I'm sick and tired of fan noise

B

Boyiee

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 20, 2010
Messages
250
I'm currently running an antec1200, H70 cooled i7 [email protected] with GT-15's+shrouds in push/pull, and sli GTX570's.

I'm sick of hearing fans. The H70 I have running at 50% cause I don't like the sound of either stock fans or the GT's at 100%, the 570's really aren't that bad, and the case itself makes too much. It's actually irritating. With no music on, in a quiet room, it digs into my ear and starts to really bother me.

I don't know what the correct solution for me is. I've been looking at going to an FT02 case which should be quieter and work out, but a friend of mine is recommending water. Rads have to get cooled with fans, so I don't know how much this solves the problem. If I don't like GT-15's @100%, how am I going to deal with having another rad to cool. That, and I've never done WC before and would have to start from scratch, not knowing which parts to get, etc. All I know is that I would need it to be quiet, and I'd be willing to put $400 into it if needed. I'm not much of a project guy and more of a plug and play guy, so I'd prefer staying on air if it was actually silent.

Obviously the case has got to go, either to an antec p183, silverstone, or some other option whatever is quieter, but other than that I don't know what to do. Any suggestions? Really if the answer is to go water, I'd have no idea how to go about it. I've looked into it before, picked out parts, but just don't know how quiet it will really be.

I'm thinking the H70 has got to go as well. Is there any air alternatives that will cool as effectively but quieter? I'm idling in the 40-46c range @50% fans now + resistor that came with it. Help me guys, I need quiet. Water, Air, New case, New heatsink, whatever it takes.
 
You should probably just put your GT-AP15's on a fan controller. It seems you would have been better off with the AP-14's, but a fan-controller will work about the same.

The GT-fans are really the best option we have. If you need to replace any of your current fans, then I'd go with the GT's again, but you could consider the AP-14, reserving the 15's for fan-locations at the interior of the case (less audible).

Watercooling won't solve any problems - you'll just need to buy more parts, and do a bunch of work. You will drop your temps, but that doesn't seem to be your goal.

The H70 can be replaced (Silver Arrow is somewhat quiet, but I own 3 of the included TY-140 fans, and the GT AP-15 fan is better (if you undervolt the AP-15 just slightly, you'll get a similar, TY-140-like low tone, and less noise)) - but I don't see a real reason to do this (UNLESS: The H70 is inducing noise somehow - If this is the case, then a lower FPI radiator may alleviate the turbulence, but probably not by much).

Fan controllers:

- Original Rheobus + LED-dimming mod (20w x 4, voltage control, barebones) - CHEAP... usually about $15, and comes in black. LED-resistor mod is almost necessary because it's obnoxiously bright.
- Rheobus Extreme + LED-dimming mod (30w x 6, voltage control, barebones) - usually about $30, not as bright, but I still require the resistor mod - I hate excess light.
- Lamptron FC-T (touchscreen voltage control also at 30w per channel) - it's new... looks snazzy.
- Scythe "Kaze" controllers - voltage control, but 10-12w per channel... LCD provides RPM and voltage monitoring similar to FC-T's capabilities... - There are a few different models (4-channel, 6-channel, other) ... 10-12w per channel is plenty for the low-powered fans you're likely to use (especially the GT-fans, which are the most electrically efficient I've seen).

I'm not familiar with your Antec 1200's noise profile, but I don't like the Antec p183 idea. I think the Antec p18X design is outdated. I upgraded from that to a 700D, and I'm much happier now.

I still have my p180, however, and I could modify it a bit and keep it in use as a quiet PC. For most cases, that just involves: cutting through the stamped grills, replacing fans, adding some mass-loading sound-deadening material to prevent vibration, cutting motherboard-tray routing holes, adding grommets and finishing touches).
 
Try and get a 700d for cheap and put everything on water. Problem solved.

It could realistically be done on a $400 budget too.

P.S. The antec 600/900/1200 cases are terrible, good thing they're cheap.
 
Gentle typhoons @ 50% should be nothing. 570 SLI however is definitely not silent - you could consider an aftermarket cooling solution (e.g. arctic xtreme) if your mobo has enough space between pci slots.

Have you changed your case fans? I recommend Nexus Real Silents, Apache Silents, or some of the Bitfenix fans, all of which are inaudible for all practical purposes. If you think there is case vibration then you can get rubber fan grommets for very cheap to further dampen fan noise.

