Okie im irritated by the constant noise my PC makes. My PC is only a PIII 666Mhz so alot of cooling is not necessary but it is still noisy. So I was thinking of changing my power supply fan for a quality fan with is very quiet. Can enybody recommend eny good/quiet fans for a PSU? The second most noisy component is my Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM ultra ATA 133MB/s HD. Is there eny way to sheild off the noise from this beast....
Quiet PC..
- Thread starter Raczyk
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The power supply fan is an easy one... substitute in a temperature controlled fan that only spins fast when it needs to.
Like this:
<A HREF="http://www.thermaltake.com/products/dcfan/a1214.htm" target="_new">http://www.thermaltake.com/products/dcfan/a1214.htm</A>
Maxtor drives make weird noises... it's a fact of life. You can probably quiet it somewhat by putting 2 or three layers of vinyl tape along outer edges of the bottom of your drive bucket for the drive to rest on and then locking the drive in with bolts from the bottom. (at least that works for me)
Also... there is quite a discussion of quieting things down running in the "Overclocking/ cooler and heatsinks" forum
<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>
Like this:
<A HREF="http://www.thermaltake.com/products/dcfan/a1214.htm" target="_new">http://www.thermaltake.com/products/dcfan/a1214.htm</A>
Maxtor drives make weird noises... it's a fact of life. You can probably quiet it somewhat by putting 2 or three layers of vinyl tape along outer edges of the bottom of your drive bucket for the drive to rest on and then locking the drive in with bolts from the bottom. (at least that works for me)
Also... there is quite a discussion of quieting things down running in the "Overclocking/ cooler and heatsinks" forum
<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>
Putting a Thermaltake SMART FAN in the PSU is a neat idea. But i'm confused, do you set the temperature which you want the fan to maintain? What about putting this <A HREF="http://vantecusa.com/stealth_fan.html" target="_new"> fan </A> in the PSU. It has a noise level of only 21dB, but it only moves 27CFM of air, dunno if thats sufficient for my 250 Watt power supply...
Another thing is can our ears detect the difference between 21dB vs 27dB, or is it we can only tell difference of increments of 10dB. I.e 20dB => 30dB.
Gonna try the tape thing to lower noise emission, hey can i put tape in the bay instead of the disk directly?
Another thing is can our ears detect the difference between 21dB vs 27dB, or is it we can only tell difference of increments of 10dB. I.e 20dB => 30dB.
Gonna try the tape thing to lower noise emission, hey can i put tape in the bay instead of the disk directly?
I recommended the thermaltake based on experience. The Vantecs look ok too but I've never used them myself.
The tape thing with the hard disk works like this...
Look at the way Maxtor casings are moulded... turn it upside down... see the little metal feet along the bottom outside edge of the casing?
Ok the idea is to give them something soft to rest on so that mechanical vibrations from the drive are not transferred into the metal of the case where they can be amplified by an effect called "tintinabulation" (think of a hammer hitting a bell...).
Now take a look at the bottom of your drive bays... It's shaped like a U ... you want to put the tape on the bottom part of the U on the left and right edges, so that when you slide in the drive, it's feet sit on the vinyl... not on the metal. 3 layers should suffice.
Now... note that the bay has bolt holes in the bottom right at it's edges. These will match up with bolt holes in the bottom of the drive. Make the appropriate holes in the tape, slip the drive into place and fasten it down with bolts from underneath.
Really... it isn't hard.
Finally for your question about sound levels.. If I remember my training correctly (it's been a few years) most people can reliably detect 3db changes in loudness of the same sound, if they are abrupt changes such as ramping up the volume on a television set. 10db for gradual ones. But, up to a point, it's not so much about the loudness of a fan, but rather about the quality of the sound. High pitched whining noises (like you hear from 6000 rpm cpu coolers) are far more annoying than the soft FFFFFFFF sound of a whisper fan... even if a sound level meter reads them at the same loudness. So quieting a PC is as much about the character of sound as it is about the actual loudness.
<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>
The tape thing with the hard disk works like this...
Look at the way Maxtor casings are moulded... turn it upside down... see the little metal feet along the bottom outside edge of the casing?
Ok the idea is to give them something soft to rest on so that mechanical vibrations from the drive are not transferred into the metal of the case where they can be amplified by an effect called "tintinabulation" (think of a hammer hitting a bell...).
Now take a look at the bottom of your drive bays... It's shaped like a U ... you want to put the tape on the bottom part of the U on the left and right edges, so that when you slide in the drive, it's feet sit on the vinyl... not on the metal. 3 layers should suffice.
Now... note that the bay has bolt holes in the bottom right at it's edges. These will match up with bolt holes in the bottom of the drive. Make the appropriate holes in the tape, slip the drive into place and fasten it down with bolts from underneath.
Really... it isn't hard.
Finally for your question about sound levels.. If I remember my training correctly (it's been a few years) most people can reliably detect 3db changes in loudness of the same sound, if they are abrupt changes such as ramping up the volume on a television set. 10db for gradual ones. But, up to a point, it's not so much about the loudness of a fan, but rather about the quality of the sound. High pitched whining noises (like you hear from 6000 rpm cpu coolers) are far more annoying than the soft FFFFFFFF sound of a whisper fan... even if a sound level meter reads them at the same loudness. So quieting a PC is as much about the character of sound as it is about the actual loudness.
<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>
- Dec 31, 2007
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My suggestion is if you want to replace your power supply fan, find an old worthless AT power supply with a quiet fan, and swap them. I don't believe in "smart fans", as I'm an advocate of the "as cool as possible" philosophy. Adding a sensor is adding another thing to break.
I have a lot of Panaflow fans here that are nearly silent, and offer more than enough flow for most power supplies.
<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
I have a lot of Panaflow fans here that are nearly silent, and offer more than enough flow for most power supplies.
<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
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