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How to make ASRock ION 330 lowsound (noiseless) redneck style!

The ASRock ION 330 have been a great friend running XBMCbuntu for several years!
With the ION-chipset it handles XBMC very well, but there is only one problem: NOISE!!!

After opening the chassis I found two problems a 50mm and 30mm fans squeeeaking like hell

My solution was easy enough:
* Remove the DVD-burner (who uses that anyway?)
* Remove / disable the fans
* Add a 120mm fan to extract air
* Add a SSD-drive for less noise and more speed (I had a old 30GB spare that I used)

Here is my final result

Read more if you want check out how it fits inside and building tips!

These are the tools and stuff you need:
* A multifunction All rounder (this for instance)
* A grill (this for instance)
* One half of a SSD bracket (see picture below)
* A drill/driver + drill bits
* 120 mm fan (I used a Mist 120x120x25mm, 54.4 m³/time, 16.5 dB(A))
* SSD drive (2,5″ connection & power is ready)

First off mark the position you can fit the fan and still get the lid on, then drill 2 holes. I used the grill as template for making an internal square.
This square was then cut using the all rounder, this was the result:

120mm fan fitted on the top lid, the blue markings are me messing around with ideas

The screws goes through the grill and into the fan

Use half of the SSD brackets and mark a position under the “DVD-lip”. Drill 2 holes and attached it through the chassis (remember to fit SSD to bracket before attaching)

Here is an overview of the insides, notice that I have unplugged the 30mm fan, but didn’t bother to remove it.
The extra SATA-cable is actually attached to the SSD SATA-cable, so I couldn’t remove that.

The DVD-front was removed from the slim-drive and just fitted with duck-tape in front (not very neat, I know 🙂 )

In BIOS I have overclocked the CPU without any problem.
I have also set the fan-speed to maximum, to ensure that the 120mm fan will move enough air.
Remember: Set the GPU shared memory to 512 MB for smoother playback on the 330!

As for the noise part, try different BIOS-options regarding the speed of the fan.
A 120mm fan does not create a high pitch sound and is probably the best choice for such application.

If you are looking for just replacing the old fans with more quiet version, check out MythTV-Wiki