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No Noise PC Reviewed
Arne Anka writes "How about a no noise PC? Well, Hush has recently launched its ATX range, which takes a full ATX motherboard, decent speed processors and graphics card, but sticks to the main concept of producing no noise PCs. The chassis is made from solid aluminum heatsinks and the whole system is fitted with heatpipes. Have a look at TrustedReviews for the first online review of the Hush ATX."
Turn any regular computer into a noiseless one by turning it off.
...I prefer a system that runs with enough heat and fans that I don't have to pay heating as well as the electric for my computer.
after 4 comments.
full text anyone?
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
Is upgradability and price...
But atleast it has it's uses (e.g. sound studio, people who can't take the noise of their computer, etc.)
Oh and the website's slashdot'ed already =)
to build your own PC and put it inside of a sound insulating box that you made? My computer is very fast, and I refuse to trade performance for an expensive way to try and get it quieter. The other solution is to shut off the computer at night. Really. The LED's and whir of the harddrive annoy me at night.
I'm probably at the karma cap. Mod up a funny troll instead, it lightens the mood
Voodoo PC makes a high-performance gaming rig that's totally fanless, uses giant heat pipes integrated into the case for cooling. It's called the Rage F50.
Apparently it can cool damn near anything as far as CPUs and GPUs, including an Athlon FX-53 and a Geforce 6800gt and up to 2 Gig of ram. The only thing you'll hear is the drives while you frag.
Hard Drives make Noise. CD-Roms make noise. Floppies make noise. A noiseless computer is impossible because anything with a motor will make noise.
Since when has this country used intellectual elite as a pejorative term?
I want a decent video card (say an ATI 9800 XT or equiv.) and a decent speed processor (say a Prescott 3.2 Ghz or equiv.)... From what I've read, I can kiss the noiseless part of the system good bye if that's what I want... The heatpipes need to be cooled, and at close to 200 watts of heat dissipation for just the CPU and GPU, I'm not so sure their solution will work fanless...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
..but I encourage everyone to remember Apple's old G4 Cube.
Cooled by convection, the core seems to 'hover' and the only noise-making devices in the whole computer are the hard drive and the optical drive.
Sadly, Apple didn't pursue the design. From a business standpoint, this was neccessary, the computer was almost as expensive as the towers, had no real expandibility, and Apple couldn't put a ramped up G4 in the Cube and keep it passively cooled.
Regardless, it's a Mac collector item, retains a large amount of its value despite being discontinued 3 or 4 years ago, and runs OSX beautifully.
This post brought to you by a G4 Cube and 17" Apple Studio Display. No PC ever looked this good, bay-bee.
Because it looks like we killed it already.
Copy of the article here
That if the server falls in the forest after being slashdotted, do you hear a sound??
just wondering.
...given that computers don't make much noise to begin with. Fridges, freezers, and even muted televisions are louder.
I switched recently to a Soekris net4801 with a 2.5" harddrive as my main ADSL router, Postfix, Cyrus/IMAP, and thttpd server, running FreeBSD 5.2.1.
One of the main reasons was the noise of the PC being always on. Of course, the other reason was to save (a lot of) power. Now, my desktop PC is still not silent, but it's great to be able to turn if off before going to bed.
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
So get a SSD drive from M-Systems (www.m-sys.com) They come in IDE and SCSI format. Oh...and don't complain about the price. If you want a solution to the noise problem, here it is. ;)
Life is not for the lazy.
What is the noise of one noiseless computer slashdotting?
Man that server went down fast but quiet.
I fought the corporate America, and the corporate America bought the law.
Blood makes noise.
Not sure what the submitter was smoking, but the Hush ATX has been around for a while now, and was reviewed in April by SilentPCReview.
After "TrustedReviews" recovers from the slashdotting I will have a look though...
This Like That - fun with words!
The site's /.-ed so I dunno how old that review is, but SilentPCReview has had a review of the Hush ATX since April now.
