Infusion Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 On Anderton and EQ's recommendation, I ordered a custom PC from East Coast Music Mall. Dual Athlons 2.2, 1.5 Gb RAM, (3) Hard Drives, CD-RW and (2) RME HDSPs, Windows XP Pro, (2) extra quiet fans for the CPUs. The frickin thing is louder than my Friedrich c-90a air cleaner, which runs 24/7. I'm not exagerrating. It's loud as shit. The funny thing is that I also have a Dell Dimenions, one of those black ones. I think it's a 2.2 or something. It's quiet as hell. I recognize that my tower has more components and dual processors, but it really is LOUD. Is this par for the course? I really didn't expect to have to shell out another $1100 or so to put this in an acoustic isolation cabinet. Is this a common problem and have others tried wrapping their CPUs in auralex or something? And no, I can't move it into the closet or an adjacent room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlahib.no Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 what kind of noise is it? rattling? whining? swooshing air sound? hard disk noise? my computer was made by a guy here in norway who builds quiet pcs. the only things i can hear from it is some air being blown out in the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offramp Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 "the only things i can hear from it is some air being blown out in the rear." this is so funny on so many levels, mostly immature. I've upped my standards; now, up yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlahib.no Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 heh, well, with my limited english i cant describe it in any other way withouth it still beign a fart joke :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infusion Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 It's not the noise of a hard drive spinning. I know what that sounds like. It sounds more like fan and fan air noise, although the hard drives probably do contribute. I haven't tried sequntially unplugging each component to get a fix on specifics and I'm not going to. It's loud period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 ever since the mac G4 came out, i have been very interested in silent computer systems. i currently have a PC, though, so i've been looking into components that will help me build a silent PC. check out [url=http://www.silentpcreview.com]silentPCreview.com[/url] for a general overview of silent computing, [url=http://www.exoticpc.com]exoticpc.com[/url] to purchase silent components and other, nerdy PC dick-flashing, and [url=http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/other/silent_pc/1.php]this how-to[/url] , which contains specific components and commentary. when i buy my next computer, it [b]will[/b] be dead silent. robb. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wow Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? I COULD NOT HEAR YOU WITH MY G4 IN THE BACKGROUND! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddynl Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 One solution only (cheapest also) put them in a closed wooden case beyond your working table. make sure there's enough air-circulation/space to avoid heatup. forgot to mention; I payed approx $ 15,-- for the plywood, lath's and screws. (they even saw it for me) gigging favorites at the moment LP Special order 1973 and PRS custom 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rim Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 I would think most of the noise comes from the fans and then the hard drives. It's a bit risky, but if you feel comfortable, you can try disabling one fan at a time and see if there is any one or two which is the major noise offender and maybe you can buy a quiter fan or one that gives you control on its speed (so you can turn it down when needed). Don't forget the one in the power supply which if it doesn't have a separate switch to turn off its fan, you can stick a pen to stop the blade from spinning long enough to tell. I would do this, but you need to be very comfortable with computers to do this. I would think most manufacturers will void their warranty if they found out their component broke because fans were turned off. You have been warned. aka riffing Double Post music: Strip Down http://rimspeed.com http://loadedtheband.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 You can always go with watercooling... that usually knocks the noise level WAY down. There's also acoustical damping materials you can apply to the interior of the case, as well as methods to decrease HDD noise... IOW, there's ways to quiet the PC down without having to resort to an IsoRack or similar. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veracohr Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Well, my G4 466MHz is pretty quiet. But then again it's not a new one! "And then you have these thoughts in the back of your mind like 'Why am I doing this? Or is this a figment of my imagination?'" http://www.veracohr.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ren. Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Veracohr: [b]Well, my G4 466MHz is pretty quiet. But then again it's not a new one![/b][/quote]I got a G4 800 MHz and is as quiet as it can be :thu: The thing that drives me crazy are the 2 external Rorke Data Hard Drives... dang those things are noisy! :mad: Who Put The ' M ' In MySpace? don\'t_click | day_job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 My homebuilt PC that I tried to make quiet is still louder than I had hoped for. I have a Enermax Whisper powersupply with an adjustable fan and a silent drive enclosure for one of the hard drives. The only thing I haven't tried is one of those flower coolers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infusion Posted April 11, 2003 Author Share Posted April 11, 2003 If you've got specific fix its, I want to hear about them. It's too noisy. Phil, how/where do I apply sound absorber inside without disrupting aair flow etc? And how much noise reduction can I expect if I cover the tower in sound absorber and leave the vent holes uncovered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infusion Posted April 12, 2003 Author Share Posted April 12, 2003 Robb, that silentpcreview.com is amazing. Thanks for the headsup. After checking out the recommedations section, I opened up my PC to investigate. Shit!!! I got (6) fans in this thing. It's amazing this thing doesn't get up and fly away. (2)AMD fans-pretty quiet (2) fans on the Enermax psu-audible (2) Vantech fans, 1 in front and 1 in back-The one in front is definately audible Do I need a fan in front and what if I put sound absorber inside. I can hear the HDs, but I can deal with that after the fans and PSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphajerk Posted April 13, 2003 Share Posted April 13, 2003 i know you dont want to shell out for a isoraxx, although one can be build for a fraction of the cost, i see it as a necessity. my 10k HD's are loud as shit, and with 2 running... its ridiculous. im going tobuild an iso cabinet. its worth it rather than impeding the cooling of the parts within a machine. alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Orr Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 I can have a higher-end, loud as F*#@ (~70 db last time I measured)audio workstation on the opposite side of the building and have my absolutely silent 486 access the workstation (via a standard cat-5 cable+2 NICs) and work as if the 486 had the power and capabilities of the workstation. Add a IEEE 1394 cable if needed, and boom, no noise, a lot of power. groove, v. Inflected Form(s): grooved; groov·ing transitive senses:1a.to make a groove in;1b.to join by a groove;2.to perfect by repeated practice;3.to throw (a pitch) in the groove intransitive senses:1.to become joined or fitted by a groove;2.to form a groove;3.to enjoy oneself intensely;4.to interact harmoniously - groov·er noun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Infusion: [b]Do I need a fan in front and what if I put sound absorber inside. I can hear the HDs, but I can deal with that after the fans and PSU.[/b][/quote] [quote]Originally posted by alphajerk: [b]my 10k HD's are loud as shit, and with 2 running... its ridiculous. im going tobuild an iso cabinet. its worth it rather than impeding the cooling of the parts within a machine.[/b][/quote]firstly, i'm no expert. i've read all of those links, though, so i'm at least an enthusiast. that being said, i think putting some sound absorber inside you case is a valid attempt, but it's not what i would do. granted, i will be able to start from scratch, so i can get quiet HDDs to remove that problem. as for fans, you can always try removing one and seeing how things work, and then remove another. i only have one fan in my computer. granted, it's an athlon 600MHz slotA -- you know, the big, black, plastic loaf of bread processor. but my system runs fine with just a fan on the processor heat sink and one in the power supply. you can either change the fan in the power supply or change the supply completely to fix that. and i strongly recommend you look into a passive CPU cooler, like a big flower heatsink. like the articles say, when you silence your power supply and CPU you suddenly hear your HDD. the HDD is the loudest part of both mine and my wife's computers. another idea to try would be getting a bunch of speed-controllable fans and using very many fans at very slow speeds. in this way you move a lot of air without creating a lot of sound. that is part of the principle of an isorack. so, alpha, if you can't ebay your hard drives and get a new, quiet one, you can at least build your own isorack with decent thermal management. robb. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed A. Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Here's a D.I.Y. isobox: http://www.kolumbus.fi/popna/boxpixs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calfee Jones Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 I upgraded, and the new one is very loud! I bought some extension cables and put the box in a nearby closet/dormer (it has plenty of ventilation). I will be getting an external cd/rw so I bring that to where the keyboard and monitor is. - Calfee Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond1 Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 I recently finished building my own pc and was disappointed on the noise as well, even with vantec stealth fans. I removed the front fan and its fine, it was a bit of overkill having it in the first place. Its much quieter without that fan in front. I have a full tower case with a zalman copper cooler and 2 vantec stealth fans in the back. There's plenty of room in the case for sufficient airflow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infusion Posted April 15, 2003 Author Share Posted April 15, 2003 So Bond, how much quieter is it without the front Vantech fan? Is the difference min, mod or significant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikkirivett Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 putting it in the next room is by far the best solution.now I can HEAR my music and I don't get tired because of the background noise. You only need a small hole in the wall for your cables, and if you're renting you can paper over it when you move. Main problem is cables: USB is no problem, but monitor cables max out at 5 meters for flat screens (7 meters for others). or get a laptop? rikki rivett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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