How do i make my computer virtually silent?

[frover2000]

I'm getting rather annoyed by the sound coming from my computer
and thought i'de tone it down a bit. The only fans in it though are the stock intel p3 fan, and the power supply fan. I was thinking
of putting some type of filter material in front of the ps fan not only to tone it down but to keep out dust, would this work and is it safe?

Any other suggestions would greatly be appreciated,
btw i'm not overclocking so heat shouldn't be a major concern.

 

[OS]

Most of the noise is probably coming from your power supply fan. OEM CPU fans are usually really quiet. So you can either replace the power supply fan with a quieter one or you can replace to entire PS for a low noise unit.

 

[OS]

I don't recommend you place stuff in front of the PS fan. It'll only impede airflow, possibly causing overheating of your power supply. It would also cause a very small fire hazard.

 

[Viper GTS]

For the P/S, go over to www.quietpc.com & pick up an 80mm fan. They don't say on the web page, but they're Papst fans. Quietest damned fans available, but also $22+ apiece. You can open up your P/S & replace the fan. Or, if you're not comfortable doing that, there are quiet PS's available as well, but they're a lot more expensive than just replacing the fan. While you're over there, also pick up one of their radial fin coolers. Rated at less than 25db, they're damned quiet as well. You might also look at their silentdrive enclosures, they'll drop HD noise by like 90%, if I remember correctly.

Once you've got the fans as quiet as possible, quiet the case. Line the insides with DynaMat to kill vibrations. A combination of that & low flow/ultra quiet fans should make your PC barely audible.

Viper GTS

 

[office boy]

Wear earplugs?
Really, it's going to be hard to get much quieter. You can't beat that little Intel fan for being quiet, but you can fix up your ps so that it's better.

The there are two things (generally) that cause fans to make noise. One is Vibration, on a PS your not going to be able to do a lot about that( unless you want to try and stick some rubber grommets in there and that will be pretty hard with size and space problems)
The other thing that can be done is to reduce turbulence, the mail cause of turbulence in the fan grill. The more open that holes are on that, the quieter the fan will be, You could go ahead and cut away the whole grill so that you are left with an 80mm hole, and then install one of these chrome fan grills then work good and are really quiet.
Unfortunately the only way to do either of these mod's requires you taking your PS apart, and thereby voiding the warranty of your PS.

 

[Grafinator]

well, if you are going to change the PS fan, you need to check the current CFM rating of the fan. Because if you replace the fan and do not move the same amount of air your PS will overheat, especially a high power PS. I have a 350W Power&Cooling PS and the fan is loud, and I have yet to find a fan of similar size that will move the same amount of air with a lower dB rating. but on the other hand i do not want to void that long warranty i get with this PS. shrug

 

[Zenmervolt]

You can always switch to an old 486 or lower machine, some of those old boxes ran without any fans at all.

Zenmervolt

 

[Viper GTS]

Grafinator...

Some of the quiet fans are quiet enough you could put in two or three before you reached the noise level of one higher output fan. Personally I'd rather have two Papst 80mm's running than one louder 80mm.

Viper GTS

 

[office boy]

Viper GTS, I don't think an overheating PS would really care if you like quiet fans of not. Due to variables in design, and internal heatsink placement, it?s important that the fan is close to the original spec.

 

[Viper GTS]

One at each end of the P/S would essentially produce the same airflow as one of double the airflow at the back only.

Frankly, it's worth the risk to me. Even if I DO hose the P/S, they're not that expensive to replace.

Viper GTS

 

[office boy]

Lol, anyway, I'm a big fan (get it? FAN )of just removing what ever could cause the turbulance.

 

[Paul]

You could always hit the power switch when you want peace and quite...

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I'm guessing that much of your sound is also coming from your hard drive. You might want to either:
a) buy a new HD - the IBM GXP's are supposed to be quite quiet.
b) buy a .Hard Drive silencer

 

[StrangeRanger]

First off, as a budget alternative to Dynamat you can get some tool box drawer liner material from any hardware/home screw you/sears type store. much cheaper, works great and static disipative.
Then, if you want to get really stoopid you could attach a funnel shaped tube to your fan inlet. go out and up a couple feet there by not only deadening the sound (or at least moving it up away from you at the end of the large end of the funnel), you could actually increas air flow to your PS by creating a type of "ram jet" air flow induction caused by the funnel. But that's only if yer real bored.
j

 