I don't think changing case will help that much, unless you go for something that you can sound proof. You can get specially designed rubber sheeting for some of the Lian Li cases.
 
Getting a new case is a little radical I would say. Why not just for now aim for quiet fans? Noctua is really good(and expensive). Nexus, Arctic, Enermax, Gelid,... and some fan controller, or speedfan if your mobo can control fans.

For now if I were you, I would turn off every fan in the case except cpu and watch temperatures. Then add 2 fans and watch again.. control rpm... Just so that I know what I am dealing with...
 
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well the antec 1200 is mostly fan. on low the fans should be rather quite. mine are on my 900. better fans do make a difference i just hate to pay 10-20$ per fan but the few scythe fans i have used are amazing and only 10-15. i usually go to silentpcreview.com for info quite stuffs.
 
This may be a little unorthodox, but you could use noise cancelling headphones. I use Beats Studios, because my case has 7 Ultra Kaze 3000rpm fans running. They work like a charm.
 
gesicht said:
well the antec 1200 is mostly fan. on low the fans should be rather quite. mine are on my 900. better fans do make a difference i just hate to pay 10-20$ per fan but the few scythe fans i have used are amazing and only 10-15. i usually go to silentpcreview.com for info quite stuffs.
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Not quiet enough is the problem lol.

Getting a new case is a little radical I would say. Why not just for now aim for quiet fans? Noctua is really good(and expensive). Nexus, Arctic, Enermax, Gelid,... and some fan controller, or speedfan if your mobo can control fans.
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Yeah but I'm willing to pay the price if it's worth it. I would go for quieter fans, but there are a LOT of holes in this case, lots of ways for whatevers going on on the inside to leak out and have me hear it lol. That's why I brought up the FT02, since it seems much quieter. I use speedfan already, and all fans are on low.

Try and get a 700d for cheap and put everything on water. Problem solved.

It could realistically be done on a $400 budget too.
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I last priced water at around 400-500, if it's more, it's more. It's something I've always wanted to try but am very reluctant to do so. I don't know what kind of noise profile I'd really have with water since I'd still need to cool the rads.

It's not that the h70 is inducing noise, but on higher than 50% the specific sound of the GT's is just annoying. I believe it's mostly due to the case being so open and audible.
 
If I had to guess, I'd say the problem was with your hard drives and not your fans. The 900/1200 cases are great for airflow and can be very quiet if setup correctly, but they have an absolutely awful hard drive mounting system for a case in their tier. It amazes me that they still kept it after the "v2" redesign, as it transfers all HDD noise directly to to the case so it reverberates throughout. Depending on how many HDD's you have, try suspending them in an empty 5.25" bay first (use rubber bands or bungee cords) and see if that solves your noise problem (or just run the case with them all unplugged for a quick test).

The thing is, water cooling isn't any quieter than air cooling. All it does is allow you to get more cooling power per fan, or per dB if you will. If you aren't changing or cutting down on the number of fans you're using, your sound level won't change (and might actually get worse depending on your pump).
 
The largest contributing factor to your fan noise is prob your h70, both the noctua nh-d14 and thermalright silver arrow provide more cooling with much lower fan noise than the h70, though they are humongous so make sure they fit in your antec. The gtx 500's actually have very quiet fans compared with other cards at that level (69XX's/ 480 etc).

Just start by replacing the H70 and you will most likely notice a much quieter system right away.
 
I made 2 videos, one is black with just sound, both are 3-4ft away at desk level and one at ear level. I know the sound isn't much, but it's too much for me. Vids were taken with iphone you might have to turn it up to actually hear it. This is with everything on low and idle for a while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz6T3tPms5c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYM7cs2kMFk

After a while that sound drives me crazy. I don't mind replacing the H70, especially since I have 2 GT15's I can transfer to something new if needed, but I really do think that an FT02 will solve some of the sound problem as well. If I'm going to stick to air, the users on this forum seem to think that is the best route.
 
i would agree, get a silverstone rv01/rv02/ft02. the case fans are near silent, and will cool everything much better then your current case. it will also cool your video cards way better causing them to not run as hot, thus the fan speed wont increase as much gaming. also id recommend ditching the h70 if you go for the ft02. i have an h50, and when i put it into the rv01, it increased cpu temps by 5c on idle, and about 10-15 under full load. this is because there is only 1 spot to mount the rad, and its the only exhaust on the case. basically you heat soak the rad, pushing all the hot case air through the rad to get out

my 2 4870x2's in my rv01 got only up to about 40-45% fan speed when gaming (were still pretty audible). i moved them over to a 700d, and now they run closer to 85% while gaming, huge difference in noise
 
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I used to have a 4870x2, I know the difference in those fan speeds very well... but 2 of them, wow.

