[1nf1n1ty]

I dont want to have to turn up the volume on my grados.

But the desktop is too loud...and I dont want to have to turn off fans...because the system is beefy... 2x7800GT, 2GB ram, 2x 320gb HD, AMD 4400+, 2 optical drives, 500W psu...and an audigy platinum

Its pretty loud...My fans are already turned down to minimum..I dont know if that is enough...anyone know of any easy mods to silence my PC?

 

[ziplock]

Not many options since your hardware requires adequate cooling.

A) Watercooling for the noisy components. (kits are getting cheap these days)

B) Low RPM high CFM fans.

Check out Zalman and Xoxide. They offer some really nice stuff.

~Zip

 

[skeeder]

I highly recommend looking at
www.silentpcreview.com

They helped me quiet my pc down. you can go silent for cheaper than watercooling.

 

[1nf1n1ty]

Thanks...what about dampening?
I can go out and buy dampening material and replace the fans...but I am reluctant to invest that much into water cooling...especially since It requires maintenance.

 

[Duggeh]

Why do you require such a massively heavy duty computer? A couple of parts downgrades and you could halve your noise level. I loved it when I could unplug all the fans and crap that I used to run.

Other suggestion is move the tower away somewhere else and use a squeezebox. Or change to closed headphones.

 

[ziplock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do you require such a massively heavy duty computer? A couple of parts downgrades and you could halve your noise level. I loved it when I could unplug all the fans and crap that I used to run.

Gaming? That was the first thing that jumped out at me when I saw his specs.

 

[1nf1n1ty]

LOL...ex-gaming... occasionally i play a few rounds in fps or something...but not anymore...I really need to find a way to quite down my pc with out downgrading...

 

[amitz]

If you have the money, get water cooling system for the cpu,chipset and VGA's.

You can also buy high end air-cooling for both good cooling performance and silence.

 

[Gautama]

Replace case fans with Yate Loon's.
Replace 7800gt fans' with third party fans
Replace CPU fan with Arctic Freezer 64 Pro
If you can hear your HDD suspend it somehow, I have mine lifted up on the base of my case by a roll of foam sheets.

 

[Gautama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gautama /img/forum/go_quote.gif Replace case fans with Yate Loon's. Replace 7800gt fans' with third party fans Replace CPU fan with Arctic Freezer 64 Pro If you can hear your HDD suspend it somehow, I have mine lifted up on the base of my case by a roll of foam sheets.

(And dont listen to a word the MacLover that is bound to jump in and say Macs are dead silent says)

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

I would look into to case fan upgrades, my computer is far from silent but with my headphones on I don't hear it, if you have 80MM stock see if you can upgrade to 120MM, lucky for me my case had holes and space for both size fans. The bigger the fan the lower the RPM that it has to spin at to make the same CFM's, and the lower the noise

My computer DFI Lanparty, AMD 64 3000 with stock AMD HSF, Western Digital SATA II HD, Cooler Master 500 watt true power PSU, 120MM fan in the front, 120 mm in the rear, and 1 80mm in the side Geforce 6200 (asus)

The loudest part of my computer is the stupid Nforce 4 Chipset fan that DFI uses with this board, the quietest part is the HD.

 

[Bizzel]

You can buy little rubber mountings for your hard drive that sit between the metal casing and the drive exterior. They work nicely for reducing the vibrations and I think you can get similar things for case fans too that fit in place of screws.

 

[Zorander]

First you need to identify the noisiest components and start quietening those down. My suspicions lie with the CPU cooler, GPU, PSU and the two harddrives.

For the CPU and GPU, look at quiet fan replacements (I use Scythe Ninja for my CPU - fanless and very cool). Your PSU may or may not be noisy but if it is, short of modding it with a quiet fan (which is electrically risky for the inexperienced), a quiet replacement is recommended. Your harddrives noise are likely coming from the mechanical vibrations and (hopefully not this one - which is near impossible to silence) squealing. Assuming mechanical vibrations issue only, you can mount them on a piece of foam. Use your imagination on how to manage that with two drives (trust me - you'll be surprised to find out how much noise vibrating drives can make even if you can't feel much vibration on the drives nor case).

Cheers!

 

[plaidplatypus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by c0mfortably_numb /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would look into to case fan upgrades, my computer is far from silent but with my headphones on I don't hear it, if you have 80MM stock see if you can upgrade to 120MM, lucky for me my case had holes and space for both size fans. The bigger the fan the lower the RPM that it has to spin at to make the same CFM's, and the lower the noise My computer DFI Lanparty, AMD 64 3000 with stock AMD HSF, Western Digital SATA II HD, Cooler Master 500 watt true power PSU, 120MM fan in the front, 120 mm in the rear, and 1 80mm in the side Geforce 6200 (asus) The loudest part of my computer is the stupid Nforce 4 Chipset fan that DFI uses with this board, the quietest part is the HD.

I replaced the Nforce chipset Fan with a Zalaman Northbridge heatsink and bought one of these:

http://www.coolerguys.com/driveaway.html

now my computer is quiet enough to use closed headphones and it not bother me.

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I replaced the Nforce chipset Fan with a Zalaman Northbridge heatsink and bought one of these: http://www.coolerguys.com/driveaway.html now my computer is quiet enough to use closed headphones and it not bother me.

I wish could replace my northbridge, but alas I can't, as the geniuses at DFI placed it right in line with the the X16 PCI express graphics slot. So my video card sit's right above the fan, if you don't seat the card just right it hits the fan.