Creating a quieter system

[Cabadam]

I will soon be running a second computer in my dorm room, and I don't particularly want to annoy my roommate much with the noise. So I am looking for a good and quiet (emphasis on the quiet part) fan/heatsink combo.

I was looking at this one on newegg.com (go and do a search for "VA4-C7040 socket A").
All the reviews are really good, and supposedly very quiet.

Also, I've noticed that at least on my two machines, the by far loudest fan is the one on the power supplies.
Can these be replaced as well? And is there any particular kind I would need to get? I don't recall ever seeing "fans for power supplies" for sale, so would an 80mm case fan fit?

 

[Davegod]

Huuuuge HSF roundup - http://www.dansdata.com/coolercomp.htm
more reviews - http://www.overclockers.com/topiclist/index15.asp#HEATSINK REVIEWS AND TIPS

if money isnt a problem though, SLK800 with a medi-low rpm 80mm fan. Some low-noise Panaflo, Pabst or YS-Tech fans for the case. Antec Truepower are pretty quiet PSU's, also they come with a couple of connectors that can slow up to 3 case fans when PSU detects temps are low. Quite a few people post that enermax psu's are pretty quiet too - both are top quality PSU brands. You CAN replace PSU fans, although the fan sizes vary theyre usually 80x80x25mm's, sometimes a 80x80x15 or a 92x92x25. Warning though, your PSU has capacitors which hold a lethal charge for long after the box is unplugged, the metal casing with warning sticker all over it isnt there for fun.

psu info - http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/power_supply/
psu roundup - http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/powersupplies-02.html

 

[tapir]

first of all unless you are overclocking you need to reduce the total number of fans in the case to the absolute minimum.

ie. one fan on the processor. one in the power supply, maybe one or two exhaust. if you really need a HD fan, go for that too. but try to keep the total number of fans down.

then buy all panaflo's or something else guaranteed to be quiet. its easy enough to replace a fan in a PSU, just run the wire outside and attach it using a 4pin molex adapter. same with the other case fans if you need them.

 

[LazyBastard]

Check out Silent PC Review.