Help me make my pc quiet!!

[theicyj]

I am running dual AMD Athlon 64 FX-74s with 7 sata HDs and a GeForce 8800 GTS. I have several cheap case fans. Those two CPUs run hot and with all the fans, It sounds like a jet is coasting through my living room.

Has anyone tried these: http://www.acousticpc.com/noise_reduction.html
Anyone have suggestions for case fans, etc? I would love to here what others use or do to quiet their machines...

[.Maleficus.]

Replace your fans with Noctua fans. They're pricey but (apparently) work great. Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=noctua&x=0&y=0).

After that, there's always watercooling.

And to answer your question, I've never used one of those.

[philcamlin]

I am running dual AMD Athlon 64 FX-74s with 7 sata HDs and a GeForce 8800 GTS. I have several cheap case fans. Those two CPUs run hot and with all the fans, It sounds like a jet is coasting through my living room.

Has anyone tried these: http://www.acousticpc.com/noise_reduction.html
Anyone have suggestions for case fans, etc? I would love to here what others use or do to quiet their machines...

im buying this in a week or so

http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/10/24/computer-cooled-using-a-mineral-oil-filled-fish-tank/

[HermanAB]

You can solder a 90 Ohm half Watt resistor in series with a cooling fan to slow it down slightly. That will make a huge difference in the noise, without reducing the air flow by much.

[pwnst*r]

as stated, get quality fans that are cool and quiet. or.. get a quality case.

[theicyj]

Replace your fans with Noctua fans. They're pricey but (apparently) work great. Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=noctua&x=0&y=0).

After that, there's always watercooling.

And to answer your question, I've never used one of those.

Doesn't look like they are compatible with Socket F. I'll have to keep looking...

@ philcamlin

That is sweet. Looks like a short circuit waiting to happen (although the oil they used must not be conductive)! Not sure the wife would go for it. :P

[theicyj]

as stated, get quality fans that are cool and quiet. or.. get a quality case.

What fans (by brand) would you recommend. What kind of db level would be representative of a good quiet fan? I have been using mostly cheap Rosewills.

[pwnst*r]

i think someone mentioned these, but they're very quiet:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004

fyi, i don't know what db you'd look for. maybe google for HTPC and see what folks are using. THAT's where you'd want a pc to be super quiet.

i have the antec 900 and it's VERY quiet. you can find B stock for <$100 on Antec's site.

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2007/0611/antec_1.jpg

[.Maleficus.]

Doesn't look like they are compatible with Socket F. I'll have to keep looking...

@ philcamlin

That is sweet. Looks like a short circuit waiting to happen (although the oil they used must not be conductive)! Not sure the wife would go for it. :P
I just meant the case fans, not the CPU cooler (though that would help as well). The Noctua fans are supposed to be completely inaudible, and as an added bonus they push more air than your standard fan.

And yes, the oil is non-conductive :).

[pwnst*r]

The Noctua fans are supposed to be completely inaudible...

not quite ;)

Acoustical Noise 19.8 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. 16.9 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. 12.6 dB(A)

[dmizer]

im buying this in a week or so

http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/10/24/computer-cooled-using-a-mineral-oil-filled-fish-tank/

That's not really going to cut down on any noise though.

http://hackedgadgets.com/wp-content/2/_Mineral_Oil_Submerged_Computer_5.jpg

Still need fans to cool the oil.

I like it as a solution to dust problems though ... lol

[chucky chuckaluck]

http://hackedgadgets.com/wp-content/2/_Mineral_Oil_Submerged_Computer_5.jpg

that's hilarious looking. all it needs is fish that can breath mineral oil. :popcorn:

[cascade9]

Replace your fans with Noctua fans. They're pricey but (apparently) work great. Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=noctua&x=0&y=0).

After that, there's always watercooling.

And to answer your question, I've never used one of those.

Water cooling is NOT fun to setup. With 2x CPUs even less so. With 7x SATA in a case, your not going to have much rooms. Possible to setup a separate box with the pump/radiatior/fans in there and, makes it easier....but IMO water cooling is not really worth the trouble if your just after 'quiet' (and to answer your question, I have, for several years)


im buying this in a week or so

http://hackedgadgets.com/2008/10/24/computer-cooled-using-a-mineral-oil-filled-fish-tank/

Haahaha, thats cute. Not something I would use, but very nice.


That's not really going to cut down on any noise though.

Still need fans to cool the oil.

