How to "Silence" your Computer

diduknowthat · 03-22-2008, 02:29 AM

After some trial and error in my process of making a very quiet computer, I thought I'd share my experience with everyone.

Here's my attempt at a step-by-step guide to make any computer quiet.

If you are building a new computer, start here:

1) A well designed computer case, or a case designed for quiet computing, such as the Antec P180(B) or Antec Sonata, can make this process a lot easier. Stay AWAY from the cheap and light cases, as they do not dampen sound at all. If you cannot afford an expensive case, do look for one that uses 120mm fans instead of 80mm fans, as a 120mm silent fan will move more air than an 80mm silent fan.

Recommended Cases:
- Antec P180
- Antec P182
- Antec Sonata

If you are silencing a pre-existing case, start here:

2) Fans: The first step, and one of the cheapest and most effective step of silencing your computer, is buying quieter fans. I found that using multiple low rpm fans often yields better, or quieter, results than a single high rpm/loud fan. Also keep in mind that the location of the fan matters. Because front intake fans are physically closer to you, you can hear them clearer than rear fans. Thus, I usually put higher (relatively speaking) powered fans in the back, and quieter fans in the front, side, or top. Finally, make sure you keep an eye on system temperature, as reduced noise often leads to reduced airflow and increased temperature.

Recommended fans:
- Nexus 120mm Quiet Fan
- Noctua NF-S12 120mm fan
- Nexus Real Quiet 80mm fan
- Scythe Minebea NMB Silent 80mm fan
- Arctic Cooling 120mm PWM Fan*

*These fans are great if your system produces a lot of heat, as they will speed up and move more air as your CPU temperature increases.

4) Fan Accessories: Besides buying quieter fans, you can also pick up rubber screws and fan dampeners. These are not as affective as getting new fans, but they do help a bit. You will notice the biggest difference if you are using a cheap case, as they reduce the vibrations your fans pass off to your case. In normal cases, your fan should sound a bit "smoother" than before, but the whooshing sound won't stop. They are also pretty cheap. Finally, you can buy a fan controller to undervolt your fan.

Recommended fan accessories:
- Vantec 120mm Fan Dampeners *
- Vantec 80mm Fan Dampeners *
- Acouti Silicon Polymer fan mounts
- Zalman Fan Mate 2
- Sunbeam RHK-BA Rheobus Fan Controller

*comes in packs of 2

4) CPU Cooler: Stock CPU coolers are generally very loud; this is mainly due to their low profiles and small/high rpm fans. CPU heat-sinks can make a big difference in sound, but are also relatively more expensive. It is also more difficult to install. Because of the size and weight of many aftermarket coolers, they often require a back plate, which requires you to dismount your motherboard. Generally look for heatsinks with large and low rpm fans. Zalman, Thermaltake, Zerotherm, Scythe and Tuniq all make nice aftermarket heatsinks. If you do not wish to replace your entire heatsink, you can try zip tie-ing larger and quieter fans to your existing heatsink. However, this can be messy and might not work well.

Recommended CPU Cooler:
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
- Tuniq Tower 120
- Zalman CNPS8700
- Zalman CNPS9700

Passive CPU Cooler: These heatsinks can be used without fans in well ventilated cases. They are the pinnacle of silence.
- Scythe Ninja Rev. B
- Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme

5) GPU Cooler: Next comes the GPU cooler. GPU coolers usually use smaller fans than CPU coolers, and are usually lighter, for obvious reasons. If you are really into silence, you can consider buying a fan-less cooler. However, an aftermarket cooler such as the Zalman VF900 are usually suffice for “the rest of us”. Also keep in mind that aftermarket GPU coolers almost always take up more than 1 PCI slot, some may even take 2 more. Make sure you have enough space in your case to accommodate your new heatsink. Finally, remember that changing the heatsink usually WILL void all warranties on video cards.

Recommended GPU Cooler:
- Zaman VF700-CU
- Arctic Cooling AccelS1 Rev 2
- Zalman VF900-CU
- Zalman ZM80D-HP Fanless VGA Cooler

6) Chipset Heatsinks: The northbridge (or southbridge) heatsinks usually performs fine and does not need to be changed. However, for those with non-passive chipset coolers with loud and high rpm fans, changing it might be a must to ensure quiet operations. Compatibility, however, is a pain to deal with as there isn't as much of a standard for these heatsinks as CPU and GPU heatsinks. Some heatsinks will also require you do remove your motherboard from the case.

