Octopus Overlords

I would really like to turn the noise on my computer down. Right now I've got one intake fan running, the cpu fan, the little one on my graphic card (9600pro) and I think two on the power supply.

My temps are pretty good I think, the motherboard temp stays about 28 and the cpu 47/55. I recently removed the two outblowing fans, which took the inside temp from 22-24 to it's current 28. However that didn't help at all.

I think most of the noise is coming from the CPU fan. The heatsink/fan is a Vantec Aeroflow I think.

Mainly what I'd like is a variable speed fan, when I'm gaming the noise doesn't bother me, it's surfing the web or just idling that the noise is bothersome.

Can I replace just the fan while leaving the heatsink? Or do I have to replace the whole thing? Any suggestions as to what to get?

Could it be the power supply making the noise? It came with the case, I think it's a Foxconn 420 watt. Are there any quieter power supplies or are they about all the same? I think I could get by with a smaller power supply. I don't have anything real power hungry I don't think.

For my next computer I think I'll either go small form factor, or wait and see if the BTX standard really does help (assuming it comes out around tax refund time .

Thanks for any help.

There is a type of noise dampening material that you can buy that has an adhesive backing and it can be applied inside one's case and it's suppose to lower noise inside the case.

Last time I was at a local PC shop in Charlotte NC they had some for sale.
Next time I'm by there I'm going to buy some and see if it works.

JSHAW wrote:There is a type of noise dampening material that you can buy that has an adhesive backing and it can be applied inside one's case and it's suppose to lower noise inside the case.

Last time I was at a local PC shop in Charlotte NC they had some for sale.
Next time I'm by there I'm going to buy some and see if it works.

Thanks, I'll try to find it, that seems more reasonable than replacing the heatsink

Consider buying a new case. They sell some pretty snazzy ones now, with low-noise features. I bought an Antec Sonata and the combination of the quiet power supply it comes with, the larger (and slower) case fan, and some of the other sound-reducing features, it's pretty darn quiet. I have three HD, two optical drives, a P4 and a GF6800 in that sucker and it's quieter than my tiny shuttle in the cabinet.

ChrisGwinn wrote:Consider buying a new case. They sell some pretty snazzy ones now, with low-noise features. I bought an Antec Sonata and the combination of the quiet power supply it comes with, the larger (and slower) case fan, and some of the other sound-reducing features, it's pretty darn quiet. I have three HD, two optical drives, a P4 and a GF6800 in that sucker and it's quieter than my tiny shuttle in the cabinet.

How fast is your CPU fan? Mine runs about 6100 according to AsusProbe. I'm fairly certain that is most of the problem. I'll look into a new case too, I can sell my wife on that I think

1st -- Look into a Zalman heatsink/fan combo. They specialize in quiet. A lot of their designs do a great job of cooling while still being quiet (done by using a larger fan at a lower speed).

2nd -- make sure your power supply has speed-adjusting fans that vary speed by case temp. Also check if your PS has one 12V connector labeled "FAN" - that connector is used for case fans that are speed controlled by the PS. (You definitely don't want to plug a drive into this one). If you buy a new PS - look for these features, along with power factor correction (PFC). I use a top-of-the-line supply from pcpowerandcooling.com - it's a critical component that often gets overlooked.

3rd -- go after case fans last - I use mid-range parts with ceramic sleeve bearings. They are a decent trade-off between air flow and noise. (and they make them with lights!)

Case noise-dampening materials usually get low consumer ratings. They tend to trap heat.

Vibration/shock absorbing mounts for drives can have a noticable effect, but only if you've gone a long way toward reducing the fan noise. Vibration mounts for power supplies and fans are less effective. Go after 1&2 above before you try any of them out.

Quietpc.com has a selection of products. Also check endpcnoise.com --Check these sites to learn about products and methods.

The biggest offenders of noise in a computer are almost always the cpu and video card fans.

Vantec Aeroflows are solid heatsinks but they are a bit noisy. One thing you can do is to buy a zalman fanmate. You hook your fan's 3 pin connector to the fanmate and then connect the fanmate to the motherboard. It allows you to control you fan speed. If your cpu is fairly cool, turning down the fan will help.

