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Quieting those Fans
Fudge asks: "I've found that as we trundle along the Intel processor road, each successive generation of processor generates more heat than the last. Now my latest PC, a dual PIII-500, has two enormous fans to dissipate the heat which generate an awful amount of noise.
Does anyone know of ways to deaden the noise without sacrificing the heat dissipation? I'd also prefer not to void the warranty, but I could be persuaded to compromise on that.
"
I dont know about you, but I'd rather have the fans work than be quiet. I have had all kinds of fans in my dual 333 and none of the quiet ones ever lasted more than a couple of months. I've since gone to some thick, heavy, noisy ones that I had to connect to the heat sinks and wire myself, but at least the machine stays cool now.
Honestly I dont think there's anything that can be done to cure this other than putting noise dampening material inside the case or something. And noise dampening == dirt attracing, in my experience. Most PC's just are not designed for good cooling.
-Rich
I got rid of the vast majority of my sound problems (Celeron 366->567 with 5 fans) by purchasing extension cables for my monitor, keyboard and mouse and putting the computer in a closet. I drilled a 2" hole through the wall, passed the cables through the hole and covered it with some foam rubber. The only problems that arose were getting to the computer for changing media and my closet is about 100 degrees. Make sure you get a high-quality video cable so you don't have any image problems.
Since then moving my primary machine into the closet, I've also put my gateway/firewall/cd-burner/X10 server machine in there on a 2 machine switch box. Again, don't skimp on the quality of the switchbox (get one for professional AV, around $80 or so). Of course, you could just ssh into the machine if you prefer (I use the box because I've installed a gaming OS on one of the machines).
F.O.Dobbs
- PC Power and Cooling "ultraquiet" PowerSupply.
- Silencer 80mm Fan (sold by someone else but made by PC Power&Cooling)
- CoolerMaster PIII Fan
... they list the noise level as 29dba - 24dba SECCII fan
I found these with AltaVista and GoogleIt is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
And when I say 'big box' I really mean it! It measures 82x42x33 in inches, has two side by side 21" racks (I have little plates to hook up my rackmount hardware) and a big house fan. The whole thing is cased in 3/4" oak plywood with big glass doors.
I put 120lb capacity 18.5x26" sliding shelves in to hold up to 8 CPU's plus hard drives etc. (yes, I have a KVM switch). Everything is attached to a steel frame and fully adjustable.
As for noise, mostly I hear the horizontally mounted 20" fan that blows upwards. I plan on replacing it with one that is supposed to be mounted flat, as this one makes a lot of noise. I can't really hear the CPUs at all. Eggshell foam matress padding is going in on the walls soon.
Temperatures run about 7 degrees warmer than in the room, I usually have 4 computers on at once.
I may put pictures/plans of it online at hammitt.com just for kicks. There's two places to sit and work along each side, one for the Linux boxen hooked to the KVM and another for the Mac.
It cost about $750 to make, but was an interesting challenge. The worst thing about it was when I had cheaper drawer slides for the shelves and they dropped my PowerMac from about 5 feet. Ouch.
Drop a note to tony@hammitt.com if you want plans, I could arrange something for a nominal fee. =-)
www.2cooltek.com, talk to 2cool and he's a nice friendly guy and he'll be glad to help ya out.
my advice is to use bigger fans:
120mm 108 cfm 42 dba
92mm 44 cfm 33 dba
80mm 36 cfm 32 dba
60mm 19 cfm 31 dba
50mm 9 cfm 30 dba
40m 7 cfm 27 dfa
looking at the specs of different sized fans (they are all made by sunon) a 120 mm fan has about 3X the airflow of a 80mm fan (standard sized fans) perhaps putting one of those puppies near your cpu can help take the heat out of your case. (although 120 mm fans may not fit into your case - maybe you can hack it somehow?)
Also, if you need a quiet power supply, try www.pcpowercooling.com
_______________________________________________
There is no statute of limitation on stupidity.
...building your own case?
;-), mount the board on the wall with custom brackets and then cool the entire closet with a small AC unit. I'll run a separate duct directly over the top of the board itself so that the AC cools the CPUs which run with large heat-sinks and no fans. The AC unit, depending on the model, is quiet and the closet closes off any local fans I may have to install later - for things like overclocked boards - =-) .
;-)
That would allow for maximum cooling and airflow and even allow you to make the case with custom ductwork for a "remote" fan.
I just got a ALR Revolution 6x6 board that uses PPROs. I bought it off of E-bay so I'll have to build a case for it from scratch.
My plan is to actually RF shield a small closet in my house, (don't want to disturb my neighbor's TV
As for video and peripherals - they can be mounted separately - especially if the drives are SCSI - and a good KVM can be used for the console.
This closet would also serve to house/cool the network switch/hubs as well as future things such as the cable modem, router/firewall box, or even the cable/satellite distribution system.
The closet is an extreme example but you get the idea - if something exists to suit your needs then buy it, but if you can't find anything that suits your needs make it yourself .
Thus was how Linux born unto the world.
"Bah!" - Dogbert
rackmount is i'm convinced the way to go. it's easier to keep the noise down that way, and it makes things look much tidier.
unfortunately, it is more expensive. first, you have to buy or make a rack box, then you have to pay more for cases and hubs and everything, etc. etc. Couple of hints, though:
a) buy the premade rack rails, and use them to make a wooden rack, as was mentioned earlier. it's not that expensive, and you can make a really cool looking rack that way- use old beams from houses and such. i found some really beautiful poplar beams that were leftovers from railcars.
i personally used knockdown hardware to hold the rack mount screws, but i'm a sucker for cool brass hardware, too.
b) i love the antec cases, but they're $200 bucks at a minimum. Instead, scout ebay- there's lots of the first generation of rackmount pc's becoming available, especially nice compaq boxes. you'll have to do LOTS of refitting, but it's a better case anyway. Wish i could afford a netfinity...
c) use it to hold your stereo too. nowadays, you have to have a pc near your stereo/tv anyway for streaming video etc., and you can kill two birds with one stone. another reason to make a nice case, and plus you can hide the cords easier too. making 'ears' and brackets for your stereo equipment is a pain, but it looks nice once you're done. put your tv and turntable up top and voila, instant newmedia center. then you can get the wireless kb and mouse...
d) see if you can find an older case that is 19" wide (or a little less.) if you don't have to get into it often, it's really convenient just to bolt brackets onto it and mount it that way. (as you can tell, i'm morally opposed to shelves in a rackmount rack.)
e) get parts and stuff from musician catalogs rather than pc catalogs- it's usually cheaper, and the stuff sometimes is better.
plus, let's face it, a patch panel and hub next to your stereo just looks too cool. gets oohs and ahhs from your geek friends. i actually am going to move my hub to the back of the rack, though, so that cables don't have to pass through the front.
stored on computers from birth to the grave
http://www.custom-consoles.com/isobox.htm