Silence of the CPU

[TzeYang]

Are you sure watercooling is going to be much better? Don't forget the PUMP also contributes some noise. EDIT: This is not extensively tested before but IMO the best air cooling is going to be more silent than the best water cooling given the same CPU condition. The Air cooling setup is even cheaper than the Water Cooling setup.

The best way is to go passive.

My setup for your reference:

E8600 Passive with Ninja
2x 120mm Scythe Slipstreams (sleeve bearing) running at 800rpm. (will run to 1000rpm on medium loads and 1900rpm at warning temperatures PROTIP: Use speedfan)
Silverstone ST56F PSU.

Absolutely noiseless for music. The best no noise solution is in fact a passive air cooler.

Also, this is a horrible site to ask for advice. You should go read up some topics on silentpcreview's forum.

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

Also, this is a horrible site to ask for advice.

Replace all fans with 240v high speed server fans.

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Replace all fans with 240v high speed server fans.

Don't forget to get them recabled too.

 

[MaZa]

SPCR is your friend
silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers


It has every info you need about building silent computer. Good reviews of different fans, coolers and computer equipment etc... with main focus on silence.

Thanks to that site my computer is virtually noiseless despite being overclocked to 3.4Ghz, except in gaming when heat bumps up the fan speeds but thats just necessary of course. All aircooled. 4x120mm Nexus fans, Thermalright Ultra-120, Corsair HX-520 PSU in Antec P182 case.

Water cooling isnt actually very silent. Those waterpumps can be very annoying sounding. Water coolings main focus is in cooling power for extreme overclockers.

 

[moonboy403]

Watercooling can be silent depending on where you put the radiator and pump. Some people put those two things in a separate room or garage so it's completely silent for them.

 

[MaZa]

That seems... overkill.

You might aswell as put the computer in another room and use long cables for monitor and keyboard/mouse.

 

[Mehve]

As much as I enjoy it myself, watercooling's advantages really don't start to really show until you get into fairly high overclocks. A modern air heatsink with a low-rpm fan will handle a surprisingly large amount of heat without trouble, be cheaper, more portable, easier to maintain, and have fewer potential points of failure.

 

[DanielCox]

I've seen a project where someone put a large radiator in their outside pool and used it to heat their pool water.

 

[Punnisher]

I only buy cases with 120mm fans for this reason. My case has one intake and one exhaust fan, sleeve drive 800rpm.

The larger the fan, the slower it can be and still move the same amount of air.

If you have a 4 pin cpu fan, make sure the smart fan control is set in the bios. That way it doesn't have to run full rpm all the time.

Just a few pointers for a quieter PC. Mine stays relatively cool and it's a pretty fast gaming machine.

 

[ABathingApe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif SPCR is your friend silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers It has every info you need about building silent computer. Good reviews of different fans, coolers and computer equipment etc... with main focus on silence. Thanks to that site my computer is virtually noiseless despite being overclocked to 3.4Ghz, except in gaming when heat bumps up the fan speeds but thats just necessary of course. All aircooled. 4x120mm Nexus fans, Thermalright Ultra-120, Corsair HX-520 PSU in Antec P182 case. Water cooling isnt actually very silent. Those waterpumps can be very annoying sounding. Water coolings main focus is in cooling power for extreme overclockers.

Also check out FrostyTech - Best Heat Sinks & PC Cooling Reviews They have REALLY nice heatsink reviews. They even record how the heatsink sounds when in operation. Just bought a scythe orochi to keep my comp noise down, as my current fan is always running high since the CFM is insufficient. Granted slapping 1.3kg of metal onto my comp isn't the best idea

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif That seems... overkill. You might aswell as put the computer in another room and use long cables for monitor and keyboard/mouse.

By isolating the pump and radiator, it allows for very very heavy overclocking while retaining the ability to do the three most often performed tasks:

1) Turning the computer on/off
2) Having access to your optical drives
3) Having access to your USB ports

 

[some1x]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABathingApe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also check out FrostyTech - Best Heat Sinks & PC Cooling Reviews They have REALLY nice heatsink reviews. They even record how the heatsink sounds when in operation. Just bought a scythe orochi to keep my comp noise down, as my current fan is always running high since the CFM is insufficient. Granted slapping 1.3kg of metal onto my comp isn't the best idea

Frostytech isn't a good reference for comparing heatsinks. They, like most other websites, don't use reference fans at fixed speeds. So you are really comparing heatsink+fan combos against each other. Also, the Frostytech's noise analysis is crude at best, and not even close to SPCR standards.

SilentPCReview and SilentHardware.de both use reference fans at low speeds for all heatsinks. This answers the all important question: which heatsink is best at a given (low) airflow level?

 

[iriverdude]

Since the heatsinks come with fans I think should test them, after all I wouldn't throw away a perfectly good fan (unless stock is low quality, high high, or noisy even at low rpm)

 

[ABathingApe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by some1x /img/forum/go_quote.gif Frostytech isn't a good reference for comparing heatsinks. They, like most other websites, don't use reference fans at fixed speeds. So you are really comparing heatsink+fan combos against each other. Also, the Frostytech's noise analysis is crude at best, and not even close to SPCR standards. SilentPCReview and SilentHardware.de both use reference fans at low speeds for all heatsinks. This answers the all important question: which heatsink is best at a given (low) airflow level?

Interesting, I will have to look into their testing methodology. Reference fans are important.

 

[DeusEx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oedipus Rex /img/forum/go_quote.gif

That nearly put me off for a second...it looked to me as if the DVD drive was installed vertically....then I saw the drawer handle also facing up.



Anyway, I have a Antec P182, very quiet (after you replace the stock TriCools with better 120mm fans such as Scythe S-Flex or Slipstream), excellent cooling, great, understated looks. Maybe you should replace your case instead?