• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Fan noise reduction

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
the psu has enough work cooling itself. feeding it hotter air makes its job harder. and if its temp controlled, even louder. you can sacrifice cooling for quiet sure, but 1 l1a is pushing it. with my 5 fans at low rpm and grills cut off the fans don't have to work hard at all, so noise isn't bad. no air rushing past the grills for turbulance either. course i have 4 hd's, and a load of other stuff too, but still, fans at very low rpm make almost no noise. unless your manually speed controlling your psu or have a passive one, i don't see how you can say your l1a at 65% or whatever is a bit loud. not to mention with fans at low rpm, i mostly hear the hd's... the 5 fans ensure the case temp is always optimal, and the hd's are all barely warm. and during the dead of summer, it gives one the option of running full blast to ensure stability.
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
the psu has enough work cooling itself. feeding it hotter air makes its job harder. and if its temp controlled, even louder.
Click to expand...
Mine is temp controlled. I run it at lowest rpm. It sits above the CPU as is by design, supposed to exhaust heat from the system.
you can sacrifice cooling for quiet sure, but 1 l1a is pushing it.
Click to expand...
Pushing what? I've run this way for over a year with 100% stability. I don't see how it is possible to improve upon that
with my 5 fans at low rpm and grills cut off the fans don't have to work hard at all, so noise isn't bad.
Click to expand...
Noise is subjective. I will guarantee I would find the noise level unacceptable. 5 fans is not quiet.
i don't see how you can say your l1a at 65% or whatever is a bit loud.
Click to expand...
I think you misread. 100% is a bit loud. 65% is very quiet.
 
Well like I said before, I'm trying to keep my temps on my system down the most with all this cooling because of those faulty capacitors. I don't have RMA capabilities so iI'm pretty much screwed till I can buy a whole new mobo, and if I do that, I'm definately not going to go out and buy the same faulty board. So my options are Keep it cool or keep it hot and risk more damage to my capacitors. But the thing is, I want to keep it cool and a little bit silent as well.
 
For 140$ why dont you just by a cheap window AC unit. Im not sure as i have never bought one but it cant be that expensive. If not save up and buyone. I garauntee you getting a decent ambient temp will really help things out.
For instance in the winter ~68F in my house upstairs... my computer is chuggin along with a case temp of about 15-16C.
In summer ~82F in my house upstairs... my computer is coughing along at ~30C.

Amient temp matters a lot... If you get that and a couple speed controllers it should quiet it down a lot.

-Kevin
 
One L1A below 7v is inaudible. I have an L1A in my Zalman power supply (modded) connected to a fan controller. I realize it would be safer to allow the power supply to control the fan speed, but I don't really care if it burns up eventually, the silence is more important to me. Anyways, that L1A is the loudest thing in my system aside from that horid thing on the Zalman 7000Cu. I usually keep the L1A @ 8v or so.

No 5 fans can be quiet. It's just not possible. Unless they're not plugged in.

Silencing a computer is about balancing temperatures and silence. The problem is, people get WAY to uptight about the temperatures, thinking if they're processor goes over 50C, it's going to launch nuclear missles at Russia, and bring about the end of the world. You just have to be willing to accept higher temperatures, and judge temperatures by stability. My computer has been 100% stable for a year, even though it sits at 71C all day every day.
 
You think 7 fans is bad, I am running 8. Including a Vantec Tornado. Now if you want to have a silent case, I would suggest getting a Tornado...quietest things on the market (hahaha). But really, I hooked them all up to a fan controller and I can run it as quiet/loud as I want. So I would definitely suggest the fan controller.
 
Originally posted by: FaytlND
You think 7 fans is bad, I am running 8. Including a Vantec Tornado. Now if you want to have a silent case, I would suggest getting a Tornado...quietest things on the market (hahaha). But really, I hooked them all up to a fan controller and I can run it as quiet/loud as I want. So I would definitely suggest the fan controller.
Click to expand...

A tornado is incapable of running as quiet as I want. Unless it's off.
 
Well see, The thing is I WOULD except higher temps, but with my faulty mobo it's just something that I cannot do because if I accept them my mobo is highly likely to get worse with those crappy capacitors.
 
Originally posted by: Nebor
One L1A below 7v is inaudible. I have an L1A in my Zalman power supply (modded) connected to a fan controller. I realize it would be safer to allow the power supply to control the fan speed, but I don't really care if it burns up eventually, the silence is more important to me. Anyways, that L1A is the loudest thing in my system aside from that horid thing on the Zalman 7000Cu. I usually keep the L1A @ 8v or so.

No 5 fans can be quiet. It's just not possible. Unless they're not plugged in.

Silencing a computer is about balancing temperatures and silence. The problem is, people get WAY to uptight about the temperatures, thinking if they're processor goes over 50C, it's going to launch nuclear missles at Russia, and bring about the end of the world. You just have to be willing to accept higher temperatures, and judge temperatures by stability. My computer has been 100% stable for a year, even though it sits at 71C all day every day.
Click to expand...
Ever try Speedfan? You can dial in any speed you want and have it vary automatically based on temp readings. I have my CPU and case fan both controlled this way. Nice for reading temps including HDD and voltage levels too.
 
