Why are OEM systems so quiet?

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: NTB
...and dropping a couple 120mm Panaflo L1As in it over the summer.

See... Why do you think you NEED that much airflow? You most likely don't.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Smilin

Originally posted by: pukemon Dell's explanation is that they spend a lot of R&D on meeting some swedish guidelines regarding noise pollution and EMI shielding particularly in business settings. With that, they are required to build quiet systems for the corporate desktop, but the tradeoff is often that they will use proprietary designs in order achieve the low noise while providing proper airflow (as required by intel's guideline) while using passive cooling over the cpu, in their system designs. see the current dimension and optiplex line - note the huge duct over the massive heatsink, and only a low rpm 92 or 120mm exhaust fan. that's one of the main reason they achieve such low noise levels. they also use plastic drive rails and plastic case/side panels over the aluminum and steel chassis. say what you want about dells, but their engineering (low noise, proper airflow, low emi) and industrial design is actually very good.

Yeah, I give em the props. Their newest cases are quite the engineering achievment. Especially the optiplexes and precisions. If I got to actually design my own case from the ground up I'd have a much easier time building it quiet too.

They also only use 1 case fan + the PS fan. No active cooling on the CPU, just ducting. amish

I just got a new Poweredge SC P4 server, and it is pretty much silent. It has an active CPU cooler (strange, as every other P4 Dell I've seen in a full tower uses a duct), one 120 mm directly at the back of the case, and the PSU fan. It isn't silent, but it is very quiet.

 

[RobCur]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
Heat doesn't really matter a lot if you're not overclocking. Even 60C isn't a big deal.

my computer locked up at that temperature, sure it does!

 

[ElFenix]

GAH! slapping a fan on a heat sink doesn't make it any more active cooling than pulling the air through a duct and then out the fan! (which is probably a better design than fan-on designs since the air is all going 1 way and you don't have the big dead spot under the fan)

 

[Jhhnn]

Pukemon has it right- Dell works hard to build quiet systems, and they have the ability to custom spec every bit of every machine. It's not hard to learn from their example, to home-build quiet boxes.

The first thing you need to realize is that everything you think you know about heat dissipation is probably wrong, if you learned it someplace like here. Enthusiasts tend to over-fan their machines, particularly overclockers, believing it helps to wring out that last mhz. They also believe in things that aren't necessarily true- AMD runs hotter than Intel, for example, and that front fans really help. It's also common to find folks who believe that cpu temps above 50C are "bad."

With a little study, it's easy to see why a Dell is quiet. It has a fairly beefy honestly rated 250w psu whose temp controlled fan is sized for proper heat dissipation at full output. A 450w unit will, of course, demand a louder fan if properly designed. It has well defined airways and a single large low rpm case exhaust fan. It has a big heatsink on the cpu, and they get to cheat noise by using the case exhaust as the cpu fan. It doesn't have any chipset fans, vidcard fans, HDD cooler fans or any other humjob fans.

Other than the fact that it's tough to duct the cpu to the rear exhaust fan, homebuilts can have the same features, with similar results.

 

[tcsenter]

The dirty little secret of most chassis/case manufacturers is that they spend about 3 minutes on air flow and ventilation design considerations before foisting the case into mass production. The large OEMs have far more stringent requirements of their case designs and match the ventilation characteristics to the needs of the internal environment.

 

[s2kpacifist]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
OEM computers quiet??? HAH! You obviously have never heard a server!

Nothing beats hearing the sound of the beast with special sound proof enclosure removed starting up...

You can make a very quiet system (both AMD or Intel based) as noted earlier. Of course, these OEM computers are NOT OVERCLOCKED either!

-DAK-

Wow....that is one BEAST....LOL

I think that system could be heard over an F-18 anyday.

 

[sharkeeper]

Yes, you have no idea! LOL

-DAK-

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: NTB
...and dropping a couple 120mm Panaflo L1As in it over the summer.

See... Why do you think you NEED that much airflow? You most likely don't.

Only 2, tops...one in, one out. Maybe just one. As to whether I need it or not, well, here's what's sitting in my existing case right now:

AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (not OC'd, Thermalright AX-7 & 80mm Panaflo L1A for a cooler)
Antec Truepower 330 PSU
PNY Geforce3 Ti200-based video card
Soundblaster Audigy soundcard
Sigma Designs Hollywood+ (for DVD-out to television)
Hauppauge WinTV PVR250 (TV Tuner/video-in/hardware MPEG encoder)
(2) 7200 RPM harddrives
Pioneer DVD-105S DVD/CDROM
Lite-on 24x10x40 CDRW

Nate

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: NTB
...and dropping a couple 120mm Panaflo L1As in it over the summer.

