What's the loudest component on your rig?

[jinduy]

I spent a pretty penny back then when I bought my 939 rig. I got a seasonic 400w psu and a zalman HSF, with the aim to have a quiet system.

Little did I know that MSI's motherboard fan came with the feature of being loud as heck. Apparently it was a known issue among many MSI ownders and the only solution would be to replace the fan, which would require me taking the motherboard out of my case to unscrew it.

I'm interested in seeing what the loudest components are for people here to give me an idea of what I should be putting my priority on in terms of going for the silent pc.

Also, does anyone have motherboard fan noise issues?

edit: ugh guess i can't edit the poll. forgot to add hard drive, although i can't picture it making any noise when the system's idle.

 

[theevilsharpie]

My hard drives are easily the loudest thing in my system.

My video card fan is capable of getting pretty loud, but in practice, the only time I really hear it is during system poweron.

 

[zerocool84]

My case fans are the loudest part of my system. Antec 900 with 5 fans but they're all set on low but you can definitely still hear them. I can only hear my video card even just a little is when I'm playing a really demanding game like Crysis.

 

[Slugbait]

Got rid of a Lite-On DVD-ROM a few months ago. The room is much quieter these days...

 

[fffblackmage]

The fan on my 4830 is still quite audible when I have my case fans set on all low, though the case fans can easily be the loudest when set on high.

 

[Asylum1]

My side window fan sounds like a 747 going by.
Need to turn the speed down on it.

 

[taltamir]

video card fan for me...
seems like video card is winning. or maybe losing is a better way to say it.

 

[A Cheese Danish]

My case fans usually make all the noise coming from my case.
I think my power supply may also be the cause.

 

[corkyg]

Actually, my loudest component is my laser printer - not listed.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Case fans here, I can control them though, I have a switch right on my desk to turn them on/off. I rarely put them at full tilt unless I'm gaming then I just put my speakers louder.

 

[SpeedEng66]

dvd drive

 

[secretanchitman]

i set my case fans to low. my GTX 260 easily overpowers them when playing games.

 

[taltamir]

Actually, my loudest component is my laser printer - not listed.

ha, to be fair, so is mine... but i voted video card because it is actually always making noise and is used all the time. The printed only gets used on occasion.

 

[lxskllr]

I voted gfx card fan. Normally it would be the case fans, but in gaming mode when I turn my fans up to where I want them, the gfx card is the loudest.

 

[Athadeus]

Mine is pretty much silent when idle, and only the video card fan ever gets audible. It is a HD4770 with an 'Arctic Cooling' non-reference non-blower fan. I hear that the HD5xxx series blower is better than the 4xxx series though.

2x 120mm case fans at ~900rpm, 1x 92mm CPU fan at ~1,450rpm, 1x 140mm PS fan at ~1,200 rpm.

I personally think that any MB with fans is fail. Between heatsinks and heatpipes (or water cooling block for enthusiasts) and normal case airflow, they're really unnecessary. The also usually have to be small hence high rpm hence loud to have any effect.

edit: If I were you, I'd disable the fan either in the bios, by unplugging, or by destroying the motor. I would then remove the heatsink/fan, clean the surfaces, and reapply the now passive heatsink with good TIM.

 

[mfenn]

My GTX 260 is easily the loudest component (~25dB). I've thought about putting an aftermarket cooler on it, but they all seem to be $50+. That's a significant portion of the cost of a new card, so I'm having a hard time justifying the expense.

If I get a quieter video card, then it would be a close race between my HDDs and the MOSFETs on the mobo as the loudest component.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

My speakers

 

[taltamir]

My speakers

lolermao!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

lolermao!

heeehhheeeeheheheeee :biggrin:

 

[arcenite]

video cards under load

 

[PM650]

Power supply. Damn 80mm fans. Although my older 939 machine, which I sometimes turn on when it gets cold in my room, is presently the loudest (sits on top of main rig).

 

[Tsavo]

Main PC...case fans, audible as a low hum, not noisy.

2nd PC...hard drives making wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee noise. Very annoying.

I bought a couple Nexus 120mm fans...supposed to be quiet but both were noisy as hell, took em out and set Antec fans to low...inaudible and cool enough.

 

[FerraraZ]

4870 x2 sounds like a leaf blower

 

[jinduy]

are video cards easy to mod with a quieter HSF? are there quiet high end vid cards?

i miss the good old passive cooling gpu days.

 

[Texun]

My 4850 is fairly quiet but it's the only noise I hear coming from my case.