Recommended North Bridge Heatsinks
- Thermalright HR-05
-Thermalright HR-05-SLI
- Zalman ZM - NBF 47

7) Hard Drives: Hard drives will usually start to become annoying after you silence the rest of the computer. Silencing a hard drive is pretty simple. There are many hard drive vibration dampeners and enclosures that will both silence and cool your hard drive. Silencers range greatly in price, anywhere from cheap rubber screws to complete aluminum enclosures. I own the Scyth HDD Stabilizer 2, which is one of the cheaper dampeners. It does NOT completely silence the hard drive. Instead, the hard drive now produces a deep rumble sound instead of the high pitched clicks. These devices will also require you to move your hard drive to a 5.25" bay. Finally, you can also try the elastics mod for your hard drive, where you suspend your hard drive between elastics, which should also reduce vibrations.

Recommended HDD silencers:
- Scyth Anti-Vibration HDD Stabilizer 2
- Nexus DiskTwin Hard Drive noise Dampener
- Nexus Drive-A-Way HDD Silencer

8) Power Supply: The power supply is a tricky thing to tune for silence, and should be one of the last things you need to worry about as long as you have a quality unit. as you generally do not want to open it up and change the fan. That said, you can look for high efficiency power supplies (80+ ones), as they will produce less heat. More over, do not buy power supplies with multiple fans, as they are usually loud. You can also try a power supply rubber dampener, but they generally do not do much. Finally, if you are REALLY into silence, you can buy a passively cooled power supply. These, however, cost a premium and are hard to find in higher wattages.

Recommended Products:
- Power Supply rubber silencer
- FPS Group ZEN 400watt Fanless Powersupply

9) Other things to do: There are many other things you can do to make your computer quiet. First of all I would recommend cutting off the "punch out" fan vents on cheaper cases and replace them with fan grills. You will need at least a nibbler and a plier to do this (it will be pretty time consuming), but power tools such as a dremal will help. This will allow more air flow and produce less noise due to the reduced turbulance. For front fans, you can usually just leave it open without a grill as the front panel of the case will protect the fan. Next, you can line your case with dampening materials. This can potentially be expensive if done right, as the acoustic material can be pretty expensive. Finally you can hook up fan controllers to tune down any pre-existing loud fans.

Recommended Products:
- 120mm Black Fan Grill
- Acousti Products Soundproofing Acoustic Material Kit
- Zalman Fan Mate 2
- Sunbeam RHK-S Rheobus Fan Controller
- Xoxide PC Vibration Dampening Kit

Final Thoughts:
Cable organizations is a must if you want your computer to be quiet. Any obstruction in your case will reduce the overall airflow and increase the temperature inside the case; with slow fans, you cannot afford any less airflow than you already have. Use zip ties to tie cables together. Next you can also buy a passive north bridge cooler if your north bridge heatsink has a fan on it. However make sure that it is compatible with your motherboard and northbridge chip.

And if you're rich and don't feel like doing all this yourself, you can just pick up this case.

http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-tnn300.html

The_Beast · 03-22-2008, 04:07 AM

The title should be "How to silence your computer without water"

pretty good read, thumbs up

g25racer · 03-22-2008, 04:52 AM

Nice read! Thanks! Oh, that P180 looks very sexy.

diduknowthat · 03-22-2008, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Beast

The title should be "How to silence your computer without water"

pretty good read, thumbs up

Yeah good point. I like air silence better, as my computer needs to be semi-portable, and water cooling isn't exactly moving friendly.

Intel_man · 03-22-2008, 11:27 PM

Great post. It's very useful to know how to really keep the sound down while I'm sleeping... lol

But for a even more effective yet cost you nothing to silence your comp, turn it off.

Kornowski · 03-23-2008, 01:49 AM

Wow! Nice post man. Very helpful indeed!

