Maybe I shoulda gotten a Dell...??? Now that I am deaf...

[jmatej]

Why is it that brand desktops are so much quieter than home built? Do the brand names simply ignore the heat issues? I have a xp2100+ system on a Giga-byte GA7AXP that I recently put together and became concerned with the heat generated in the case-I have two cheetah hard drives. I used a smallish aluminium case and added an antec heatsink fan to help with the chip temp. It worked but now the sound is so damn annoying that I try to avoid turning on the system if I can use my quieter laptop instead. What is the secret to a QUIET system that I wouldn't mind leaving on all the time?
:disgust:

 

[jarsoffart]

Dells do let their systems run a lot hotter than home builders. For quiet I would suggest putting a Thermalright SLK-800 on your CPU and use an Antec TruePower430 for your PSU. On the SLK-800, you only need a quiet 80mm fan, like the NMB fans from SVC.com. As for the two Seagate Cheetah hard drives, I don't think it would be safe to put them in a hard drive enclosure. I guess you could buy some of those heatsinks from AllElectronics.com and epoxy them on to the hard drives and just use two quiet NMB fans from SVC.com, but I think the epoxying of heatsinks would void the hard drive warranty. To avoid the voiding, you could use zipties to secure the heatsinks on, but that might cause vibrations, which would increase the noise level, unless you found someone way to get heatsinks super tight on the hard drives. If the Gigabyte mobo has a northbridge cooler, replace it with one of the heatsinks from Allelectronics.com or buy the Zalman heatsink. For the former option, it might require some cutting, but it will be cheaper.

 

[beverage]

Originally posted by: jmatej
Why is it that brand desktops are so much quieter than home built? Do the brand names simply ignore the heat issues? I have a xp2100+ system on a Giga-byte GA7AXP that I recently put together and became concerned with the heat generated in the case-I have two cheetah hard drives. I used a smallish aluminium case and added an antec heatsink fan to help with the chip temp. It worked but now the sound is so damn annoying that I try to avoid turning on the system if I can use my quieter laptop instead. What is the secret to a QUIET system that I wouldn't mind leaving on all the time?
:disgust:

I'd imagine that a lot of "brand desktops" run considerably hotter than those that are home built. Companies know the limits on how much heat a system can handle. As long as they stay under, they're fine. Of course the home builder, buys all kinds of nifty gadgets and LCD screens to tell them temperatures of anything and everything in their systems. If it's not under 50 deg. C people freak out and start adding fans. Also keep in mind that your processor is one of the hottest there is. I have the same one and run at about 48 C @ idle. I'm fine with it, and it's not too loud (Panaflo's everywhere) So just remember AMD says you can take that processor up around 90 before you'll have trouble, i'm not sure i'd push that if i were you, but you'll be running fine with less fans I'm sure.

 

[Cerb]

Get a case with plastic sides (Min Maw and Palo Alto make some--Palo Altos are nicer, but harder to find), get a quiet PSU and quiet HSF. The biggest thing OEMs have against you is that they know EXACTLY what will be in EVERY machine's layout, so they can have ducts and all that good stuff on a large scale, where for us it differs for each mobo.

Personally, my next case is going to be an old speaker enclosure. The wood will cut down noise, and once I get grounding squared away, it should be all good from there with only two big slow case fans. I just need the $$$ for it (I have, oh, $9 to my name right now 🙂)

 

[mechBgon]

The Cheetahs should be provided with forced-air cooling of some kind. They don't generate exceptional amounts of heat, actually... about the same as the Barracuda ATA IV. But you want to keep those units cooled, I would shoot for surface temps below 35C if possible. The fan-cooled HDD cage in the Antec-type cases is an excellent way to do this, maybe you can arrange something similar for your case.

 

[everman]

My home built PCs are quiet, and keep a nice temp. Just throw on a large heatsink w/ quiet fans all around. Now I'd bet that your average Dell will run warmer, but they're still stable.

 

[Davegod]

open the case door, stick your head around and work out which bit is loudest, quieten that and then onto the next loudest...

I take it the board is a GA-7vAXP. Take off the northbridge fan and either leave as-is or replace with one of those Zalman chipset heatsinks. I'd be very surprised if the northbridge fan was doing anything at all. My gigabyte just has a titchy heatsink, fans are there for show :/ One fan down.

As said, thats a hot cpu. Replacing the heatsink with a monster copper job (the SLK-800 is probablyoverclocker & quiet pc builder hs of choice, but quite $). This allows you to use a larger fan at lower rpm, which can mean a LOT less noise - espiecally if you have a Tornado or something on there.

PSU, depending on how noisy this is, consider replacing either the whole thing (easiest, most $) for something quiet (I suggest Antec Truepower as mine is quiet, everyone says theyre quiet, plus has a lead to connect 2 fans for lower rpm). The other option is open up the one you have and replacing the fans... cheapest but potentially lethal as the capacitors in there hold a lethal charge even when power is turned off.

Graphics card fan... Might be able to work something out but pretty much a card-by-card problem.

