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redhat81
07-09-2003, 08:01 AM
I'm trying to put together the quietest computer possible. I realize having multiple CPU's and hard drives won't help, but I don't mind paying more for a quieter system.
Instead of just product suggestions, can anyone give me a few specs to look for when looking for a quieter CPU, Heatsink, Hard Drive, Hard Drive Cooler (Silencer), Power Supply? Maybe even which case is quieter (Aluminium, Steel, Plastic). I suppose most of the noise is made by the fans (PSU and CPU). I could live without the crunching of a hard drive though.
Do you think it is possible to make a computer half as loud as your typical computer? Even quieter?
Arcane_Disciple
07-09-2003, 08:13 AM
A friend if mine uses a CPU fan that has a dial to adjust the speed. He turns it up when he's doing something CPU intensive and down when he does everything else. The thing is silent when its low and it still keeps the temp of the processor down.
mdwatts
07-09-2003, 09:19 AM
Originally posted by redhat81
Do you think it is possible to make a computer half as loud as your typical computer? Even quieter?
If you spend the money on the super quiet cpu and case fans and also the power supply. Certain HD's are advertised to be silent. Anything mechanical in the case.
Mine certainly isn't with the 13 fans in total. :rolleyes:
GRidout
07-09-2003, 09:34 AM
Make sure you use an oversize heatsink i.e an overclocking one. Then you can use a silent fan with a little less power. I would recomend Papst. They make one which is 19dBA and still pushes high Cfm.
Silent powerpupply is a good idea, any will do.
Get a motherboard with a passive heatsink. There are loads of good ones. Alternativly buy a zalman replacement. They make all kinds of other quiet stuff as well.
N.B Choose a quiet HDD. They make much more than you think. I beleve that Seagate have a super quiet one that would suit well.
Buy a replacement Heatsink for your graphics card as well. The little ones are the loudest. Again the best is made by Zalman.
All these replacement parts are availible from overclocking suppliers and good pc shops.
Hope this helps.
p.s Aluminium or Steel cases sound about the same. The more you pay, usually the quieter they can be made to be.
bs_texas
07-09-2003, 09:39 AM
Quiet Computing
Isn't that an oxymoron?
:D
http://www.dynamat.com
Pierre Lambion
07-09-2003, 10:48 AM
http://www.silentpcreview.com/ is a precious info source.
Aluminium cases are probably over hyped. Their cooling effect is not great and they are isolating less of noice.
Low noise needs low temperature. This is achieved as much trough a well thought of arrangement as through silent components. Take your time.
P.
go to www.quietpc.com
i HIGHLY recommend their sound-insulating material kits, and hard drive enclosures (if you HDDs run cool enough).
they also have nice-looking heat-sinks.
MorphiusFaydal
07-09-2003, 11:15 AM
although i havnt tried it, but intend to, ive heard that water cooling gives superior cooling results to a conventional heatsink/fan. you have it hooked up to cpu waterblock, and get a hd cooler that cools the hard drive. i have also heard that you can take the fan out of the psu and watercool that, but i dont know. the quietest psu ive heard of is a thermaltake.. check their website... i believe theyre sold on newegg.com... quiet harddrives.. i have a wester digital... and i cant hear it... all the sound comes from my fans, floppy (when in use).. and my dvdrom spinning up...
im also looking for a quiet pc.. but im going to do some major hardware upgrades before i start looking at quieting down the fans...
Arcane_Disiple: the heatsink/fan i believe you're talking about is a thermaltake volcano 11 - xaser edition.. also possibly some other thermaltakes.. im looing at the volacano 11, and its supposed to be realy good, loud at high fan speeds, but fairly quiet at lower speeds...
GRidout: i didnt know heatsinks made noise.. last i checked, a heatsink was a piece of (usually copper) metal with fins that pulled heat away from the chip, and allowed the heat to disipate into the air.. some heatsinks, like the one on your cpu, and the one on the geforce fx, have fans.. but ive never heard a heatsink that made noise w/out a fan... but i may be wrong...
anyway.. thats my $0.02
chris
I have a Via Epia 5000 motherboard (everything built in, even CPU). Which is only 500MHz, but has a fanless CPU.
However i still put a fan in becuase it does get quite hot when there's not air flow (it need a minimum amount of air flow). I have an external PSU, much like a laptop PSU. I have the quiestest HD from seagate. It does get really hot though.
It acts as my server. It doesn't have no GUI running.
It depeneds what the PC will be used for really.
My one is fine as a server. But if you need something more powerful then the noise comes in :D:D:D:D:D
bwkaz
07-10-2003, 10:49 PM
Originally posted by redhat81
Do you think it is possible to make a computer half as loud as your typical computer? Even quieter? Half as loud as my typical computer? Hell yeah it's possible!
(My normal, everyday-use computer has a 7000 RPM Thermaltake Volcano 6 CPU fan in it, so it's EXTREMELY noisy. I also have a three-year-old Dell machine, doing Internet serving, that's at LEAST half the noise level, so that's how I know it's possible...)