Decibel Meter: advice needed

[jm0ris0n]

I'll make this short. MY CASE FANS ARE DRIVING ME INSANE!

No really, they are. But I'm interested in getting the noise down. I'd like to make (somewhat) accurate noise measurements so I can determine what fans need to stay, which to go, and new ones to purchase.

The only Decibel Meters I've seen around have been in the hundred dollar range. Is there an economical decibel reader you could recommend, or a certain direction to point me in.

Thanks

 

[MasterHoss]

Try Radio Shack... I beleive they carry some for under $100

 

[FlippyBoy]

or, to make your life simpler (and/or less expensive), there are lots of places selling the Panaflo L1A's for very little. they are some of the quietest fans around - i replaced all the fans in my case with those, and there was a VERY noticable difference.

 

[jm0ris0n]

The panaflo's sound tempting. I'm running the below spec'd fans for 18months. Its finally starting to catch up with me AARRGGG~!~~!


: 80x80x25 - 4000RPM - 4-pin - 36dbA - 43CFM

In your opinion will I sacrifice much of a temp diff with the panaflo? Ambient room temp= 80.2F ; Case temp (MB sensor) 78F, athlon xp 1700+ @1.84v 104F while running f@h for 3 hours. There is also only a 10degreeF penalty for running proc @1.97v. I am using an Iwill KK266+ with latest bios. However I don't know how my mb's sensor accuracy stacks up against others.

 

[HouRman]

Radioshack analog SPL meter was $30 when I got it. You'll have to use it fairly close to your computer case because the min. reading is about 50db. It's a device that every home theater should have anyways.

It can test sound levels as high as 130db as well. I use it to find reference listening level, and to see that my 120mm fan makes an almost 4db increase in sound.