SCSI hdd, cant do anything about these 🙁

Case & case fans - get a case that doesnt rattle and has good airflow design, something on the cheiftec chassis like an Antec 1030AMG (which also comes with one of those truepowers and a hdd cage with fan holder). This gives you 2 intake and 2 exhaust fan options, maybe another on the case door. 2 low rpm fans on each will sort you out amply, one of these woul dbe cooling the SCSI drives at the same time. If theyre as hot as a Cuda IV then thats not very hot seeing as mine is currently 17C 🙂


Bought desktops do run hotter than many homebuilders will tolerate, a lot of people here would flip out over a 65C cpu but buy a full system and thats neither surprising or even going to be noticed. Takes a lot of rpm to take down a further 20C, to get the 40-or-so C self builders like. Theyll also ditch a lot of pointless noise like chipset fans, spend a lot of manpower picking hard disks that are fairly quiet (although probably well after other critera, no doubt being cost & reliability). Possibly only Alienware make computers with the quality of components most self builders pick though, and its more interesting doing it yourself imo.

 

[trikster2]

I'd imagine that a lot of "brand desktops" run considerably hotter than those that are home built.

The CPU on my lil dell is running at 32C. And it is VERY quiet. I've taken many Dells apart and the quietness is due to just plain good design you don't see in a lot of home systems. Dell loves things like Ducts and plastic sides. Much quiter and cooler than anything I have built on my own.....

 

[Jhhnn]

Big OEM's like Dell put a lot of work into building quiet systems. They also exercise complete control over every aspect of manufacturing, custom spec'ing the case, psu, fans, drives, everything.

That's not to say home-builts can't be quiet, it just takes the same kind of attention to detail and experience. The heat output from modern systems is much higher than in the old days, so it's more difficult. It's also more expensive- feature for feature, modern OEM machines are cheaper, largely due to their purchasing power and level of standardization.

It's very important to start right, with a case that allows easy airflow and quiet fans to exploit those open airways. Then add a psu specifically built for quiet, like a truAntec, Zalman, Seasonic or similar. Chipset and vidcard fans are out, Zalman offers fanless alternatives that work well. The processor hsf is often a major source of noise, there are a variety of quiet solutions available from svc or nexfan, for example. Your SCSI drives don't really help, at all, they're notoriously noisy.

There are a variety of ways to proceed, depending largely on your pocketbook and willingness to tinker. If you can afford it, get an Antec Sonata case/psu combo and one of the super quiet hsf's, Zalman chipset and vidcard coolers if necessary. End of problem. Or carefully identify the loudest noise source, fix that, work your way down the line. It's likely the cpu or psu fan doing the most harm.

The actual temps aren't really important other than being low enough to allow stability and longevity. Enthusiasts tend to overemphasize or even obsess on these numbers, largely because overclocking demands that everything else (other than noise) be optimal in order to wring out that last Mhz....

 

[jmatej]

The loudest fan in my sytem is the Antec heatsink fan. My PSU is an Enermax "Whisper". What good quiet alternatives are there for the heatsink?

 

[mechBgon]

Thermalright SK-7 with an 80mm Panaflo L1A is a good all-around bet. If you get one, make sure to pull it as far away from the solid-plastic end of the CPU socket as the clip will allow, so it doesn't ride up on the solid-plastic section.

The SK-7's clip is really easy to engage... skip the usual screwdriver baloney and just use your thumbs 😀

edit: SVC has the SK-7 for $20, but for some reason they're perpetually out-of-stock on the 80mm Panaflo L1A. You might see if you can pick one up in For Sale/Trade for a good price.

 

[Zap]

Why is it that brand desktops are so much quieter than home built? Do the brand names simply ignore the heat issues? I have a xp2100+ system on a Giga-byte GA7AXP that I recently put together and became concerned with the heat generated in the case-I have two cheetah hard drives.[

In your typical quiet Dell desktop system you are NOT going to get Cheetah drives nor AMD CPUs. Exchange those hard drives for some 8MB cache Seagate Barracuda V drives and then get medieval on the fans in your system. Start with the CPU fan, either by going with a large heatsink of your choice with a quiet 80mm fan.

Anyone else notice this thing about higher-end brand name systems... the video cards often will have passive cooling and may be a slower version. For instance, Gateway sells PCs with 128MB Geforce4 graphics. The cards are actually MX 440SE with SDRAM and a passive heatsink!!!

The biggest thing OEMs have against you is that they know EXACTLY what will be in EVERY machine's layout, so they can have ducts and all that good stuff on a large scale, where for us it differs for each mobo.

Doesn't Intel specify where the CPU should be on motherboards? I've noticed some Foxconn and Liteon cases that have a duct designed to sit against the retail box Intel HSF so that it sucks air from outside the case DIRECTLY ONTO THE HEATSINK. Check out Newegg.com and look for LiteOn case model #HT 761. Also check out Foxconn (Supercase/Allied) for the two models that say "Intel Approved for 3.06GHz."

 

[yhelothar]

i just need to take out the noisy fans.. or run them at 7V...
you do not need two intakes and 2 exhausts and a 7000RPM cpu fan.. that's overkill and plain stupid..

just get one 25CFM intake that is noiseless... same one for your exhuast.. get a SK-7 for like $20 from svc, and get a 2000RPM 80mm fan for it.. that'll be pretty silent..
don't forget the rubber washers too.. vibrating metal makes a ton of noise..

plus i can't see how you can have a quiet system with two 15,000RPM SCSI..

 

[beverage]

Originally posted by: trikster2

I'd imagine that a lot of "brand desktops" run considerably hotter than those that are home built.

The CPU on my lil dell is running at 32C. And it is VERY quiet. I've taken many Dells apart and the quietness is due to just plain good design you don't see in a lot of home systems. Dell loves things like Ducts and plastic sides. Much quiter and cooler than anything I have built on my own.....

What's your CPU?