Reducing the acoustic noise from a PC

[Greg Sullivan]

Hi,
I would like to reduce the amount of acoustic noise (i.e noise from fans & disks etc) that my PC eminates. If anyone has gone through this process, I\'d really appreciate some advice and/or good web pointers etc.

Thanks,
Greg.

[MacPhearson]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Greg Sullivan:
Hi,
I would like to reduce the amount of acoustic noise (i.e noise from fans & disks etc) that my PC eminates. If anyone has gone through this process, I\'d really appreciate some advice and/or good web pointers etc.

Thanks,
Greg.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You could do one of two things......The most expensive way, and probably not the best method would be to spend $800 to a $1,000 on an Iso Box, which is nothing more than a thick, bulky, insultated box with a door and a special design for ventilation with a quiet fan. If you were to attempt to build such a box yourself, you would need to pay close attention to the proper design. Otherwise, you could burn up your computer inside without having proper ventilation. I would never attempt to build one myself for this reason.

Now for a cheap, easy, and much better solution than the one stated above…….Cut out a small hole in the wall, big enough for mouse, keyboard, and monitor cables in an inconspicuous location, get extended cables for your mouse, keyboard, and monitors, and put your CPU and audio hard drives in another room which can be closed off with a door. You can also stuff the hole in the wall for the cables with rags or foam for complete insulation and isolation from computer fan noise. Works great for me. I have three computers and several external SCUSI hard drives in the other room and I do not hear any trace of computer or fan noise when the doors are shut.

[Doc]

You can also stick the computer into a closet, just remember wherever you put it you need airflow for cooling. Replacing or adding low noise fans such as Panaflow L1A series help alot.

[andygrim]

You could have a look at... www.quietpc.com (\"http://www.quietpc.com\")

[mschiff]

I second the advice to put the CPU in another room. Since I did that, it is totally quiet in my studio. Of course, now the other room has 3 computers in it and it\'s noisy as hell [grin].

-- Martin

[Greg Sullivan]

Many thanks for all the great advice - I really appreciate it. (if/when I actually do this, I\'ll report back with my results)

Greg.

[Greg Sullivan]

I\'ve started work on this project, by buying a Silent Drive enclosure, CPU heatsink/fan, and a power supply from http://www.quietpc.com. (\"http://www.quietpc.com.\") It\'s made a big improvement - definitely worth the money IMHO. Not totally silent, especially when the disk heads move, but definitely a lot better.

Now I have to either move everything into another room, or find a way to silence my....refrigerator. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif

Greg.

[gigaDiga]

I just got all that www.quietpc.com (\"http://www.quietpc.com\") stuff as well and it\'s blown me away. It\'s so quiet that the rest of the world sounds noisy! How do I get the rest of the world to shut up?

Seriously in a bedroom studio environment the damn things SILENT... I really can\'t hear it. Sure pop it into a studio and the story might be different but I\'m happy. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif

[ondrej]

I did my silent upgrade about 2 years ago and it was definitelly worthy. I mean, since then I had to buy a new up-to-date processor, a new up-to-date memory, a new up-to-date hard drive, but my computer is still very silent using the same old components. :-)
I also bought my HD with dB(A) chart in my hand so I have to look at HD-LED to check if it is working.

Ondrej

[Greg Sullivan]

I wish I had considered the acoustic specs of my drive before buying it. I can *easily* hear the crunching of the heads when they move, even in the Silent Drive enclosure. And I can hear the disk spinning, too, although it\'s quieter than it was without the S.D enclosure.

FWIW, my drive is a 30GB IBM Deskstar 7200rpm. (I forget the model number)

Greg.

[Nepomuk]

Surprised to hear that your 30 Gb IBM Deskstar 7200 rpm drive is noisy.

I have 2 of these and find them really quiet. Is yours new? I did have some difficulty with the unitsmy supplier originally sent as they were \"serviceable used parts\" i.e. reclaim - noisy as hell and they quickly broke down. When they replaced them with brand new units everything was fine.

[Greg Sullivan]

It\'s supposed to new, yes. Hmmm.

Greg.