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5 Simple Steps to a Quieter PC
~*77*~ writes "Silencing a computer can be a costly endeavor, but taking a few relatively inexpensive steps can have a drastic impact on the noise produced by the common computer system. Before starting on any sound reduction upgrades, analyzing a system to pinpoint the areas in need of the most attention will help determine the best course of action and the best way to spend any money."
You'd think he'd reference the guys who are diehard fanatics instead of the some guy who has 5 ideas. This is the place to find all the info, comparisons, and information for people who want more than just "you should think about changing out some parts in your system".
The article is just a simple summary... check out Silent PC Review for really in-depth coverage.
Some hardware review sites are dedicated to cooling equipment. One of them is Pimp My Rig.
Personally, I replaced my Intel stock fan with the Thermalright XP-90 + Panaflo 92mm L1A.
I am fed up with the noise from my comuter, so I did the following.
1. Installed the BeQuiet sound elimination kit for Chieftec
2. Got a better CPU fan
3. Installed four Zalman 12dB(A) fans in the chassi.
4. Enjoy the sound of nothing.
This "article" is just one big advert. All the links point to geeks.com, and no doubt BigBruin.com picks up a commission on all clicks/sales.
Ouch. That's probably the 60-cycle noice of the first transformer, and it's a bear to deal with after the hardware was designed.
Try plugging something in constant use into it that draws a little bit of current, like your nearby clock or lava lamp.
Current Seagate 7200.7 and Seagate 7200.8 are quite a bit louder than comparable models from Maxtor and Samsung.
What you say might have been true for the very old Barracudas, but it's sadly no longer the case.
I have to disagree here - I've got a pair of dual G5 towers, a 20" G5 iMac, a 17" G5 iMac and a dual G5 XServe - only the XServe makes a noticable hum. Now, the Sun E450 - THAT is loud :-)
The Samsung Spinpoint drives are also designed to be quiet - they call it NoiseGuard and SilentSeek, whatever that means. Basically they are really quiet. Every drive I've had starts out quiet and gets louder as the bearings wear out. My WD and Maxtors developed ear-piercing whines. And the new Seagates are not as quiet as the older models, but they are better than Maxtor or WD.
For very complete and more practical information, reviews and good advise for silencing your computer I can really recommend SilentPCReview.
Let's hope that quieting my computer doesn't make it like these guys' server.
Seriously, though, system noise can be reduced pretty easily.
1) Get a heavy case. I was always surprised at the fact that my ex-girlfriend's Aluminum case was much noisier than my steel case, given that I have many more things in my case. Thicker materials (obviously) cut down on noise levels.
2) Get a good PSU. Besides the stability and reliability increase, it pretty much stands to reason that Random-Taiwan-Tech isn't going to be terribly concerned with the sound levels on a $35 PSU if it adds to the cost at all. Antec produces some cool thermal-sensing PSUs that will throttle PSU fan speed based on thermal levles. They also have special fan-only molexes that allow them to do the same thing to any other fans in the case.
3) Switch to the biggest fans you can. It takes fewer RPMs on an 80mm or 120mm fan for it to move the same amount of air as a 60mm fan. This goes for case fans AND CPU fans. Zalman makes some intriguing CPU cooling solutions that separate the fan from the heatsink, and thus use huge, slow, quiet fans. If you want to get fancy, rewire the fans so they operate on 7V or 5V input.
4) Never ever buy a mainboard with a fan on the northbridge. I absolutely hate this design concept. For one, the fans are very small and thus usually noisy. But most importantly, these things are the cheapest designs available, as the mobo manufacturers aren't looking to add major costs to their product. Consequently, they fail much more quickly than many other things. If you're lucky, they'll just up and stop spinning. If you're unlucky, they'll continue spinning, but with a strange squeek or hum as they march toward death. The counterpart to this is your videocard. If you're not planning on gaming, look at one of the lower-end videocards that use a heatsink only.
5) Cut down on vibration. Hard drives are kind of noisy, yes. In my experience, though, it's really the vibrations that contribute to the noise levels. Try to wedge some thin rubber washers between the HDD and the case when you're screwing it in. Some newer case designs actually use a system like this by default, and the noise level reduction is quite impressive.
Outside of these five is when you start getting into specialty areas: Putting noise-absorbing material in the case, using large heat-pipe coolers in place of fans on your video card, moving the computer to a closet and running long cables, etc. Honestly, though, if you follow the above recommendations, you should get something quiet enough that you don't need to worry.
My 2x2.0 G5 tower is next to silent (except with the 10.3.8 update and I had to switch proc performance from "automatic" to "highest" to keep them from become overly excited executing even the simplest of tasks).
I finally received my XServe (2x2.3) and set it up Friday. It is dead quiet. So quiet, in fact, that I had to temporarily shut down the Dell PowerEdge 4600 just to hear it. Still not satisfied, I slid off the top panel for visible proof the fans were running. I spotted only three fans, but the software reports 8 up and running within normal ranges.
For now, I'll trust the blowers tab on Apple's Server Monitor software.
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If it is an APC BE725BB and the sound is a hissing sound, then it is a defect (not safety related, just annoying), and you can get it exchanged.