computer noise

[Joecheng]

What the cheapest and most effective way to eliminate noise from my computer?

 

[Davegod]

put it as far away from you as possible.

be careful with your HSF choice, i have a ThermalTake D-Orb 3 LowNoise and will NOT be reccomending it to anyone, although i havent really been able to compare it with anything.
i can however vouch for SG Barracuda IV HDD, never heard any noise from it at all. tho i proly wouldnt hear it over the damned HSF anyway.

fans and CD-Drives (and old HDD's) make most noise, so always make those selections carefully.
other reccomendation would be to make sure all youre parts are screwed in tightly, and the case cover is on securely.

 

[gelos]

Turn it off? Sorry, I couldn't help it. It is cheap though and you don't have to spend any money on electricity.

I think you should be able to get some quiet fans pretty cheap. Try www.2cooltek.com

 

[VBboy]

Get a better CPU cooler and/or replace the case fans with quiet ones.
You can search here on Anandtech forums for more info - this question was asked and answered hundreds of times search for "noise", or for "quiet".

 

[wars]

well in my case, the noise is mostly coming from all the fans i have in there. if you have an "overclockers" case and have an excess amount of fans in there, you could start removing those (though it would defeat the purpose of being an "overclockers case"). The second most obvious noise maker would have to be your hdd, but i'm not sure which make/model is best for quiet operation. hope this helps

wars

 

[HappyPuppy]

Wrap in deep pile carpeting and seal with duct tape. Be careful not to cover the fan inlets or outlets. And, no, I'm not kidding. If done properly it would be a kicka$$ case mod.

 

[FlippyBoy]

what is your setup, Joecheng? the first thing i would look at would be your cpu fan. then your case fans, then your hard drive(s), then your power suppply fan. in each case, there are things you can do (or buy) to modify or replace the noisy parts.

 

[Joecheng]

My computer is set up on the floor right in front of me. Even when the computer is idle i can still hear the humming of the fans. When I watch a dvd or pop in a cd. The noise gets so loud that i have to put a pillow between me and my computer so that i can actually hear anything. What are those parts i can buy to modify or replace the fans?

 

[Faccioni]

Maybe water cooling could help, tough its not cheap

 

[FlippyBoy]

can you tell us exactly what you have in your computer? we cant help a whole lot without that info

 

[Henny]

Swap fans. Go for the low noise/low RPM versions like Panaflo "L"'s. You can also slow down fans by wiring them to +12 and +5 vs. +12v and ground. You can also try a 3v zener diode to step voltage down to 9V.

It's better to have multiple quiet fans than one high rpm "buzz saw". (front, rear, CPU, PS)

If P4, than use the retail HSF. (it's very quiet)

Hard drives can generate lot's of noise. 5400 RPM is quieter but you'll sacrifice performance. If you want 7200 RPM than consider Seagate.