How do you get your pc quiet?

[studio32]

How do you get your pc as quiet as possible?

[MattKingUSA]

For me, the best way is to have your equipment in one area and your mics in another. Like, a closet or another room and then just run your cables .

[studio32]

I know I can get my pc quiet if I put it in another room or throw it in the toilet...

But how do you make your pc quiet, no matter if it makes noise in the room or toilet...

edit: I've this Cooler: http://www.acousticpc.com/nmb_thermal_s ... w_b66.html

[MattKingUSA]

I know I can get my pc quiet if I put it in another room or throw it in the toilet...

But how do you make your pc quiet, no matter if it makes noise in the room or toilet...

edit: I've this Cooler: http://www.acousticpc.com/nmb_thermal_s ... w_b66.html

I think liquid cooling may be an option. But I always put it in another room if I'm recording, or in the toilet. but that's just me.

[studio32]

This seems a good place for info about quiet computers:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/

[philip888]

I changed my stock cpu fan to a "Ninja Copper CPU Cooler" the unique design of the Ninja allows you to use it without a fan if you wish. But it does come with a 120mm fan that is very quite. And as an added benefit,
you can always say your rig is equipped with a NINJA
You must admit that has a nice ring to it.

I use a dual monitor setup and of course need a dual monitor graphics card. I found an "Asus Nvidia 7300GT SILENT" for this job. No fan only a heat sink. Major noise reducer, highly recommend.

Lastly I took the cover off my tower to improve cooling and disabled the tower fan in the bios.

After making these changes the computer is extremely quite.

Hope this gives you some practical ideas.

Philip

[studio32]

Hi Philip, welcome at the forum Maybe you like to introduce yourself in the 'new' part of this forum

CPU cooler.... Do I have three coolers in my pc? CPU, a central one and one for my nvidia card?

[thorgal]

studio32 : check my PC gears in the thread where I describe my studio.
For fans, I think Zalman is unbeatable. I have a few passive coolers for my HDs and one huge fan for the Core 2 Duo CPU which produces so little noise at low speed (and the temperature variations do not require higher speeds than the lowest) that very few people noticed I had a PC running under my desk, when sitting in front of my monitors

Of course, you need a good PC case. The Antec Sonata III, which I have, is really good for that matter.

[studio32]

And do you use fan controllers? They say it is the easiest way to make your pc more quiet. Maybe an option for me?

This are my temps:

Code: Select all

~$ sensors
adm1027-i2c-0-2e
Adapter: SMBus I801 adapter at eda0
V1.5:        +1.52 V  (min =  +1.41 V, max =  +1.61 V)
VCore:       +1.51 V  (min =  +1.22 V, max =  +1.80 V)
V3.3:        +3.30 V  (min =  +3.08 V, max =  +3.52 V)
V5:          +5.00 V  (min =  +4.66 V, max =  +5.34 V)
V12:        +11.88 V  (min = +10.50 V, max = +13.50 V)
CPU_Fan:       0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan2:          0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan3:          0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
fan4:          0 RPM  (min =    0 RPM)
CPU Temp:    +40.2°C  (low  = -128.0°C, high = +85.0°C)
Board Temp:  +38.2°C  (low  = -128.0°C, high = +127.0°C)
Remote Temp: +36.8°C  (low  = -128.0°C, high = +85.0°C)
cpu0_vid:   +1.525 V

Code: Select all

 hddtemp -n PATA:/dev/hda1
38

[thorgal]

I could use fan controllers driven by the OS or kernel but I don't, I use a hardware controller that came with the fans. I never ever had to turn those up. But remember : I use this PC for audio ONLY, no 3D gaming, no overclocking, no fancy multimedia stuff, no nothing except recording, editing, mastering audio. Most of the time, the CPU cores stay at about 28-29 deg. When I compile ardour, using the -j 4 option (4 parallel compiling jobs), they go up to 40 deg. That's all.

[studio32]

I think I buy a Zalman fanmate 2 controller first for my CPU fan:
http://www.acousticpc.com/nmb_thermal_s ... w_b66.html




And how can I know which type of videocard is supported by my system (pci, agp...)

Code: Select all

id:
  pci
  description:   Host bridge
  product:   82875P/E7210 Memory Controller Hub
  vendor:   Intel Corporation
  physical id: 
  100
  bus info: 
  pci@0000:00:00.0
  version:   02
  width:   32 bits
  clock:   33MHz
  configuration:
   driver  =  agpgart-intel
   module  =  intel_agp

motherboard:

Code: Select all

id:
  core
  description:   Motherboard
  product:   0W2563
  vendor:   Dell Computer Corp.
  physical id: 
  0
  serial:   ..CN4811143501TZ.

[Sandsound]

I found that a standard 12V fan makes almost no noise when running on 5V, of course it doesn't have the same effect, but if you use two or three fans you'll get the same effect with less noise.

Also... if you have a Nvidia 7950x2 like me, be sure to clean the fans once in a while, else they will run faster to compensate for the lack of airflow.

edit: placing the pc on some big rubber feet or a thick carpet also helps

[thorgal]

I am considering setting up my PC components in my rackmount. Since it's only a DAW, I will never use the PC itself in other contexts. Right now, I have an Antec Sonata III PC case which is quite nice for noise reduction (the zalmann cooling devices and fans are killing the rest of the noise). I have no noise problems but the PC is just bulky for nothing if I can get a 19'' case that can be rack mounted. I would have to read about it (power supplies, etc) but it could work out and I would have a rack with everything in there (FX, patch panel, IO box, PC stuff). It wouldn't weigh too bad and I could just transport the whole thing in one go on stage. But that won't happen now ...

[Havoc]

I have given up on that. Getting this rig silent is just impossible. But I managed to get it usable. Largest different were some rubber "things" that I put between the PSU and the chassis. (there are 2 psu's in this box, don't ask)

[Capoeira]

revitalizing this thread

I want to get rid of my noisy power-supply
It's the only fan I have (CPU got passive cooler, GPU too)
I guess, as the power-supply fan takes out the whole air, there is no passive solution!?
How to make the power-supply quiet? What are the most silent power-supplies?