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This shouldn't be dealt with at the rack level. It should be dealt with at the disk drive mounting bracket level, where it's far easier. There are brackets for that, from several suppliers. There are also rubber grommet kits for fans, to damp vibration from that source.

If you buy servers in bulk, it's something to take up with your supplier. It's the sort of thing that costs only a few dollars per unit at the factory.

Just get one of these babies and some not so loud gpu and you're all set :) ..unless you love that DIY stuff to the max of course.

The article is a nice start. For getting the lay of the land, I like the enthusiast sites like Tom's Hardware, AnandTech, and ExtremeTech. Silent PC Review shows some nice components for building silent PCs.

Usually, I buy CPUs that are not the latest (better bang/buck) but couple them with the new motherboards, decent (but not overextravagant) memory, and a nice video/TV card like the ATI All-in-wonder series. It's difficult to get the latest ATI A-I-W card from the stock computer builders. If you don't do excessive gaming, you can opt for slightly less CPU and a lower power ATI A-I-W; that will help you build a more silent computer. Building your own also lets you try out the better cases, so there's less Apple envy. Cool cases can be had from places like Ahanix, Lian Li, and Nexus (check out both the iStyle and Breeze cases).

Why use software to monitor heat, when you can pull the heat away from the system? Check this laptop cooler out. Nexus TDD 3000 Heat Pipe. It uses no fans. It makes no noise and uses zero power. There's a chart on the bottom that shows the difference it makes in cooling.

I just ordered the parts to build a PC, and the hardest part was finding a case that didn't look like crap. I wasn't successful.

I just got myself a silent Nexus Breeze case. It's a nice looking case (it even looks better live than in pictures), but it doesn't beat the G5.

I just ordered the parts to build a PC, and the hardest part was finding a case that didn't look like crap. I wasn't successful.

I just got myself a silent Nexus Breeze case. It's a nice looking case (it even looks better live than in pictures), but it doesn't beat the G5.

You know, I used to think like that. But the I started to re-consider. My computer is powerful (A64 3200+), and I tried to make it as silent as possible. But I can still hear the computer even when I'm not in the same room! And 95% of the time, I don't need all that power. A small computer that is silent would be perfect for me. I wouldn't hear any whirring fans or the like, It would be completely silent. And just because it would be less powerful, it doesn't mean it does "less". Quite the contrary: it allows you to do stuff you couldn't do with that full-tower uber-computer. It allows for silent computing. It allows you to do your job without being distracted by the fans in your computer.

I was looking for a suitable Mini-ITX-machine, when Apple came up with Mac Mini. It had similar price, alot better performance and features, so I bought one (still waiting for it to be delivered). I think it will suit me nicely.

Maybe I just want something else from my computer besides raw performance. I can have that performance quite easily. But it will cost me in size of the computer, noise and price. What's the point if I don't need all that power most of the time?

I can recommend one of these.

120mm fan on the inside of the case, once its mounted it is like having a fanless PSU. Their 120mm case fans are very quiet too, not to mention color coordinating.

Maybe some people want something else than performance. I have Athlon64 3200+. But having it up & running all the time would be a pain in the ass. The case I use is specially built to be as silent as possible. And I can STILL hear the machine from next room! Not to mention that the thing is HUGE!

Mac Mini would be completely opposite. It's tiny. I can have it on my desk with no problems. It's also silent. And, as a plus, it looks drop-dead gorgerous. Sure, it wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as my A64-machine. But it doesn't have to be! I don't need some uber-machine to do basic things. And most of the time, my A64-machine is used to do basic things. Things that the Mini could habdle just fine. And it would handle them without sounding like a jet-engine. Maybe I could save few bucks on my electricity-bill while I'm at it.

For cases, have a look at the Antec Sonata. A simple stylish design in smart piano black. Try a search at various online retailers that let buyer's post reviews and you'll find the case to be well-rated. The Nexus Breeze is also a nice design.

ATX systems could be designed well, and cooled appropirately... But absolutely nobody is doing so.

Often times you see people just randomly adding case fans without paying any attention to how the air circulates in the case. The Nexus Breeze is a logical construction: hot air rises, so work towards that goal and blow it out from the back. Did I mention it works extremely well?

