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Dell 4400 Quieter than my Panaflos + Enermax PSU!

T

tslugmo

Member
I saw my dad's Dell 4400 1.6 Ghz P4 Desktop this weekend, the one he got for only $449 or something a few weeks back. Anyway, that thing is super ultra quiet! I have an Abit KR7A with an AMD XP 1700+ with an Alpha 8045 and Panaflo 80mm, an Enermax Whisper 350W PSU on the lowest setting, and one exhaust Panaflo. Granted the Northbridge fan and the Visiontek Ti 200 GPU fan are a bit annoying, but they don't account for the huge difference between my system and my father's Dell. What's going on? Has anybody heard these? Do they just have an incredibly quite PSU? I tend to think that's where the real noise difference is. All I can hear is his HDD. On mine I can barely hear my HDD over the fans/ambient system noise. Any suggestions as to how to get my rig as quiet as his?

Thanks in advance.

-tslug
 
Almost all the major system manufacturers have streamlined their case air flow as well as the noise level so that you can't tell if it's on or not. 🙂 What do you expect with a few hundred technicians working on designs for the case and stuff? You could probably get your comp to be just as quiet as your dad's, but it'll probably take a lot of time and perhaps money. *shrug*
 
All the OEM computers I've worked on have had as few fasn as possible while still maintaining stability. This means, a low rpm CPU fan, and a very low rpm exhaust fan, usually in the PSU. Anything more is extraneous. These computers were not meant to be overclocked, and so they can afford at running only "relatively cool." And as MrCraphead said, they streamline the airflow and design everything so one or two fans is all they need.
 
i believe its bc dell packages the 4400 series with 5200 rpm HDs.... that contributes to a lot of the sound coming out of the case that you just cant really quiet down. also, dell has plastic baffles, or channels that suck air from a certain area... those baffles reduce noise since the sound from teh interior of the case isnt going directly OUT the fans into room..... if that makes any sense at all.... if oyu open up teh dell, you;ll see what im talkin about.....
 
5200 rpm HD's?!?!? trason!

Ohh well, I've used some Dell 4400's, and honestly I can't tell the difference.
 


<< i believe its bc dell packages the 4400 series with 5200 rpm HDs.... that contributes to a lot of the sound coming out of the case that you just cant really quiet down. also, dell has plastic baffles, or channels that suck air from a certain area... those baffles reduce noise since the sound from teh interior of the case isnt going directly OUT the fans into room..... if that makes any sense at all.... if oyu open up teh dell, you;ll see what im talkin about..... >>



eh? You get a choice of harddrive, the lowest cheapest one being 20 gb 5200 rpm, the highest being 120 gb 7200 rpm

Baffles???

All dell cases (4300 and up) use the exact same chassis, Dell has no front fans or cpu fan...They just have one 92mm in the back with a shroud over the cpu. That explains its quietness...
 
Thanks for all the good info. So basically, without spending an arm and a leg, my dad's 4400 is going to be the quieter of the two. Sucky.

-tslug
 
My friend just bought his dell not too long ago. Compared to my system I cant even tell if it's on.

Even with panaflos on the exaust and the cpu, and enermax whisper psu, my system howls in comparison.

He wouldnt let me open up his computer, but the first thing I noticed was the 120mm exaust fan over a fish net, instead of the usual 80mm fan over a stamped grill, which plays a big part in quiteness.
 
Jeez, ShinSa, you read ever post ever. Seems like I always get a response from you. You're right, I can't tell if it's on or not when I walk up to it. More than once I've pressed the power button and the monitor pops up with a warning about not shutting down the computer with other users logged on! Thanks for the tip, I'll see if my girlfriend is willing to part with her fishnets for a little experiment.

I mean an experiment with the fan in the computer... You guys...

Anyway, I'll have to take apart my dad's 4400 and see what I can learn.

-tslug
 


<< Jeez, ShinSa, you read ever post ever. Seems like I always get a response from you. You're right, I can't tell if it's on or not when I walk up to it. More than once I've pressed the power button and the monitor pops up with a warning about not shutting down the computer with other users logged on! Thanks for the tip, I'll see if my girlfriend is willing to part with her fishnets for a little experiment.

I mean an experiment with the fan in the computer... You guys...

Anyway, I'll have to take apart my dad's 4400 and see what I can learn.

-tslug >>



Shrug~ He, I guess I've been hanging around this forum a bit too much. Gotta get my self a job soon.

Anyways, yah if you can open it up ad find out, that'll be great. Im curious too.
 
Also, you wont see a AMD chip in a Dell (why Dell, why?!?). Pentiums take less to cool than a AMD chip, therefore, less fan noise.
 


<< Also, you wont see a AMD chip in a Dell (why Dell, why?!?). Pentiums take less to cool than a AMD chip, therefore, less fan noise. >>



and dell is intels biggest customer and probably gets their mobos for less than $40 each or something. And intel is probably one of the stablest boards but most expensive...
 
Funny, I was at my dad's house for the easter holiday and he just got a Dell too. I also noticed that I couldn't hear the thing at all. I was jealous but I didn't tell him that 🙂
 


<< Funny, I was at my dad's house for the easter holiday and he just got a Dell too. I also noticed that I couldn't hear the thing at all. I was jealous but I didn't tell him that 🙂 >>



Likewise, RickySilk. Luckily my AMD 1700+ and 512 Megs of RAM were able to outperform his 4400, or I'd really be upset I didn't just go for the Dell.

Removed the fan from my Visiontek Geforce Ti200 last night, 3dMark score went up 300 points. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. A little less noisy, but I think I'm going to have to swap out the PSU fans in my Enermax Whisper 350. Hope I don't electrocute myself in my quest for quiet.

-tslug
 
Had a look at the guts of the 4400. Dunce11r is right, there is a plastic vent that covers the heatsink on the CPU like a funnel and connects to the very quiet exhaust fan that is on the back of the case. The PSU has only one quiet fan in it and there seems to be fins of a heatsink in the PSU as well. The Northbridge chipset has no fan on the heat sink either. That thing is silent. The motherboard is tiny, only 2 RAM slots. Not the most expandable, but a great quiet solution. The whole thing is like having two Panaflos cooling your whole rig, including your PSU. I'm going to try replacing both fans in my PSU for panaflos and hope that doesn't fry it. That way mine should be closer to the 4400 level of quiet, although my 7200 RPM drive will probably keep me from super stealthy. Anybody have experience swapping fans out of a PSU? Any problems?

-tslug
 
And OEM's don't go mad crazy trying to cool their systems down. People here go over the top trying to get their temps down so low when in reality, processors run just fine with the standard retail heatsink and temperatures running at 55-60 degrees. Don't get me wrong, I prefer my stuff to run as cool as possible and all that but I also understand that it -just- -doesn't- -make- -a- -difference- as far as stability goes when you are not overclocking.





 
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