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Building a Silent, Air-Cooled System
A reader:"Tired of those whining fans? Want some piece and quiet when working on your PC? Water cooling can be too expensive and too complicated to install, why not just stick to air cooling? This article describes how you can remove PC noise without turning the inside of your PC case into a small oven. Follow the road to silence while keeping an eye on the system temperature."
I know that they're selling some lower-end models now, but every Seagate Barracuda hard drive I've ever purchased is far quieter than comparable hard drives. I have been using them exclusively for a few years now and really enjoy the PEACE and quiet.
I'm a big tall mofo.
I have been modding my PC's to be quiet for years - there is no need for any computer to sound like a leaf blower. Check out Silent PC Review for more info!
-=test-sig_0.1.5(NoWhitespaceVersion)=-
If it does stop, here is the mirrordot link.
That said, what impresses me is that they pulled it off with an A64 3200.
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Wired article as proof
This article talks about using a fan speed controller to slow down your fans and thus, reduce noise. I accomplished the same thing, without spending any extra money.
a in/5-7-adapter.html
I converted my fans to run on 7 volts. All you have to do is switch the order of the wires around on the molex power connector. It's really easy:
http://www.dslwebserver.com/main/fr_index.html?/m
I didn't experience any increase in temperature, but the noise level in my case went down specifically.
Sorry, but they stopped making them in 2003.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
The first picture I got from that article was the accursed visage of n'Sync. Thanks for the warning. I only was able to read the first two pages and to sum up the study and workmanship is an accurate measurement of <i>db</i> noise rating at various levels of RPM of case fans. The article recommends you buy a FAN CONTROLLER, because a computer doesn't need a FAN revolving at full RPM to remain cool; and I believe that to be the articles conclusion with having only read three pages before slashdot effect. Here are the quotes;
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Case fans at half speed:
Let's start of with the easiest of manipulations: reducing the speed of the two case fans should silence the system a bit, without losing too much cooling power.
Each fan's rotation speed was cut in half using the Aerogate II fan controller:
(number between () is compared to default configuration)
Noise measurement: 37.1dBA (-2)
CPU: 56 (-1)
System: 38 (+4)
PWM: 47 (+1)
HDD: 36 (+7)
RAM: 39 (+1)
VGA: 59.5 (+2)
Top: 34.5 (+1.5)
Bottom: 35 (+4)
Reducing the airflow inside you can see some changes; the hard drive's temp raises quite a bit, the other components only become a few degrees warmer. CPU actually becomes 1°C cooler, this is within the margin of error though, and it's quite possible that the two case fans were disrupting the airflow towards the CPU's fan.
Case fans at zero speed:
Now let's see how the system does without any case fans running:
(number between () is compared to default configuration)
Noise measurement: 36.8dBA (-2.3)
CPU: 57 (0)
System: 41 (+7)
PWM: 47 (+1)
HDD: 38 (+9)
RAM: 40.1 (+2.1)
VGA: 61.5 (+4)
Top: 36.5 (+3.5)
Bottom: 38 (+7)
The noise doesn't decrease a lot when compared to the system running with the case fans running at half speed. The temperatures however increase quite a bit, closing in on +10°C for the HDD.
Conclusion: a fan controller should be near the top of your purchase list
Cost of the modification: $15-$70 depending on your needs.
Madshrimps (c)
Adding a fan controller can help reduce the noise generated the system's case fans effectively without affecting temperature a lot. Even a little bit of airflow proves to be much better then none at all. You can go all out and buy a fan controller with all the bells and whistles (memory card readers, LCD display, and allow control through software in Windows) or stick with a more modest model which features a series of knobs which control the fan's speed.
without prejudice
I had use Maxtors and they sounded like turbojets when they were powered up. After hearing of Maxtor's idiotic decision to integrate Quantum technology into their products, it was time for me to choose a different brand. At work the systems we have been buying come with Seagate drives, and I have noticed that they are extremely quiet - and pretty reliable to boot.
I just bought three Seagates and now I can hear my fans instead of my drives when I fire up my computer.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
Here's a link to the printable version with all of the article on one page:
http://www.madshrimps.be/printart.php?articID=286
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
When I first plugged in my new machine I was impressed by the sound but not blown away. A few weeks later I plugged in my old machine and my mouth literally dropped open at how loud it was.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
While I'm impressed that they actually bothered to measure the sound coming from their case, their final measurement of 31.7db hardly counts as silent. In fact I personally regard that as fairly noisy, though I'm perhaps pickier than most. Realistically how much noise one can tolerate is a personal thing. If it bothers you it's too loud no matter what the acoustic measurements might tell you. And what bothers me might not bother you. I have just listened carefully to my machine and whichever component made the most noise got replaced.