Of course it's possible to build a _really_ silent computer. CPU, RAM, video card, motherboard, NIC, soundcard (well, maybe you should leave that out, too) don't need moving parts, and you don't need any hard drive, CD-ROM or floppy. If you need storage space, just use flash. Having no moving parts saves power, too.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
i have never understand the need to buy overpriced "silent" computer parts... 1) they are often NOT state of the art. 2) to expensive. 3) upgrading become really expensive. something that every computer geek with a little selfrespect should do is to buy a cheapass soundproof box to put your computer in. (usually with a big enough fan to take the heat out of it but big enough to be silent due to low rpms) this is something that most music studios have done for ages... then take your hard earn money and buy new inexpensive hardware.
This is just one large heatsink and the components used are tuned to only work in that setup.
Upgrade the video, cpu, harddisk or memory and your system will go titsup.
Don't even think of running the cpu at 99% for any length of time, sorry but seti at home is out unless you live in an igloo.
Are there any 'silent' power supplies out there?
I have a Zalman heatpine on the video card, and a Zalman cooler on the CPU, enough RAM so the drives aren't hit once something loads,etc.
I bought what was suppoed to be a quiet/silent power supply, but the thing is pretty loud.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Jesus used to be my co-pilot, but we crashed in the mountains and I had to eat him.
I just have to point it out.
I was setting up 10 Dell Optiplex machines today at work and I turned them all on at once so I can do the same thing on each one.
Step back a couple of feet.
The setup room is quiet.
Since they only have two spaces for addon cards, instead of getting a Radeon 9600 XT and a TV tuner, why didn't they use one card, the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600 XT, which has the tuner built-in? Then they'd have another slot to put somethin in.
I'm sure it's been mentioned before but if you really want a "noisless" computer just buy a laptop.
Hush Silent Mini-ITX PC review.
Same concept, I guess, but because Via C3s can be passively cooled, it may be a better solution for low preformance (not that there's anything wrong with it), quiet PCs.
-- "I'm not a religious man, but if you're up there, save me Superman..."
I got to the first page of the three page review ok....and then the plainitive screams of a server under load - Stack Trace: [HttpException (0x80004005): Server Too Busy] System.Web.HttpRuntime.RejectRequestInternal(HttpW orkerRequest wr) +148 Anyway, heres the first page content pulled out of my Mozilla cache - Hush ATX Here at TrustedReviews we like the idea of quiet PCs. In fact it wasnâ(TM)t too long ago that we wrote a feature â" Silent Solution - detailing how to make your PC as quiet as possible. But even if you follow the same route that we did in that feature, you still wonâ(TM)t have a truly silent machine, although it will be far quieter than it was before. Even large, low rpm fans still produce noise, and although you can get power supplies with variable fan speeds, they will still add to the noise pollution in your room. If you want a PC thatâ(TM)s truly silent, you need it to be completely passive, and that means that you canâ(TM)t go for your run of the mill, mix and match PC build â" youâ(TM)re going to have to go to a specialist and one such specialist is Hush Technologies. The Hush ATX system is a full PC built using pretty standard components, but without the use of a single fan. This isnâ(TM)t the first totally passive system weâ(TM)ve seen though. A while back we looked at the Poweroid 1204 which was based on a Zalman fanless case. This was a very impressive system, but it was very large and designed to be used as a performance PC, despite its silent operation. Hush on the other hand, designs its own system cases, and is more interested in the style conscious consumer who wants something that makes a visual impression rather than an audible one. Leaving aside the fact that this Hush is a silent PC, letâ(TM)s look at it from a purely aesthetic point of view. Quite simply, there wasn't anyone in the TrustedReviews offices that didnâ(TM)t think that the Hush looked superb. Finished in solid aluminium with a brushed finish, the Hush wouldnâ(TM)t look out of place in any living room â" no matter how much high-end AV equipment you happen to have in there. But unlike many PCs, the Hushâ(TM)s beauty is far more than skin deep. The build quality of the Hush is