Turning PC silent?

[rathma155]

My hard drive just failed, so I have to replace that. Then I thought about replacing several parts to make my PC quieter.

Right now it's loud as hell, like a jet engine. I've cleaned out dust from the fans before, it helped a lot but it was still too noisy.

The problem is my PC is right next to my bed, so I can't leave it on at night.


TLDR; How can I figure out where the noise is coming from and what parts I need to replace?

 

[modode]

Take the side panel off the case and unplug all your case fans. Then notice if the system is only loud when the HD/DVD spins or constantly. If it's still noisy with the case fans unplugged and the HD/DVD not spinning, then it's either the PSU or the CPU cooler - probably with your ear close enough you'll be able to tell which.

Usually it's the case fans. Here's some good ones that move a lot of air while still being quiet - though they're not cheap for fans.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185005

 

[outlw6669]

Replace all your old noisy fans with Scythe S-Flex fans.
Well worth the $$.

I have 11 of the 120mm SSF21D's stuffed into my case and it runs nearly silent.

Next thing to replace would be your CPU cooler with an oversize one. This will allow you to use a quieter fan there also.

Then on to smooth dreaming...

 

[khaydin]

Definately replace ALL the fans in your case with the Scythe 1200rpm or 1600rpm fans. I have a case full of 4x Scythe 1600rpm 120mm fans and i can barely hear them, the harddrives are now the loudest thing. Also, try and get a cpu cooler that allows you to run any fan you want. I'm using a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with a scythe fan on it. Before I had a Zalman CNPS9500 and that thing was loud and didn't cool anywhere near as good as my current setup. The fans on the zalman had to run at a high rpm to get any kind of semi decent cooling.

Like stated above, the Scythe fans cost a bit more than normal fans but are well worth the extra money. For their RPM and noise level they push a large CFM of air. They're also supposed to last longer than normal fans because of their bearings. No more turning your computer on and have fans whine till they warm up!

 

[MadHacker]

another solution instead of unplugging your fans is just stop the fans with your finger...
note: finger in the center of the fan. some blades of fans can be sharp and cut you. an eraser will do just a good a job...

 

[godless]

i would check the temperatures of you system and then decide if maybe you could getaway without a fan. or you can lower the fans speeds in bios,, or setup your own fan profile with programs like speedfan.

 

[stoner133]

MadHacker: stopping a fan with your finger will cause heat buildup in the fan motor more or less cutting life span of the fan. Far better to unplug them.

outlaw6669: were to beleive you have 11 120mm fans in your case? I would love to see this. At the sale price on newegg today thats nearly $150 without shipping costs, thats a lot of money spent on fans. You could have doubled that amout and got an excellent watercooling system.

 

[outlw6669]

MadHacker: stopping a fan with your finger will cause heat buildup in the fan motor more or less cutting life span of the fan. Far better to unplug them.

outlaw6669: were to beleive you have 11 120mm fans in your case? I would love to see this. At the sale price on newegg today thats nearly $150 without shipping costs, thats a lot of money spent on fans. You could have doubled that amout and got an excellent watercooling system.

If you can recommend me a good, free picture hosting site I would be happy to oblige.
I have a Thermaltake Shark case with 1 120mm fan front, 1 rear, 4 bolted to the mesh on the side panel, 1 in a custom hole on the top and 4 on the radiator for my watter cooling setup. Got annoyed at all the fan noises last year and decided to invest in a little peace and quiet. Even have 3 sitting around as spares

Also, it is much better to unplug the fans but for a quick 5 second test you should be just fine stopping them by hand. If you really want to test your system, boot it without any fans plugged in at all. Ahh... Silence is golden...

 

[ausch30]

If you can recommend me a good, free picture hosting site I would be happy to oblige.

Photobucket
http://photobucket.com/

 

[rathma155]

Wow, so many responses so quickly.

@Outlaw: Imageshack.us is a good image hosting site.


As for these Scythe fans, are they a must have? They seem a bit hard to find in Canada, and I can't order it off newegg.

 

[ausch30]

As for these Scythe fans, are they a must have? They seem a bit hard to find in Canada, and I can't order it off newegg.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17749&vpn=SFF21F&manufacture=Scythe

I have 2 of them as well as 5 other Cooler Master fans and the S-Flex fans are much better

 

[rgsaunders]

They are also available at http://www.canadacomputers.com although I would recommend the 1200 rpm Scythe Slipstream, they push more air quieter than the 1600 rpm Scythe Flex.
Also see this site for more info on quiet computing
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page3.html#tricool

 

[rathma155]

They are also available at http://www.canadacomputers.com

Brilliant! They have some in stock very close to me.

Unfortunately I don't know that much about my computer anymore. Is 120mm the average size for fans? I don't know much about my computer or my case other than I think it is this: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/ttsoprano/2.html

What's weird is the reviewer mentions the fans being quiet.

Maybe my heatsink is the problem, I don't know what kind it is though.

 

[outlw6669]

Sorry, that took longer than I thought.
Already dark here and I hate using flash...

So, here are the pics of my baby.

If your eyes were sharp enough to spot the Corsair XMS2 populating 2 of my slots differing from my sig, one set of the Mushkin is out for RMA right now.

Kinda hard to show the front 120mm, so you will have to take my word on it being there.

Not quite a fashion statement, but it is silent and light free.
Everything that makes light is either sharpied or ducktaped over

The fans piled up over a few months.
Started with 1 when they were on sale, added 4 more at regular prices 2 weeks later, got another 4 when I hooked the water up. The rest I collected as soon as they were on sale again. I can't think of a single better comfort related upgrade I have ever made.

@ OP
My apartment has 4 square meters of concrete living space.
My system is normally on 24x7. I can not hear it running at all when I am trying to sleep. If you wish to leave it on overnight in your room, I would consider silent fans a must for your system.

 

[rathma155]

Hmmm okay I was able to stop my GFX card fan by pressing down in the middle with my finger, however none of the other fans will let me do that.

I would have to stick something hard in between the fans in order to stop and listen to them, I don't know if that would damage them or not.

When I listen closely, it sounds like a lot of my noise is coming from my PSU (Thermaltake Silent pure power 480W)

It's protected by a metal guard so I can't figure out any way of getting dust out of there, other than putting a vacuum cleaner up to the cage which doesn't sound like the right thing to do.

Also, I only really have 2 fans. One is squished at the front cooling the hard drive, the other is mounted to the actual side of the case, so I can't get rid of that.

 

[outlw6669]

Hmmm okay I was able to stop my GFX card fan by pressing down in the middle with my finger, however none of the other fans will let me do that.

I would have to stick something hard in between the fans in order to stop and listen to them, I don't know if that would damage them or not.

If you push on the center of the fan (not on the blades) with an eraser they should stop easialy. Or you could just unplug them.

When I listen closely, it sounds like a lot of my noise is coming from my PSU (Thermaltake Silent pure power 480W)

It's protected by a metal guard so I can't figure out any way of getting dust out of there, other than putting a vacuum cleaner up to the cage which doesn't sound like the right thing to do.

I use a vacuum all the time to clean my system. Never had a problem with it. It will suck most of the big dust out of the way. Use a can of compressed air to finish it off.

It could just be the bearings going belly up on your PSU's fans. I have had it hapen to several of my older units. If you are lucky, you can crack the case and wire in your own replacement fans. A better option would be to upgrade to a newer, quieter PSU.