Attempt to bring the case noise down in my case...

[50]

Hello, the noise my computer makes is really driving me crazy! So today I purchased a fanless heatsink for my CPU (I have never OC'd in my life so I don't think this will hurt me). What other steps should I take? Currently I have a channel well psu which I think doesn't make much noise (I can't really tell), it has two fans inside it. Also I have 4 case fans all lowered down with a fan controller. In adition, I have a VGA silence cooler on my Rad 9700 pro which is on silent mode. I think my second noiseist component is my HD (first being the CPU hsf). I have a WD 80 gb SE drive and it seems to cause a lot of noise. Does anyone have any reccomendations for a HD under 50 bucks that is at least 60 gb which produces little noise? I think once I get rid of this HD and heatsink and perhaps one or two of my fans I'll have a very quiet comp. If you have any other suggestions please LMK. Thanks

 

[CheesePoofs]

You could get a sound/vibration dampening kit for the HD instead of replacing it and that should lower the HD's noise considerable.

 

[cyberknight]

What type of noise is it? Is it a buzzing/whining sound? Or just loud clicking and vibrations? If it's buzzing/whining, I don't think a dampening kit will be any good.

Most hard drives typically cost the same. Seagate makes very quiet hard drives. Make sure you get an IDE one, they are more quieter than SATA.

 

[LoneWolf15]

Personally I think that buying low-noise fans is better than buying no-noise solutions. If you want quiet, don't get rid of your fans. Instead, replace your CPU and case fans with Vantec Stealth or Panaflo L1A fans; you'll likely find your noise is greatly decreased, and you'll still get the airflow required for stability in a non-overclocked environment.

As Cyberknight mentioned, hard disks can play a role too. Fluid-dynamic bearing drives will be quieter and reduce noise. Ensuring that acoustic management software is enabled on your hard disk (if it supports it) will reduce performance slightly, but will lower noise. You won't find a drive for $50-60 though; I paid $115 each for my Seagates both for quiet and for performance.
Finally, power supplies can be one of the noisiest parts of your case. Either buying a quiet power supply or replacing your current PSU's fans with quiet ones may do a lot to tame the noise.

 

[cirthix]

Originally posted by: cyberknight
What type of noise is it? Is it a buzzing/whining sound? Or just loud clicking and vibrations? If it's buzzing/whining, I don't think a dampening kit will be any good.

Most hard drives typically cost the same. Seagate makes very quiet hard drives. Make sure you get an IDE one, they are more quieter than SATA.

i agree that seagate makes quiet drives, but interface does not matter for noise.

 

[cirthix]

also, what cpu? how are your temps. I recommend using 120mm fans at 5v if you want quiet

 

[cyberknight]

Well, I don't have too much personal experience, but a lot of ppl claim SATA makes louder clicking noises. Of course, that doesn't matter when you're asleep, under the assumption you aren't loading something and putting the hard drive on some stress.

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: cyberknight
Well, I don't have too much personal experience, but a lot of ppl claim SATA makes louder clicking noises. Of course, that doesn't matter when you're asleep, under the assumption you aren't loading something and putting the hard drive on some stress.

The internals of hard disks are the same whatever the interface. Usually, however, SATA hard disks are quieter, not because of the interface, but because the manufacturers put their newer technology into the SATA disks.

As an alternative for a quiet HD, Samsung make some rather good SATA disks. Not sure how much an 80GB one would cost, but it would definitely reduce the noise. Also, I have never heard of a channel well psu, and would be suprised if it was any good of a psu, let alone quiet. I'd replace the psu before the hard disk (and not just for noise reasons).

On a slightly side note - are you sure you want to go with a passive heatsink? The 2.4Bs were hardly cool cpus. The other bad thing about passive heatsinks is that you need to have a fairly good airflow in the case for them to work, which means more noise from case fans.

 

[Jhhnn]

You have to identify the loudest noise sources, deal with them first. That's usually cpu and cheesy chipset fans, also vidcard fans, followed by over powerful case fans...

Which of the fanless cpu heatsinks did you purchase, btw?

 

[50]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
You have to identify the loudest noise sources, deal with them first. That's usually cpu and cheesy chipset fans, also vidcard fans, followed by over powerful case fans...

Which of the fanless cpu heatsinks did you purchase, btw?

I got this heatsink

Thanks for all the comments guys. It seems there is a really bad vibration coming from my HD, I've never heard a clicking noise. I've tried grommets but I can't fit them inside between the drive and the cage so that didn't really work out. Also I don't have any fans on my chipsets (they're passively cooled) and I've upgraded my video heatsink. So I guess if I want to maintatin good airflow I should keep the case fans and look for a quieter PSU (I saw on my PSU that it said it has temperature controlled fans, does that mean anything in terms of quietness?) and a much quieter HD. SATA is not an option for me as my mobo doesn't support it and I don't want to buy a seperate card. Also case temps have never been a problem, my comp has always been running really cool. One last thing, could someone show me how much one of the sound dampening kits costs? How do they work? Is it just foam I stick on my drive? Or is it one of those boxes that requires using an extra 5.25" drive?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: 50

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
You have to identify the loudest noise sources, deal with them first. That's usually cpu and cheesy chipset fans, also vidcard fans, followed by over powerful case fans...

