want to build a cabinet for my tower

[minofifa]

hello,

I want to build a simple cabinet to make my computer as quiet as possible. When i do recordings in my room, the noise of the computer is unmanagable. Basically i'm gonna build a box out of plywood probably, line it on the inside with something and stick a heavy glass door on it. I have some rackmountable gear that i would like to putin it too so it will house all of my stuff.

my question is, what kind of concerns should i make for keeping my computer cool. I will give enough room to sit in there with some space. Is this just not a good idea? are there any proven solutions as far as cupboards for computer towers?

i have an AMD 3200+ in an ANTEC sonata case. it is quite quiet now but i need it even quiter....

thanks for any advice.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If it were me, I think I'd try to pinpoint what was causing the noise rather than stick the computer in a box without ventilation.

Is it the powersupply that's making the most noise? CPU fan?

 

[minofifa]

definately the fans.

i dont' know the first thign about changing crap on the inside of my computer, its not really my thing.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Fans are pretty easy to change out. Do you know which fan is causing the noise or can't you tell? (or is it all of them?)

 

[ai42]

Who built the computer then?

Seriously fanbuses are fairly easy to setup. Or you could do the 7v fan mod.

Personally I am crazy about noise so I modified my Dell Dimension 4600 with quieter fans as well as dropping the voltage down to 7v. Also swapped out the PSU with a 120mm fan w/fan speed control. And not only that I put it in my closet with long cables/wireless keyboard/mouse (I know there is not ventelation, but there is a lot of space in there, unlike a boxed enclosure). Anyway behind my closet door and all it is near silent (you really have to strain to hear it)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

You could always get a good watercooling kit, and eliminate the fans completely. If you wanted to make it totally silent you could build a seperate soundproof inclosure for the radiator, fan and waterpump, and get a fanless PS, and use rubber to insulate hard drives to eliminate vibration noise.

 

[minofifa]

ha, i had the closet idea suggested and it is a good one, but my room really isn't set up for that. besides, i really need a place to house my rack-mountable gear (soundcard breakout box, headphone amps, compressor, etc) so I was thinking of a case that had my computer in the bottom, and then 4-5 rack spaces above it.

I will look into getting somebody to help me change the fan / set the power, but would it be ok to put a computer in a case, given there is plenty of room behind it?

 

[TankGuys]

A while back, I built a ducting system that I used in the winter time. I had fans inside the duct work, and brought in cold air from outside to blow into the case. It was extremely quiet, and kept my system very, very cool. It worked great, but it was annoying only being able to use it 5 months of the year, and I always had trouble keeping cold air from leaking in around the duct and making the rest of the room cold. It was pretty cool when it worked though, I must say.

 

[CrispyFried]

You should be able to put it in a cabinet. You will need vent holes but you can baffle them.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Put them in another room.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Originally posted by: minofifa
ha, i had the closet idea suggested and it is a good one, but my room really isn't set up for that. besides, i really need a place to house my rack-mountable gear (soundcard breakout box, headphone amps, compressor, etc) so I was thinking of a case that had my computer in the bottom, and then 4-5 rack spaces above it.

I will look into getting somebody to help me change the fan / set the power, but would it be ok to put a computer in a case, given there is plenty of room behind it?

Do NOT put it in a closet. My friend did that, the computer overheated promptly and never started up again.

 

[ai42]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Originally posted by: minofifa
ha, i had the closet idea suggested and it is a good one, but my room really isn't set up for that. besides, i really need a place to house my rack-mountable gear (soundcard breakout box, headphone amps, compressor, etc) so I was thinking of a case that had my computer in the bottom, and then 4-5 rack spaces above it.

I will look into getting somebody to help me change the fan / set the power, but would it be ok to put a computer in a case, given there is plenty of room behind it?

Do NOT put it in a closet. My friend did that, the computer overheated promptly and never started up again.

I have my 3Ghz P4 Dell Dimension 4600 running in my closet for 8 months + now. However I did add a few extra fans (I did step the fans down to 7v) and upgraded the PSU for something better. It is a bit warm in there (about 10-15 degress warmer than my room temp but its managable). If you are smart about it and monitor your temps your good. However, it is possible the PSU died on your friend's box which I think is most likely.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Whoops. Sorry, I misread the word "Closet". I meant he put it in a cabinet that was only slightly larger than his computer, and closed the cabinet. He started playing some games, after 20-30 minutes it was throttling, and continued to do so for a few hours........ but it gave up on him (the case temperature went higher than max cpu temperature and burned the CPU I guess). When he opened the cabinet a CRAPLOAD of heat came out, im sure the cabinet would have lit on fire if the computer hadn't died.

 

[disperse]

I agree with n0cmonkey. Buy some extension cables and put the computer in another room.

I struggled for years with computer noise. I kept buying more and more expensive cooling hardware that was advertised as "silent".

Here's the truth: if you want a fast computer it is going to produce a lot of heat and there is NO silent solution for dealing with that amount of heat. (With the possible exception of a water cooling system with a remotely installed fan cooled radiator.)

I have a, more or less, silent computer at home but it is an old Celeron 266 running at default voltage. (Very slow, only used as an always on print/file server.)

My studio computer (which needs to be very fast) has about 7 fans running full blast and is loud as hell. However, because it is in the next room over, I don't hear it at all.

Putting a computer in any sort of unventilated isolation box or disabling/slowing down fans in order to quiet it down is only going to shorten the life of the electronic components and sacrifice stability.

Mark.

P.S. This topic reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask everyone, I'll put it in a new post.

 

[robisc]

Buy a Mac mini, it's as close to near silence as I have heard. Seriously though if you aren't into "switching" here's what I did to one of my main systems that stays on 24x7, since I too hate PC noise. I replaced my HSF with a Zalman ALCU unit with fan controller and it is super quiet, also changed my PSU out with a quiet Seasonic unit, most of the other "quiet" PSUs I have used have been anything but. Also change out the fans, just as in PSUs most that are labeled "quiet" or near silent aren't, try the Nexus units, they really are good ones, here is a good site with probably more info that you will ever need about quiet PCs.

Link