Building Quietest Production PC Case

[Shumway]

Lazerman: The only problem with dynamat is it will act as an insulator,i've seen lot's of people who put it in there case's and the next day they would rip it right out because it would increase the temp's in the case,so in this case it would defeat the purpose of having a quite case as you would have 2 put more fans in 2 keep it cool,just my opinion

 

[lazerman]

Maybe you could layer inside 2 pices of aluminum.

 

[Larry K]

Hello,
I saw a few other post about fans and quiet PCs... but can someone answer this:

1) What makes noise in a desktop PC? Is it only the fans?
2) Cooling.... regarding heatsinks vs fans... which is more important?
3) I have 3 PCs on all the time, producing about 55-60 DB... and if you set the DB meter on the loudest PC, it reads 65!!-------- SO I need to quiet my office.

Options are:
a) sound proof the case
b) change the fans
c) a combo of both
d) move the PC to another room/hide it-- not an option for me
e) anything else???

I think all options have pros/cons especially with heat problems for the chips/equipment... right?

So what is my best solution WITHOUT spending a ton of money. And me doing the equipment changes, repair, etc... I don't have a ton of spare time to mess with it.

I'm hoping some one will say:
- yes, the fans are the biggest issue
- change your fans to this brand XYZ... as it make no noise and will cool any chip

PS. I forgot what my heatsinks are... ONe is some cheap thing that came with a fan I bought from Frys

The other two were some type of good ones... they were not the cheapest when I built the PCs... ((Note I order the parts and had the company put it together.. Monarch Computers was the place))

THANKS!!!!!
My sanity and ears will thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Shumway]

1) What makes noise in a desktop PC? Is it only the fans?

Yes the fan's are the most loudest part in a pc.

2) Cooling.... regarding heatsinks vs fans... which is more important?

Heatsink will be the most important,but then again you will need good air flow in the case so the heatsink will work the way it is supposed too.

3) I have 3 PCs on all the time, producing about 55-60 DB... and if you set the DB meter on the loudest PC, it reads 65!!-------- SO I need to quiet my office.

I would suggest to you to see if you could change the fan's out,if you have 80mm try and go to 92mm with some type of fan adapter as 92mm can blow more cfm without turning as fast as the 80mm so that should cut down on the db's.

As for suggesting a good maker of fan's i really don't know on that one because there are so many maker's out today with good product's,just have a look around and see what you think would be best for your situation.

 

[Mooney]

Watercooling anyone?

 

[Musjunk22]

You know the thermal grease stuff, isn't it made out of silicone? I think it would be a good idea to seal it with silicone, maybe it won't retain as much heat.

Water cooling is definitely out of the question. It's too expensive and it must be maintained regularly. All not good for a production case. Maybe a pre-moded case you see on www.frozencpu.com or www.xoxide.com.

 

[Kaniver]

Besides the actual cooling fans there are the power supply fans, cpu cooler ( which can be quite noisy as they turn at high rpm's ), and grapics card fan. All these together can create quite a hum. To really create a quit PC all these areas need to be addressed.

Ideally this needs to be addressed at the design stage and not after the fact. example.......choosing a quiet power supply, getting the quietest cpu cooler you can find, using larger slower turning case fans.

My current system has 4 case fans and all the other fans, it's noisy.......next time i'll be more selective in my build looking for somthing a lot quiter. I think it a phase you go through trying to kep everthing really cool. After living with the noise for a few years you start thinking up ways to do the job and still be serene.

 

[Larry K]

yes....

you "REGRET" saving a few bucks on a loud fan(s)....
I never really thought about that until now... I've built several PCs and never thought about it until now... now that I have 3 noisy PCs running...

live and learn

i guess I will just replace "ALL" fans, including PS... not fun

 

[ADZ]

I think its about time to swap mine out too...my computer souds like an aeroplane is next door. That and I have the side of the case off all the time...

Where abouts in salt spring island are you producing these cases? I live in Brentwood Bay(a sort ferry ride away)

 

[Brian911]

the easiest solution to keep your nerves AND your noisy PC is to "outsource" it to the next room, right behind the wall will do. Buy cable extensions and you're done: A perfectly quiet workstation