PC too loud! need experienced advice

[aldy402]

I have an Aspire X-dreamer2 case, and the sound that comes out of it is driving me crazy. I have listed everything that makes noise.

- Cooler Master RS-450-ACLY 450 PSU
- 2x 80mm exhaust fans (top,side window)
- Maxtor 60gb (sounds like ass when extracting massive archives)
- Radeon 9800 Pro w/ Ati Silencer rev. 1 (not that bad)
- AMD stock HSF (screams, definetly needs to be replaced)

my question is
a) Should I replace my 80mm fans with Panaflow Quiets or should buy some Fan vibration dampeners? I dont know how to solder so volt modding is out of the question.
b) Get a fan controller?

right now my idle ambient temp is 74F, 80-83F during extensive loads, do I even need the exhaust fans? maby I could take 1 off?

Thanks in advance guys

 

[misterE]

well, certainly first thing is replace that stock hsf. dampeners won't do much good if the fans themselves are loud, so i'd replace those, probably don't want to just pull them out. The maxtor drive could also be replaces with something quieter for pretty cheap too...and you could use the extra space anyway. I just went through the same probs with my system, but i went a little overboard in controlling the sound (good excuse to buy a LianLi PC1000).

 

[aldy402]

whats a good QUIET fan that outperforms the stock HSF for my A64 3000+ S754?

 

[boycee]

Scythe Samurai / Scythe Kamakaze (£30 ish)

and

a silenX 400 Watt PSU (£100 ish)

and

samsung silent hard drivers. (£varies)


That my friend is my stupidly silent PC, you could go one better than me and get a fanless psu from silenX now, so it would be "even" quieter (currently my psu is the loudest thing in my pc).

I have no case fans at all, and my cpu lives at around 45oC idle, 49-50oC under heavy load.

Forgot to mention I have a amd 3000XP, 2x120GB samsung, 400Wat SilenX psu, 9800 pro.

Chris

 

[zapperfish]

a good idea is to add a fake floor, with some plexi then put some thin sound-damp fome over it, then you can hide some wires under the floor. with less cables inside there is less serface area for sound to rebound off. also put some of the thin fome behind the mobo (on the side panel. next i would remove all grills and use just plan wire grills.

also if you can try running all 120mm fans @ 7v. another thing is if the case is on a hard serface try putting some old arpet/ mouse mats under it

 

[Lt.Doomsday]

with my old enlight case,i made my own fan damp. with some rubber washers.
had to use longer screws,but it worked fine.

 

[ryuji]

my enermax EG565P-FMA is dead silent both fans make less noise then my cpu's voltage regulator does, i have yet to hear them even when stopping all of my fans, it actualy scared me how quiet it was at first, i thought the fans wernt running and it doesnt even get warm, it stays room temp all the time

first thing i did when i got it was i got rid of the fan grills tho, so that could make a difference

 

[mustang_steve]

I'm not an overclocker, so my advice is off stock speeds.

I'd say start by ducting your CPU.

Thing is if you duct, the hot air leaves before it can screwu your temps. It's easy to get a quiet computer, but getting a stable quiet gaming computer is a bit tricky, and ducting is part of this.

For my rig, which is not done yet...I'm waiting in FedEX to get their gimp butts over here to give me the rest of hte parts...I'll have 3 exhaust points....my vidcard (arctic silencer), my CPU (Ducted), and my power supply.

Now for your chipset. like the Zalman passive heatsink, the one with two heights of fins. There is one problem with using this heatsink, you need airflow...not much airflow, but airflow. This is just a case of airflow management.

now onto airflow management...if your going to have a quiet case, you need proper airflow...it's not about how easy it can come in, it's about how well it cools stuff coming in.

In my case, I have no intake fan, it's not needed since my front intake is 120mm x 170mm, allowing for pretty darn good airflow. Now keep in mind I have also blocked off all unused fan ports, to help assure that air comes in through this front intake. Doing this, in my particular layout, assures airflow over my chipset, eliminating the need for a fan on that component.

noise damping is pretty much self explanatory, you buy daming foam and adhere it to the inside of your case. I have tons of it in mine, just bacuse I have a large case.

End result...My hard drive's seek noise is at least 5x louder than the system, and my system idles @35c. I expect the temps to go down to about 32c once I finish the project.

Noise level is quite low. I haven't measured it, but it is one of the lowest noise levels I have ever heard from a PC that's less than arm's length from my head. At 6 feet it's only audible if the room is silent.

Basically quiet computers is summed up as the following:
fan reduction
better heatsink efficiency
noise damping

Fan reduction is crucial. Every fan of identical spec you add to a system is +3Db, so it's an easy way to kill some noise is fan reduciton. Slower fans are an even bigger benefit, but if you want you can try to undervolt your fans too. I found many fans spin up fine at 5v, although at a greatly reduced CFM. Ducting is a means for fan reduction, by removing the need for at least one case fan.

better heatsink efficiency. This is crucial as you go to lower RPM fans, since there will be less air moving from the heatsink, you need both higher surface area, and a less restrictive design to assure you fan can pull air through with reasonable ease. I like the Thermalright heatpipe coolers myself, as they accept huge fans (120mm for a-64), the bonus to that is a 120mm fan can output signifcantly more air than an 80mm fan at a far lower SPL.

noise damping. This is the icing on the cake. Noie damping will raise your temps, but it helps rid yourself of some noise. It's not a massive gain, but it is well worth it, as it does very well with high frequency noises, helping to get rid of the whine of hard drives etc.