nothing short of staggering, and at the risk of sounding stereotypical, the whole package has a feel of precision German engineering â" like the PC equivalent of a Porsche Carrera GT. The system case isnâ(TM)t just finished in brushed aluminium, the case is constructed from solid billets of aluminium and if youâ(TM)ve got a bad back, you better get someone else to lift it for you â" this is one heavy PC. Itâ(TM)s the sides of the case that add weight, both visually and literally. Both sides of the case are constructed from solid aluminium fins, designed specifically to dissipate heat from inside. Looking closely at the fins youâ(TM)ll see that Hushâ(TM)s attention to detail is admirable, with each fin ridged for ultimate heat exchange. The top of the case has 28 round holes in it, with an aluminium grille behind them. Once again, this helps heat escape from inside the chassis and once again it looks great. The front fascia is also carved from a single billet of aluminium and is about a centimetre thick. On the left of the fascia youâ(TM)ll find a round power button that glows blue when the machine is on. Although blue lights are becoming somewhat passé on technology products these days, the Hush pulls it off with aplomb. On the right of the fascia, is an optical drive. Since Hush builds to order, you can choose whether you want a vanilla CD-ROM drive, a CD/DVD combo or a DVD writer. Obviously with a machine like this itâ(TM)s worth going for the DVD writer, since youâ(TM)re probably going to want to burn content either recorded from TV or downloaded from a digital camcorder to disc. The drives used are notebook versions which means theyâ(TM)re slim and quiet â" of course the tray has a
See that long UID - that's what you get for lurking too long
I mean, laptops have already had this technology for years (battery versus wall power), although it is often is fairly proprietary, if it works at all.
For the 9 out of 10 times when I just want web surfing & audio streaming at home, I'd like to run at 20% of my 2 GHz and turn down the fans. After all, when you're trying to set a mood with Soma FM, who needs blaring screaming fans going?
Nothing is so smiple that it can't get screwed up.
This thing isn't just quite as in fanless - it is quite as in the hard disk is in a sound proof case - with half an inch of aluminium to muffle any extra sound.
This thing will be *silent* - no fan noise, no hard drives grinding away, nothing.
I have an iMac and used to work on a cube - and late at night I can totally hear the hard drive grinding away
Same thing - only prettier formatting.
Hush ATX
Here at TrustedReviews we like the idea of quiet PCs. In fact it wasnâ(TM)t too long ago that we wrote a feature â" Silent Solution - detailing how to make your PC as quiet as possible. But even if you follow the same route that we did in that feature, you still wonâ(TM)t have a truly silent machine, although it will be far quieter than it was before. Even large, low rpm fans still produce noise, and although you can get power supplies with variable fan speeds, they will still add to the noise pollution in your room. If you want a PC thatâ(TM)s truly silent, you need it to be completely passive, and that means that you canâ(TM)t go for your run of the mill, mix and match PC build â" youâ(TM)re going to have to go to a specialist and one such specialist is Hush Technologies.
The Hush ATX system is a full PC built using pretty standard components, but without the use of a single fan. This isnâ(TM)t the first totally passive system weâ(TM)ve seen though. A while back we looked at the Poweroid 1204 which was based on a Zalman fanless case. This was a very impressive system, but it was very large and designed to be used as a performance PC, despite its silent operation. Hush on the other hand, designs its own system cases, and is more interested in the style conscious consumer who wants something that makes a visual impression rather than an audible one.
Leaving aside the fact that this Hush is a silent PC, letâ(TM)s look at it from a purely aesthetic point of view. Quite simply, there wasn't anyone in the TrustedReviews offices that didnâ(TM)t think that the Hush looked superb. Finished in solid aluminium with a brushed finish, the Hush wouldnâ(TM)t look out of place in any living room â" no matter how much high-end AV equipment you happen to have in there. But unlike many PCs, the Hushâ(TM)s beauty is far more than skin deep. The build quality of the Hush is nothing short of staggering, and at the risk of sounding stereotypical, the whole package has a feel of precision German engineering â" like the PC equivalent of a Porsche Carrera GT.
