[Kalanen]

Quote:

Originally posted by Adso Wow, it seems like such a shame to trade down from such a great headphone. I think you may overestimate the cost of quieting your computer. Here's some reading material. www.silentpcreview.com

Nice. I might try some of those panaflows, and perhaps a new heatsink/fan.

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally posted by fewtch In Europe, consider the Terratec EWX 24/96 instead for availability reasons (it's at the same SQ and feature level as the M-Audio).

I'll second that, and although I have never heard the M-Audio card, I will say that I believe the EWX to be better than OK on an absolute scale, particularly considering its price. OK, its not going to slay high end machinery, but it will happily compete with CD player for more expensive than itself.

I heard a Rotel RCD-965BX CD player today with my amp and cans, and although its a fairly old player nowadays, it was a highly regarded one, and yet the EWX is clearly better to my ears.

 

[Alereon]

Buy a Vantec Nexus fan controller. They're less than $30 USD, and go in a 5.25" bay. It has four dials that allow you to reduce fan speeds to 50%, quieting your system. Also, hanging some carpet or other noise absorbing material on whatever surface is behind the computer will noticeably reduce reflected sound, thus reducing noise that you hear.

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally posted by Alereon Buy a Vantec Nexus fan controller. They're less than $30 USD, and go in a 5.25" bay. It has four dials that allow you to reduce fan speeds to 50%, quieting your system. Also, hanging some carpet or other noise absorbing material on whatever surface is behind the computer will noticeably reduce reflected sound, thus reducing noise that you hear.

Yeah! I have one and it works an absolute treat. I almost wish I hadnt bothered changing the fans for quiet ones now, it works that well....

 

[Taurui]

You don't have to necessarily get a Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96. If you don't need a lot of connections, you may as well go with the Aureon 5.1 / 7.1 card. It's a lot cheaper, it features the same chip with extremely nice audio qualities and... did I mention that it's cheaper?

 

[Adso]

Quote:

Yeah! I have one and it works an absolute treat. I almost wish I hadnt bothered changing the fans for quiet ones now, it works that well....

Everyone has their opinions, but mine is that I don't think this is really the best answer... (and I think it's ugly, but that's besides the point hehe) The Vantec controller does perform mostly as it advertises, with a few notable exceptions. This controller has been reviewed exhaustively at SPCR.com, go check out what they have to say about it.

In my mind though, I think the $30 is better spent on higher quality fans. These can be run at 6V (the normal voltage is 12V, and even at that voltage they are extremely quiet) without purchasing a fan bus, again, check out the tutorial at SPCR.com for the details. Running those low quality fans that came with your computer at a lower speed are no guarantee that they will be quieter. There are countless examples of fans that actually get more noticable at lower voltages by developing clicks or repetitive sounds due to inferior engineering and manufacturing. On top of that, those fans aren't designed for low speed operation, so running them so slow means you drastically sacrifice airflow for quietness. This can hurt your computer.

Fan buses are for fine tuning quality parts IMO, not as a substitution for them. Quieting a computer is a balancing act with airflow and noise on either side. If you sacrifice airflow be prepared for the consequences.


Adso


ps - Just for informations sake, sitting right next to a computer using the Panaflo L1A's at 6V you can hear a slight whoosh of air moving through the system, but you cannot hear the fans themselves at all. That is without any headphones on. I don't think even at 12V's or hell, even the M1A's at 12V's could be heard through an open headphone such as the HD-580. I'm getting ready to purchase the 580, maybe I'll do a little review on open headphones with silenced computers.

 

[zbuddah]

For a quiet computer I would go with panaflo fans adn huge huge heatsinks.

swiftech heatsink for the cpu mated with L1A panaflo

northbridge should be cooled passively with a tall say.... zalman

I don't have much experience with up-to-date video cards but my gf2 is cooled passively with a large cpu heatsink, and i run the fan only when i play games otherwise silent.

only thing left is the hard drive and power supply, and i have yet to venture into those.

also i'd grab some sound deadening mats for the computer, and also start off with a good case with tight fit construction.

as of right now i'm running three fans total, 2 psu fans, and one cpu fan. loudest thing from my computer is the whine of the HD and the hum of my psu fans.

if you decide you want a new HD but a quiet one get Seagate Barracuda's.. those are pretty quiet.

 

[Chipko]

Problem with getting a silent computer in Europe is cost, most notably fans since Panaflo's aren't available here.

But in order of importance:

Passively cooled northbridge, Zalman has a few to choose from, around 6€ or so.

Passively cooled graphics card, again Zalman, heatpipe solutions comes in a few flavors, choose the one that fits your GPU. ~30€

Both Northbridge and GPU are normally cooled with 40mm fans that makes the really annoying high pitched whine.

CPU, again Zalman, Alpha is also a contender. The recommendation will look different in the US but price and availability differs significantly so for us scandinavians this is where it's at. Don't go under 80mm, make sure it has a retention mechanism compatible with your motherboard and get something that is rated a few steps above your current CPU.


For case and CPU fans I recommend Papst and Zalman. Papst is hella expensive but moves the most air per dB.

Might want to change the PSU or just the fan in it as well.

I live in a dorm room so I pretty much went all out on quiet cooling when I build my current box. I sleep right next to it.