Doubt I could tame the Antec 900 beast though

DirtyD86 · 03-23-2008, 01:52 AM

excellent post man. its nice to see someone posting something that contributes to the boards... your timing is excellent

diduknowthat · 03-23-2008, 03:14 AM

thanks guys! I'm still adding stuff to it as i remember things or continue to work on my computer. I might add some pictures of my own workings too.

MosIncredible · 03-23-2008, 03:45 AM

Wish I bought a P182. Don't think it would've fit in my desk though.

diduknowthat · 03-24-2008, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MosIncredible

Wish I bought a P182. Don't think it would've fit in my desk though.

It's not that big in it's footprint, it's just REALLY tall. Just about as tall as a full tower. But it's one hell of a case.

03-22-2008, 02:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,112	How to "Silence" your Computer After some trial and error in my process of making a very quiet computer, I thought I'd share my experience with everyone. Here's my attempt at a step-by-step guide to make any computer quiet. If you are building a new computer, start here: 1) A well designed computer case, or a case designed for quiet computing, such as the Antec P180(B) or Antec Sonata, can make this process a lot easier. Stay AWAY from the cheap and light cases, as they do not dampen sound at all. If you cannot afford an expensive case, do look for one that uses 120mm fans instead of 80mm fans, as a 120mm silent fan will move more air than an 80mm silent fan. Recommended Cases: - Antec P180 - Antec P182 - Antec Sonata If you are silencing a pre-existing case, start here: 2) Fans: The first step, and one of the cheapest and most effective step of silencing your computer, is buying quieter fans. I found that using multiple low rpm fans often yields better, or quieter, results than a single high rpm/loud fan. Also keep in mind that the location of the fan matters. Because front intake fans are physically closer to you, you can hear them clearer than rear fans. Thus, I usually put higher (relatively speaking) powered fans in the back, and quieter fans in the front, side, or top. Finally, make sure you keep an eye on system temperature, as reduced noise often leads to reduced airflow and increased temperature. Recommended fans: - Nexus 120mm Quiet Fan - Noctua NF-S12 120mm fan - Nexus Real Quiet 80mm fan - Scythe Minebea NMB Silent 80mm fan - Arctic Cooling 120mm PWM Fan* These fans are great if your system produces a lot of heat, as they will speed up and move more air as your CPU temperature increases. 4) Fan Accessories: Besides buying quieter fans, you can also pick up rubber screws and fan dampeners. These are not as affective as getting new fans, but they do help a bit. You will notice the biggest difference if you are using a cheap case, as they reduce the vibrations your fans pass off to your case. In normal cases, your fan should sound a bit "smoother" than before, but the whooshing sound won't stop. They are also pretty cheap. Finally, you can buy a fan controller to undervolt your fan. Recommended fan accessories: - Vantec 120mm Fan Dampeners - Vantec 80mm Fan Dampeners * - Acouti Silicon Polymer fan mounts - Zalman Fan Mate 2 - Sunbeam RHK-BA Rheobus Fan Controller comes in packs of 2 4) CPU Cooler: Stock CPU coolers are generally very loud; this is mainly due to their low profiles and small/high rpm fans. CPU heat-sinks can make a big difference in sound, but are also relatively more expensive. It is also more difficult to install. Because of the size and weight of many aftermarket coolers, they often require a back plate, which requires you to dismount your motherboard. Generally look for heatsinks with large and low rpm fans. Zalman, Thermaltake, Zerotherm, Scythe and Tuniq all make nice aftermarket heatsinks. If you do not wish to replace your entire heatsink, you can try zip tie-ing larger and quieter fans to your existing heatsink. However, this can be messy and might not work well. Recommended CPU Cooler:* - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - Tuniq Tower 120 - Zalman CNPS8700 - Zalman CNPS9700 Passive CPU Cooler: These heatsinks can be used without fans in well ventilated cases. They are the pinnacle of silence. - Scythe Ninja Rev. B - Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme 5) GPU Cooler: Next comes the GPU cooler. GPU coolers usually use smaller fans than CPU coolers, and are usually lighter, for obvious reasons. If you are really into silence, you can consider buying a fan-less cooler. However, an aftermarket cooler such as the Zalman VF900 are usually suffice for “the rest