Which of the fanless cpu heatsinks did you purchase, btw?

I got this heatsink

Thanks for all the comments guys. It seems there is a really bad vibration coming from my HD, I've never heard a clicking noise. I've tried grommets but I can't fit them inside between the drive and the cage so that didn't really work out. Also I don't have any fans on my chipsets (they're passively cooled) and I've upgraded my video heatsink. So I guess if I want to maintatin good airflow I should keep the case fans and look for a quieter PSU (I saw on my PSU that it said it has temperature controlled fans, does that mean anything in terms of quietness?) and a much quieter HD. SATA is not an option for me as my mobo doesn't support it and I don't want to buy a seperate card. Also case temps have never been a problem, my comp has always been running really cool. One last thing, could someone show me how much one of the sound dampening kits costs? How do they work? Is it just foam I stick on my drive? Or is it one of those boxes that requires using an extra 5.25" drive?

nail on the head, with that heatsink you must have adequate case flow.

 

[50]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong

Originally posted by: 50

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
You have to identify the loudest noise sources, deal with them first. That's usually cpu and cheesy chipset fans, also vidcard fans, followed by over powerful case fans...

Which of the fanless cpu heatsinks did you purchase, btw?

I got this heatsink

Thanks for all the comments guys. It seems there is a really bad vibration coming from my HD, I've never heard a clicking noise. I've tried grommets but I can't fit them inside between the drive and the cage so that didn't really work out. Also I don't have any fans on my chipsets (they're passively cooled) and I've upgraded my video heatsink. So I guess if I want to maintatin good airflow I should keep the case fans and look for a quieter PSU (I saw on my PSU that it said it has temperature controlled fans, does that mean anything in terms of quietness?) and a much quieter HD. SATA is not an option for me as my mobo doesn't support it and I don't want to buy a seperate card. Also case temps have never been a problem, my comp has always been running really cool. One last thing, could someone show me how much one of the sound dampening kits costs? How do they work? Is it just foam I stick on my drive? Or is it one of those boxes that requires using an extra 5.25" drive?

nail on the head, with that heatsink you must have adequate case flow.

I'll see how it works out. I've been looking at PSU's and Hard drives and I haven't really been able to find a good quiet (not too expensive <$50 if possible) PSU. However, for hard drives I was looking at seagate drives and saw this. I think this is one of the newer seagate drives, I remember hearing the barracuda either V or IV were really quiet. Are the 7200.7's still as quiet? Thanks

 

[0roo0roo]

silentpcreview.com

your case solid like a sonata? direct fan vents on the front are noise leaks.

 

[50]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
silentpcreview.com

your case solid like a sonata? direct fan vents on the front are noise leaks.

Thanks for the link. My case is the antec case everyone has and is always advertised (chieftec and chen ming also reproduce this case, I'm sure you know what I am talking about, there is a koolance water cooled version of it as well). I'm not sure how "solid" it is, but I bet you have seen/used this case before and could tell me. Should I unplug my two front fans?

BTW I was doing some research and I have decided the seagate 7200.7 drives are going be best for their price (There are a couple of hot deals going on) and quietness (only ~5 decibals higher than the Barracuda IV/V). As for the PSU, I think I am going to get the Enermax Noisetake 420 psu (I was reading a review and it said it was quiet for operation below 200w, I've never calculated how much wattage it takes to run basic internet surfing and music playing, can someone estimate what it would take to bring the wattage over 200?) thanks

 

[smoothness]

i've heard that the seagate drives aren't very quiet - the samsungs with the nidec motors are really quiet - i have 2 of them. also heard some new information on the "scorpio" 40gb WD drives. they're supposed to be more quiet than the samsung ones.

 

[LoneWolf15]

Originally posted by: 50

I'll see how it works out. I've been looking at PSU's and Hard drives and I haven't really been able to find a good quiet (not too expensive <$50 if possible) PSU. However, for hard drives I was looking at seagate drives and saw this. I think this is one of the newer seagate drives, I remember hearing the barracuda either V or IV were really quiet. Are the 7200.7's still as quiet? Thanks

Most power supplies under $50 aren't very good ones, much less very good silent ones. This is a part that while not glamorous, is important to spend money on. You can purchase a decent, moderately quiet power supply for around $80 like the Enermax Noisetaker models, or one of Seasonic's models. Purchasing a high quality ATX 2.x power supply will make it far more likely that you won't have to repurchase the next time you rebuild your system

My Seagate 7200.7 drives are very quiet, having fluid dynamic bearing technology. 7200.8 models are supposed to be quieter yet, but their 200GB models were a long time coming, and were being intro-ed at much higher prices by vendors who didn't have them in stock. I wasn't willing to wait, and tests were already available showing the speed and low noise levels of my model of drive, so I went with what I knew.

You can find a good review on these drives at The Tech Report. The review was really for NCQ testing, but it gives a good overall indication of the drive's performance, and comments on the low noise.