Computer noise

smashguy37 wrote on 10/30/2007, 10:11 AM

When I bought my computer I ended up getting a 400 watt power supply with my tower. The tower is good and sturdy but I think the power supply is noisy as hell. Quick specs: Pentium D, 1 gig of RAM, ASRock 775 dual core board. I know the computer has to work harder during stuff like editing, but even when I turn it on, it's quiet for a bit, and then doing anything basic like surfing the net starts the fan noise up. Here are some pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15341017@N08/

Are those 80mm fans? A friend of my brother's put together his computer recently and the fan on his power supply is huge and a lot quieter. I don't need it to be deathly silent, but it's probably noisier than the the room I work in -- which is a tiny room stuffed with five running G5 Mac's that have been on all day. Especially considering I do video and audio work should I be concerned about getting a higher wattage power supply? At this point I'm thinking it's just noisy smaller fans and I need bigger ones.

Comments

Tim Stannard wrote on 10/30/2007, 5:02 PM

Is it the PSU fans or the CPU fan that's making the noise? It's clear from your description that the responsible fan is thermally controlled or it would kick out the same racket all the time.
A bigger PSU won't necessarily help (if your computer works now it will continue to work untill you add more devices) but a quieter one certainly will. BTW I read on one of the psu sites that sticking a higher wattage PSU in will not draw more power - it will only draw what it needs, so don't worry on a "green" basis or an economic basis.
Don't expect cheap though. Quiet and cheap don't go together. OTOH don't go for the ultra expensive option of water cooling unless you're really into hot rodding.
My Seasonic 550W psu cost me about 75UKP (that should equate to 150USD but probably equates to 75USD) and whilst not silent, it never leaves its quietest state and is totally unobtrusive.
My CPU fan is stock (came with my Core 2 Duo 6600) and is more of a nuisance - not because of the noise it makes - but because, when my PC is idling, it only needs to start up in order to cool the CPU enough to stop again - it's the constant start/stop that I notice - a constant sound is far better.
Your Pentium D will run a lot hotter than my Core 2 Duo so you will need more CPU cooling - ie your CPU fan will be working a lot harder. Try stopping that briefly and see if that's the main cause of your noise.

Sites like quietpc.com should help.

craftech wrote on 10/30/2007, 5:16 PM

With many speed controlled fans you can set them to run at a constant speed via switch or software settings, but are you sure the noise is coming from the power supply?

Take off the cover to the case and disconnect the case fans. Then operate the computer for awhile to isolate the noise. 120 mm case fans are often quieter than 80mm case fans, but you can get Scythe fans and other fans that are quieter. Look at the db rating of the fan. However often the lower cfms are the reason they have a quiter db rating. It is often a trade off.

Sleeve bearing fans are usually much quieter than ball bearing fans. They don't last as long, but they are much cheaper. You might want to pick up a couple of them (then often sell them in 5-packs and 10-packs) and just replace them when they start to go. That way you can have fans that put out more cfms and are also relatively quiet.

John

daryl wrote on 10/30/2007, 5:22 PM

I bought a Dell Dimension E521 with an AMD dual core proc about a year ago. I maxed out the RAM, changed the video card and DVD burner and it was still quite reasonable. One great thing about this machine, I literally cannot tell that it is running (by noise) if I'm more than a foot away. I don't recall what PS it has in it, I do know that it's a 450w, but I've never "heard" a quieter machine, ever. The only noise I ever hear from it is sometimes HD access, if it's really working hard. I'll try to find my docs and see what it is. I have an NVIDIA 7600 with 512 M, that fan is pretty quiet as well, no generated noise. As of over a year of use, no blue-screens, no crashes. XP.

smashguy37 wrote on 10/30/2007, 9:06 PM

It just makes a racket even if it's been sitting idle for hours. Why would the Pentium D run hotter than a Core 2 Duo? I'm not into going to any extremes like water cooling -- like I mentioned, I can hear my brother's computer running but it's much quieter and not irritating. This computer has always been noisy. I'll see what I can do as far as disconnecting fans and giving a listen. Thanks.

smashguy37 wrote on 10/30/2007, 9:30 PM

Okay, my mistake. The noise is clearly just the 80mm motherboard fan. I disconnected it and the computer was nearly dead silent. I expect to hear some noise with a fan running though, I'm used to it, but I'll see what I can find. By the way, does anybody remember that software you can download which monitors all sorts of things on your computer? Like hard drive tempuratures? My drives (at least my aging main one) run really hot...always have, just want to check them out.

craftech wrote on 10/30/2007, 10:29 PM

Motherboard Monitor is one. Check the bios and see if the variable fan speed for the CPU can be set to a constant speed if you don't want a changing sound.

Pentium D runs hotter than the Core 2 Duo.

When you say "motherboard fan". I assume you mean the Intel fan that came with the CPU? Is that correct?

I would get a Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja heatsink and a 120mm Dustproof Acoustifan.
But, they are expensive and may be difficult to find. It is also BIG.

