need to build a quiet system

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Stephan

Hey everyone,

Any recommendations for a quiet case? Any other tips for getting a quiet
system, within reason. How about a good motherboard that allows variable fan
speed? Need a p4 config.

Thanks.

Jeff
 
Hey everyone,

Any recommendations for a quiet case? Any other tips for getting a quiet
system, within reason. How about a good motherboard that allows variable
fan speed? Need a p4 config.
Click to expand...

Most modern motherboards allow fan speed adjustment for at least one
connector.

As for cases, check out the Antec Sonata.

--
Big Daddy Ruel Smith

My SuSE Linux machine uptime:
9:06am up 32 days 17:51, 2 users, load average: 0.74, 0.32, 0.13

My Windows XP machine uptime:
Something less...
 
Stephan said:
Hey everyone,

Any recommendations for a quiet case? Any other tips for getting a quiet
system, within reason. How about a good motherboard that allows variable fan
speed? Need a p4 config.
Click to expand...

Check out www.quietpc.com
You can look into cases with damping, larger fans that move the same amount
of air with lower rpms, fans with thermistors that vary their speed based on
case temperature (i.e. quieter at low cases temps), power supplies with
variable speed fans, and even controllers where you can set the speed of all
the fans in your case manually and externally.
 
The Antec Sonata is a quality, quiet case. It uses 120mm fans, rubber
grommet aatached, that run at slow speeds while still giving good airflow
due to the size. Also, the hard drive bays are rubber grommetted. It is
not a cheap case, running about $100 give or take, based on where purchased.
It comes with an excellent Antec True Power 380 S psu. This 380 watt psu
will give you more than enough power, and it runs nice and quiet!

There are a number of other "quiet cases" out there, this is the one I use,
and am familiar with.
 
Pete Carlson said:
The Antec Sonata is a quality, quiet case. It uses 120mm fans, rubber
grommet aatached, that run at slow speeds while still giving good airflow
due to the size. Also, the hard drive bays are rubber grommetted. It is
not a cheap case, running about $100 give or take, based on where purchased.
It comes with an excellent Antec True Power 380 S psu.
Click to expand...

That's a good deal. I'll probably check it out next time I build. -Dave
 
Well you can do a lot of the work yourself. The major causes of noise in a
case are vibration (drives, fans are the main cause) and your fans.
Smaller, high RPM fans are noiser than larger, lower RPM fans. Larger
diameter fans can push the same amount of air at a lower RPM, and thus are
quieter. Something to thinka bout are what are considered "normal" sizes:
80mm for the intake and exhaust fans for the case, 60mm for the heatsink fan
on your processor. Increase the size on the fans, let them run slower, and
you get more quiet.

So as far as cases, it depends on what you're looking to spend. If you want
something ready to go, get an Antec Sonata, it will run you $90-110 (US)
depending where you look, otherwise the easiest thing to do is find a case
that takes 120mm fans for the inflow and exhaust, and then get yourself a
good power supply. I have one machine with an Antec TruePower and one with
a Seasonic Silent SS-400FS and they're both really quiet.

After that take a look at your HSF. Look for a model that uses 80mm fans.
Check the db levels the manufacturer lists. Then make sure that it you get
something that moves a comparable amount of air (CFM) as a stock P4
heatsink.

If you're still worried, you can pick up at most home improvement stores
(Home Depot, Lowe's, etc) sheets of 1/8" rubber gasket material. Cut it to
size and use it as a mount for the case fans, that'll cut out a lot of your
vibration too.

Read around, sites like silentpc.com have a lot of good information too.
 
Stephan said:
Hey everyone,

Any recommendations for a quiet case? Any other tips for getting a quiet
system, within reason. How about a good motherboard that allows variable fan
speed? Need a p4 config.
Click to expand...
As someone has suggested as a first step have a look at
http://www.silentpcreview.com and the various SPCR forums that cover
cases, psu, etc. There are some cases available which are advertised as
soundproofed - see http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php?subcat=45 for
examples. In addition there is the Antec Sonata which does not come with
soundproofing material installed (although Acousti do produce a pre-cut
kit for it - http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php?view=2061), but does
have 'quiet' features. In my view while soundproofing does contribute
to the quietness of a system by far the most important factor is
choosing quiet components - hsf, psu, hdd and case fan(s).

When looking for a quiet P4 based system 8 months ago I chose a Sonata
with the included Truepower single fan psu; a Zalman 7000 Al/cu hsf in
place of the stock Intel unit, which I run at <1500rpm; Seagate
Barracuda IV hdds (unfortunately no longer available - SPCR forum
indicate that the Samsung Spinpoint are probably the quietest available
at the moment) and the stock 120mm Sonata exhaust fan which is run from
the Truepower temperature controlled fan molex (no other case fans). As
the majority of my PC use is non gaming I use a Matrox graphics card
that does not need a fan. Zalman produce passive graphics card coolers
but I do not know how effective they are -
http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/ZM80C-HP.htm

I fitted Acoustipak Standard sound damping material to the case which
did cut down on resonance in general and in particular from an old WD
temporary drive but I am not sure that it was completely worth the
effort involved in fitting it. Having said that I do have a system that
is now virtually inaudible at one metre. I understand that sound
attenuating material is of more benefit with aluminium cases (which are
more prone to resonance problems) than those of steel construction.

If you want the cpu and case temperatures to remain low it is important
to take care with the case airflow. Make sure that the intake is large
enough to handle the rate of exhaust and that the flow over hdds and to
the cpu and psu is as unimpeded as possible. (I made relatively simple
mods to the front bezel and chassis of my Sonata which made a
significant improvement to the operating temperatures).

If you decide on kit that does not include a variable fan speed
connection there are mini thermostats that can be placed wherever you
want within the case -
http://www.quietpc.com/uk/casefansacc.php#pyramidv (I have not as yet
used these).
 
I built a system a couple of years ago with the emphasis on quiet.

To begin with I got 2 items from www.quietpc.com:
Zalman "flower" cpu cooler
Quiet PSU (300W)

This resulted in a system which was dominated by a case fan (front 2
fans variable speed, rear fan not). I sustituted the rear fan with a
quieter, slower one. Result: the dominant sound was the PSU fan. The
system was still not quite quiet enough for my liking.

One part of you system will always contribute the dominant noise and
replacing it will usually just focus your attention onto some other
bit that you didn't notice before.

If you wait a few months and have some money to spare, you could try
the fanless Zalman TNN 500A case...
 
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