of us”. Also keep in mind that aftermarket GPU coolers almost always take up more than 1 PCI slot, some may even take 2 more. Make sure you have enough space in your case to accommodate your new heatsink. Finally, remember that changing the heatsink usually WILL void all warranties on video cards. Recommended GPU Cooler: - Zaman VF700-CU - Arctic Cooling AccelS1 Rev 2 - Zalman VF900-CU - Zalman ZM80D-HP Fanless VGA Cooler 6) Chipset Heatsinks: The northbridge (or southbridge) heatsinks usually performs fine and does not need to be changed. However, for those with non-passive chipset coolers with loud and high rpm fans, changing it might be a must to ensure quiet operations. Compatibility, however, is a pain to deal with as there isn't as much of a standard for these heatsinks as CPU and GPU heatsinks. Some heatsinks will also require you do remove your motherboard from the case. Recommended North Bridge Heatsinks - Thermalright HR-05 -Thermalright HR-05-SLI - Zalman ZM - NBF 47 7) Hard Drives: Hard drives will usually start to become annoying after you silence the rest of the computer. Silencing a hard drive is pretty simple. There are many hard drive vibration dampeners and enclosures that will both silence and cool your hard drive. Silencers range greatly in price, anywhere from cheap rubber screws to complete aluminum enclosures. I own the Scyth HDD Stabilizer 2, which is one of the cheaper dampeners. It does NOT completely silence the hard drive. Instead, the hard drive now produces a deep rumble sound instead of the high pitched clicks. These devices will also require you to move your hard drive to a 5.25" bay. Finally, you can also try the elastics mod for your hard drive, where you suspend your hard drive between elastics, which should also reduce vibrations. Recommended HDD silencers: - Scyth Anti-Vibration HDD Stabilizer 2 - Nexus DiskTwin Hard Drive noise Dampener - Nexus Drive-A-Way HDD Silencer 8) Power Supply: The power supply is a tricky thing to tune for silence, and should be one of the last things you need to worry about as long as you have a quality unit. as you generally do not want to open it up and change the fan. That said, you can look for high efficiency power supplies (80+ ones), as they will produce less heat. More over, do not buy power supplies with multiple fans, as they are usually loud. You can also try a power supply rubber dampener, but they generally do not do much. Finally, if you are REALLY into silence, you can buy a passively cooled power supply. These, however, cost a premium and are hard to find in higher wattages. Recommended Products: - Power Supply rubber silencer - FPS Group ZEN 400watt Fanless Powersupply 9) Other things to do: There are many other things you can do to make your computer quiet. First of all I would recommend cutting off the "punch out" fan vents on cheaper cases and replace them with fan grills. You will need at least a nibbler and a plier to do this (it will be pretty time consuming), but power tools such as a dremal will help. This will allow more air flow and produce less noise due to the reduced turbulance. For front fans, you can usually just leave it open without a grill as the front panel of the case will protect the fan. Next, you can line your case with dampening materials. This can potentially be expensive if done right, as the acoustic material can be pretty expensive. Finally you can hook up fan controllers to tune down any pre-existing loud fans. Recommended Products: - 120mm Black Fan Grill - Acousti Products Soundproofing Acoustic Material Kit - Zalman Fan Mate 2 - Sunbeam RHK-S Rheobus Fan Controller - Xoxide PC Vibration Dampening Kit Final Thoughts: Cable organizations is a must if you want your computer to be quiet. Any obstruction in your case will reduce the overall airflow and increase the temperature inside the case; with slow fans, you cannot afford any less airflow than you already have. Use zip ties to tie cables together. Next you can also buy a passive north bridge cooler if your north bridge heatsink has a fan on it. However make sure that it is compatible with your motherboard and northbridge chip. And if you're rich and don't feel like doing all this yourself, you can just pick up this case. http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-tnn300.html __________________ Silent Tuned \| 3D Marks 06: 11566 Q6600 2.4ghz CPU \| Gigabyte GA-P35 LGA 775 MB EVGA 8800gt 512mb Video Card G.Skill 4GB Ram \| Western Digital 400GB HD X-Fi Xtrememusic Sound Card Antec P180B Case \| Scythe Ninja HSF CM Real Power Pro 650watt PSU Last edited by diduknowthat; 05-23-2008 at 11:38 AM.