The system case isnâ(TM)t just finished in brushed aluminium, the case is constructed from solid billets of aluminium and if youâ(TM)ve got a bad back, you better get someone else to lift it for you â" this is one heavy PC. Itâ(TM)s the sides of the case that add weight, both visually and literally. Both sides of the case are constructed from solid aluminium fins, designed specifically to dissipate heat from inside. Looking closely at the fins youâ(TM)ll see that Hushâ(TM)s attention to detail is admirable, with each fin ridged for ultimate heat exchange. The top of the case has 28 round holes in it, with an aluminium grille behind them. Once again, this helps heat escape from inside the chassis and once again it looks great.
The front fascia is also carved from a single billet of aluminium and is about a centimetre thick. On the left of the fascia youâ(TM)ll find a round power button that glows blue when the machine is on. Although blue lights are becoming somewhat passé on technology products these days, the Hush pulls it off with aplomb. On the right of the fascia, is an optical drive. Since Hush builds to order, you can choose whether you want a vanilla CD-ROM drive, a CD/DVD combo or a DVD writer. Obviously with a machine like this itâ(TM)s worth going for the DVD writer, since youâ(TM)re probably going to want to burn content either recorded from TV or downloaded from a digital camcorder to disc. The drives used are notebook versions which means theyâ(TM)re slim and quiet â" of course the tray has a solid piece of aluminium attached to it to keep those minimalist lines in order. Beneath the optical drive youâ(TM)ll find two USB 2.0 ports, two six-pin FireWire ports, as well as mic and headphone sockets
See that long UID - that's what you get for lurking too long
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article151-page1.htm l
Comment removed based on user account deletion
To see that the hard disk is in a sound muffling case - and that the whole thing is in half an inch of aluminium to muffle general sound.
These would make great MythTv boxes if they had more pci slots. Currently there are only two. It would be nice to have two regular tuners and a digital tuner in the box. They could also add an irda port to the front. Also the thing weighs 15kg or approx. 33 pounds; not something you want to trip over in the dark.
Then you need to buy a recent near-silent harddrive. My G4 Cube is packing an 80 GB Seagate ATA IV with fluid bearings. If you put your ear next to the enclosure, you can barely hear it grinding away.
The 20 GB Maxtor drive that shipped with the Cube was just a crapfest. Slow rotation speeds, small cache, high noise. Just adding a decent harddrive increased the Cube's performance significantly, and made it quieter.
I put a blanket over my head when I sleep and my computer becomes noiseless. Charlie Brown had discovered the multiuse of the blanket a long time ago...
...how you plan to make a sound insulating box with a high enough heat transfer coefficient to keep the inside of the box below 50C when the insides of the box are generating 300W of heat. Seems to me you'd need fans, or worse a compressor/decompressor cycle (refrigerator style). Plus, how're you gonna access the removable drive bays?
Methinks the server hosting this review will have gone pretty silent by now.
the Hush Technologies website. includes their product lineup with lots of high-res pictures.
Steal This Sig
This is an excellent advance in the use of PCs as appliances.
Compare a PC to a TV. To use the TV, you just turn your eyes towards the screen and click the remote. Within a few seconds, it's on and you're lulled into its endless mediocre entertainment and corporate propaganda dimension.
PCs with internet access are much more interesting. But you have to be at your PC desk, assuming a posture of office environment productivity. Then turn on the PC and wait, and wait, for the 'boot' process. Yes, twenty, thirty seconds go by, you're still waiting. Screen after screen of garbage text goes by. It's like bringing the Defence Department on-line. Compare the PC to a Commodore 64 (an 8-bit first-generation home-computer from the mid-1980s). With that machine, you flipped the on/off switch, and the computer was on within seconds, ready to do a rather limited number of things, but with no waiting. (You did wait to load files from the floppy drive - about 3 minutes to load 25K bytes).
So after minutes, your PC is finally UP! and ready to go. Click on the telephone access, wait another minute or so before the internet connection is 'established'. Wait...and...wait.
Oh yes, you can buy 24 telephone internet connection service, but it is very expensive. Especially compared to a television as an entertainment medium.
Still waiting? System crashed and needed 're-booting' yet? Is there one little weird-ass little program that has tripled your power-on boot time for no good reason and you can't figure out what program it is?
