Silent Running ... it's quite now.

[rkr1958]

Background. I built my computer 3+ years ago to be quite ... Zalman CPU fan, Antec quite case, Northwood P4 CPU, 120-mm fans, etc ... and it's quite. However, ... my wife's computer ... which was my old computer ... 6 1/2 year old Gateway P3 733-MHz wasn't.

The reason ... back in 2002 after I added a second harddrive I started getting lockups. All the tech people I talked to from the local computer shops (CompUSA, Best Buy, Gigaparts, etc.) told me that my PC was underpowered (200-watts PSU w/fan) and that I needed CPU heatsink w/fan (it came with only a heatsink). Did the upgrades, replaced heatsink with heatsink + fan, added a case fan, changed out the 200-watts Gateway propriety PSU with a 300-watts ATX. I had to "customized" my case to get the standard ATX PSU to fit. After all that ... you guessed it ... still lockups. I solved my problem by getting a PCI IDE controller card and hooking up my second harddrive to that. However, after all that I wasn't about to undo all these "upgrades". I did learn though.

Now 5 years later, the inside of my wife's PC needed cleaning ... I thought what the heck ... I removed the 300-watts ATX PSU and put the 200-watt propriety PSU w/fan that came with it, I unhooked the case fan that I had added and removed the heatsink w/fan and put the original heatsink back on.

Now with these "upgrades" back to the original configuration and with my quite PC all is truly quite now. I just can't believe I waited so long to do this. Well ... defintely a learning experience.

I did learn this 3+ years ago, for the types of hardware and software issues and questions we have, don't seek computer advice from the tech people at stores like COMPUSA, Best Buy, Circuit City ... because that advice will be wrong the majority of the time.

[redwudz]

On most of the newer PCs I assemble, I try to go for 120mm case fans, and also check the db and RPM rating of the fans before I install them. I avoid fans that run above about 2000RPM whenever possible.

Same with CPU fans. Unless your CPU is a major heat producer like some earlier AMDs or the Intel Prescott's, you don't need 'leaf blower' type fans. Also consider a add on-fan controller if you need to 'take the edge off' some fan noise. Sometimes reducing the speed a few hundred RPM can help with noise levels and minimally affect cooling.

And many newer power supplies use 120mm fans and are very quiet.

The most irritating fans I have ran into are very small CPU fans that spin about 5000RPM. Like a mosquito. I toss them into the trash immediately. Some tiny video card fans aren't much better. But you can often fit a larger and quieter PCI slot fan in there and disconnect the video card fan.

Using rounded ATA cables or SATA drives improves the cooling and reduces the amount of air that needs to be pushed through the case and may let you use quieter, lower RPM fans.

If all else fails, put the computer below ear level, elevated off the floor a foot to keep the dust level lower. I have one at work in a cabinet for security purposes, that still has good airflow and cooling, but I can't hear it at all.

[rkr1958]

The computer I built around the Antec quite case uses variable speed fans for the PSU and for the 120-mm case fans. I cool my CPU with a Zalman heatsink/fan (which weights in at over 16-oz) and also has a variable speed control. I have that set to minimum and my CPU under heavy load rarely gets above 115 degrees F and that's with all my fans spinning at less than 1450 RPMs.

With the retro-upgrades I made to my wife's computer ... everything is so quite ... it's nice.