You can also look into a new cpu heatsink and fan. Zalman's 7000's are very good and quiet. Thermalright makes excellent heatsinks that run well with low speed fans. I have an zp94 that I had running with an enermax 92mm adjustable fan. Very quiet and good temps, even when overclocking. Another one to consider is the new thermalright XP-120. It uses up to a 120mm fan for cooling. Lots of air and very little noise. The ALX-800 is cheap and effective (cheap to me means under $20).

For quiet vga cooling, the Arctic Cooling Silencers work extremely well and are very quiet. The 9600's are generally pretty quiet so you may not need it.

I'd look at those things before buying a new case. The case won't help much if you are still running a fan at 6000+ rpm. If you do buy a case like the Sonata or the Antec 3700, you will probably be able to run your fans at a slower speed because of the air flow in the cases.

The stuff JShaw is referring to is PaxMate (or at least that is one brand of it). It generally works pretty well for silencing things but also tends to heat the case up slightly.

Basically, lowering sound in your pc amounts to slower spinning fans and quiet hard drives. Small fans have to spin quickly to cool well. Big fans can cool well at slower speeds.

ChrisGwinn wrote:Consider buying a new case. They sell some pretty snazzy ones now, with low-noise features. I bought an Antec Sonata and the combination of the quiet power supply it comes with, the larger (and slower) case fan, and some of the other sound-reducing features, it's pretty darn quiet. I have three HD, two optical drives, a P4 and a GF6800 in that sucker and it's quieter than my tiny shuttle in the cabinet.

Yes the Sonata is an awesome case with a good pwr supply. They do cost a little but well worth it. Feel free to e-mail me if you want one and I will have it drop shipped to you, which would cost about $125 with shipping.

Thanks for all the replies, looks like I have a lot of research to do, but at least it's narrowed down a lot from just googling quiet computers

Fitzy wrote:how fast is your CPU fan? Mine runs about 6100 according to AsusProbe. I'm fairly certain that is most of the problem.

6100rpm on your CPU fan? at that speed, i'd definitely look at is as the primary culprit. like others have said, look into either a Zalman Fanmate (only $9 at newegg w/ s&h included), or one of the many 'quiet' heatsink/fan setups they offer...i've been considering buying a CNPS7000A-AlCu sometime soon. for comparison, the stock Intel HSF that came with my P4-3.0ghz typically spins at anywhere from 3200-3800rpm to keep the CPU around 30-34C according to AsusProbe, and it's easily the loudest part of my system...i would imagine 6100rpm does put out a pretty good whine.

as for the Sonata case...i've had one for almost a year now and it's easily the best case i've owned. it looks great, has a great interior design, is built sturdy, and the extra measures taken to keep noise down work really well. if you do wind up in the market for a new case, i'd highly recommend the Sonata. that said...

Rip wrote:Yes the Sonata is an awesome case with a good pwr supply. They do cost a little but well worth it. Feel free to e-mail me if you want one and I will have it drop shipped to you, which would cost about $125 with shipping.

i really hate to shoot down your offer Rip because i know you're trying to help out, but i feel compelled to let Fitzy know that he can get the Sonata over at newegg.com for $99.99 shipped...

disarm wrote:

Fitzy wrote:how fast is your CPU fan? Mine runs about 6100 according to AsusProbe. I'm fairly certain that is most of the problem.

6100rpm on your CPU fan? at that speed, i'd definitely look at is as the primary culprit. like others have said, look into either a Zalman Fanmate (only $9 at newegg w/ s&h included), or one of the many 'quiet' heatsink/fan setups they offer...i've been considering buying a CNPS7000A-AlCu sometime soon. for comparison, the stock Intel HSF that came with my P4-3.0ghz typically spins at anywhere from 3200-3800rpm to keep the CPU around 30-34C according to AsusProbe, and it's easily the loudest part of my system...i would imagine 6100rpm does put out a pretty good whine.

as for the Sonata case...i've had one for almost a year now and it's easily the best case i've owned. it looks great, has a great interior design, is built sturdy, and the extra measures taken to keep noise down work really well. if you do wind up in the market for a new case, i'd highly recommend the Sonata. that said...

