Low noise components?

[Daemonifuge]

Hello. I'm new to computer building, and I'm hoping to build myself a new computer by the end of this year. Right now, I'm using an old Pentium 3, 450 Mhz, and it's pretty loud, compared to a HP that I bought back in November. I'm just wondering if any of you could recommend a bunch of special quiet PC parts, so I won't have to put up with mass amounts of noise. Or, if someone could post a full system of quiet parts, that would be good, too. Thanks in advance!

 

[thetman]

noise mostly comes from the fans in your computer. therefore you should consider your power supply, the fan on your heatsink and video card, and other case fans. panaflo L1A's are quite the popular choise these days for case fans, and you could even put it on your heatsink if you dont want to overclock. as for powersupplies, i have an antec trueblue 480 and its barely audible. with video cards you can always take off the stock cooling and get some fanless cooler.

 

[calam63]

if I were you i would go visit http://www.silentpcreview.com - they are hardcore noise ethusists

pending how all you you might want to go - these are some recommended settings:

-mobile athlon 64 cpu (rated at 35w - low power means low heat means slower fans to cool your cpu also you can undervolt your cpu)
-mobo that will support your mobile athlon
-evercase 4252 (one of the best silent cases with great intake and good exhaust for cooling)
-even thou that case comes with a cpu - i suggest a seasonic tornado 300w (300w is plenty for almost anything)
-thermalright slk-948u (mount with a panaflo l1a at 5v will be plenty)
-undervolted panaflos for the exhaust (quiet as silent )
-look at spcr's hdds
-padding for the case to insulate noise

don't know if i will be missing anything else - hope this helps

 

[Degrador]

Yeah, it's the fans and powersupply that you choose that determines noise - computer parts of their own right make no noise. You can try and pick parts that'll make less heat, hence requiring less powerful fans to cool them (such as a 35W Mobile Athlon). Just know that if you're wanting to overclock a computer, it'll make more heat and require more cooling. As for parts suggestions:
PSU: Antec powersupply's are always pretty quiet (which wattage depends on what you're putting in your system, but that trueblue 480 one will be more than enough for anything you throw at it).
Case fans: Panaflows are meant to be pretty much the best around.
CPU heatsink: Depends on cpu. Go with a good brand name one and you should be fine (the ones that come with processors usually aren't very quiet).
Graphics: Up to you, but most graphics cards these days come with quiet enough heatsinks.

Edit: Ooh, yeah, case can make a difference too - the choice here is again up to you, but a nice lian li / kingwin / antec would be good.

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: calam63
-even thou that case comes with a cpu - i suggest a seasonic tornado 300w (300w is plenty for almost anything)

Heh, I think you mean it comes with a psu

 

[0roo0roo]

search for zalman resorator. silentpcreview is good as stated. http://www.voodoopc.com/systems/f50.aspx

 

[calam63]

Originally posted by: Degrador

Originally posted by: calam63
-even thou that case comes with a cpu - i suggest a seasonic tornado 300w (300w is plenty for almost anything)

Heh, I think you mean it comes with a psu

come on didn't yours come with a cpu? lol - sorry about that - it comes with a psu not cpu lol

 

[Squirtle632]

Zalman CNPS 7000 AlCu for a heatsink
Zalman fan baybus controller
3-120mm fans or 92mm fans , your preference and ability to fit in the case.... my personal preference is Delta WFB1212M fans....... 80cfm@ 34db but am running at 7 volt max
Antec TP550 power supply
and by all means run those fans at 6 volt


Nice and quiet system

 

[Daemonifuge]

Case: EVERCASE Red ATX Tower Case, Model "GC4292R" -RETAIL - $32.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-127-034&depa=1

Power Supply: Antec 480W Power Supply,Model "TRUE480" -RETAIL - $79.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-909&depa=1

Motherboard: ASUS "K8V SE Deluxe" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL - $118.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-490&depa=1

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1MB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail - $416.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-426&depa=1

Hard Drive: Hitachi 120GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model HDS722512VLAT80 Part# 14R9202, OEM Drive Only - $88.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-145-060&depa=1

Memory: Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - OEM - $195.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-440&depa=1

DVD Drive: TEAC 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Combo Drive Black Bezel, Model DW-552G BLK, OEM - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-139-022&depa=1

Graphics Card: ATI RADEON X800 PRO Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL - $461.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-363&DEPA=1

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0350" -RETAIL - $88.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-102-162&depa=1

Speakers: (I already have surround sound in my room.)

Keyboard: Logitech BLACK Optical Desktop PS/2 104keys -OEM - $17.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=23-126-141&DEPA=1

Total Price: ~ $1564.99 *cry*

Can you guys look over this and tell me what I would need to change to make it quieter? Also, would you recommend buying some of that sound dampening padding?

 

[Davegod]

practically all reviews I've read of the dampening stuff say it's barely any different, and often that it raises the temps significantly also.

