Silent PC Setup

goldfries · 29th Aug 2008, 06:28 PM

Besides Chai and myself - anyone else loves silent PC?

for mine, they're generally using fan controllers. if not, then the fans have to be silent in the first place.

Chai · 29th Aug 2008, 07:30 PM

Haha...yeah, I find it extremely fun to quiet down PC, without spending a lot of money.

Obviously, my first step is to water cool the processor and GPU. It was one of the best improvement in terms of cooling vs noise ratio. But water cooling both of them will effect cooling on the RAM, northbridge, and video card RAM. So I have to use 2 additional 120mm fans to cool them.

One of the major noise maker is by mounting HDD directly to the casing. It will cause a lot of vibration. I will show you a picture what I've done to the HDD.

My next project is to change PSU fan to a quieter one. I found a really cheap and quiet fan, Only airflow noise can be heard. Virtually silent at 5V.

Papercut · 30th Aug 2008, 12:14 AM

Chai have you ever heard of this, the Silverstone PP02? SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd - Designing Inspiration
Heard that it can be quite effective if all the usual noise suspects have already been eliminated.

Chai · 30th Aug 2008, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papercut

Chai have you ever heard of this, the Silverstone PP02? SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd - Designing Inspiration
Heard that it can be quite effective if all the usual noise suspects have already been eliminated.

Hmm interesting product, but I don't think it will work for me, since the PSU mostly comes from the fan.

goldfries · 30th Aug 2008, 07:53 AM

for hard disks, i only have a Tuniq Sanctum. and also the Cooldrive 3 (from TechARP review).

the Cooldrive3 isn't in use for ages much due to the noise, yup - when I was reviewing it last time I didn't mind the noise. it was later I found that the 40mm fan, despite its not so high RPM was noisy.

I recently purchased a Coolermaster CM 590, I'm surprised that the HDD holder bay comes with some sort of rubberized padding. very useful indeed for vibration reduction.

Chai · 30th Aug 2008, 08:25 AM

Smaller fans are noisy because they makes higher frequency. That's why all the fans in my system are 120mm. I have 8 of them, 2 of them not working...

g0tanks · 1st Sep 2008, 01:47 AM

Does anyone have the Antec Sonata II? I heard it is really quiet because it comes with soundproof material.

Unixlord · 1st Sep 2008, 03:53 AM

The regular coolermaster cosmos also comes with soundproof materials and an overall design for reducing sound. The temps are really bad especially hard drive temps unless you mod it in which case it would hardly be silent anymore.

Lacus · 1st Sep 2008, 06:01 AM

Cosmos S? Hmm, i saw a Coolermaster casing which actually comes with 4 fans on the side panel..any idea what model is that? Just got some uv panel so might just wanna start on modding the casing to reduce even more noise =_=..mostly fans (especially gpu and the cpu

..)

Unixlord · 1st Sep 2008, 06:22 AM

That's the coolermaster stacker 830 and the similar stacker 832. The 830 nvidia edition only includes 2 fans. I remember AMD used this case for demoing 3GHz phenom last year.

29th Aug 2008, 06:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
goldfries www.goldfries.com Join Date: 22 Jan 2003 Location: KL/PJ Malaysia Posts: 7,966 Reputation: 539 Rep Power: 20	Silent PC Setup Besides Chai and myself - anyone else loves silent PC? for mine, they're generally using fan controllers. if not, then the fans have to be silent in the first place. __________________ no computer specs \| no photography gear list \| no userbars \| no quotes

29th Aug 2008, 07:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 28,116 Reputation: 4649 Rep Power: 82	Haha...yeah, I find it extremely fun to quiet down PC, without spending a lot of money. Obviously, my first step is to water cool the processor and GPU. It was one of the best improvement in terms of cooling vs noise ratio. But water cooling both of them will effect cooling on the RAM, northbridge, and video card RAM. So I have to use 2 additional 120mm fans to cool them. One of the major noise maker is by mounting HDD directly to the casing. It will cause a lot of vibration. I will show you a picture what I've done to the HDD. My next project is to change PSU fan to a quieter one. I found a really cheap and quiet fan, Only airflow noise can be heard. Virtually silent at 5V. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

30th Aug 2008, 12:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
Papercut Hold me back! I can't stop posting!!! Join Date: 14 Jul 2004 Location: Singapore! Posts: 5,123 Reputation: 2630 Rep Power: 37	Chai have you ever heard of this, the Silverstone PP02? SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd - Designing Inspiration Heard that it can be quite effective if all the usual noise suspects have already been eliminated. __________________ "Use in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight. Keep out of reach of n00bs. Overclock within 24 hours of opening. Do not read instructions before proceeding, do not use only as directed. May cause frustration, late nights and empty wallets. If symptoms persist please consult your hardware professional."

