Shut up Computer!!!

Bard

What's the best way to go about getting my beast of a computer into silent running?

The bulk of the noise is made by the spinning of the main cooling fan and the hard drives.

Is it possible/worthwhile?

I'd like, for example, to be able to watch a DVD movie without the background hummmmmmmmmm... from the HDD and fan.

bonkey

You can quieten your heatsink assembly by replacing the fan or the entire package. Go check overclockers or somewhere like that for a review...and check for heatsinks noted to be quiet

As for the HDs.....it probably is possible to insulate the noise, but generally, you need to buy quieter HDs

jc

Gerry

The idea is to reduce the speed of fans slightly, which reduces their noise more than it reduces their cooling power. Search this forum for "resistor" to find info on how to wire your fan to spin slower, there are plenty of threads already about it.

Hard drives should be screwed in with rubber washers, you can also buy or make a soundproofed enclosure for a hdd, but care has to be taken that heat can still get out from this enclosure, or your drive will die prematurely.

To reduce noise in general, you can line the sides of the case with sound proofing material. Some packaging is suitable for this, if you use your head you should be able to find suitable material on the cheap. This will also have the effect of insulating the case, so you should get some temperature monitoring software like mbm5 to ensure you aren't raising the case temperature too much.

beaver

...and check for heatsinks noted to be quiet

<PEDANT>
Heatsinks don't move, dude, so they don't make noise unless you bash them off something or drop them. Fans are the whirly-roundy-movey ones
</PEDANT>

leeroybrown

I know on my machine the main CPU cooling fan generates the bulk of the noise.

Another interesting one is that I have wooden floor boards in my room, so I have cut a couple of pieces of carpet down to size to seperate the case from the floor. It helps to stop any vibration/noise being transmitted through the floor. I wouldn't knock it because it works.

Maybe investing a few quid in a low noise fan might be a good investment.

The other approach (One I'm definitely going to try) is getting a decent set of surround speakers.

Fight fire with fire!

Thorbar

Maybe investing a few quid in a low noise fan might be a good investment.

[/B]

Anyone got links to reviews of these low noise fans?

po0k

I've genearlly heard that SUnon fans are nicce and quiet, and can be picked up in Peats.
Might buy 4 or 5 of em next time I'm up (provided it's not for an All-Ireland again and I can find my way there).

www.quietpc.com have some intersting designs.
The graphics card cooler certainly looks nice, but I'd be worried about using it on a GF2 or above or anything overclocked.

Bard

Thanks for the suggestions lads, - may just act on a few of 'em...

leeroy- I already have a good set of surround speakers (well... fairly good... they're the Cambridge SoundWorks ones that came with the SoundBlaster Live! 1024)... and yes, I turn good movies up LOUD during the day and use an excellent pair of cordless headphones at night. I have ultra-sensitive hearing though, and still hear the fan/HDD's (there are 2 HDD's) in the background, particularly, of course, during quiet parts of a movie.

Also, when using my PC at night, I'd rather it be as silent as possible, because I'm not alone in the house and I don't want to keep anyone awake. - Fine, I work nights and don't have to be up early in the morning,... but they don't, - and they need their beauty sleep ....

anyway- cheers again,

Gambler

Bard, As SyxPak Said, check out quietpc.com's stuff! they have this kit for hard disks, funky cases you can put your hard disk into to keep it quiet (instalation is a little involved because you need to make sure the HD won't over heat, but they have REALLY good instructions) their fans also work a treat for keeping your PC quiet (unless of course you want to try and build that water cooling system that guy in the states made.. [Homer Voice]hhmmmm Water Cooled PC...[/Homer Voice])

Gamb

Bard

Originally posted by Gambler
Bard, As SyxPak Said, check out quietpc.com's stuff! they have this kit for hard disks, funky cases you can put your hard disk into to keep it quiet (instalation is a little involved because you need to make sure the HD won't over heat, but they have REALLY good instructions) their fans also work a treat for keeping your PC quiet (unless of course you want to try and build that water cooling system that guy in the states made.. [Homer Voice]hhmmmm Water Cooled PC...[/Homer Voice])

Gamb

Will do...

check out quietpc.com's stuff I mean, not the funky water-cooling system

I crave silence and that stuff looks quite nice... might place an order,...

thanks lads!