Have a look at Antec Sonata and Antec SLK3700BQE cases. Both usually come with PSU's, special quiet versions. Only concern is the supplied PSU's are 380w and 350w respectively, the latter especially might be pushing it with a Ath64 and X800pro. That Evercase does have a relatively decent design for a cheapo case though.

Thermalright SLK948U heatsink should be fine for that board, according to thermalright. Maybe top it off with a Panaflo L1A 80mm fan. Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu or CNPS7000A-AlCu (both include their fans) would probably be my alternatives. Beware all 3 of these are massive copper heatsinks which are probably quite a pain to install - and certainly arent cheap either. Dont forget Artic Silver 5 goop for "superior thermal transfer" or whatever.

Something to consider about the heatsinks - if you're buying the retail CPU anyway, then can try out the supplied HSF and then spend the money on the expensive aftermarket heatsinks if you decide it's too loud. Only drawback to this is you'd have to take the motherboard out of the case and so on in order to install new heatsink - half the physical PC build all over again.

 

[Daemonifuge]

Well, if I find that the PSU is to loud, I saw some of these things from newegg.com. They were something along the lines of PSU noise reducers or something, here's a link to it. Does anyone know if these things actually do reduce the noise?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-256&depa=1

Also, would I be able to fit the noise reducer thing AND a filter on the intake fans? Or just one or the other? If I can fit both, what type of noise reducer and filter do you all recommend?

 

[Granorense]

If you are not in a budget I would get a Sonata. That is a quite and nice looking case, I highly recommend it.

Edit: Here is a link of different vendors and prices from low to high for your convenience: Text

 

[akira34]

I tend to think that if the PSU is properly secured to the case that you won't have excessive noise. What you will hear are the fans inside of it. The noise reducer is more for PSU to case noise (as in shotty mounting of the PSU). I've not had any psu's that would benefit from the "noise reducer" item since they are all secured to the case properly. I also make sure everything else connected to the case is done right and won't "wiggle" loose.

 

[Daemonifuge]

Now, I'm thinking about getting an Antec Sonata case. I know it comes with a True Power 380W PSU, but I'm not sure if that'll be enough for all the parts that I'm buying. Can someone tell me if the PSU will be able to run these components? Or, I'll just have to buy the 480W PSU.

Is this PSU at Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-910&depa=1

The same as this PSU at antec.com?
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_details_powerSupply.php?ProdID=20550

 

[calam63]

-the evercase you picked is more quiet than the sonata - i would ask on silentpcreviews forums for silent components

-from what i heard and pending on what you think is quiet - many people have told me that the psu on the sonata is loud - even thou it is targeting quiet users - at the moment - a seasonic tornado 300w - you can find this at siliconacoustics.com is way quieter than a antec psu

-the stock hsf will be loud- but the athlon64 will be less than usualy p4 or xp stock hsf

-i bet you anything a 300w will be able to run your system fine!

 

[Daemonifuge]

Can someone else back up calam's statement about the EVERCASE being more quiet than the Sonata? The same with the PSU? I just want to make sure, no offense to you calam.

 

[Davegod]

Originally posted by: Daemonifuge
Well, if I find that the PSU is to loud, I saw some of these things from newegg.com. They were something along the lines of PSU noise reducers or something, here's a link to it. Does anyone know if these things actually do reduce the noise?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-256&depa=1

Also, would I be able to fit the noise reducer thing AND a filter on the intake fans? Or just one or the other? If I can fit both, what type of noise reducer and filter do you all recommend?

if my experience is anything to go by, the noise from the psu comes from it's fans, not the psu itself vibrating (which mine [antec 430w] anyway doesnt do in a noticable way). all that thing appears to do is try to dampen vibration from psu to the case, so i cant see it doing much, if anything.

you can get similar things for case fans, basically just rubber to go between the fan and the case. since this is dampening the actual fan's vibration I'd assume these do at least something - how much I dont know, doubt it's worth more than a buck or two.

Wether the fan noise reducer and dust filter can both be installed would probably depend upon how the fan is installed into the case, and how the dust filter is installed. On my case, for example, there is a built in dust filter which goes on the other side of the chassis from where the fan is installed, so this would suggest the noise reducer would be fine, but then the fan itself installs into a plastic clip so no the reducer couldnt be installed (at least without modding to remove the plastic clip).

 

[Degrador]

All Antec PSUs are pretty good - stable and quiet. 380W would be enough for what you're getting, but 430 or more would've been better for future proofing. As for the cases, I'm not sure - haven't had experience with either. Both have 120mm rear fans, both block off fan access at the front. But don't just go for the cheapest case you find that looks good (as I did ), the case has a lot of impact on cooling performance, therefore overclocking performance. Read reviews and then pick the best one for what you're prepared to spend. http://www.silentpcreview.com/ are great for anything to do with cooling.

 

[calam63]

these are the recommended cases at spcr -

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article75-page2.html