Quiet PC, I need a quiet PC!!

[10:13]

I just recently built my first PC (as opposed to off the shelf variety). Love the performance but lordy, lordy this thing is loud. I'm thinking the major source is the 60mm fan (Delta??)on the heatsink (a Thermalright SK6). CPU is T-Bird 1.4.

I suppose I'm asking for general advice. The SK6 doesn't appear to be a great candidate for a fan adapter (60mm to whatever). Is there a quiet(er) 60mm fan?? (haven't seen a Panaflow in 60mm). I'm actually thinking of replacing the the heatsink with a Zalman butterfly heatsink.

So two questions. 1) What's the opinion here on the Zalman heatsinks? (currently I'm not overclocking, if I did, would the Zalman still be a good choice), and 2) what else is likely causing noise? (besides the vibration that the 60mm is also causing :D)

Thanks for your time and advice,
(seti guru, cooling idiot)

[dicki]

hi there

i've not heard of the zalman but i havn't really been keeping up to date to be honest, the sk6 however is one of the better aircooling units about so i would stick with it... there are quieter fans about the delta is the loudest of the bunch by a long way i think it's something like 46dB if you can find a fan at 36dB then it's half the noise output i think sunon do some at that level.

you must realise however that a lower noise fan will probably have a lower air througput so cooling will be seriously affected, i would be seriously considering what kind of ducting i could add to feed cool air to the heatsink and take hot air away

regards

dicki

[mackerel]

There was a big roundup of coolers on Toms Hardware a while back. The Zalmans did quite poorly. Then again, the article was concentrating on cooling power, not noise levels.

Seems there is a compromise to be made. All else being equal, higher airflow = more noise. If you find a good cooling vs noise combo, let me know as that's what I'm after too!

I currently have the big Taisol hsf. These run pretty quiet (not silent) but I wish their cooling was better.

[billg2911]

Hay guys, here's an article i found about quieting your pc

http://www.7volts.com/quiet.htm

[mackerel]

billg2911,

That's an interesting article... in particular, I think I'm going to give the "cut away the case metal near the fan" thing, as I suspect that would help and is relatively easy to do. Makes sense I suppose, less in the way = better airflow and less turbulance noise. Why didn't I think of that earlier?

[Player0]

The SK6 is a great cooler and will cool very well even with a lesser fan. My combo of choice is the SK6 with a Sunon Midrange 60mm. It doesnt cool as well as with the delta, but who can stand listening to that thing? id rather have a dustbuster sucking my ear 24/7.

[mackerel]

Sorry if I'm being a bit thick at the mo, who makes the SK6?

I have a thermosonic something-or-other with a Delta on it. I think I left that running for about 30 minutes before I went and fitted another slower and quieter fan. But the temps went up some 10 C :( At least my ears don't bleed now. Anyone want a spare Delta?

[Gibbon]

try here http://www.quietpc.ca they halso have worldwide stores...

Gibbon

[mackerel]

There's a package for me at my local City Link depot, containing my brand new PC parts... a Via C3 700 MHz which I bought specifically as they're supposed to run cool so can get away with minimal cooling. Oh, it was cheep too :)

Will pick it up in a moment once their delivery guys return, will post benchmarks and temps as soon as I have it running.

[Mad Bad John]

Switch it off - problem solved;)

[moonraker]

On the overclockers extreme case on my PC at work I found that the fans are bolted to the case with no washers of any kind. I.E. metal to metal contact so ANY vibration from the fans is transmitted to the drum like sheet metal case, amplifying the noise. If yours is the same then a set of rubber washers or plastic washers backed up by spring washers should cut down some of the noise. The only other thing I have thought of trying is to obtain some high quality ball bearings to replace those already in the fan.

If the thing is vibrating a lot then it is very likely out of balance. As these things are mostly mass produced injection mouldings if you examine it closely you may find a piece of moulding flash on it that could be causing imbalance. Of course, the faster it runs, the more critical it is that everything should be in balance. Something else you could try is dismantling it and talking nicely to your local machinist to see if he/she can turn/grind the outside diameter of the blades to true them up.