Quiet Cheap to leave on PC?

[14k]

I currently have a huge tower case PC which omits far too much noise.

I would like to leave my PC on 24/7 for various reasons and because my current PC has 3 hdds and 3 optical drives and sounds like a jet engine I don't think it is a good idea to use this. I would like the electricity bill to be as low as possible.

Could someone maybe suggest a second PC I could get that would be cheap to leave on and is quiet? (and cheap to obtain too) One of these Shuttle PCs sounds ideal, but would they be ok being left on 24/7 with the hd churning away?.. Aren't they more likely to overheat?

 

[hompsar]

you need to think about what you are going to use the computer for. if it is just a file server than you can buy a cheap-o little thing that just runs with nothing special. if you are using it for actual use, then it will have faster hardware thus increasing the noise factor.

 

[Sonic587]

Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill. Just because it sounds loud doesn't mean it's using tons and tons of electricity. Most likely you've bought some fans that aren't too quiet. There are plenty of things you can do to mute your jet engine. How about telling us what fans you have installed?

 

[14k]

I will use it for leaving on in the day so I can access things on it through 'GotomyPC' or something similar whilst I'm at work and for leaving it on during the night for sharing potentially large amounts of files (video, photos, etc..) I would like to have all my IM programs running too so they can instantly take messages. I will probably stick to my current noisy PC for gaming, editing video, watching video, etc..

If I have a network setup then I could probably leave the 'new' PC on 24/7 and just turn the older one on when I need to do more intensive PC stuff. But I don't really want a rubbish PC running Windows95 doing this new job.

 

[14k]

Originally posted by: Sonic587
Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill. Just because it sounds loud doesn't mean it's using tons and tons of electricity. Most likely you've bought some fans that aren't too quiet. There are plenty of things you can do to mute your jet engine. How about telling us what fans you have installed?

It's just the standard fans that came with a Cooler Master ATCS case (2 in front, 2 in back, cpu fan, 1 in top but I think it doesn't work) which was custom built for me by some computer shop. Sorry, I can't say much else as I'm not very technically minded. :/

 

[robcy]

Originally posted by: Sonic587
Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill.

I read it was quite a bit more than that. I read (but can not find where, I will keep searching) that a computer with a 350w PSU will consumer around $25 to $30 of electricity per month if left on 24/7. The example was made using a P4 2.4ghz/2x120gig hdd/512mb DDR2100/Onboard Lan,GPU,Sound, and set to automatically turn of the monitor after 30minutes. Now this was set in the Central Florida (Orlando) area, and I have no idea what electricity cost anywhere else.
This is closer to what I saw when I installed a file server for my HTPC which is on 24/7.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: robcy

Originally posted by: Sonic587
Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill.

I read it was quite a bit more than that. I read (but can not find where, I will keep searching) that a computer with a 350w PSU will consumer around $25 to $30 of electricity per month if left on 24/7. The example was made using a P4 2.4ghz/2x120gig hdd/512mb DDR2100/Onboard Lan,GPU,Sound, and set to automatically turn of the monitor after 30minutes. Now this was set in the Central Florida (Orlando) area, and I have no idea what electricity cost anywhere else.
This is closer to what I saw when I installed a file server for my HTPC which is on 24/7.

Right. Electricity cost by region can be a big factor. I've noticed here even in the south were electricity is cheap that when I leave mine on, I tack on another $15 EASY to my bill a month. Just isn't worth it if your paying the bill yourself.

This leave on 24/7/365 mentality comes from people who are used to living in Dorms or with mom and dad, or that leave their pc on at the office.

If you absolutely must leave the unit on 24/7 get an old PIII system and outfit it with a notebook drive and use it's onboard video if it has any.... That's a start.... Also don't go dropping a million fans into the thing as they not only consume, but fans produce heat at the same time they move air.... ironic no? An older spec system wouldn't really need much in the way of cooling. CPU cooler plus what's in the PSU.

