Is there an easy way to get a decibel measure of a PC's noise?

[Craig234]

It'd be nice to have a measure of how loud a PC is, from where you use it or next to the PC.

Is there an easy way to measure the volume?

 

[lehtv]

smartphone app

 

[Blain]

Is there an easy way to get a decibel measure of a PC's noise?

It'd be nice to have a measure of how loud a PC is, from where you use it or next to the PC.

Is there an easy way to measure the volume?

Do you want an accurate measurement?
Yes, there is a very easy way to obtain those measurements.

 

[ArisVer]

Sound level meter.

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Digital-Sound-Level-Meter/dp/B001THX3M0

 

[Craig234]

Thanks, got this one.

http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products...=1451390776&sr=1-4&keywords=sound+level+meter

Don't know what's up with blain's unhelpfulness.

 

[Blain]

Thanks, got this one.

http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products...=1451390776&sr=1-4&keywords=sound+level+meter

Don't know what's up with blain's unhelpfulness.

It's not a normal thing for someone to ask about measuring decibel levels around their PC. Not knowing your full intention is why I asked about accuracy. The main thing I needed to know was how accurate a measurement you required.
Phone apps, class I or II devices have differing levels of accuracy.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I always feel comfortable knowing i could put 2 110cfm+ 120mm fans in my case if i wanted to and still the loudest thing in my bedroom will be my box fan by a considerable bit.A blower gpu like a 6990/7970/290x may make itself a bit more known but that is something you couldn't even give me.

I found its actually much easier to insure that ambient noises are as low as possible,and that the pc itself can't be heard over it or even close to it.

 

[Micrornd]

Measuring is easy.
Picking a uniform distance to measure from and compare to other's measurements is the hard part

 

[Craig234]

Measuring is easy.
Picking a uniform distance to measure from and compare to other's measurements is the hard part

Not really, without something to measure with. I don't really have other measurements involved and the distance is pretty clear.

 

[lehtv]

What do you mean "the distance is pretty clear"? Is your intention to find out how quiet your PC is relative to other systems? If not, what information do you hope to gain?

 

[Craig234]

The information I want is how loud my PC is for me to listen to.

And I got it, just now. 55db.

 

[lehtv]

But don't you already have that information in your ears? 55 dB is meaningless unless you compare it to something else. It's just a number.

 

[Craig234]

But don't you already have that information in your ears? 55 dB is meaningless unless you compare it to something else. It's just a number.

No, I don't. 55db is not meaningless unless compared, any more than "10 pounds" or "40MPH" are. It's a more accurate measurement than 'seems loud'.

 

[lehtv]

No, I don't. 55db is not meaningless unless compared, any more than "10 pounds" or "40MPH" are.

10 pounds is absolutely meaningless unless compared to something else. You need context to know what 10 pounds means. 40 MPH is not meaningless though - if you know what a mile is and what an hour is, then a mile per hour is a meaningless measurement in and of itself. But a mile is meaningless without context, and an hour is meaningless without context.

It's a more accurate measurement than 'seems loud'.

How do you know if 55 dBa is loud or not? If you know it's loud, how do you know how loud it is, exactly?

 

[ArisVer]

They are also useful for positioning speakers in a home theater system.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

also useful for equalizing sound systems with a pink noise source

 

[Craig234]

10 pounds is absolutely meaningless unless compared to something else. You need context to know what 10 pounds means. 40 MPH is not meaningless though - if you know what a mile is and what an hour is, then a mile per hour is a meaningless measurement in and of itself. But a mile is meaningless without context, and an hour is meaningless without context.



How do you know if 55 dBa is loud or not? If you know it's loud, how do you know how loud it is, exactly?

Look, we're not on the same planet, so I see no point in further discussion.

 

[lehtv]

Look, we're not on the same planet, so I see no point in further discussion.

We're definitely on the same planet, but perhaps not from the same planet. :\

 

[Micrornd]

Craig234,
The problem is you are not associating a distance with the db reading.
Example - when private jets fly over my house when landing at the towns airport most are less than 50db because of the height.
So @55db is your PC louder than a jet?
I hope not.

All fans, graphics cards and heatsinks w/fans are usually advertised with a max db rating @ a specified distance, so that they can be compared to each other and so that you can tell if it will be noisier or quieter that what you have now.

Of course one of the oldest tricks in advertising is to slightly increase the "standard" distance used slightly as this will lower the db rating, making the object appear quieter than in is.
That's the reason the distance measurement is so important in a db rating and it should be one that is normally used to measure fans, graphics cards and heatsinks w/fans, so that a realistic comparison can be made, otherwise just using your is more than adequate.

 

[Craig234]

Craig234,
The problem is you are not associating a distance with the db reading.
Example - when private jets fly over my house when landing at the towns airport most are less than 50db because of the height.
So @55db is your PC louder than a jet?
I hope not.

All fans, graphics cards and heatsinks w/fans are usually advertised with a max db rating @ a specified distance, so that they can be compared to each other and so that you can tell if it will be noisier or quieter that what you have now.

Of course one of the oldest tricks in advertising is to slightly increase the "standard" distance used slightly as this will lower the db rating, making the object appear quieter than in is.
That's the reason the distance measurement is so important in a db rating and it should be one that is normally used to measure fans, graphics cards and heatsinks w/fans, so that a realistic comparison can be made, otherwise just using your is more than adequate.

That's not a problem, because the information I want is the volume of what I'm hearing. If you want the volume of a jet route over your house, then that's the value you want.

On the other hand, if you want the volume of the jet as a passenger, then you get that.

If you want the volume as someone who is on the runway, you get that.

I'm not trying to rate my PC parts relative to other PC parts. I'm simply wanting to know, how loud is it from the place I sit near it. And now I do, 55db.