On that note, a sound damping hard drive enclosure is also something to think about...just be sure your drive can work with it first...it's not uncommon to hear of someone killing a drive in one bcause they didn't do the required research first.

On another note...the X-Dreamer is a noisy case by design, so you will msot likely have to get rather creative with it. Start with heatsinks/fans/ducting, and see where that takes you.

FWIW, I found a 92mm and 80mm vantec stealth nearly match each other spec-wise, so if you find a 92mm heatsink (my reccomendation would be a thermalright XP-90), you could use a badong kit and a fan adaptor to cut it out of an 80mm fan duct. Unles you have one of those perforated grills on the back of your case, you should be fine for airflow, if you do have one, just dremel it out and put a wire grill over it. It's not like you need a 92mm hole for 27cfm.
I'm using the thermalright SI-97, which is the athlon XP version of the sink, and will be running this exact setup once FedEX gives me my freaking fanadaptor!

...well good luck man, just keep in mind any alteration of airflow will equal noise.

 

[aldy402]

wow thanks for all your help guys, I think in the end , my case just SUCKS, its made of cheap plastic and so on. Im currently in the process of undermodding them

ill let u guys kno how it turns out

 

[DarkMonkey]

Heh, that case is actually one of the more sturdy and quality built cases I've had the chance of working with. It's all steel construction and only the front bezel is plastic. Although it will never compare to the high end coolermasters or lian-lis I've worked with, when I used it (it's still in service for my server now) it was a rather nice case. Sturdy, very cool (Ambient and CPU temps were about 10C lower than my Lian-Li, go figure) however, the fans that come with it are fucking horrible. Replace them immediately. They move hardly any air and they're about 3x louder than most fans that crank out twice the air. They also start to die usually within 6 months, and when they do it sounds like your computer is getting raped up the ass. Replace the stock HSF and exhaust fans, and make sure you change the side one to an intake, and you should be set. Probably won't cost you more than $50 either when you're done.

 

[mustang_steve]

A recent discovery by me....a badong kit does not work with an SI-97, even with a fanadaptor...problem is the kit is too tall, even for a Lian-Li PC-70. I tried compressing the hose, but all that resulted was nearly burning my proc when the heatsink got tilted during side panel re-insertion.

In short: if you use this heatsink, you'll have to get some sheet metal and make your own low-profile duct

Oh well, it's things like this that keep us on our toes

 

[SSmith]

Ok, a few things you can do to decrease noise, each getting increasingly costly.

cut out the rear grills on your case (the ones which protect your hands from the bad fans) and then attach your own wire grills. Cuts down on turbulence noise.

Suspend that HDD! Get that HDD cage out of your case (this will also improve airflow) and put your HDD on a piece of foam or somesuch. The difference WILL be night and day.

buy Zalman Fanmates for your case fans

Alternatively, get new casefans like Panaflo M1As (I'll recommend the M1As for case fans)

New Heatsink. That stock mofo is probably a screamer, so try something a bit quieter, I recommend the Thermalright SP-97

Next up will probably be your Power Supply! Thats right, its probably one of the noisiest components in your case, but also one of the most expensive to replace. Seasonic makes some of the most efficient power supplies out there, and the quietest! This will reduce the heat being output by the power supply and quiet down your system. Highly recommended. Edit: Just saw someone recommended a SilenX product earlier in this thread. Don't buy from them. Please, for the love of all that is silent...

 

[DarkMonkey]

cut out the rear grills on your case (the ones which protect your hands from the bad fans) and then attach your own wire grills. Cuts down on turbulence noise.

That WOULD help, (when I did it to my X Dreamer it cut the noise in half and dropped temps by 7 degrees) if the stock cooling didn't only include two fans that already have just wire fan grilles on them. Not to be a dick but look up his case first.

 

[FaultySanity]

Yeah, PC modder did like a 4 page article on how to make your PC quiter...

If your cheap:
-Get a fan controller.