4 Papst NGL fans cooling the Case and CPU. Alpha PAL 8045 on the CPU.
Zalman PSU
Passive Northbridge cooler
Passive GPU cooler, also Zalman
All housed in a Lian Li Case.

 

[Wodgy]

As much as I like the Beyer DT250-250 (they're my favorite closed can), they don't isolate a huge amount. A little, yes, but a lot, no. If your computer fans are really loud, you'll still be able to hear them when wearing the Beyers.

I agree with Fewtch and most of the posters here. You're better off keeping the HD600 and doing something about the noise of your computer.

 

[Taurui]

You could also get a Thermaltake Xaser III tower. It features 7 quiet fans and a fan-controller. Due to its massive weight, it also isolates a lot of noise.
You just need a good PSU to go with that, then ... don't underestimate the sound a bad PSU can make

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by pbirkett I'll second that, and although I have never heard the M-Audio card, I will say that I believe the EWX to be better than OK on an absolute scale, particularly considering its price.

When I said "on an absolute scale," I meant not considering prices. I've done some more checking and discovered that the Terratec EWX and M-Audio Audiophile cards use an identical DAC (the only difference between the AKM 4524 and 4528 is in the ADC... the DACs are identical). Interestingly enough, this is the same DAC circuitry that the ART DI/O uses.

P.S. this morning I satisfied my curiosity by dragging my amp, cans, interconnects and battery pack out to the living room and hooking it to my standalone DVD player (Toshiba SD-2109), then playing a CD I was intimately familiar with. The M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 card just kills it, particularly in terms of detail. I felt a little better about its SQ after doing that...

 

[NetRunner]

Quote:

Originally posted by zbuddah northbridge should be cooled passively with a tall say.... zalman

The problem with this and some motherboards (like MINE) is that they don't all have those (pretty standard?) mounting holes.. But anyway.. *Though I'd really really hate it if the n-bridge gets fried..*

Edit: And yes that fan that Abit placed there was 4cm POS and loudest in my system.

 

[Adso]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chipko But in order of importance: Passively cooled northbridge, Zalman has a few to choose from, around 6€ or so. Passively cooled graphics card, again Zalman, heatpipe solutions comes in a few flavors, choose the one that fits your GPU. ~30€ Both Northbridge and GPU are normally cooled with 40mm fans that makes the really annoying high pitched whine. CPU, again Zalman, Alpha is also a contender. The recommendation will look different in the US but price and availability differs significantly so for us scandinavians this is where it's at. Don't go under 80mm, make sure it has a retention mechanism compatible with your motherboard and get something that is rated a few steps above your current CPU. For case and CPU fans I recommend Papst and Zalman. Papst is hella expensive but moves the most air per dB. Might want to change the PSU or just the fan in it as well.

I think it is important to note here that (I think) Chipko meant to state that these items are listed in order from LEAST important to MOST important. Northbridge cooling is a last fraction of a percent kind of tweak, a lot of people think this doesn't have any effect on case temp or performance at all. If your NB has a noisy fan on it, by all means, disconnect it, it's not doing much. Passive cooling on the NB is an option as well, but you have to be careful how you mount it since the chip isn't always perfectly flat, so if you do it wrong it's possible to insulate the chip instead. Not good.

If your card fits it, the only card cooler to look at is the Arctic Cooling VGA silencer. The Zalman heatpipe is decent, but it is expensive, and doesn't even get in the ballpark of the kind of cooling the ACVS provides. The ACVS cooler has a closed exhaust fairing that removes the heated air from the Vid Card out of your case, unlike the Zalman which radiates heat on the inside. With a silent (and they mean silent) and normal (high speed) mode on it's fan, what's not to love about the ACVS?

I would add Thermaltake heatsinks to Chipko's other excellent suggestions. And good call on the Papst fans, if I didn't have access to Panaflo's, that's the only thing I would use.

Hehe this is turning into a normal thread from SPCR, at any rate, let us know how it turns out.

Adso

 

[twilightrevenant]

absolutely stay away from vantec fanbus. they make click noises because they use switch power circuit instead of actually cutting the voltage.

panaflo fans is recommanded because they're cheap, but if other stuff are cheaper in your country then get the other instead. ie. vantec stealth

PSU: unscrew the lids, take a screw driver(the ones with plastic handles) and touch the capacitators just incase if they still hold electricity. then...

if 2 or 2+ fan psu

1fan psu users skip this)
leave only 1 fan left, unplug all others and take them out. if you can fit a new fan in there, go ahead.(then read 1 fan instructions)

1 fan:
if the wires of new fan can't fit on those psu wire socket thingys of the old fan. then find some cheapo wires, solder it so that your fan wire is long and can reach your fanbus and your done.

now you can suspend your hardrives with elastics if you like and 5v or 7v all fans with fanbus and it should be silent.
if noisy heatsinks, then replace them

 

[Geek]

I recommend against the vantec nexus for fan noise control purposes: the capacitors on the vantec controller create lots of static, hisses, and pops when you turn them down.

It's quite a treat if you want to impress your friends but its a pain in the butt to set up and completely useless for noise control purposes as it replaces the constant hum of your fans with a bunch of static popping.

Trust me, I use one and I have installed the newer version and it still has noise problems.

Cheers,
Geek