Beginning Of the End For PC Noise

An anonymous reader writes "If you work around computers a lot you are probably pretty tired of the noise they produce. The cutting down on computer noise has grown from the pet-peeve of a few people to a major segment of the hardware industry. If you are looking to cut down on noise there are a lot of ways to go, but one of the easiest and most effect is to upgrade to a silent power supply. This guide goes over and tests the four most popular ones on the market right now." A few years back, I had also written a piece about making silent machine as well. Any other hints from people?

Comments

Zzzzzzz

[suso]

If you work around computers a lot you are probably pretty tired of the noise they produce.

Are you kidding? That noise helps me go to sleep.

Re:Zzzzzzz

[DustyShadow]

Apparently it helps the article's server go to sleep as well =)

Re:Zzzzzzz

[Anonymous Coward]

you could come round to my house and talk me to sleep - you sound very very boring :)

The only answer

[luckypp]

Have your PC in the basement, and the longest monitor and keyboard cords you can find to your office.

Re:The only answer

[Fargazer]

I have a bit of hearing loss, and the noise a computer makes tends to garble any kind of conversation. I tried for years to get a relatively quiet yet powerful computer, and finally decided to physically move the bloody computer away from my ears.

I purchased a Cybex Longview from http://home.hiwaay.net/~redwood/kvm/, put my machine in a room off of my garage, and ran some STP between it and the recreation room. Unshielded is supposed to work, but the line ran past some flourescent lighting, so I became paranoid and bought Shielded Twisted Pair cabling.

That took care of the KVM (1280 x 1024 works just fine on my 22" screen). For sound, I use a Terk product that transmits audio signals over phone lines, and ran a dedicated phone cord for this. There's a bit of hiss if I crank up the volume when nothing's playing, but if a game or other program is actually feeding the system, it's fine. The Terk feeds a 2.1 Klipsch speaker set.

I stayed away from wireless solutions because my Siemens 2.4GHz phone system had / caused problems with most transmitter arrangements; this included the Terk wireless sound transmitter, as well as an older Turtle Beach sound transmitter set. After all, I am running a STP cable already, so running a dedicated phone cord isn't a big deal.

Overall, it works great; the only noise I pick up is a bit of hiss if I don't keep the speaker volume low, and that goes away when I actually play music or games.

There are a couple flaws. The biggest pain is when I need to swap CDs in the machine; Virtual CD programs can help here, but if you are making ISOs or burning disks, it's time to do a few laps about the house. The other pain is when I want to use USB; then I have to run into the other room to load / install the device. Also, you better be using a DB-15 video connection; I know of no inexpensive KVM extender that can handle DVI (I am looking, but most appear to be too near the $1000 mark for my taste).

Total pricing was about $250 for the Longview, $50 for the cabling, and about $75ish for the Terk box. Sounds expensive, but A) it's still in the high end water cooling price range, and B) it is truly silent, with no dangers of liquid leaks. I've been using this setup for over 3 years now, and feel my money's been well spent.

Re:How many times?

[Golias]

As long as we are recylcling articles, let's recycle comments too.

I'll start with the old stand-by that this rise in popularity of "silent" PC's is just one more example of the Windows world playing catch-up to the Mac.

Oh, and I'll be the rush to suggest using active phase-cancellation to reduce ambient noise in the room.

That should start us off nicely.

Actually, I don't mind noise.

[Zweideutig]

I have my Prescott P4 overclocked, and I have replaced the stock fan with a 1 hp vacuum cleaner. I don't mind the noise, as long as I have speakers capable of blasting Metallica louder than the vacuum cleaner.

Article summary:

[Anne_Nonymous]

Article summary:

Ad, ad, ad, cookie, cookie, ad, cookie, ad, cookie, ad, cookie, cookie, cookie, ad, ad, ad, silent power supplies are quieter than normal ones.

Re:Airtight case

[mysticwhiskey]

Yep, did that and it worked great. Then I noticed my hard drive noise. So I quietened that by replacing it with a slower 5400-rpm hydralic-bearing model, suspended in a rubber harness to avoid vibration. Worked great!

Then I noticed my CRT humming. So I got an LCD. Monitor hum - gone.

Then I noticed the noise the floppy drive made. Got rid of that (who needs 'em?). Worked great.

Then I noticed the whistling my nostrils made as breathed whilst using my ultra quiet PC. Ear plugs in the nose - problem solved. Great!

Then I noticed the crickets chirping in the background. Booted up the wife's noisy PC. Problem solved!

Re:Headphones: Cheap Solution

[dragonman97]

Turn the computer off? I'm afraid I don't understand...

Re:Easier way to silence your fans

[Lumpy]

screw that.

I cut v notches in the trailing tips of the blade to increase the noise created by the fans 3 fold.

my PC at home sounds like someone is running 6 vaccuum cleaners in the box.

at lan parties, I usually get a "holy crap! how many fans you got in that?!"