What I'm thinking of doing is building a MINI-ITX based system.... Low power, low temp. Shouldn't affect my power bill by more than $5.00.

Or here's another option if you just want storage online all the time....

LinkSys El Cheapo Nas device $100 and accessable fro mthe internet via your router port forwarding...

That's my 2cents.

 

[yadda]

I just built a new box:

P4 2.8C/ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe/2 SATA drives/9800Pro/Sonata case/Zalman HSF

I love the Sonata case from Antec It runs at 34degrees at idle. Very quiet. Zalman HSF jhelps also....

 

[Ionizer86]

My desktop has a relatively quiet 400W Allied, two Panaflo fans (case and CPU) and a 7200.7. It's decently quiet. But if you want really quiet, those Shuttle boxes + a bit of modding come out great. My CPU/case fan is a Panaflo running on ultra quiet mode (yep, one fan for both purposes cuts noise) and I put in a quiet Adda fan in the PSU. Now, the loudest thing in the PC is my 7200.7! I'd never be able to hear it seek in another PC.

A comment on temps: when I had the stock Sunon fan set to ultra quiet mode, my Athlon XP at 2GHz/1.5V was at about 55C load. For the summer, I have my chip at the default 1.35V again (mobile 35W chip) and the load is about 52C. These systems really aren't much hotter than full desktops.

 

[Tostada]

I think you guys are grossly overestimating the cost of leaving your computer on. When I had a small apartment, I left 2 P3's on solid for a month (one with 2 monitors and 3 old SCSI drives), left the TV on a lot, and ran a refrigerator and a halogen floor lamp and had my electric bill come out to $27 when I wasn't using the air conditioning. Of course, the A/C added over $50 when I wasn't even using it that much.

Anyway, if you want a silent low-power machine, you could just replace your PSU, fans and hard drives. I suppose that'd get a little expensive...

If I was going to build something silent, I'd use:

case: $79 + $15 shipping, Antec SLK2700-BQE (350W silent)
heatsink: $14.99 + $5 shipping, Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2TC
CPU: $77 Mobile Athlon XP 2200+ 35W
mobo choice 1: $61, Biostar M7NCG 400 (integrated graphics)
mobo choice 2: $54, Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400, then a passive Radeon 9600 Pro/XT
HDD: $64 Samsung 80GB (or $100 Samsung 160GB with 8MB cache)

Then whatever RAM, burner, whatever you want.

Obviously anything will work if you just, you know, pick quiet parts. If you pick a very high-end mobo, though, you usually have to take the fan off the northbridge and replace it with something.

 

[Tostada]

The Shuttle SFF machines are really cool, but they're certainly not going to save you any money, so it's only practical to get one if you really want something small.

 

[Polishwonder74]

To quiet my newest rig down I put a Vantec Nexus from Newegg in, and that worked out relatively nicely. If you have windows spin down your hard drives after like 15 - 20 minutes of inactivity that'll save you some juice.

I just ordered a load of Enermax 80mm adjustables to get her even quieter. When I first built her I was scared to DEATH that she'd overheat so I grossly over-fanned her (see my rig).

my .02 cents

 

[caz67]

I switch mine off when, im at work. It's on all the time when i am home however.

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: robcy

Originally posted by: Sonic587
Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill.

I read it was quite a bit more than that. I read (but can not find where, I will keep searching) that a computer with a 350w PSU will consumer around $25 to $30 of electricity per month if left on 24/7. The example was made using a P4 2.4ghz/2x120gig hdd/512mb DDR2100/Onboard Lan,GPU,Sound, and set to automatically turn of the monitor after 30minutes. Now this was set in the Central Florida (Orlando) area, and I have no idea what electricity cost anywhere else.
This is closer to what I saw when I installed a file server for my HTPC which is on 24/7.