A real bargain that is extremely popular and may very well suit your needs is the ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail. They work very well. Although it comes with Arctic Cooling Compound already on the heatsink, most people use Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound instead.

Make sure you have the room for some of these contraptions first before you order them.

John

smashguy37 wrote on 10/31/2007, 4:45 AM

I'll check them out. I now regret now buying the Core 2 Duo back when I got the Pentium D, but I didn't know as much back then. And yes, I mean the Intel fan that came with my computer is the culprit. Would something larger like a 120mm fit over where the 80mm fan is? I haven't replaced a fan before. Thanks.

blink3times wrote on 10/31/2007, 5:05 AM

The best thing for noise is liquid cool. It's a pain to install, but once it's in you can mount the fan and radiator just about anywhere. I have 2 machines with liquid cool and the first one just happens to have a fresh air duct from the furnace right near by. We always run our furnace with the blower on to recirc the air in the house so the fan has been taken off and the radiator mounted in the furnace duct.

There is no vent near the second machine so a small hole was drilled in the floor and the fan and radiator brought down to the basement level.

Both machines run whisper quiet.... even when rendering for hours on end.

megabit wrote on 10/31/2007, 5:37 AM

Speedfan (shareware) let's all 6 fans on my machine idle most of the time, turning them on 100% when needed - when I start rendering, for instance.

smashguy37 wrote on 10/31/2007, 6:26 AM

Interesting. I've had a quick browse of that program before on another computer. My computer does run a lot hotter so I might need my fans going 100% all the time.

A local store here appears to be selling the "Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7", which were mentioned. Anybody have experience as to how loud these ones are? My only concern is because it's 92mm not 120mm, but again, I don't know how much different that makes.

craftech wrote on 10/31/2007, 7:01 AM

Would something larger like a 120mm fit over where the 80mm fan is? I haven't replaced a fan before. Thanks.
=======================
No.

You don't need a 120mm fan on the CPU heatsink. You just need an efficient combination fan/heatsink. Look, Intel processors generally all run hotter than AMD processors so it is all relative anyway.

If you aren't overclocking you do not need water cooling for a Pentium D.

I would suggest that if you have never replaced a CPU fan you first print and read this installation sheet from Arctic Cooling. If you find it sufficient order one and install it. There are seven steps to cover everything from removal of the old heatsink to the correct orientation of the heatsink to the actual installation. It is important to make sure that each of the four pins is engaged tightly, and to the same depth. It is possible to have one or more of the locking shafts be only halfway engaged, yet still look and feel reasonably tight. If this happens, the base of the HS will not be sitting with even pressure on the CPU, and cooling will suffer.

Set it up so the fan blows toward the rear of the case. Arctic Cooling recommends removing the fan before installation, then putting it back on after the HS is engaged on the motherboard.

Here is how it looks installed on a motherboard.

It's not small. You have to make sure the chipset's heatsinks are not too close to the CPU area for it to fit. Go by the measurements and compare it to your current measurements for the Intel HSF. And since the thermal paste comes pre-applied and works well, I would just use that instead of AS-5.

John

smashguy37 wrote on 10/31/2007, 7:13 AM

I apologize, I've watched computers be torn apart most of my life but I've only started doing stuff my self in the last year or two. I don't think I've ever seen a heatsink/fan so large and set up like that, yikes. I think I'm going to try to get into contact with somebody I know about installing one because he has a good deal of experience with things like this.

craftech wrote on 10/31/2007, 7:37 AM

If you look at this Google search you will find a lot of reviews with great pictures and hints on how to install one of these. It is a very popular HSF.

John

MPM wrote on 10/31/2007, 10:31 AM

FWIW...

Most descriptions of fans, heatsinks etc. give db ratings, which helps when you're buying new &/or replacements, there are all sorts of controllers for fan speeds [or just wire mini-toggle switches mounted to a spare drive bay cover], there are fanless heatsinks, but perhaps the most practical approach in sound insulation. You can build (or have built) an external housing for your PC that's sound insulated (i.e. in an audio recording environment), buy a case designed for low noise (complete with sound isolating drive mounts), or if you're more DIY, buy the mounts and insulation panels to try & mod your own case.

craftech wrote on 10/31/2007, 6:26 PM

You can move the jumpers around on the connector to make the fan run on 7 volts or even 5 volts instead of 12 volts. That will slow it down and thus quiet it down. If you aren't overclocking most HDF setups will cool sufficiently. I would opt for 7 volts if it is too loud.

John

smashguy37 wrote on 10/31/2007, 6:54 PM

I've heard a lot about building external enclosures as I've frequented recording sites for the last 7 years. Interesting idea, but I'm not going to go to that length. I read a bunch of websites from that Google search and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Arctic Pro, seems like a good deal. I'm not overclocking, and if I'm not editing (which isn't frequent because I edit all day long at work) my computer isn't doing much to take a lot of resources. Thanks a lot guys.

bigcreek wrote on 10/31/2007, 8:26 PM

This is a great site if you are interested in quiet computing and computing parts:

http://www.endpcnoise.com/