Noisy PC?

(eRRoLfLyNN) #1

I know this not a tech forum but i also know there’s some smarty people frequents here! I’m guessin the noise is from power supply/hd lookin/fans? How can I get a quiet PC, I really need it quiet atm if u can help. :slight_smile:

(Black_Forky) #2
  1. Get a powersupply that will control case fans according to the temperature of the case. I know OCZ and Antec have some that do that.
  2. I know they sell a little more expensive case fans are engineered for quiet. Im talking like an extra 10 bucks.
  3. Get a massive CPU cooler (thermalright or zalman) that doesn’t require a small fan running at high rpm but a large fan running at slow rpm.
  4. The best way to get the hard drive(s) quiet is to get those screws with the rubber washers to absorb the vibrations.
  5. Get a high end CD-Rom that doesn’t sound like a vacuum cleaner.
(ParanoiD) #3

Great, got a “vacuum cleaner” here… Maybe it is even worse as it has to “launch” the CD to its correct speed…

(KAGE) #4

1). unplug the computer.
2). Put the computer in the corner.
3). Leave it like that.

(fattakin) #5

On my PC the PSU was loud but the CPU fan was almost louder! I replaced it witha quiet one off ebay i can link you later if you want. Was crazy the drop in hum… I also changed the PSU to a more powerful but quieter one and that helped a lot. My olf gfx card fan was noisy to but nothing shocking. You are talking £10-15 for a quiet CPU fan and prolly £50 for a decent quiet PSU.

You could always put it in the wardrobe next to your desk and run the leads out of it … you rig aint that juicy it would harldy overheat!

(eRRoLfLyNN) #6

Was thinkin o puttin it in the wardrobe and puttin some rubber mat type thing under it lol :o

(ElderNewb) #7

Been looking into this myself. I’ve found fans like this should help out
http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=1582&cat=283&page=1

(Hakuryu) #8

The easiest thing you can do to quiet down your computer is clean it and wrangle any mess of cords into a clean setup so you have good airflow.

If you are one of those people that never open your computer and clean it, then it will be loud. Ive built near 100 PC’s for people so far, and I’m amazed at how many of them have never cleaned their old PC…and how loud it is.

I use compressed air to blow out all the dust, then I take out any fans, the video card, the PSU, and the CPU fan and heatsink - and clean them all with some kind of anti-static cleaner and paper towels/Q-tips. I open my PSU to clean it as this is usually the thing that makes the most noise and gets the dirtiest.

You could go buy things that are quieter, but I would try this first if your comp is dirty and you dont have money to throw around.

My comp

(Ragnar_40k) #9

Use headphones? When you buy some good one they should filter out all external “noise”.

(fattakin) #10

I open my PSU to clean it as this is usually the thing that makes the most noise and gets the dirtiest.

Ah man i thought it was dangerous to open PSU’s?/ same as tv’s & hifis…!

(fattakin) #11

headphones arent enough, Errol needs quiet for 2 reasons:

  1. hes a musician dude so cant have the hum being picked up by the mics

  2. he playes ET into the wee wee hours and at that time of night the noise becomes more pronunced through the house / into his bedroom where his girl sleeps, dreaming of mp40’s

(Hakuryu) #12

Ah man i thought it was dangerous to open PSU’s?/ same as tv’s & hifis…!

Well, it will probably void your warranty if you open it completely, but it’s not dangerous unless you still have it plugged in…

I should clarify… I take off the fan covers on my PSU, not open it completely because of the warranty. Then I use Q-tips with a light amount of Pledge or another anti-dust cleaner to clean the fan blades, housing around it, and then continue to blow it out.

(Ragnar_40k) #13

I built some PCs for a friend who has a small studio. First of all you need to buy silent components (check some PC-magazins or the internet for tests). Noisy stuff like hardiscs you should place into a drive bay. CD/DVD drives (they can produce very disturbing noises) should be placed in a seperate PC in a seperate room (connected and accessed via LAN). For the case there are silencer kits available (e.g. using cork plates which you have to attach to the sides). For fans usually bigger ones are more silent (they turn slower), but when you replace one you should use a fan with the same airflow.

If this is not enough the final soulution is to place the PC in a seperate room (that is what we finally did) - for the keyboard, mouse and monitors cables make a small hole into the wall, so you have only these components in your room (but this solution is a little bit limited since you can’t extend cables endlessly, so the desktop with the monitos etc. should be close to the wall to the adjacent room where the PC is).

If this solution is not applicable I would suggest water cooling.

(Etnies) #14

Get an air duster (can of compressed air) and blow it in the PSU fan, will quiet it down alot, i had the exact same problem was keepin my gf awake, although i dont even notice it no more.

@ Hakuryu, does your case have 2 Neon led lights on front?

(Dazzamac) #15

My case has the ability to be almost completely silent and yet the noisiest bastid you’ve ever heard. Adjustable fans ftw. If you’ve got good airflow you don’t need the same power from the fans so you can turn them way down.

(Hakuryu) #16

@ Hakuryu, does your case have 2 Neon led lights on front?

Yes, just a generic $50 case like X gamer or something. Id rather not have anything in front of the case for airflow, but I cant justify spending an extra $100 for a case that would be better spent on some hardware.

(Black_Forky) #17

@Paranoid

When I was testing my components my cheap cd-rom drive (Arctec) was moving on the table because it vibrated so much. :x

(SCDS_reyalP) #18

If your PC was previously quiet, but has become louder with age… perhaps it needs some fan maintenance.

(eRRoLfLyNN) #19

Cheers for all the tips fellas, lots of avenues to try here, will let yous know how I get on :slight_smile:

(LeVortex) #20

if you gonna put a new fan on the pc you should watch out with tempatures.
install speedfan.
start speedfan and look at the tempatures
turn of your pc and put in the new fan
turn on your pc and start speedfan
look if your tempatures aren’t much higher

btw: you processer must not get above 60 degrees (they can handle that but it may be tricky)
if you have intel with a prescott kern then the max tempature is around 100 degrees