How To: Make My Machine Run Quiet

[Morfiend]

Hey all,

I recently built myself a new system, and it works great except over the last few days I have really noticed it is much louded that my last syste. Now this is probably because 1) it have many more fans. A total of 5, not counting Northwood and PCU fans. Also, it has more openings in the case, for those fans.

Would buying special quiet fans make much of a difference? Its not a huge problem for me, but it is bugging me a bit. I dont really want to buy a new HD or any thing like that. Do any of you have any experiance with quiet fans or noisy systems? Anything else I could do to muffle my system?

Its really just the drone of the fans that is getting to me.

[Fabricated]

Zalman makes really good CPU and case fans that're also incredibly quiet. Try checking newegg.com for them.

[geldonyetich]

Could be lots of things causing that noise.    A thin computer case (which both doesn't absorb the sounds and can cause the fans to rattle the whole case instead of just themselves), the grills in front of the fans obstructing airflow too much (causing the fans to spin faster to compensate), a badly lubricated/designed fan, placement of the case in such a way as to cause the sound waves to converge on youm ect.

[Ian]

Try using rubber screws instead of metal ones for your fans. They absorb movement and reduce sound and movement. Antec makes fans that comes with rubber mounting gear. If you DO get some, be EXTREMELY careful when you use the rubber screws, they're very fragile and if you pull them too hard they'll rip in half.

[Trippy]

Hey all,

I recently built myself a new system, and it works great except over the last few days I have really noticed it is much louded that my last syste. Now this is probably because 1) it have many more fans. A total of 5, not counting Northwood and PCU fans. Also, it has more openings in the case, for those fans.

Would buying special quiet fans make much of a difference? Its not a huge problem for me, but it is bugging me a bit. I dont really want to buy a new HD or any thing like that. Do any of you have any experiance with quiet fans or noisy systems? Anything else I could do to muffle my system?

Everything you wanted to know about quieting your PC can be found at Silent PC Review. Check the forums too, there's lots of good information in there as well.

Generally speaking, getting quieter case fans or making your existing ones run quieter can make a difference if they are the largest contributor to the noise. If however something else is the loudest noise source (e.g. power supply fan, CPU fan, video card fan) you are better off working on reducing that noise source first. Course after you fix that something else will become the loudest source and that noise will start to bug you.

For quiet case (axial) fans, Panaflo fans are the standard against which others are judged. The "Hydro-Wave" bearings actually do make a big difference in quieting the operation of those fans. Fan isolators like Ian mentioned can make a difference though it depends a lot on the particulars of your case and fan matchup. Another fan quieting option is to lower the rotation speed using some sort of fan controller. Cutting out the fan grills with a Dremel or tin snips can help too like geldonyetich implied.

You may not even need all your case fans powered if you don't have particularly hot running components and you organize your internal cables neatly to minimize airflow blockage. You can run something like Motherboad Monitor to measure your CPU and case temperatures and then start turning off case fans to see if the temperatures rise and by how much.

[Delf]

Good info from Trippy. I'd start by measuring your CPU temp and unplugging fans until you see temps get too high. (How high is too high? Depends on your CPU. Most manufacturers list a recommended operating temperature range on their data sheets.) Five case fans is a lot unless you're overclocking your system.

Don't assume that all the noise is fans, btw. I embarked on a serious Quiet the PC drive a few months ago and ended up determining that the loudest noise in my case all along was one of the hard drives. Kind of annoying after all the money I spent on quiet fans...

[NiX]

loudest noise in my case all along was one of the hard drives. Kind of annoying after all the money I spent on quiet fans...

Heh, I had a buddy who forked out about 500 bucks in fans, PSU, case..etc. Just to cut down on sound. Ended up his HD was slowly dying. I offered to take all the quiet parts off his hands.. but he said no :P

My computer runs pretty quietly. Oddly enough none of the fans (nor the PSU) is namebrand. It's all low budget crap. The case I got has a side fan, grates on the motherboard side of the case and room for 3 additional fans (2 80MM and 1 150MM or so - None of these slots have fans on them.) This thing runs as quiet as I could ask for. If you have a window on your case, make sure you tighten all the screws on the window. I did this and noticed a big decrease in noise. Apparently the fan on the window was shaking the side window and causing parts to move (wires and stuff.)

[Hanzii]

Lot of good advice here, but let me repeat the best:

You don't need 5 fans not counting the Northbridge and PSU unless you're overclocking or using a very powerful system in an non-airconditioned house in the Nevada desert.
And the people selling cases with extra casefans know that cooling, not noise, is their buyers main concern, so they don't bother.
Fewer and better fans with rubber screws as mentioned is a good way to go. A proper laid out all metal case with noise dampening mats is wrth it.
My best buy was the Zalman VGA cooler for my 9800 Pro (from high-pitched whine to... total silence) and my Enermaxx PSU with a Pabst fan modified by Noise Control - of course it did cost almost as much as the CPU itself.

Of course what I really want is this or this.