See... Why do you think you NEED that much airflow? You most likely don't.

Only 2, tops...one in, one out. Maybe just one. As to whether I need it or not, well, here's what's sitting in my existing case right now:

AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (not OC'd, Thermalright AX-7 & 80mm Panaflo L1A for a cooler)
Antec Truepower 330 PSU
PNY Geforce3 Ti200-based video card
Soundblaster Audigy soundcard
Sigma Designs Hollywood+ (for DVD-out to television)
Hauppauge WinTV PVR250 (TV Tuner/video-in/hardware MPEG encoder)
(2) 7200 RPM harddrives
Pioneer DVD-105S DVD/CDROM
Lite-on 24x10x40 CDRW

Nate

If you really do want quieter, try using zero case fans. You could very well have no issues at all.

 

[NTB]

Wingznut

Really? I guess I really have gotten a little paranoid - as far as temps go - from hanging around here . I'm in the process of doing a little experimenting w/ my current system right now; I'll see how it goes with no fans. At the moment, I'm running with 1 80mm outtake fan at the back, in addition to the PSU fans. CPU is holding between 46 & 47 C. Haven't tried anything to really load the CPU yet.

Nate

 

[Wingznut]

Like I said above... I'm not using any case fans at all. Not only that, but my PC is in an enclosed compartment in my desk, with the door closed.

 

[txxxx]

It seems just decent venting and little to no extra fans in your PC is the way to go. I did that myself, Zalman 92mm fan @2200rpm's, only one other fan in PSU, and stuck under the desk out of sight (and hearing). Does the job well.

I personally think these case fans are very overhyped, and not necessary. Didnt do much use when I had a few 80mm's in the case, temperature wise.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Wingznut
Like I said above... I'm not using any case fans at all. Not only that, but my PC is in an enclosed compartment in my desk, with the door closed.

I saw that after my last post...interesting, especially considering some of the stuff I've read around here. But like somebody said, this board is likely to be a little biased. Especially with people who are overclocking their systems. I'm still experimenting as I type this; I started encoding a video using TMPGEnc to try and stress the CPU. After nearly 20 minutes at full load, the CPU is still staying in the 48-50 degree range.

Nate

 

[NTB]

More experiment results, this time with both case fans disabled (only things left are the 92mm intake & 80mm output on the PSU, and the 80mm on the Processor).

Idle temps were in the 47-48 C range; after 12 minutes encoding with TMPGEnc, I'm at 53 - 55 C. CPU Utilization is at 100%, according to WinXP task monitor.

One thing that I did notice is that the secondary temp monitor on the mainboard (for case temps) is at 40C. So far everything is perfectly stable.

Nate

 

[Zepper]

On my last AMD project I used a huge HS with an 80mm fan on it (the Fanner/Speeze from newegg) - very quiet and keeps my CPU (Duron 1.2@1.32G) at or below 20degC!
. For case fans, 120mm are the way to go - they move HUGE amounts of air quietly.
.bh.
:sun:

 

[iamme]

On a related note, i just ordered this HSF for my Athlon 2100+

Arctic Cooling Slim Silent Pro TC

It says it's rated up to a Athlon 3000+

Airflow specs:
14 CFM at 1400 RPM
36 CFM at 2800 RPM

Noise levels:
12 dB at 1400 RPM
27 dB at 2800 RPM

i'm hoping this quiets things down in my PC.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Zepper
On my last AMD project I used a huge HS with an 80mm fan on it (the Fanner/Speeze from newegg) - very quiet and keeps my CPU (Duron 1.2@1.32G) at or below 20degC!
. For case fans, 120mm are the way to go - they move HUGE amounts of air quietly.
.bh.
:sun:

I'm still considering that...at the very least I'd like to have a big,slow output fan on the back of my case. As I said earlier, I'm currently running w/no casefans (CPU temp is between 49 & 50 after sitting for two hours; mainboard sensor says 40) and the top & sides of the case near the PSU are pretty warm to the touch.

Nate