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Help me silence my computer build

M

mikerollingsolo

Junior Member
First of all I am a huge newb, anyway I did a budget build last summer it consists of...mATX asus mobo with AMD phenom II X3 720 BE, corsair CX500 psu, and an AMD 5770. The CPU cooler is the corsair H60 I have running only push configuration, all of this is put into a NZXT phantom becuase I thought it would be quiet but it isn't. I don't know what is loud about it, I have 3 200mm fan's and 1 120mm fan to the radiator.

Point is, I'm debating about purchasing a Corsair 550D and putting all my components in that. I get irritated by computer noise and I want to do whatever I can to keep the noise down. One problem I came across while thinking of this potential build is that the 550D doesn't come with a fan controller, I'm wondering where would I connect the fans to? In the past I would connect it simply by the three pin to two pin or whatever connector and put it straight to the PSU but it would be too loud. The phantom came with a fan controller which was part of the reason why I purchased it, but it doesn't go low enough or something. So if I was to buy a 550D case, do I have to buy a fan controller in order to keep everything quiet? And if I do which one? Guide me pleeeeease!!
 
GPUs always use some of the cheapest fans possible. I bought two GTX 560 for my new build and the ball bearings are already starting to go on one of the fans. I have not really looked at it deep yet to see how easy it would be to retrofit a better fan but if it gets worse that's what I'll do. Doing this would make any pc much quieter.
 
I think its a bit premature to just blame the video card, especially since I don't see why a 5770 would get all that hot/noisy.

Care to describe how the system is loud? I mean running that many fans, the noise might just be from the raw airflow as I've played with very quiet but super high airflow fans and even if you can't hear the fans themselves all that much the air movement hitting just about anything will cause a noise. Just one possibility but knowing where you notice the sound most from would help.
 
I've honestly tried to figure this one out myself and I put my ear up to each individual fan and they're quiet. But as a whole the system is just noisy as if the fans are loud I really don't know. NZXT fans aren't particularly good quality so that could be it. This is why I'm thinking about going to the 550D, btw where would I plug the stock fans on the 550D into ? PSU? or should I get a fan controller?
 
Well as said before it could be the video card's fan, have you tried running without the side panel on to see if the noise is coming from near the video card/cpu fan? If not it might just be the raw airflow with your set-up that's causing the noise.
 
Open the case door and start disconnecting case fans until the noise goes away (or most of it). If it's not the case fans, try disconnecting the cpu fan for a short while.

I usually dis/re-connect fans while the computer is still on, if they just use molex connectors. Otherwise, fans connected to the mobo gets a shutdown before I do anything.
 
mikerollingsolo said:
I've honestly tried to figure this one out myself and I put my ear up to each individual fan and they're quiet. But as a whole the system is just noisy as if the fans are loud I really don't know. NZXT fans aren't particularly good quality so that could be it. This is why I'm thinking about going to the 550D, btw where would I plug the stock fans on the 550D into ? PSU? or should I get a fan controller?
Click to expand...

Sometimes it really is just all the little noises combined that do it. Sound can be odd like that. You can have one item that you can barely hear, but 10 of them will be loud.

Though I've found that in most situations there is always one main culpit. It's not just the noise level that is the issue but the pitch. Some noises are more annoying than others.

The sound of ball bearings about to go bad (not when they grind but when they start to tick) can be the most aggravating sound possible even though it's not really loud.
 
You can also roll up a piece of paper and use it as a sort of stethoscope to get a little bit better isolation of each sound.

In general though I agree with the couple posters who said before you jump to conclusions and just start buying stuff, do the best you can to actually figure out what's loud about your system.

Also, it's entirely possible you don't need that many fans. People generally overestimate the amount of airflow they need. (Or put a different way, they think they need to keep their CPU temps lower than they really do.)
 
DSF said:
You can also roll up a piece of paper and use it as a sort of stethoscope to get a little bit better isolation of each sound.

In general though I agree with the couple posters who said before you jump to conclusions and just start buying stuff, do the best you can to actually figure out what's loud about your system.

Also, it's entirely possible you don't need that many fans. People generally overestimate the amount of airflow they need. (Or put a different way, they think they need to keep their CPU temps lower than they really do.)
Click to expand...

Agree 100%. I usually grab a wooden or plastic stick (pencil or pen works fine) and press it against the hub of each fan to stop it. (Or just stick it in the blades if you can't access the hub. That way you can figure out which fan is the loudest and work from there. Just going out an buying parts is a good way to spend a lot of money, but not a good way to solve this problem.
 
mfenn said:
The motherboard.

Since your Phantom has a fan controller, have you tried turning down the fan speed?
Click to expand...

This. You need to ensure your fans are spinning slowly for less noise. Also fans from certain companies are just amazing.

I like to buy Noctua because I was not aware of how good and cheap the Scythe Gentle Typhoons are, I'll probably shove a ton of those in my server soon. Also Noctua fans come with resistors to lower the RPM. I have mine running at around 600rpm in summer and down to 300rpm in winter. The machine in my sig is used in a music studio and needs to be essentially silent.

Side note about fans - I didn't really like any Corsair fans, I've had a 650D in the past and did not like how loud the 200mm/120mm fans were in it even at low.

Extra note - here's 393 different of fans reviewed for noise and CFM in a silent chamber with a noise meter 10cm away - http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/2614/393-8092120140mm-case-fans-reviewed
 
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