30th Aug 2008, 07:53 AM	#5 (permalink)
goldfries www.goldfries.com Join Date: 22 Jan 2003 Location: KL/PJ Malaysia Posts: 7,966 Reputation: 539 Rep Power: 20	for hard disks, i only have a Tuniq Sanctum. and also the Cooldrive 3 (from TechARP review). the Cooldrive3 isn't in use for ages much due to the noise, yup - when I was reviewing it last time I didn't mind the noise. it was later I found that the 40mm fan, despite its not so high RPM was noisy. I recently purchased a Coolermaster CM 590, I'm surprised that the HDD holder bay comes with some sort of rubberized padding. very useful indeed for vibration reduction. __________________ no computer specs \| no photography gear list \| no userbars \| no quotes

30th Aug 2008, 08:25 AM	#6 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 28,116 Reputation: 4649 Rep Power: 82	Smaller fans are noisy because they makes higher frequency. That's why all the fans in my system are 120mm. I have 8 of them, 2 of them not working... __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

1st Sep 2008, 01:47 AM	#7 (permalink)
g0tanks Active Join Date: 6 May 2008 Posts: 608 Reputation: 175 Rep Power: 3	Does anyone have the Antec Sonata II? I heard it is really quiet because it comes with soundproof material. __________________

1st Sep 2008, 03:53 AM	#8 (permalink)
Unixlord I'm a regular Join Date: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 301 Reputation: 98 Rep Power: 2	The regular coolermaster cosmos also comes with soundproof materials and an overall design for reducing sound. The temps are really bad especially hard drive temps unless you mod it in which case it would hardly be silent anymore. __________________ Intel E8400 @ 3.6GHz 1.23v load + Zerotherm Zen FZ120 \| ASUS Rampage Formula \| G.Skill PI Black 2x2GB \| Gainward GeForce 8800GT 700/1000/1750 + Zalman VF1000 \| PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W \| Thermaltake Armor VA8003SWA

1st Sep 2008, 06:01 AM	#9 (permalink)
Lacus Super Active Join Date: 28 Mar 2008 Location: Some gundam factory o.o Posts: 1,336 Reputation: 180 Rep Power: 4	Cosmos S? Hmm, i saw a Coolermaster casing which actually comes with 4 fans on the side panel..any idea what model is that? Just got some uv panel so might just wanna start on modding the casing to reduce even more noise =_=..mostly fans (especially gpu and the cpu ..) __________________ GUNDAM 00[Intel Xeon E3110 E0 Stock\|Asus Rampage Maximus Formula (Rampage Bios Mod)\|Gigabyte HD4850 512MB GDDR3+T-Rad2\|4x2gb DDR2 1000Mhz OCZ SLI-Ready Edition\|Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB\|Creative X-FI XtremeMusic\|Creative Inspire P5800\|Silverstone Strider ST56F\|Acer X233H\|Keyboard=Microsoft Sidewinder X6\|Logitech MX518\|Lian Li PC-7YCF]

1st Sep 2008, 06:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
Unixlord I'm a regular Join Date: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 301 Reputation: 98 Rep Power: 2	That's the coolermaster stacker 830 and the similar stacker 832. The 830 nvidia edition only includes 2 fans. I remember AMD used this case for demoing 3GHz phenom last year. __________________ Intel E8400 @ 3.6GHz 1.23v load + Zerotherm Zen FZ120 \| ASUS Rampage Formula \| G.Skill PI Black 2x2GB \| Gainward GeForce 8800GT 700/1000/1750 + Zalman VF1000 \| PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W \| Thermaltake Armor VA8003SWA