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"Reliable ways to make PC quieter"

Currently the noise output of my computer is 34 decibels without the case panel. This is "simply unacceptable", to quoteth my mother. So, I need to make it quieter.

That 34dcb is coming solely from the heatsink fan. I'm planning to replace the 34dcb HSF with a 29dcb fan, although I can run it at a lower speed because it gives significantly more airflow. I also want one 19dcb 80mm fan blowing air in, and hopefully one 12dcb exhaust, but that depends on getting clearance for a 80mm > 60mm fan adapter, because my exhaust appears to be 60mm. I may also want a 80mm 12dcb exhaust at the top aswell/instead, but I have to move my sub for that to work. Replace the panel and that should stop my CPU from cooking. I'm also going to link them all up to a (bay|glow|touch)bus so I can reduce the fan noise a night time.

I know decibels aren't cumulative, but it still sounds like it's going to be noisy.

Anyway, what I want to know is, are there any reliable ways to reduce noise that anyone knows of? I have to get this noise problem sorted or Mum'll make me move the computer upstairs, which would be a disaster.

Cheers
-Rob

This is how my water cooling kit works, first of all the water is pumped to a cube radiator (which i mounted at the top of my midi tower case, but would fit inside full tower) i had a 120mm fan mounted under this running at 5 volts (extremely quiet), the fan isnt needed if you are not overclocking to much, then from the radiator down to the copper water block where the heat was taken from it (much better than a fan taking heat away) then back to the pump, and so on. It was a closed loop useing thick tubing and jubilee clips, i had it running 24/7 with no problems at all as it was well put together and tested before fitting into my case, it all cost me £130 but i used good stuff, you can buy whole kit for around £100 now and also get blocks for vid cards, northbridge, hard drives and psu's.

I have also air cooled, this is not as effective but cheaper, one thing to make sure is that you have the flow of air correct inside your case, the best setup i had was an 80mm fan in the front bottom of the case blowing in, one at the rear of the case also blowing in and one i cut into the side of the case over my cards blowing in then i cut a 120mm blow whole in the top of the case and stuck a 120mm fan in it running at 5 volts, this was very affective and queit.

Another thing to think about is maybe lapping your HSF, this means that you sand down the bottom of your cpu heatsink with very fine wet and dry, this gives better contact with the cpu core thus lowering heat, also it is worth looking into better heat transfr paste, and not to apply to much just a small bit to fill in the inperfections between core and heatsink.

c.b.

Water cooling works by having a "block" on the components that get hot. The water is pumped into this block where it takes up the heat, then is taken to a radiator, usually mounted at the top of the case, and usually with a single, large fan on it (larger fans normally push a nice amount of air, with a reasonable noise) from there, the water goes into a reservoir, often built into the pump, and pumped round again.

Turbonutter wrote:
> On a side note - are vibrations something I should notice? I can't
> feel anything in the case, and nothing sounds like it's vibrating. All
> I'm hearing is the sound of fans whirring...

If it is vibrating badly you would be able to tell. Mine never used to, it took about 12 months of general use, and then i think it became slightly unseated, which caused the whole thing to rattle - one thing shakes and the whole and shakes something else etc.

Easy way to tell is if your computer sounds like someone filled your case up with spoons and is shaking it really hard :o)

They use special heatsinks with water running through them that is used to carry the heat away, in the same way air is used on fans. Then, I presume, another heatsink is used outside the case or elsewhere to draw heat from the water. You can replace the water with alcohol or a low-bp liquid and basically have a fridge cooling your chip. It's very efficient, and quiet, although they cost an absolute bomb and no matter what anyone says, having water inside your PC in any way just cannot be a good thing, especially when it's your pride and joy *cough*.

They're only really useful for complete overclock junkies, and when you have an XP2000 there's really no need.

I've heard about it being done alright, but how do these water cooled PCs physically work? I have pictures in my head of Charlie Dimmock-esque water features dotted around the office.

I mean, I assume it works the same way radiators work (in the reverse of course) but is it all self-contained? Theres a pump, right, pumping the water round next to anything that might get hot? Then is the water recycled or drained off or what? Anyone know of any pictures anywhere?

My skills dont stretch to overclocking and stuff but Im curious.

Reaper[oV] wrote:
> I considered the zalman, but I had his box running here for a while,
> and I definately wouldn't recommend it - at the moment he runs a delta
> on an AX7

YS-TECH...

> and still gets temps over 50C...zalmans aren't designed for
> cooling very powerful pcs, especially ones in constant use, but he's
> got an 80 120mm adapter and some papsts incoming, so should be fine..

I may ditch the 120mm Papst idea, because I've noticed that if I stop the HSF the PSU also outputs a fair bit of noise. I'm scouring forums and newsgroups at the moment about that. I have ordered some 80mm Papst fans for exhausting though, so I can replace the panel, hopefully dampen the PSU and all will be well.

On a side note - are vibrations something I should notice? I can't feel anything in the case, and nothing sounds like it's vibrating. All I'm hearing is the sound of fans whirring...

It will still be loud i reckon even if papst's are used, You need water cooling this will cool your chip very well, you can buy cases that have all you need for water cooling in them now, water cooling droped the temp on my P4 northwood 1.8a @ 2.6ghz 1.8volts by about 13 degrees and it also droped the temp of my old xp1800 @1800mhz by a good amount (can't remember exactly) also if you internalise the water cooling then it can easily be used for a lan pc.

c.b.

Craw wrote:
> You could just buy yourself some earplugs

Or put the main unit in a cardboard box?

I considered the zalman, but I had his box running here for a while, and I definately wouldn't recommend it - at the moment he runs a delta on an AX7, and still gets temps over 50C...zalmans aren't designed for cooling very powerful pcs, especially ones in constant use, but he's got an 80 > 120mm adapter and some papsts incoming, so should be fine..

lol

We could start a Blue Peter style appeal on behalf of TN. I'm sure i have a few odd ones i could donate :)