I recently made my PC very quiet and if you're a poker player or someone who enjoys high quality music with a computer in the room, or just someone who hates PC noise, here are some things you can do.


- General strategy
1. Locate noise
2. Make changes
3. ??
4. Profit.


- Replace power supply
Power supplies can be very noisy. This is due to having a lousy small fan at high rpm, and a hot inefficient circuitry to cool. Luckely there are some brands who make efficient ones with better airflow and a quiet, large, slow-rotating fan, which only speeds up when it's highly stressed.
No real compatibility issues imo, if you buy a new one and your system isn't 6 years old. The fan needs to be facing the inside of the case, otherwise it has no air intake.
You don't really need more than 400-450 watt ( http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page4.html ).

Power supply fundamentals and a list of the best ones (quiet & quality):
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html


Enermax Modu82+


- Replace CPU heatsink
CPU cooling makes use of a heatsink and active fan. If you want it to get really cool and really quiet the solution is a bigger-is-better heatsink and a bigger-is-more-silent fan. The bigger a fan is, the slower it can turn and thus is more quiet. There are several designs of heatsinks but generally lots of heatpipes, lots of metal and a decent airflow is ftw.
There are definite compatibility issues. Makes sure the products support your socket type. Make sure the fans fits on your motherboard (has physically enough room). This goes for your computer case as well.
Always check what is happening to the temperature of your CPU. Either in special software or in the BIOS. If the heatsink isn't applied correctly (bad contact) it will cool terribly and overheat. Also check if the fan is turning.

List of the best ones (quiet & quality):
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article30-page1.html


Scythe Mugen 'Infinity'

Here is a Youtube video review of a Scythe cooler so you'll get a better idea.


- Harddisk
If you still have an old harddisk (4+ years old) I suggest you buy a new one and throw the other one out. Buy a new, large one, so you only have one in your computer and select it for being quiet. Here's a list: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article29-page2.html . You could put it in a special enclore (found on the same page) to remove noise and vibration a little bit more, but if you choose your HD well you don't really need it.
I suggest an external hard-drive for backup.


- Graphics card
If you're not a gamer, get a graphics card that has no fan. If you are a gamer, look for a graphics card that is somewhat energy efficient. Look for one that has a variable fan control (a must). Look for one that has a nice heatsink solution. There are some mid to high graphics cards out there right now who are both fast as well as very decently quiet. But you have to be a nit about this because there are tons of manufacturers and versions of the same type of cores.
You can replace the heatsinks/fans of graphics cards as well, but it's a little harder. It has to be compatible with your card. You need to have room for it in your case/motherboard and you need ok airflow.
Here is an example: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=147 ; which is preferably used together with a 12cm fan, on or in the neigbourhood of the heatsink.


Arctic Cooling Accelero


- Airflow
Get a big, heavy case. Make sure the air is going through ok. Have lots of space, sort out the wires. Shouldn't be too hard.
If you do it well, you really don't need a case fan, but just to give you an idea how to think about it:


- Building
If you've never built a PC then you should probably let someone else do it. Either a friend or a PC shop. No big deal. Just talk through it with them that you're getting the right components and everything matches. Before you do anything with a PC it's usually a good idea to make a backup.
If you have experience then follow the instructions, have enough light, take your time and never do anything in a PC when the power is on (use the 1|0 switch).


- Results.
If you do it right, your computer will be about as quiet as most laptops, and your CPU will run at about 40 degrees C idle, and even when you stress the system it won't start making more noise.


My system:
AMD Athlon X2 5000+
2GB ram
500GB Samsung HD
MSI RX3850 512MB graphics card (~130 euro)
Enermax 425W Modu82+ power supply with modular chords (~75 euro)
[urlhttp://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/024/scinf1000.html]Scythe Mugen 'Infinity'[/url] CPU cooling (~40 euro)



And finally here is a Youtube video of my system so you can hear how quiet it is.

is your hard drive sitting on the bottom of the case? does that introduce any vibration noise?

good thread, btw. i am currently in the midst of researching new PC components...I am dead-set on building a near-silent system.

No, I wouldn't put it on the bottom of the case. There is thick wool between it. The drive doesn't cool as good as it could/should like this. But some years ago I threw everything out that could to increase air/airflow, and now I don't have a hd bracket . I might DIY something nice to keep it in the air & vibration-free.

i've seen alot of modders create their own hard drive mounts using pieces of rubber or cloth to suspend the hd. this eliminates the possibility of the hard drive rattling against a metal bracket. look at the mounts on an antec solo case, you'll see what i mean.

Care to comment on why you didn't go for water-cooling? I don't use it myself, but it seems like the natural solution for a quiet PC.

Also something to consider if you don't need a super-uber gamer system are Mini-ITX, Nano-ITX, and Pico-ITX systems.

Might not be the fastest but it's now possible to build a fanless system w/o water cooling...besides for non-PC gaming stuff (i.e. poker software) it's fast enough

It's expensive, tricky, possibly hard to get the right parts, more dangerous, and may not be more quiet or better cooling either, and takes more effort in all ways (buying, building and 'servicing').