[Rigoletto]

oh paul, you just spoilt what I was gonna say...
I look at the spec for that "quiet" 80mm fan and have to say the only real reason it's quiet must be because it's so low power. Simples as that. Just look at it, what special tech do you think is inside that?? The idea that two of those 27cfms would be at least as quiet and more effective than my 47cfm YSTech seems spurious... the NOISE from a power fan very mainly COMES FROM THE AIRFLOW UNLESS YOU HAVE A FVCKED FAN. It is generally found that larger diameter fans make less obtrusive noise because they can spin so much slower , but is the spot cooling good enough? Most people want air over an overclocked CPU or video card, and there is only one space there. Putting more holes in the case makes mucho noise. Front case fans are rarely in an efficient position to make it worth the extra noise because cases are designed stupidly.

 

[Leo V]

Keep checking this website:
http://www.cnssystem.com

Their product should be released in the US "real soon now" for only $100. Or so they say...

But you need a HDD silencer either way, since it's a noise unrelated to cooling.

 

[Leo V]

BTW, I'm currently using QuietPC 230W power supplies and equipment that doesn't require fans. But these quiet PSU's are damn expensive, and they still have a quiet fan. I can't wait for that CNSSystem product! Zero noise, no condensation/electric problems, and almost free, considering the cost of the case + PSU.

 

[Viper GTS]

Rigoletto...

Papst fans aren't just quiet because of their low power consumption.

Papst

Go look for yourself.

Leo...

That system looks very cool... I can't wait for it to hit the US. I wonder if it's efficient enough to handle us OCers...

Viper GTS

 

[office boy]

Yeah their quiet because they don't move that much air. Sound from fans is created by TURBULENCE. The faster the air is moving, and the more that is in front or behind, the louder it is. How loud is any fan is you just hold it up in the air? (Except for the real little ones (because the part that holds the center in place is so large compared to the actual size of the fan))

And yeah those CALM systems look very sweet.

 

[Viper GTS]

Turbulence is a major part of the noise, but it isn't all of it. I personally can't stand the high pitched whine of a high-RPM fan, but I don't mind the low hiss from a silent fan producing a little turbulence.

Viper GTS

 

[OS]

fans



<< Acoustic noise level 20 dBA >>



damn those are quiet fans.

 

[Viper GTS]

Damn, I should have thought of that...

Hey office boy...

Air volume throughput 47 cubic metres per hour
(28 cubic feet per minute)
Fan speed 1600 rpm
Acoustic noise level 20 dBA

That's not that much less than your typical 80mm. And look at that db rating... 32 db vs. 20 db.

Even a &quot;high output&quot; 80mm fan (here) produces only 50% more airflow, at almost 37 dba. By comparison, two Papst 80 mm's would provide 56 cfm, at significantly less noise than one high output 80mm.

That's a pretty significant difference.

Viper GTS

 

[office boy]

It's that fan speed, dang that?s slow. (but £16.00? Crap I could buy 3 quite Sunons for that price.)
I'm not saying those aren't good fans, and in fact they do seem very nice. I'm just saying that a person needs to keep theirs and their computers priorities straight.

It's not worth cooking parts just to cut a few dB.
Since originally we were talking about Power supplies, Why not look at one with a temperature controlled variable speed fan, or look at doing the grill replacement trick. Case in point as to why this works, Look at the Quietpc's PSU rear fan grill, as opposed to some old cheapy. Heck here they advertise the PS as ultra quite, and it's got the chrome grill.

Doing the above seems better to me then gambling with a power supply that may not fail, but might just be getting too hot because of no (or inadequate) airflow, causing problems with the whole computer system, lockups and instability all due to voltage drops or spikes, and other problems in the PS from heat.

 

[Whitedog]

Most affective way, Unplug it.

Method &quot;B&quot; Turn the stereo on and turn it up load!

Method &quot;C&quot; Go to the Drag races one day and stand next to the burnout pit with no hearing protection on. Go home and turn your computer on. You won't hear a thing!

 

[Kwad Guy]

OK, this thread allows me to ask a question I asked before (but
got no answers to):

Has anyone managed to bring the noise level of an Intel Cabrello
(Sitka, SC450NX based) server down to a tolerable level. These
things are pretty loud...Not a problem for the types of places that
one typically places a server, but not too kind if you sit
next to it!

I've tried to disconnect 5 of the 8 cooling fans, but it's still
damn loud!

Kwad