Are your ears hurting yet from all the white noise from all the powerful machinery creating the 'new information age' next to the desk?
Anyway, the whole point is that PCs have a long way to go from this 'Data Control, IBM, Science Is Mankind's Brother' 1960's mainframe mentality before they can be as advanced as a television set or a clock radio as a home appliance/entertainment device.
But making them quiet is a big and welcome step in that direction. A single step in a thousand mile journey.
Now how about starting to work on an OFF switch? You know, push the button and the machine goes off? Now? Within one second? Goes from using amps of power to microamps? Is it really that hard to do, guys? You'all put a man on the moon.. how about an instant OFF switch on the PC?
Nonsense! The whirring of the fans and the spin of the harddrive is the song that puts me to sleep at night.
Here's a mirror in PDF format.
See if my freshly minted Gentoo box is up to it.
Dude:
Do you think anyone cares about your pointless ranting? Here's a clue - they don't.
Now please go fuck yourself.
I'm not sure if I want a computer that the review lables as ripe for a museum!
who | grep -i blond | date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep
For what it's worth, here's a sloppy little mirror of the Hush ATX review from Silent PC Review (from April), in case that gets slashdotted too.
This Like That - fun with words!
Does anyone read the articles anymore???
"There are only two backing plate slots for expansion cards and they are both occupied. One is filled by the graphics card ? an ATI Radeon 9600XT with D-SUB and DVI connectors, while the other is filled with a digital TV tuner card."
"Hiding under the CPU heatsink was a 2.6GHz Pentium 4, but Hush has now dropped this chip from its range and will be offering a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 instead."
Is a 9600 vs. a 9800 and a 2.8 vs. a 3.2 really that big a deal? Hell you could probably swap them out and it would still work fine.
A silent PC is indeed a nice thing to have but what infuriates me, sometimes more than the noise itself, is having to wait for a PC to boot. Why can't somebody make a desktop PC that instantly (or almost instantly) powers up to its previous state? Surely one can use very low power battery back memory to store the system's state when the power is turned off, and then restore it when the power is restored. Does this technology exist?
...so you would choose to convert a huge desktop case to something that is even bigger? Of course it is cheaper, but then why be a cheap bastard if you'd only end up with something that looks ghetto?
The noise isn't about being able to sleep. It is about being able to use the computer while using it.
Frankly, a well designed desktop case with simple silencing mods should do the trick, should one chose the self-assemble route. My Compaq workstation has four well-built 9.2cm fans and with accoustic treatments, it is quieter than some single-fan computers I had the displeasure of being exposed to. The original design used ducting and indirect air flow, I augmented it with headliner foam on all metal surfaces.
I also have one Compaq workstation, with dual Xeons that only uses two 12cm fans. It is pretty quiet.
want a quiet PC? buy an iMac!!!
Tom's Hardware Review
Up until last week, my Athlon XP machine sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Between the two fans in my 400 watt power supply and the CPU fan buzzing at 7200 RPM, it was atrocious. I finally got around to purchasing a new ``quiet'' heatsink and fan (copper, ~2700 RPM), but unfortunately, my case was designed for an old slot P-III, which meant that the fan was almost flush against the bottom of my power supply (although there were slots in the side of the fan casing for air to come in through). I got I2C sensor support compiled into my kernel and watched as my CPU temp varied from 65 to 80 degrees Celsius (as I taxed my processor). Soon, paging errors started creeping in, and the kernel would send my applications into la-la land.
:-)
I weighed my options: new CPU heatsink/fan that leaves some room between it and the power supply, underclock my current CPU (going from 1690 to 1250 MHz lowered my CPU temp by 10 degrees C), or try a new case.
At that point, I ran to Fry's and picked up one of those Altec Sonata Quiet cases (the one with a fan in the back of the unit with the 30 dollar mail-in rebate). Lots of room above the CPU fan. Now the only noise I hear from my workstation comes from the hard drives, and my CPU runs at a cool 40 degrees Celsius! That's a 20 degree difference, just by getting a decent case. A quality case and power supply do wonders for keeping a system quiet, cool, and stable. Now I need to do something about those annoying blue LED's...