I've been looking at the FT02, the one without the window looks like its got more noise dampening. I should see what the case forum says about which to switch into. Gotta make sure big heatsinks fit in it as well.
 
my rv01 has a window and the case dampening is great still. if you have nice hardware and like to show it off, id opt for the window. the noise difference wont be much. if the case just sits under a desk or something and is tucked away, i wouldnt worry about a window
 
FT02 solved my noise problems. I run it with a TRUE and not a H70 though. I have my case fans set to low and my TRUE runs an 800 RPM fan.

Before this I had a p180 and that thing was a hotbox. My 5870 would ramp up even at idle.

Now my 5870 idles at 20% fan speed
 
Have you narrowed down the source of the noise? It won't help if you start blindly replacing parts for quieter ones. I'm a silence freak myself (electrical noise/capacitor whine is my biggest irritant) and I find the stock antec fans to be too loud even on low.
 
Seriously man...if you haven't changed the case fans on your Antec case then of course it's going to be bloody loud.

Get some quieter fans. The improvement will be astounding.

There is absolutely no need to get a new case or go watercooling.
 
if noise gets you go water. i have a 955be at 4ghz@ 1.625v core and a 4870 at 850mhz. i run my pump at 5v(its way the hell to loud at 12v) and for my radiator i use the evaporator and coil form a 12000btu window unit and run the fan at 10% or off when not folding. whit fan on my temps are about 38c whit fan off highest i ever saw is 51c full load. so you can make a water rig with no fans if you wanted to.
 
I wouldnt be so hasty as to switch your case yet, get rid of the h70 first because that is most definitely the largest source of noise in your case, or get fan controllers for your gentle typhoons. That and replace the case fans. Switching a case just so you get quieter fans doesnt make much sense; replace the fans first.

If the fan noise is still too loud after that... well you might need to go liquid, but even then the radiator creates noise ;)
 
thax said:
if noise gets you go water. i have a 955be at 4ghz@ 1.625v core and a 4870 at 850mhz. i run my pump at 5v(its way the hell to loud at 12v) and for my radiator i use the evaporator and coil form a 12000btu window unit and run the fan at 10% or off when not folding. whit fan on my temps are about 38c whit fan off highest i ever saw is 51c full load. so you can make a water rig with no fans if you wanted to.
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Jesus Christ? 1.625v...that's insane. My 965 ran 1.392v @ 4ghz and my 1090t ran 1.4 for 4.2 and those are on water. That is not safe voltage for 24/7 even on water. That's like encroaching dryice/ln2 benching volts...
 
glad your not me, i have a standing oscillating fan going almost 24/7 in my room. i cant stand quiet-ness when im trying to sleep. every creek and crack of the house cause me to get irritated and i cant sleep. so having a fan on is like peace and quite, even if its not really quiet

:D
 
Perhaps the OP is just very sensitive to noise... sucks :(

It seems that he understands fan-control and all the other obvious things we've pointed out (stock Antec fans are garbage - I think he knows that because he bought the Scythe GTs).

I don't know how quiet the Silverstone cases are, but I can confirm that the Antec p18X series is a relative hotbox (unless you modify it heavily - I had 3 front-fans (bottom, top, and one in the bays). Once modified, the case has essentially been made more open, and it loses some of its noise-advantage. I just don't think it's worth the hassle, but then again, I'm not as sensitive to noise (I'd consider my system somewhat quiet).

There is a way to in-set each fan in the p180 (mount it further away from the boundaries of the case to further insulate the noise). It's a lot of work... but every little bit counts.
 
@ Archmage

Read his post again and watch his vids.

He's using the GTs in his H70.

He's KEPT the antec stock fans on his case.

And he's complaining about noise and saying he's happy to spend $400 on a WC set up...

:confused:
 
After you manage to silence every other source of noise in your room, you'll still be annoyed by the distracting sound of your own heartbeat. The best permanent fix is a syringe and a large vial of insulin.
 
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