Parts for a near-silent PC

brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
7,253
8
0
Edit: I added prices and reworded stuff.

A buddy of mine is trying to put together a very quiet PC. He'll use it for email, web surfing, office products, movies, music, programming, but no gaming whatsoever. He has the monitor/mouse/keyboard already but needs the rest. The most important requirement: the PC needs to be as SILENT as possible and he's willing to pay extra to get it that way, although nothing ridiculous.

Here are the parts that have been picked out for sure:

* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
* RAM: 2x1GB DDR2-800

Here are the parts that I need advice on and rough amounts he's willing to spend on them:

* Motherboard: socket 775, preferably the 965P chipset, but the northbridge has to be passively cooled. ~$120 - $150.
* CPU HSF: socket 775, preferably something that can cool without requiring a fan. I've heard the Tuniq Tower (which is out of stock everywhere) and Scythe Ninja are pretty good, but would like to hear real world experience using passively cooled heatsinks. ~$40.
* Video Card: PCI-E x16, passively cooled (or can be if you buy a 3rd party GPU heatsink), from the last generation of cards (x1300 or 7600gs). Optionally, if it has a nice HD-TV tuner, i'd like to hear it. <$100 w/o tuner, up to $150 with a tuner.
* Case: mid tower ATX case that has good airflow, 2x120mm fan mounts (at least in the front and back), and good sound dampening. Up to $150.
* Case fans: if the case above doesn't come with quiet fans, recommend some quiet 120mm fans that move a decent amount of air. Up to $20.
* PSU: the power requirements aren't too extreme on this rig, probably a quality 350-400W PSU will be plenty. I believe Seasonic makes some quiet PSU's, but I would appreciate some advice. Up to $80.
* Hard drive: obviously, WD Raptors are out of the question :) He needs a hard drive that is 7200rpm, 200-300GB, 16mb cache and is as quiet as possible. Up to $100.

thanks!
 

CSMR

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2004
1,376
2
81
Silent PCs are very difficult to make indeed. The fact that people in the forum just mentioned have to devote their lives to the quest attests to that.

If possible build a relatively quiet PC and put it in another room from the monitor/keyboard etc. with long cables.
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
3
76
I built a Mini-ITX computer for someone that was completely quiet. Used a laptop hard drive, Core Duo, and a 7600 gt. The best part was the computer was the size of my hand. It would provide more than enough performance for him while being whisper quiet. Otherwise he could always just buy a mac mini and install windows :).
 

imported_Imp

Diamond Member
Dec 20, 2005
9,148
0
0
I managed to make my system a lot less noisy by switching out a fan, and closing a side vent with cardboard. Best thing I ever did. Now I can hear my speakers/receiver droning, and the hard drives, and minor case vibration...grrr
 

pcy

Senior member
Nov 20, 2005
260
0
0
Hi,

I'm just abuot to release the firsts PaQ (Powerful and Quiet) case we have developed.

Shipping to the US in volume at a sensible price staill ahs to be organized; so don't hold your breath unless you live in the UK.


But take a look at our site:
http://www.paq.ltd.uk
(yes - I know it needs work) and tell me what you think.



Peter
 

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
3
76
I really think you have a great idea going there, but why a rackmount? Having worked in a server room for quite a long time 50-60 dBA would be considered quiet computing there. With 8000 RPM Delta fans the norm, why not make it a tower midtower for your target audience?

Never mind saw the other cases. Seems like a great idea.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
First off "silent" is the complete absence of any sound, thats not possible let alone practical.

I've been building very low noise machines for about a year or two now and I think I've got it down pretty good. I would guess my system comes in at somewhere in the lower 20 dBA range. That would be a real (SPCR measured) 20 dBA not some bogus Thermaltake or SilenX ratting.

Motherboard: In addition to looking for a passively cooled chipset I would look for a board that has good fan control, almost no fan is quiet enough at 12. A board with good fan control will eliminate the need for a fan controller as well as ensuring that your system temperature is safely maintained.

CPU HS/F: Remember that if you take away the fan on the CPU heatsink you have to compensate with more case air flow. You can get away with passively cooling 6400 but I'm not sure it would be worth it or any quieter then say a Thermalright SI-120 or Ultra-120 with a Yate Loon or Zalman CNPS 9500AT.

PSU: Seasonic is really the best option here. Your power requirements are very low so the 330 watt S12 would be my recommendation

Hard drive: All them modern drives seem to be pretty close now that everyone is using the fluid bearing motors. Seagate and Western Digital would be my suggestions in that capacity range though you may be surprised to hear the Raptor is actually a very quiet drive.

Case: This is going to come down to personal preference to large extent. Personally I'm not willing to look at an ugly case no regardless of acoustic benefits so my personal choice that fits your requirements would be the Lian Li PC-V1100, V600, or PC-7B.

If you don't mind plastic and steel you can give Antec a look also, specifically the P180, P150 and Solo.

Go to SPCR, read the reviews and see what others are doing with their machines in the forums.
 

Spicedaddy

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2002
2,305
75
91
Get a case with a 120mm rear exhaust, I like the Coolermaster Centurion 5, and a Thermalright HR-01 (with duct).

PSU: Seasonic or something else with a single 120mm fan that's known to be quiet.

Motherboard and video card: passively cooled

HD: Western Digital are the quietest I think (haven't heard Seagate's latest, but my 7200.9 is pretty loud when it seeks) Maybe suspend it in a 5in bay to reduce vibrations.

So that's 2 fans total (120mm), should be pretty quiet... If not, then add sound dampening material.
 

PhoenixOrion

Diamond Member
May 4, 2004
4,312
0
0
For any build, may it be silent, quiet or not quiet, it would be good to know what's the budget.