03-22-2008, 04:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
The_Beast Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Age: 16 Posts: 3,289	The title should be "How to silence your computer without water" pretty good read, thumbs up __________________ Rendering Machine - Gigabyte DS3L P35 - - C2D E6550 - - Corsair XMS2 2Gb - Seagate 'Cuda 320Gb - Sapphire 2600 XT 256mb - - Antec Earthwatt 430 watt - - Antec New Solution Series Case - - Hp w1907 monitor - Check Out My Custom Clock Picture 1/\Picture 2

03-22-2008, 04:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
g25racer Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,418	Nice read! Thanks! Oh, that P180 looks very sexy. __________________ CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 5200+ @ 2.6ghz Ram - 2GB Stock clock HD - 320gb seagate & Samsung 750gb 32mb cache GPU - XFX 8600GT XXX Zalman @ 680 or 700mhz PSU - Ultra X-finity 600watt OS - Vista Home Premium(32) & XP Pro and Vista Audio - JVC 460watts Control - Logitech G25 Wheel & Logitech Rumblepad 2 Games - GTR2 and LFS -- Race Sim's for Life --

03-22-2008, 11:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
Intel_man Gold Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 320	Great post. It's very useful to know how to really keep the sound down while I'm sleeping... lol But for a even more effective yet cost you nothing to silence your comp, turn it off. __________________ CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 MOBO: Asus P5BW-LA PSU:CoolerMaster Power Extreme 500W VGA: eVGA 9600 GT 512mb GDDR3 HDD: 250 GB RAM: 2 GB DDR2 __________________

03-23-2008, 01:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
Kornowski VIP - Graphics Guru Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool, UK Age: 18 Posts: 11,265	Wow! Nice post man. Very helpful indeed! Doubt I could tame the Antec 900 beast though __________________ Currently Broked Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.8GHz Gigabyte GA-965P-S3 - Rev 3.3 4GB Crucial Ballistix @ 800MHz PNY 8800GTS G92 @ 800/2000/1000 Corsair HX520W Windows Vista Home Premium Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11 SATA II Tuniq Tower LED OCZ XTC RAM Cooler Antec 900 (Modded) Winner of Photo Tournament: People, Jewelry & Dead Space Member of COD4 [CF] Clan: [CF] Kornowski

03-23-2008, 01:52 AM	#7 (permalink)
DirtyD86 Diamond Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: east coast Age: 22 Posts: 1,374	excellent post man. its nice to see someone posting something that contributes to the boards... your timing is excellent __________________ MOBO: ASUS P5K-E/WiFi-AP - CPU: Core2Duo E4300 @ 3.0GHZ, 1333 FSB RAM: 3GB Kingston 800DDR2 - GPU: BFG 8800GT OC 512MB Sound: Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Housing provided by Rosewill Currently playing: World of Warcraft (Notice the drop in post count lately :P )

03-23-2008, 03:14 AM	#8 (permalink)
diduknowthat formerly liuliuboy Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Massachusetts Age: 17 Posts: 6,112	thanks guys! I'm still adding stuff to it as i remember things or continue to work on my computer. I might add some pictures of my own workings too. __________________ Silent Tuned \| 3D Marks 06: 11566 Q6600 2.4ghz CPU \| Gigabyte GA-P35 LGA 775 MB EVGA 8800gt 512mb Video Card G.Skill 4GB Ram \| Western Digital 400GB HD X-Fi Xtrememusic Sound Card Antec P180B Case \| Scythe Ninja HSF CM Real Power Pro 650watt PSU

03-23-2008, 03:45 AM	#9 (permalink)
MosIncredible Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 194	Wish I bought a P182. Don't think it would've fit in my desk though. __________________ CPU: Q6600 @ 3.4GHz [425x8] 1.248v load \| E8400 HSF: Zalman 9700 (replacing soon) MB: DFI DK P35-T2RS GPU: XFX 8800GTS (G92) 512MB @ 800/1970/1100 RAM: 2GB OCZ Reaper (PC2 6400) 850 4-4-4-12 HDD: WD 500GB 16MB Case: Antec 900 PSU: OCZ 700W Monitor: LG 22" L226WTQ 3DMark06 Score: 16137 (XP) with above clocks

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