Unlikely. I can see an A64 or P3-3+GHz machine running at 100% cpu intensity, along with a half dozen hard drives on, a few dvdroms and dvd burners active constantly over 24hrs (don't ask me how), top--line video processor stressed out, and the case totally decked out with a dozen fans. Then it might consume 250-300W constant. This translated to electricity costs being $25 a month with a very high cost of $.12/kwh Otherwise, a P4-2.4 with two drives, idling away would consume about 60-80W. I've verified these results with a kill-a-watt meter, a device that tells the actual electricity usage and averages it over a day . Let's stick with 80W and you got yourself $7/month with a high $.12/kwh electric rate. For reference, my Shuttle cube with a 2GHz Northwood Celeron (integrated grphx), one hard drive, and one stick of 512mb ram consumes 50watts idling with the drive powered on; however it spikes to 90w under load.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: robcy

Originally posted by: Sonic587
Even if your PC is on 24/7/365 it will only tack on about $1-2/month on your electric bill.

I read it was quite a bit more than that. I read (but can not find where, I will keep searching) that a computer with a 350w PSU will consumer around $25 to $30 of electricity per month if left on 24/7. The example was made using a P4 2.4ghz/2x120gig hdd/512mb DDR2100/Onboard Lan,GPU,Sound, and set to automatically turn of the monitor after 30minutes. Now this was set in the Central Florida (Orlando) area, and I have no idea what electricity cost anywhere else.
This is closer to what I saw when I installed a file server for my HTPC which is on 24/7.

My entire electric bill is presently about $30 per month and that includes stove/oven/hot-water heater/kitchen fan/bathroom fan/lights/refrigerator, besides an overclocked AthlonXP running SETI@Home for the AnandTech DC team 24/7. In the winter it goes up towards $60-80 per month due to the electric heat. So whatever the PC might be contributing to the bill, it can't be much, and in the winter I need the heat produced somehow anyway. Might as well crank out S@H work units while I'm at it, huh?

 

[Ken90630]

Ooops. Posted to wrong spot.

 

[n0cmonkey]

VIA c3.

I leave my computers on 24/7, including an athlon 2400@2Ghz and a dual athlon 2400 ~2.5 feet from my head while I sleep.

 

[randumb]

Antec Sonata case.

 

[neutralizer]

Panaflos.

 

[CSMR]

Quiet computers are quite complex to make - you need to know what all the quiet components are and buy fans, heatsinks separately etc. Can't really do it cheaply with new parts. You could try asking at spcr if anyone has an old machine to sell.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: CSMR
Quiet computers are quite complex to make - you need to know what all the quiet components are and buy fans, heatsinks separately etc. Can't really do it cheaply with new parts. You could try asking at spcr if anyone has an old machine to sell.

It depends on how quiet you really need it. My Sonata with a falconrock HSF is silent to my ears. My sonata with the two retail AMD HSFs is only slightly noisier.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: CSMR
Quiet computers are quite complex to make - you need to know what all the quiet components are and buy fans, heatsinks separately etc. Can't really do it cheaply with new parts. You could try asking at spcr if anyone has an old machine to sell.

It depends on how quiet you really need it. My Sonata with a falconrock HSF is silent to my ears. My sonata with the two retail AMD HSFs is only slightly noisier.

I'm constantly annoyed, even right now, by the whirring of my hard drives... It seems really loud. Then I go down to the other end of the house to get something I printed, and I hear my work PC, with 3 Panaflo L1As at full blast, plus an Antec 350w PS, and I remember what loud is.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: CSMR
Quiet computers are quite complex to make - you need to know what all the quiet components are and buy fans, heatsinks separately etc. Can't really do it cheaply with new parts. You could try asking at spcr if anyone has an old machine to sell.

It depends on how quiet you really need it. My Sonata with a falconrock HSF is silent to my ears. My sonata with the two retail AMD HSFs is only slightly noisier.

I'm constantly annoyed, even right now, by the whirring of my hard drives... It seems really loud. Then I go down to the other end of the house to get something I printed, and I hear my work PC, with 3 Panaflo L1As at full blast, plus an Antec 350w PS, and I remember what loud is.

I guess I'm half deaf

I do have a couple of really loud machines. Working on them though...