REcommendations for Silencing my PC

romperstomper

guys,

i need a new case and PSU to quieten down my rig. at the moment the HDs & ATI 4870 are deafening. so could anyone recommend:

a case that will quieten the HDs
GPU cooler (silent if possible)
passively cooled PSU

thanks, RS

Solitaire

What's the rig's specs, current case etc.

Also, by "silent" do you mean "quiet", "really quiet", "inaudible" or "acoustically zero-output"?

HDD is easy; get an anti-vibration bracket for it. Nothing insane required here. Its after that that things get messier...

Fanless PSUs are either unsuitable for gaming rigs, very, very expensive, or a mix of the two There are a good few "quiet" 140mm-fan-based units, but only a very few "near-silent" PSUs (mostly Sharkoon liquid-cooled rigs) and the only semi-/full-passive ones I can think of are the super-pricey Zalmans...

The best way to cool a hot GPU is liquid. 'Nuff said. Except its just a bit pricey for most. As I haven't seen any modern refresh for bolt-on self-contained liquid-cooled GPU-sinks (there was once such a thing) best idea is something like an Arctic Cooling Accelero etc. - but with a HD4870 there's no question of going passive; its either quiet fans on a third-party heatsink or full watercooling.

romperstomper

current rig is opteron 2C 2.6ghz that works well (quietly) with a tuniq tower.

big dogs for noise are gpu & hdd. you seriously reckon an item such as this will sure the HDD stuff ???:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/harddrivesolutions/quietdrive

quiet psus are expensive but if these two quieten the monster than its money well spent:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/ultragrade/nes-xstrike#customerreviews

as for the GPU, is there a separate GPU only water blockk I could get? I've never gone down that route before, and may have to sell my GPU and buy an expensive passively cooled one

Solitaire

There aren't any for a HD4870 I don't think. But there are much quieter air coolers. Downside is price - €25-35 for a reasonable one.

There are much cheaper and better HDD enclosures than that out there.

And what PSU do you have at the moment? Just so I can see what you regard as "noisy"

romperstomper

current PSU is OCZ 500W. modular, but aside from that its bog standard (noisey). Have the Antec Sonata 2 case at the moment and not buying another sonata as i'm unimpressed by acioustic baffling properties

uberpixie

case: Antec P182 or 183. Have the original p180 version and it does exactly what you need. I would replace the default case fans though, the default antec ones are not great.

PSU: anything by seasonic/corsair.

For the gfx card you can fit an arctic cooling cooler.
Got one for my 4870 and it does greatly reduce the noise level. Tis a bit fiddly to fit though but it is worth the trouble.