The Nexus Breeze does cost more than ordinary ATX cases, and finding one in the USA might be a problem (it's readily available here in Europe), but if you can pick up one, don't hesitate. You won't regret it.

By replacing the stock HD with a Seagate Barracuda V 120gb ($130) and the fan with a Papst fan ($15), I've made it so the the only audible noise my g4 makes comes from the PSU. Pretty quiet and pretty cheap, considering I needed a bigger HD anyway.

But I want it dead quiet, since I use it to record music, and I hate computer noise anyway. So next step is to replace the PSU, probably with one of these ($80). The only problem is, Apple doesn't follow ATX guidelines with its power supplies, but lucky for me some guy's already figured out the differences. Unfortunately, that's only for the Sawtooth g4s, those of you who have something else may be SOL. But there's no reason why you couldn't find out the pinouts of your own particular g4's PSU and match it to the ATX standard.

Only thing is, I'm never going to want to buy a newer machine, b/c my current one rocks so hard (or rather, so softly). So I started looking into g4 upgrade cards (more). I'm probably going to try and hold out till they come out with something that lets me upgrade to a g5, but i figure an upgrade card with the heatsink replaced with something more like this, perhaps with a fan controller, might be the way to go. Anyone know if it's possible to use a heatsink like that on an apple chip?

Of course, if I've got a heatsink like that, I'm going to have to cut a window into the case to show it off. Anyone know anything about how much EM shielding the case offers, and if cutting a big hole in it is a bad idea? I mean, I see all-plexiglass cases around, how do they get around the EMI problem?

...in three easy steps.

1. Antec Performance One P160 case.
2. Nexus PSU, fans and CPU heatsink and fan.
3. Samsung SpinPoint series of HDDs.

Zalman's products aren't bad but, IMHO, Nexus' are superior.

Oh, and either ditch the jet engine that masquerades as a graphics card with something quieter or replace its fan too.

...then go for Nexus's range of PSUs, heatsinks and fans.

Without a doubt they are amongst the best I've come across, and I'm including the likes of Zalman, Q-Technology, etc when I say that. You can see there range of products on their website. Definitely worth checking out.

Exactly. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I have implemented this by tossing away the AMD athlon factory heatsink with is relatively noisy and replacing it with an Alpha PAL 8045 which is one of the best heatsinks out there. (The Thermalright SLK-800 comes to mind as well.) Use Artic Silver 3 or Ceramique thermal compound and then put a big ol' 80 mm silent fan on top (Panaflo Low or Vantec Stealth 80 mm) and presto! Much of the case noise is gone and still with decent CPU temps.

Don't replace your PSU's fan with a low noise one though because PSUs were specifically designed to work with the fans they came with. Instead, you could get a silent PSU. I am seriously looking a Nexus NX-3000 silent PSU as well as one of the Zalman ones. (FYI: Zalman is a Korean company that specialises in low-noise components. You can get silent GeForce4 coolers from them.)

For hard drives, look into Seagate's Barracuda IV (IDE) and V (ASTA) series - they are the quietest 'modern high-end consumer' drives on the market right now.

With this setup, you can actually avoid generating the noise in the first place. That way, noise dampening material will not be necessary.

Anyway, if you're in Canada and you're looking to get some of this gear, check out QuietPC (which also has US, British, Kiwi and Irish dealers) as well as Bigfoot Computers. I am a satsified customer of both of these dealers.

Until the cheap-ass power supply shorts on the DC side and cooks your hard drives. That 1337 RAID array won't save your butt because both drives will be cooked. Or worse, wait till your drives die a slow, horrible death from weak, out-of-spec voltages.

For my next upgrade, I am looking seriously at the Nexus NL-3000 power supply which is super-quiet and was well-received by many reviewers. A PSU is *not* something you skimp on for serious computers.

"Jam a quiet (Panaflo, etc) case fan in it."

So you are circumventing the airflow characteristics for which the PSU was designed by removing the manufacturer's fan and adding a different one. That's a good idea. Have fun when your PSU dies from overheating.