The only way to have a truly silent case is to have no fans and an idle hard drive. If that isn't possible fans like Pabst 8412 NGL are the next best thing. They don't move much air but they're very quiet. And a better solution IMO than the hard drive enclosures which drive up heat and reduce reliability is vibration isolators combined with a naturally quiet drive like Seagates. There are some fanless and semi-fanless (doesn't run unless it gets hot) power supplies out there like the SilentMaxx Semifanless. And replace those stupd 60mm fans that they insist on using for CPUs and GPUs with big headsinks and/or heatpipes. Also install neoprene or other washers and use rubber to deaden case vibrations. Home Depot is a great source for a lot of this stuff.
So true. To sum up the article "Some fans are quieter then others."
There are so many things that it did not cover like slow moving 120mm fans move way more air then high rpm 80mm fans. How about using cases with minimal vents located only where air is needed to be took in or pushed out of the system. Cutting away with a pair of tin snips or a Dremel those "molded" fan guards and replacing them with super thin wire fan guards.
Not a lot of content in this article.
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
Silent air cooling doesn't mean the removal of fans. There are a lot of simple tricks--for example a 120mm fan at very low speeds will be extremely quiet, and may push nearly as much air as an 80mm that's going at a roaring speed.
Of course, the simplest thing to do is buy new fans that have close to the same cfm rating while having a lower dbA rating.
My home machine is just on the other side of silent (excluding one annoying 80mm fan that's literally custom built into the steel frame of the case at a weird angle), and I have no problems keeping my Athlon64 3000+ @ 2529 with my load temps in the mid-40s.
If you want a really good example of this, look up the Arctic Cooler Silencer series. They do a better job of cooling the outrageously hot GPUs that are out now, and they're so quiet it's hard to tell if it's running or not.
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jonathan barket
In a quest to silence my P166 router, I ended up doing the following:
During these experiments I discovered that the PSU fan was almost silent when the PSU was disassembled, but quite noisy when everything was put back together. I ended up removing the ring shaped grill on the PSU with a hacksaw and the noise is now imperceptible. Of course you have to be careful when you reach your hand around to the back of the computer or you'll get a playful little bite from the plastic blades.
the maxtor diamond max is loud as fuck until you download hitachis (?????) feature tool. link http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Yes, the Barracuda's changed.
- Seagate invented this "Fluid Dyamic Bearing" technology. As I understand it, rather than standard roller/ball bearings, an oil-like fluid is used so that the rotating shaft builds up pressure within a containing sleeve, similar to what happens with various drivetrain components in cars.
- The Seagate Barracuda IV drives pioneered using this technology about 4 years ago.
- Seagate licensed this technology to Maxtor.
- Other people may use it now, not sure.
- Just about all Seagate and Maxtor drives in the past 5 years use this technology.
- Yes, Seagate drives are typically more expensive, but they have a reputation for extensive testing and high reliability. (I'm not saying it's accurate or inaccurate, just that this is the rep - substantiated by the fact that most non-IBM servers used Seagate drives, though this has changed in recent years.)
- I run a mixture of Maxtor and Seagate drives, all with this technology, and have never had an issue with them.
The rig has: A64 3000+, 1 GB PC3200, 160 GB HD, 6800GT. All it needs for cooling are the PSU, case, CPU, and GPU fans. By far, the loudest component is the NV Silencer 5. When I was using a passively-cooled GeForce 2 (waiting for the 6800GT to be reasonably available), the system was almost completely silent. If I had wanted to spend more, I could've made it absolutely inaudible, but it wasn't worth it to me. Building a quiet system is actually very easy and cheap, assuming you're buying all-new parts anyway.
Yes, Seagate drives are typically more expensive
Outpost.com is almost perpetually running $50 rebates on all manners of Seagate drives over the past few weeks. I'm not affiliated, but I grabbed one a while back, just thought I'd pass it on.
"many words was it? The site is now dead."
The fans failed.
I had a stock Athlon fan fail this week. Less than 4 mos old. The chip lasted about 8 minutes. *poof*.
Note to self: no matter how cheap you get the computer for, get a good fan.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Neo case from lex system
I have 1GHz via proc, 3 eth, 2 usb (but usb 1.1), up to 512MB RAM, and sound.
Storage: I've chosen a very silent hard disk: seagate momentus 40GB 2.5" and Linux is tuned to spin down the drive: it only runs 15s every 10mn.
No CD/floppy drive: OS install with PXE and another PC on LAN.
You can have a real 0db system with LAN boot or using a compact flash for storage. ;-)
Of course network boot means another PC, noisy, but in another place
Believe me, I'm currently posting on Slashdot using this system, I really apreciate deep silence.
BTW, this is old news.