If you have the cash:
-Fan controller
-Fanless PSU
-HardDrive fanless cooler


And on some cases the fan air movement can acually be louder than it already is depending on the shape of the grill (i hear people say that the intake on a cheiftec dragon kinda amplifies the sound of the fan)

 

[ryuji]

i dont like the amperage on fanless psus, i would rather have a nice enermax or if i was rich a pcp&c they both have nice and quiet psus

 

[ryuji]

And on some cases the fan air movement can acually be louder than it already is depending on the shape of the grill (i hear people say that the intake on a cheiftec dragon kinda amplifies the sound of the fan)

i have about 120 cfm going through my case, no sound problems, irony is the coolermaster neon led fan (side panel, appears that the neon led fan hates pulling air and would rather push)is the noisiest fan, first thing i did with my case is cut out all the grills tho

 

[WLDock]

I have a similar issue with a system I just built....While it is one of the quietest systems I have had, I think I can do better. The system:

Cooler Master Cavalier Case(120mm & 80mm stock fans)
Fortron Blue Storm 400W (120mm fan)
Zalman 7000A (92mm fan)
ATI AIW 9600XT (super small fan
WD SE 80GB 7200
Plextor DVD Burner

Things I plan to do to lower the noise:
1)The hard drive has been pretty silent so that is not really as issue right now.
2)The Zalman is quiet on low however, I might go with a big xp-120 w/a quiet fan to get temps lower?
3)The AIW 9600XT is not too bad but, I am really digging the Gigabyte passive cooling 6600 GT & 6800 cards. I could always get a tv card to go with it.
4)The Fortron is not too bad either but a little louder than I had hoped. I used painters(blue) tape around the surfaces to prevent any metal to metal noises. Not sure what to do here? Don't want to go prying with a new PS and void the warranty. Maybe a Seasonic is in my future? Or better yet, an Antec Phantom 350?
5) The Cavalier is a VERY NICE case! I am glad I went with it over the Sonata. The layout is good for cooling and the door is nice and solid, compared to the Sonata's door. This helps with noise from the Plextor. The stock fans are not bad but don't have temp controls so....At some point I will replace those...not sure...maybe Panaflow? Also, I think I will get the Cooler Master Aerogate III fan controller to run all fans in the case. I also plan to put a filter on the front intake fan...this will keep the dust out and lower noise. I may add noise insulation material?

I guess that is about all I can do? Don't really want to spend too much money.......

 

[aldy402]

Heh, that case is actually one of the more sturdy and quality built cases I've had the chance of working with. It's all steel construction and only the front bezel is plastic. Although it will never compare to the high end coolermasters or lian-lis I've worked with, when I used it (it's still in service for my server now) it was a rather nice case. Sturdy, very cool (Ambient and CPU temps were about 10C lower than my Lian-Li, go figure) however, the fans that come with it are fucking horrible. Replace them immediately. They move hardly any air and they're about 3x louder than most fans that crank out twice the air. They also start to die usually within 6 months, and when they do it sounds like your computer is getting raped up the ass. Replace the stock HSF and exhaust fans, and make sure you change the side one to an intake, and you should be set. Probably won't cost you more than $50 either when you're done.

would circulation be better for the sidefan to intake instead of exhaust? why

 

[SSmith]

That WOULD help, (when I did it to my X Dreamer it cut the noise in half and dropped temps by 7 degrees) if the stock cooling didn't only include two fans that already have just wire fan grilles on them. Not to be a dick but look up his case first.

If the case has the same rear grills as the X-Dreamer 2 reviewed at the Overclocker cafe here

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/X-DreamerII/

then it could still benefit from this procedure. Unless I'm missing something?

Ass.

ALDY: Setting the side fan to intake, and, more to the point, ducting that intake to blow directly onto the CPU HSF would decrease temps on your CPU and stop the fan on the heatsink from ramping up, quite possibly keeping your CPU cooler and quieter.

 

[aldy402]

If the case has the same rear grills as the X-Dreamer 2 reviewed at the Overclocker cafe here

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/X-DreamerII/

then it could still benefit from this procedure. Unless I'm missing something?

Ass.

ALDY: Setting the side fan to intake, and, more to the point, ducting that intake to blow directly onto the CPU HSF would decrease temps on your CPU and stop the fan on the heatsink from ramping up, quite possibly keeping your CPU cooler and quieter.

Ssmith, thanks , I changed the side fan to intake and my ambient temp dropped 4 degrees. better then nothing

These fans definetly suck ass, I think im jus gonna go with new fans and a fan controller

anybody have any recommendations?

 

[chronic9]

if you want a cool looking CPU HSF get a Zalman 7000 Cu with the blue LED fan.its quiet and looks great, also stick in a fan controller. i would DEFINATLEY buy good fans for case cooling and stuff and cut those POS case fan grills and get the wired ones. hide as many cables as possbile behind mobo tray or on the back side of the case. for PSU get a Antec Neopower 480, its modular - cuts down on wire mess inside, has one 120mm fan inside and its super quiet. My previous rig amd xp 2600+ with stock HSF, radeon 9800 pro 256mb, 4 case fans - 3 intake 1 exhaust. i didnt have any fan controller or anything and still wasnt too loud until that chipset fan started getting loud on me - they tend to do that after some time, so i would replace the chipset HSF too. the HDD can be replaced for cheap. like a 100$ for a 160 gig SATA if you have sata on your mobo itll reduce wire cluter and definatley give you alot of more HD space.

for all the stuff i listed you can spend like 300$ and you would have a pretty quiet PC.

look over www.frozencpu.com and www.newegg.com they have the best deals on about everything. and if those deals dont satisfy your needs. www.froogle.com can help you out or www.pricewatch.com