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Building a Silent, Air-Cooled System

Posted by Hemos on from the the-sounds-of-silence dept.

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."

9 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. Seagte Barracuda Hard Drives by bigtallmofo · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.
    1. Re:Seagte Barracuda Hard Drives by Electronik · · Score: 5, Informative

      Seagate make the quietest, most reliable drives I know of. I specify them in all my audio (recording studio) computers. Not one (touch wood) failure in 6 years.

      If your computer is scanning the drives, make sure you have fast search turned OFF in XP, it will try to index your HDD everytime it 'thinks' you aren't needing to access the drive. Also check for spyware and all the usual nonsense running in the background.

      Finaly, you can suspend your HDD or use sleeves to stop the drive transmitting the vibrations to the case. The case can act a little like a guitar body and amplify the grinding sounds.

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    2. Re:Seagte Barracuda Hard Drives by steeef · · Score: 4, Informative

      I suggest you take a look at Samsung's SpinPoint drives. They're all the rage with Quiet PC enthusiasts (such as those at Silent PC Review). Barracuda's are quiet (I've got two V's right now), but they're certainly still audible, especially as they get older and the bearings wear. Apparently SpinPoints are quieter than Barracudas (at least initially).

    3. Re:Seagte Barracuda Hard Drives by Ptur · · Score: 5, Informative

      Don't know why this is posted here, the guys at http://www.silentpcreview.com/ are working on this for years!

      FYI, I'll soon be building a noiseless AMD A64-3500+ for our living room. Once you've read the articles at SilentPCReview, no problem.

      BTW, the Seagate barracuda's are no longer the quiet drives they used to be, since their acoustic managment software has been disabled (pending a lawsuit I think)

      Peter

  2. Old news by Electronik · · Score: 5, Informative

    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!

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  3. Economical - Slowing Fans by jeffkjo1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    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?/ma in/5-7-adapter.html

    I didn't experience any increase in temperature, but the noise level in my case went down specifically.

  4. 31.7db isn't silent by sjbe · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  5. Rip out the grill by ryanvm · · Score: 4, Informative
    One tip that I discovered for quieting a PSU (Power Supply Unit) fan that I *never* see anywhere is removing the grill near the fan blades. It makes a huge difference.

    In a quest to silence my P166 router, I ended up doing the following:
    • Underclock the CPU and remove the fan and heatsink and replace with a large passive heatsink.
    • Add a resistor to the PSU fan to lower the voltage and slow it down.
    • Added rubber vibration dampers to the mounting points for the PSU fan. (This was worthless.)

    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.
  6. Silly people by nurd68 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.