Rip wrote:Yes the Sonata is an awesome case with a good pwr supply. They do cost a little but well worth it. Feel free to e-mail me if you want one and I will have it drop shipped to you, which would cost about $125 with shipping.

i really hate to shoot down your offer Rip because i know you're trying to help out, but i feel compelled to let Fitzy know that he can get the Sonata over at newegg.com for $99.99 shipped...

By all means. I am often not the cheapest. I don't do enough volume on such things for awesome prices. I only offer as a convienience, I prefer keeping my eqipment sales local and in concert with my consulting, but am always willing to get what I can for my beloved forum subjects 8)

I just bought a Zalman earlier this week. I'm going to install it this weekend; I'm a little skeptical since my case heats up like a toaster oven as it is.

A good place to go for quiet components is: http://www.directron.com/silence.html They have a whole line of components and tips for reducing PC noise.

disarm wrote: 6100rpm on your CPU fan? at that speed, i'd definitely look at is as the primary culprit. like others have said, look into either a Zalman Fanmate (only $9 at newegg w/ s&h included), or one of the many 'quiet' heatsink/fan setups they offer...i've been considering buying a CNPS7000A-AlCu sometime soon. for comparison, the stock Intel HSF that came with my P4-3.0ghz typically spins at anywhere from 3200-3800rpm to keep the CPU around 30-34C according to AsusProbe, and it's easily the loudest part of my system...i would imagine 6100rpm does put out a pretty good whine.

At the speed that little fan runs I'm still expecting my case to take off

I think I'll give the Fanmate a try, it's cheap so if it doesn't work I really haven't lost anything. I do think it's funny though that s&h is more then the item.

If you want to figure out which fan is causing all the ruckus, take a q-tip or something similar and touch it to the middle of the running fan until it stops. If the noise goes away, you've found your culprit. A short stop won't hurt most small fans like that...constantly stopped will eventually overheat the little motor, but not quickly at the ratios those little motors are wound.

It's hard to do this with the power supply, but you can rule out all of the other fans with method #1, and it doesn't cost you anything.

You CAN change a heatsink fan without changing the heatsink, but there are issues...not all heatsink fans are the same size and thikness, so it may be difficult to find a replacement that will fit, do the job, and that the screws will seat firmly into the heatsink and still keep the fan tightly attached.

One very inexpensive solution to reducing noise from that whiny little 9600 Pro fan (I know I had one too):

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 202&depa=0

Voila! Passively cooled vid card! And yes, I can still overclock it a little.

Later if you upgrade your card, you can take it off (just don't install using the "glue" which is permanent) and use it on your motherboard if you have a northbridge fan (which also tend to be crappy - smaller and louder than they look like they should be).

Re: case dampening material, that stuff is relatively expensive imo. Also, VERY heavy if that is a concern for you (lanparty for instance).

I would def replace that power supply. Check out www.silentpcreview - those guys are hardcore about silencing. Check out the RECOMMENDED solutions, as well as the forums, which tend to be very good (surprisingly, llots of "silent" game freaks.

I replaced my stock PSU with a $30 Fortron (350w) with a 120mm fan, and it is whisper quiet. Also changed case fans to 120mm, which probably made the most difference.

As for CPU HSF, I bought this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 037&depa=1

...which may not get you much mileage if you plan to upgrade your CPU soon, but they also make a version for Opteron for the same price. I am sure you can find this cheaper than $29 also.

Overall I spent about $80 on fans, PSU's and heatsinks to make my rig quieter, and it was well worth it.

I'd like to thank everyone who replied in this thread. I ended up putting in a Zalman Fanmate and the noise is level is way down.

Unfortunatly I can now hear the humming of the other components so I'll be looking into some of the other suggestions too. I never realized just how damn loud that cpu fan is at full speed. It's still a night and day difference so thank you!

Also, keep in mind that larger fans at lower rpms, not only reduce noice levels, but produce what I can best describe as more tolerable white noise (while maintaining good and often better airflow than their smaller but higher rpm brethren). So you might be able to use 1 120mm fan to replace to 80mm fans. The smaller, high rpm fans may not be astronomically different in the decibel levels, yet the tone of the noise (higher pitched) is often much more offensive. Another option to consider if you are trying to cut down on noise would be to go the water cooling route. I've been doing some research on it lately and have found several good all-inclusive water cooling kits for around the $100 mark.