintetico bearing
S=Sleeve bearing
 FD5020 SERIES / Dimension: 50*50*20mm | Download Series Specification in |
|
| No. |
Model |
bearing |
rated
voltage
(V) |
operating
voltage
range
(V) |
power
(W) |
rated
speed
(RPM) |
max
airflow
(CFM) |
max
static
pressure
(mm-H2O) |
noise
dB(A) |
life
(Hour) |
weight
(g) |
| 1 |
FD125020LB |
2B/BS |
12 |
7.0~13.2 |
0.72 |
3900 |
10.0 |
2.5 |
23.5 |
80000/50000 |
36 |
| 2 |
FD125020MB |
2B/BS |
12 |
7.0~13.2 |
1.08 |
4800 |
12.2 |
4.0 |
28.0 |
80000/50000 |
36 |
| 3 |
FD125020HB |
2B/BS |
12 |
7.0~13.2 |
1.32 |
5600 |
14.0 |
5.5 |
32.5 |
75000/50000 |
36 |
note that there is no
FD125020ML according to the website of Y.S. TechL=sintetico bearing
M=?
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