I like it as a solution to dust problems though ... lol

You might be suprised. Even 80mm x 4 fans @ 5v tend to be quieter than a lot of CPU heatsinks

To the OP- http://www.silentpcreview.com/

Very good site, loads of info.

1st off, get rid of those noisy fans! If you have the option use 120mm replacements, they move more air and are quieter than 92mm or 80mm. Noctua makes very very quite fans. Highly rated.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article63-page2.html

2nd, deal with those stock heatsinks! Noctua do make heatsink/fans for socket f-

http://www.acousticpc.com/noctua_nh-u12do_quiet_cpu_cooler_for_amd_opteron_socket_f.ht ml
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article846-page1.html

3rd, a nice quiet powersupply helps a lot as well. Considering your system spec, probably a corsair hx520/620w, Enermax Modu82w or Seasonic M12D 850w would be your best choices.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

4th, Make sure you've got a good mix of intake/outtake fans. I seem to recall 100% intake/80% is a good mix, but thats not set in stone. (e.g. is ou had 10 80mm intakes, you should have 8 80mm outtakes)

5th, try to get as many obstructions out of the way as possible. Those SATA cables dont block airflow like the old PATA/SCSI cables do, but anything helps.

6th, Sound dampening can help, but its more a final step IMO.

A good, solid case helps a lot as well. There are other tricks (rubber mounted hdds, 5 volt fans etc) but that list is a good start. :-)

[Dullstar]

That is a good question... all I can seem to find (although I have never looked because I can't be bothered) is that getting a MAc can solve it. Of course, why should we trust the average YouTube commenter? :KS

Some of them just clearly don't have brains from my experience... there are some that do, though!

[theicyj]

Well, I think I am going to go with 4 120mm Noctua fans on the case and replace the 2 CPU heatsink fans with 80mm Noctua fans (bye-bye cheap rosewill fans!). Hopefully that cures the noise problem. If not, I will give cascade9's list a go, looks like a very complete list there. My Cooler Master 800W PS seems fairly quiet, but my GeForce vid card could be a problem. Hopefully if I can drop my case temp the video card will throttle its fan a little.

That antec 900 case looks like it would be a nice setup, according to the website it was only 6 3.5" slots though, maybe I'll need to look for an external enclosure for the HDs. Any recommendations? My motherboard has an esata port :) ...

[cascade9]

6 x 3.5'' isnt that much of an issue, you can get 5.25'' to 3.5'' adapters, so you can run a hdd in the optical drive bays. With a few of them, you should be able to use any of a number of fulltower cases, even if they only have 4 x 3.5'' bays (like a coolermaster cosmos-s) you could stil get 7 x 3.5'' drives in there easy. Most full towers and 'gaming cases' I know of only have 6 x 3.5'' bays. But there are some that dont. Very huge, but the antec 1200 would probably be a better bet if your planning on running a ton of hdds, dual CPUs and a hot vid card.

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=Njkz

There is also Thermaltake Armour+

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1226&ID=1409#Tab1

Lian Li PC-V2110A

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=211&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=spec

Theres probably others, but thats all I can think of right now.

I know I've sen 2 x 3.5'' Esata enclosures, but really, who wants an extra bit of kit on the desk when you can shove everything into a case? Not me :)

[samjh]

http://hackedgadgets.com/wp-content/2/_Mineral_Oil_Submerged_Computer_5.jpg

For a moment, I thought I was looking at a high-tech cold water fish tank! :lolflag:

[hanzomon4]

Throw it in water... It will be quiet... it will be good and jesus will love it then.

[gn2]

~ it was only 6 3.5" slots though, maybe I'll need to look for an external enclosure for the HDs. Any recommendations? My motherboard has an esata port :) ...

I recommend laying the last two hard drives in the bottom of the case on a piece of foam, or suspend them by bungee cord in the 5.25" bays, or use Novibes (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/desktops/102300/noisemagic-novibes-iii) cages.

As for the graphics card, it's far easier (and potentially cheaper) to simply buy a low spec passively cooled one like an 8400 than to replace the cooling fan/heatsink on your existing one.
If you don't want to downgrade for the sake of quietness, there are quieter graphic card cooling solutions available.

As for your Cooler Master PSU, relatively speaking, it's noisy.

[JillSwift]

Just thought I'd mention for the sake of anyone thinking about an oil-cooled system like that fish tank (please pardon me if this has already been mentioned):

Mineral oil is very, very good at a process called "capillary action". This means that the oil will follow every nook and cranny of your cables and eventually start dripping out of your mouse, slicking up your keyboard, and slowly dribbling from behind your monitor.