It can get ridiculously expensive if you want almost silent pc.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
My Lian-Li PC V1200B is very very quiet for a case, especially compared to my old case with the 7 80MM case fans -_-. But if anything, you'll hear the optical drives with that case... I know I sure do.
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Originally posted by: brikis98
A buddy of mine is trying to put together a totally silent PC. He'll use it for email, web surfing, office products, movies, music, programming, but no gaming whatsoever.
The most important requirement: the PC needs to be SILENT and he's willing to pay extra to get it that way, although nothing ridiculous.

thanks!
Have him run this with XP :thumbsup::laugh:

 

brikis98

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
7,253
8
0
thx for all the replies so far folks. I edited the first OP to explain that the PC doesn't have to be actually 100% silent (which is probably impossible to do) but it needs to be as quiet as his budget allows. I added rough price ranges for each component, they are obviously +/- $20 or so, so please make some specific recommendations. I'll check out silent pc review as well.
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
7,380
0
0
Originally posted by: brikis98
A buddy of mine is trying to put together a totally silent PC. He'll use it for email, web surfing, office products, movies, music, programming, but no gaming whatsoever. He has the monitor/mouse/keyboard already but needs the rest. The most important requirement: the PC needs to be SILENT and he's willing to pay extra to get it that way, although nothing ridiculous.

Here are the parts that have been picked out for sure:

* CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
* RAM: 2x1GB DDR2-800

Here are the parts that I need advice on:

* Motherboard: socket 775, preferably the 965P chipset, but the northbridge has to be passively cooled.
* CPU HSF: socket 775, preferably something that can cool without requiring a fan. I've heard the Tuniq Tower (which is out of stock everywhere) and Scythe Ninja are pretty good, but would like to hear real world experience using passively cooled heatsinks.
* Video Card: PCI-E x16, passively cooled (or can be if you buy a 3rd party GPU heatsink), from the last generation of cards (x1300 or 7600gs). Optionally, if it has a nice HD-TV tuner, i'd like to hear it.
* Case: mid tower ATX case that has good airflow, 2x120mm fan mounts (at least in the front and back), and good sound dampening.
* Case fans: if the case above doesn't come with quiet fans, recommend some quiet 120mm fans that move a decent amount of air
* PSU: the power requirements aren't too extreme on this rig, probably a quality 350-400W PSU will be plenty. I believe Seasonic makes some quiet PSU's, but I would appreciate some advice.
* Hard drive: obviously, WD Raptors are out of the question :) He needs a hard drive that is 7200rpm, 200-300GB, 16mb cache and is as quiet as possible.

thanks!

I don't know why you think you need a C2D for "email, web surfing, office products, movies, music, programming, but no gaming whatsoever", but whatever floats your boat (and sinks your pocketbook)...

I won't comment on the motherboard or CPU cooler since you're dead set on an LGA775 part and I am much better to advise for AMD chips. However, if you decide that AMD is an option, I'd be happy to suggest some stuff. Check out my rig for some ideas for a silent small form factor and very cheap setup. It's also got great overclocking potential if you're into that sort of stuff. The motherboard is rather sparse on features, but there are many good alternatives if you need things like 10/100/1000 Ethernet and FireWire.

Get the Thermalright V1 VGA Cooler from heatsinkfactory.com for $16 shipped. It's cheap and passively cooled (though it does include a silent fan included that you can use elsewhere since the V1 is good enough to use passively, especially if you don't overclock the graphics card).

Again, for a small form factor option, check out the very nice, quiet and small Antec NSK 1300. It's got an included power supply and is very inexpensive. Otherwise, the Antec Super LANBoy is hard to beat for size, weight, price, and quietness. The design may not appeal to everyone though. Check out the Lian-Li PC-60/61 if you're into a more subtle design. They use 80mm fans, I believe, but they're pretty quiet and the quality is top-notch.

Go for a Seagate Barracuda 7200.8, 7200.9, or 7200.10 250GB SATA hard drive, as the prices are pretty darn good right now. 250GB is definately the sweet spot for hard drives right now (and has been for some time now). Seagate offers a 5 year warranty, which I think is still industry-leading.

Those are my suggestions. I have a feeling you're pretty deadset about the dual core setup, and while I really really don't see the need for dual core given 99% of consumers' intended use for computers, it's an inevitability that everything progress towards multicore systems.

LONG LIVE SINGLE CORE AMD. Ha, there's my ridiculousness for the day.
 

BOLt

Diamond Member
Dec 11, 2004
7,380
0
0
Originally posted by: CSMR
Silent PCs are very difficult to make indeed. The fact that people in the forum just mentioned have to devote their lives to the quest attests to that.

If possible build a relatively quiet PC and put it in another room from the monitor/keyboard etc. with long cables.

Bad idea on the monitor if you plan on using DVI (which you should unless you're stuck with a CRT). DVI cables' max good signal length is ~6ft. If you're gonna use VGA, it's probably not as big of a deal to have a super long cable.
 

pcy

Senior member
Nov 20, 2005
260
0
0
Hi,

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
I really think you have a great idea going there, but why a rackmount? Having worked in a server room for quite a long time 50-60 dBA would be considered quiet computing there. With 8000 RPM Delta fans the norm, why not make it a tower midtower for your target audience?

Never mind saw the other cases. Seems like a great idea.


It's a 4U sized case that can be used as a RackMount, Midi tower, or Desktop.

We will produce other sizes.

A lot of musicians have audio stuff mounted in Racks, including their PC - the RackMount option is for them.


I agree, nobody would put a case like the PaQ in a server room.



Peter