Oh, and TAA (This Ain't Astroturf). Really!
An unjust law is no law at all. - St. Augustine
I have been interested in a silent system for awhile, although I don't really have the money. Zalman made the TNN 500A which is the same concept as this case, giant heat sinks with heat pipes. However the Zalman has plenty of room, supports ATX P4 3GHz or more, top ATI/Nvidia graphics chips, Tomshardware has a review. Other than weight I see no advantage with the Hush system. Price? Hush $3,069.45 USD Zalman $1199.99 USD. My no money is with Zalman.
I really love the Cube for its humor value. Anyone remember the "story" of xbill? You have to prevent bill from installing a virus (cleverly disguised as an os) on all computers, or they will all turn into toaster ovens.
And then Apple made a computer that looks like a toaster oven. I thought it was the best joke ever. And how prophetic; the temperature of a modern AMD or Intel powered system tells it all.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
HD? Why?
A lot of mentions of ATX in the article.
Next major system rebuild I'll do will probably end up as a BTX system.
Why do manufacturers keep putting the power supplies in the case with the cpu? The power supplies are a significant source of heat (and fan noise of course). It's annoying to have a "brick" lying on the floor or crammed in with normal plugs, but that shouldn't be a major stumbling block (forgive the pun).
I have to put my ear right up against it to hear it going. Of course there's a very low crackling sound when there's a good bit of HD IO going. One of my mate's got a Compaq laptop with a P4 processor and the thing sounds like a hair drier!
"PCs with internet access are much more interesting. But you have to be at your PC desk, assuming a posture of office environment productivity. Then turn on the PC and wait, and wait, for the 'boot' process. Yes, twenty, thirty seconds go by, you're still waiting."
I'm reading this slouched on the floor, back against the couch, on a whisper-quiet laptop the I rarely shutdown - I put it into sleep mode and it comes to life faster than the TV. When the rain stops I'll be on the patio knocking out some work while actually getting some fresh air in the bargain.
A quality wireless laptop system is the ultimate appliance.
Let's do an experiment.
I'll build a box out of half-inch aluminum. We'll put a bike helmet on you, and then put the box around your head. I'll hit the outside of the box with a hammer, and you can tell me all about the sound-muffling capabilities of a solid block of aluminum.
Note: There aren't any.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
If you're going to go all out, aluminum makes only a fair-to-moderate heat conductor. The chassis should be made of solid copper if they want to do it right.
I bought myself a PowerMac a couple weeks ago, and after plugging it in and turning it on, my first thought was "Man, that's quiet!"
Apple was advertizing on their web site how quiet it was, but to actually hear (or not hear!) one in operation still blew me away! Before turning it on I had opened up the case and noted a multitude of fans inside, but kudos to the Apple engineers for developing a sleek, quiet system. =)
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
Now my G5 gets so noisy I wear sound-cancelling headphones during the day. It's a shame the PC folks are getting their silent PCs first!
Best Buy can have you arrested
About a year ago (sic!), I considered the Hush as a possible use for my home server (music box, mail, web and file server) so that I can leave it on all the time in my living room. It is unfortunately quite expensive and so I now own a Shuttle http://us.shuttle.com/ ST62K Zen and must say that it is a nice alternative: less expensive and with no internal power supply fan! I now happily run a PIV 2.8GHz with two Seagate 80GB hard drive in it without any overheating problem and virtually no noise.
BTW, Here's the link parent forgot to mention/link to. /* basically it`s just a bunch of PR Spin/BuzzWord, as it's a rename of 'PowerNow' that has been in the Mobile cpu's ... I know, I know - why rename/rebrand it and sell it as it where something new? ... what can you do, every Corp. (as we know them) *just* got to show to the world they got a bigger 'DICK" then their competitor(s) ... */
I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
I would consider buying one. The only thing holding me back is that it doesn't come with a keyboard, mouse, speakers, and most importantly a monitor or lcd... Where do I place the monitor or lcd ?