Seems very 'unnatural' to me.

This seems neat!

http://www.silentmaxx.de/en/products...-mounting.html

Nielsio,

Is that a flexible SLI bridge in your videocard picture? I've never seen those! I have an 8800GT with a similar heatsink component and am unable to use a second because the heatsink is in the way.

I've got a Seasonic 600w PSU and 4 nexus case fans in mine. I've cleaned up my cables well and this makes it reasonably quiet. However, my nice aluminum case is a pita and rattles too much.

Motherboard is MSI K9N SLI, and it has a decent distance between the two PCIe slots. However not much room between top PCIe slot and processor.

I'm using two different cards in non-sli mode btw, if that's what you're referring to.

Oh wait, now I see. Yeah, that's a flexible SLI bridge thingy. Check out Arctic Cooling's website for it.

Elastic HD suspension is definitely the standard. There's a big difference in drive noise levels though. silentpcreview tells you all.

Yup yup.

For example : the AOpen Mini PC

http://minipc.aopen.com/Global/

super quiet, and runs cool enough you can stick it in a stereo cabinet to really silence it. Plenty powerful for a home media system or playing poker.

One thing I have found is that the fans become very noisy when they get clogged up with dust. Once there was so much dust that the fan was too slow and it made my computer overheat. Every 2-3 months I clean the fans/heatsink of the dust, and they become much quieter.

I know that some nuclear reactors use liquid sodium as the coolant. I will ponder the feasibility of this for my computer.

i'm using watercooling for the last 4years and i'd never go back to air fwiw. i do know what i'm doing though and i wouldn't recommend it to the 'if i open my case will i void my warranty' ppl. however is somebody has questions just ask me.

The answer here - if you're demanding of your graphics card - is to get Sapphire's 3850 fanless heatsink model.

It's in the top half dozen or so graphics cards currently available, and it has no fan, and hence, is silent.

Incidentally, it has the same chipset and power as the one recommended in the OP

Yes, I looked at that one as well. Only problem is that it won't fit in my computer, as you can see from the picture. (unless I'd put it in the bottom PCIe slot, however that one's only 8x)



I would still recommend putting a fan near it that blows air onto it or alongside it. It will run very hot otherwise.

The Accelero graphics heatsink is on the other side of the card so that would fit in mine.

Nielso,

Save me clicking all those links. Total outlay?

I listed some prices in the 'my system' part.

It depends on how far you wanna go and what you already have how much it will cost, but it's a total bargain if you think about how much time we spent behind a computer. If you can afford a 30" screen you can afford a quiet pc.

i can hear my hard drive pretty clearly when i start opening files and folders but that doesn't really bother me.

what bothers me is high pitched noises. my 20" monitor is kinda bad for this (probably because i have the brightness on max to match my 24"). but my computer is really bad. what is making this noise? the PSU? maybe the graphics card?

it's a dell pc with an intel 2.4ghz and a geforce 8600. thanks.

Either you're really close to it or it really sucks.


Turn it off and see if that makes a difference. If it's really bad I'd get rid of it.


Given that it's a stock computer it's probably a bunch of things. PSU, CPU fan and graphics card, and the aforementioned hard-disk.

A simple way of diagnosing is to put the computer on your desk, remove the side-panel, turn it on and have a listen. The sounds all add up so it's not so easy to localize but if you move around you should be able to get a general idea.

Not sure what the situation is now but back in the day Dell's had their own air-flow type thingies, which could make it harder to remove and replace some stuff. Others can chime in perhaps.

Maybe make one or two pictures of the inside and we can see what it's like, and judge what could be replaced or if it's not really that easy on this computer.

yeah the monitor is silent when off, but i'm not rich enough to replace it it's not my main monitor anyway, i have it turned off unless i'm playing poker.

just had the pc open on the desk.

located the source of the high pitched noise as the graphics card fan. when i stopped it with my finger it went away. what was left was fan/hd noise and stuff, but that is completely fine to me for now...it's this high pitched noise that's been driving me up the wall.

here's a pic anyway, enjoy the michael jordan cardboard cutout :

http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0444ub0.jpg

what are my options sir? thanks again.

fwiw just used riva tuner to reduce the fan speed from 30% to 25%. it helped but only slightlyyyyyyyy, it's mainly just a different kind of annoying now.

Can you see the temperature of the graphics card? It's in the ATI software if you go to the overclock/overdrive section. (edit: you have an NVIDIA, don't know where it's there)

We need to find out if it's going variable or not. If it's still variable (despite your riva tuner setting), then we might be able to cool it a little better. By removing the metal plate thingies at the back of your case for example.

If you can't make it run any slower in any way you'll have to either replace the card all together or put a silent graphics heatsink on it, although that might be a bit tricky with the Dell plastic crap in the way.


edit: And oh, Dell can **** ** ****.

The biggest culprit is almost always the video card fan. These tend to be tiny (40mm or so) and spin REALLY fast.