Originally posted by: nboy22
Well like I said before, I'm trying to keep my temps on my system down the most with all this cooling because of those faulty capacitors. I don't have RMA capabilities so iI'm pretty much screwed till I can buy a whole new mobo, and if I do that, I'm definately not going to go out and buy the same faulty board. So my options are Keep it cool or keep it hot and risk more damage to my capacitors. But the thing is, I want to keep it cool and a little bit silent as well.
Click to expand...
Can you point a case fan at the caps?
 
Originally posted by: Nebor
Silencing a computer is about balancing temperatures and silence. The problem is, people get WAY to uptight about the temperatures, thinking if they're processor goes over 50C, it's going to launch nuclear missles at Russia, and bring about the end of the world. You just have to be willing to accept higher temperatures, and judge temperatures by stability. My computer has been 100% stable for a year, even though it sits at 71C all day every day.
Click to expand...

very true. i struggle to keep my cpu temp below 50C idle and my computer isnt very silent at all! anyone who can keep their cpu idle below 30C should be happy! so much temp differences depend on ambient temp. move your computer to the basement or the coolest room in your house and i bet that helps some (i am already in my basement, i cant imagine what my computer would do if it were upstairs in the hot stuffy air up there!! :Q)
 
oldfart: not really, there is one above my agp slot and a lot of them are over between my top exhaust fan in the back and the heatsink.. so there's lots of exhausting there, but no blowing.
 
Not sure what rails the caps are on. Can you undervolt to extend the life at all? Sounds like you really need to ge a new mobo, or replace the caps.
 
I really do need a new mobo.. but if I don't have enough money I'll probably just see if my dad could get his technicians to solder some new ones on there. They've already fixed a plug on my Altec Lansing Subwoofer hookups so I know they're damn good at soldering.
 
Originally posted by: gordanfreeman
Originally posted by: Nebor
Silencing a computer is about balancing temperatures and silence. The problem is, people get WAY to uptight about the temperatures, thinking if they're processor goes over 50C, it's going to launch nuclear missles at Russia, and bring about the end of the world. You just have to be willing to accept higher temperatures, and judge temperatures by stability. My computer has been 100% stable for a year, even though it sits at 71C all day every day.
Click to expand...

very true. i struggle to keep my cpu temp below 50C idle and my computer isnt very silent at all! anyone who can keep their cpu idle below 30C should be happy! so much temp differences depend on ambient temp. move your computer to the basement or the coolest room in your house and i bet that helps some (i am already in my basement, i cant imagine what my computer would do if it were upstairs in the hot stuffy air up there!! :Q)
Click to expand...

depends a lot on your cooler. an slk or zalman would help. that is of course if your case temps are reasonable. temperature does matter for overclockers though. i get about 44c o/c'd, and down to about 36c when i underclock. crystal cpuid lets me set multiplier on my mobilebarton in windows on the fly.

things like hd's still work fine with high temps. they just tend to fail at a higher rate😛 psu's are less efficient at higher temps to boot. that or more noisy to compensate for extra cooling.
 
Originally posted by: oldfart
Originally posted by: Nebor
One L1A below 7v is inaudible. I have an L1A in my Zalman power supply (modded) connected to a fan controller. I realize it would be safer to allow the power supply to control the fan speed, but I don't really care if it burns up eventually, the silence is more important to me. Anyways, that L1A is the loudest thing in my system aside from that horid thing on the Zalman 7000Cu. I usually keep the L1A @ 8v or so.

No 5 fans can be quiet. It's just not possible. Unless they're not plugged in.

Silencing a computer is about balancing temperatures and silence. The problem is, people get WAY to uptight about the temperatures, thinking if they're processor goes over 50C, it's going to launch nuclear missles at Russia, and bring about the end of the world. You just have to be willing to accept higher temperatures, and judge temperatures by stability. My computer has been 100% stable for a year, even though it sits at 71C all day every day.
Click to expand...
Ever try Speedfan? You can dial in any speed you want and have it vary automatically based on temp readings. I have my CPU and case fan both controlled this way. Nice for reading temps including HDD and voltage levels too.
Click to expand...

I tried speedfan a long time ago. It's not good enough for me.
 
Originally posted by: oldfart
What didn't you like about it?
Click to expand...

I prefer a fanbus for controlling my fans. It allows more instant, tactile response. Plus Speedfan just couldn't control my Zalman 7000Cu, my power supplies L1A and my 2 120mm Acoustifans. As I recall it can only change the speed on a few of the the headers.
 
I heard sanding down the edges of the fan blades to a fine blade would reduce the noise by a few db. Is this true?
 
Yeah.. I'll probably do it tommorow seeing as it's 11 pm here. don't want to wake anyone up with the dremel tool. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: nboy22
I heard sanding down the edges of the fan blades to a fine blade would reduce the noise by a few db. Is this true?
Click to expand...

I'd say it' smore lilkeyl that you'dll obliteaaterate your fan/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top