Any tips for a quieter case?

[RollHigh]

Current Case : 3dcool.com's Tornado 1000.

I dont know which fan is so friggin loud, but i would like to know if there are any replacement fans i can purchase for some of the stock fans that would significantly reduce the noise. Right now the case is pretty loud (but it does keep it nice n cool), and i would like to help my roommate out by deadening the sound.

I read about using something like Sonex noise canceling panels, but those are pretty freakin expensive. If anyone can show me some sites with some pointers or can list some themselves it would be much appreciated.

Here's what im trying to cool btw:

MSI Kt7-R w/ Thunderbird 1ghz (266)
MSI GeForce2 MX
2 IBM Deskstar 9gb drives in RAID-0 Array

Nothing is overclocked or anything, so i was planning on unplugging one of my outtake fans (not the power one) and taking the side off my case. Would this be smart or could i risk damaging my system?

thanks in advance, sorry if i was a little vague.

 

[cpals]

Ahhh.... I personally enjoy the sound of a jet in my office. I have a delta fan for my cpu and a 120mm side fine with one front intake and a slot outake. I got used to the sound and whenever I play games I just put on headphones.

Regarding the fans... there are many fans that you can order that have a pretty good air throughput and aren't loud. I have heard of Panaflo fans being pretty good while being quiet.

 

[GiZzO]

Acoustical foam won't do much in that type of case its too open. Question...why did you get such a nutty airflow case but no overclocking?
You could just close up those side panel intake fans, its over doing it in your setup and its expelling noise into the users direction.

Acoustical foam can really only be effective you can have your noise trouble spots reflect off the foam in a 360 in every angle, so basicaly you want no straight path from your noise spot to path outside of your case. This can be very hard to do without effecting airflow too much, and also Acoustical foam is usually atleast 1" to start which is very hard to place espically in mid tower cases, you'll find it a two man job getting your case closed. It takes alota planning, when i had bought my case and before i put anything it in a spent about a month on it with modifications and laying down the foam, drapping it like curtains within my case in some areas, before actully using the case.

Simplest way is just to start uplugging fans, and find which fan is the loudest, and hit that! Back down too lower cfm quiet fans, the side panel fans and maybe the chimney are then fans id probably take out and plug. Check small fans like motherboard, GFX, CPU fans these fasn usually rev high to make for there small size, either subsitute with a larger HS paired with a lighter fan or no fan at all (passive if possible). Consider widening holes for larger fans, since they rev lower to equal cfm of a smaller fan. Im not gonna recommend what brand fan you should use, cause every manufacture scores better here and there. Just check out my fan page and see what fits your needs best:

GiZzO's Fan Database Page
Also if your interested in purchasing some quiet fans, gimme a ring

 

[Phinance]

Definitely try sequentially unplugging one of the fans at a time (except the HSF and the PSU), and seeing which one makes your case the quietest. If there is little variation, then that means that they are all pretty loud, and you may be looking at swapping all of them to decrease the noise (I haven'tt priced the sound panels you're talking about, but three good quality fans will run you ~$35 + shipping). For the large-format (92+), I'd recommend the Panaflo L1A's - they're reliable and quiet (and half as expensive as Papst...). For an 80mm fan, I'd recommend the PC Power & Cooling silencer fan over the L1A - they are even quieter and they move more air for about the same $$ (~$10/ea.).

Alternatively, you could put High Output Delta's in all of your possible fan locations, and while it would be loud initially, it would get quieter over time... In fact, the whole world would get quieter over time... Except for the ringing...

 

[Jhhnn]

Find the noisiest fan, work on that first. To test the cpu fan, shut the machine off, hold the fan to stop it from turning, boot up. Then let it run, compare the before and after. Won't hurt anything so long as you don't keep it up for more than 30 sec. or so.. never try to stop a running fan.

Most case fans will start and run reliably at 7v. move the fan ground (black) to mate with the psu +5v (red) at the molex connector. If your fans use pass-thru connectors, move the wires in both of the fan wire plugs to avoid complications. Never move the wires on the psu side of the plugs, it's flirtin' with disaster....

Lots of threads on quiet computers here, at Ars, and elsewhere, I'm sure. Search!