I hate noisy computers.
When I'm watching porn, the noise is not only distracting, but obstrusive as I can barely hear the orgasms!
I think this is a fabulous idea. I wonder if it would work as well for servers? NOC's would save money on power, and the servers would become a bit more reliable, due to the lack of fans. Plus, if you have ever spent any length of time in a large NOC, you know that the combined noise of all those thousands of fans is quite loathsome.
I'm thinking particularly of the Mac 128KB (1984), but there were others.
For me, the goal isn't "silent" as much as "quiet enough I don't notice." Heck, my air conditioning, and outside traffic make more noise than my current PC, which has at least 2 fans.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
No crashing, quiet fan, deep sleep and instant wake-up at the touch of a button...
Sounds like or this or this or this, running a system like this?
Note: you're an idiot. how about putting a hammer inside the box, vibrating it at 7200 rpm, and listening for noise from outside the box. then tell me that the box doesn't muffle sound.
Another note: you're an idiot. learn some physics. sound doesn't travel well through a solid block of anything, so yes, there are "sound-muffling capabilities" in a solid block of aluminum.
If the hard drive is bolted to the box, it's going to vibrate at 7200 rpm.
Sound doesn't travel well through a solid block of metal...right. Let's do my experiment. You'll like it. I promise.
Ass.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
With a good video/audio distribution plan (hopefully one that incorporates 2-way remote IR), it doesn't actually matter how loud my PC is...it's in another room (along with all my other AV equipment; which also distribute their signals to multiple TVs.
I mean, making a silent PC is kinda like making a silent Central HVAC unit...(nobody steal my idea now...)
Your demonstration would be more about the resonant capabilities of a block of aluminium.
The advantage of a solid block of metal for noise dampening is that sound doesn't transition through abrupt density changes very well. In effect, you have a pressure wave that's pretty much energy stored in air. Now you try and transfer that energy to something that's 500 times more dense - you'll get a pretty solid reflection off that surface, with only a miniscule amount of energy transferred into it.
But when you construct a box and strike it with a hammer, a large amount of energy is transferred from the hammer to the box, which resonates until all the energy is dissipated, either as heat in the metal or pressure waves in the surrounding air. And you striking the box with a hammer is many orders of magnitude more energy than when you're simply trying to stop ambient noise.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
You're absolutely right, as long as you don't have four bolts attaching the hard drive to the enclosure.
There are vibration isolating mounting systems for hard drives, sure...but you have to have something more than just an aluminum box.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
1) the hard drive isn't bolted directly to the case, it's attached via rubber bushings to a sound-reducing enclosure which is attached to the case.
2) go google "resonant frequencies" and come back when you're less of an idiot.
1) That's not what I was talking about
2) I'll show you my coursework if you'll show me yours, you dingleberry-chowing goat licker.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
1) so what? that's what's relevant to the article. your hammer analogy is useless. it doesn't apply.
2) hey, look, a run-of-the-mill slashdot nerd-style insult. i'm crushed. did you get that from a textfile somewhere? it's like a huge group of you got together in 1999 and decided "hey, let's mix 'ass' and 'hat' and 'pants' and 'goat' together when cussing at people from now on. it'll still be funny 10000000 times from now."
3) here is a life tip: interpreting everything ultra-literally (like "a noiseless pc" for example) just makes you appear annoying and egotistical. everyone else but you was smart enough to realize that they didn't mean "this pc emits exactly 0 bels" when they said it was silent. try not to clench your sphincter so tightly and you might make more friends.
I recently moved 4 machines out of my work area into another room (not to mention the worst one of all, a nortel switch which sounded like a jet engine). Now they can make as much noise as they want somewhere where it won't matter (one even has a noisy cpu fan).
All I have now is one desktop and a notebook. With the data living on the other machines, the desktop often spins down it's HD's reducing that noise (the PS fan is another issue - and it's a G3 desktop so it doesn't use a standard ATX power supply).
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
Don't forgot the clickless keyboards.
I'm not a doctor, but I play one in bed.