**** The word 'Silent' is subjective and based on what a person
considers to be noise, along with the sensitivity of the person's
ears, and tolerance of different pitches. One man's silence is another
man's noise *****
I've bought components after reading reviews that they're silent, only
to be disappointed. Examples include the PC Power and cooling
Silencer PSU(recommended by the renowned expert Scott Mueller in his
book Upgrading and Repairing PCs) The PSU is also recommended on
various websites, and newsgroups. The QuietPC PSU recommended on many
websites. They gave me a full refund.
The Seagate ST340014A Hard drive. Unfortunately the widely recommended
ST340016A which is also totally sealed which helps muffle the sound,
has been discontinued.
I drown out my cpu,psu(fan noise and hum),graphics card fan,hdd, and
monitor noises with a more pleasant 'case fan' noise. note: you can
easily get graphics cards without fans, they use passive heatsinks.
(heatsinks without fans - opposite of active heatsink) for cooling.
Another option is to move the computer out of the room with a cat5 kvm
extender, then you just have to put up with monitor noise, maybe you
can find a quiet monitor. Although Ps2 is going out of fashion, a
lot of boards have issues with USB mouse and keyboard. Some have said
that Windows 98 does too. Apparently the newer boards that don't
support Ps2, support USB better. I won't even go into all the
problems i've had with USB hubs every 5m and USB boosters.
cat 5 kvm extenders (which extend monitor,keyb and mouse) are
expensive. cat 5 usb kvm extenders are cheaper relatively speaking,
but then you're relying on USB, which is probably perfect if you've
got a new board without ps2 ports, but a little risky if you have a
board with ps2 - a 'legacy board'.
If you want a completely noiseless computer, it's possible. You can
have a totally fanless computer, but there may still be hums. If
you've got average hearing, then you may not hear them.
The HDD would be very audible, (not just the 'working noise', but the
continuous hum it makes whilst the power cable is in it), as the noise
won't be drowned out by other fans.
You'd hear the mouse and keyboard. Though that doesn't bother me. And
There are probably 'silent' keyboards, perhaps completely noiseless
keyboards.
Many monitors hum, even TFT ones, though TFT is much quieter than CRT
monitors. Some reviews say that there are silent TFT screens. Don't
rely on a review, unfortunately it's expensive to judge for yourself.
Maybe buy and sell on ebay until you find a truly noiseless one, then
post here and tell everybody if you think it's quiet or better still,
completely inaudible(compute r off,monitor on, eyes closed,ear to
monitor).
Noiseless(0db) HDDs don't exist yet, I find HDD noise very unpleasant,
so i'd rather have my case fans drowning out HDD noise. However, if
you want a quieter hdd, There are things you can do. I wouldn't
though, as the more you try to quieten it, the more you notice the
noise, and HDD noise is always there. If you have a quiet enough
laptop hdd then you could use it with a 2.5"-3.5" ide adaptor cable.
Or You could get a hard drive silencing kit (they're for 3.5"
[desktop] HDDs) but then your HDD will run hotter and last for less
years. You could always then buy SpinRite by GRC, the world -
including the FBI - trusts GRC to deliver. And Gibson says that his
software makes HDD crashes a thing of the past. I haven't tried his
software, but I'd bet my life on it without hesitation. I think the
multitude of USB problems only occur with the usb keyboard and mouse.
So maybe, and this is extreme, get a usb kvm extender and extend your
hard drive out of the room, and set your BIOS (if it has the option)
to boot from the USB device.
Obviously you'll need the option. If you don't have it, you could
always flash your BIOS with an upgrade, but it's a lot of expense. If
it worked, then you would have removed the HDD hum.
In the rest of the email, i'll mention some products which may be
fanless and humless.
It may be possible to remove all fans and hums from your computer.
Many people just quieten the HDD rather than make it completely
noiseless. They buy a silent drive enclosure and put certain models
of seagate barracude in there. (I can't recommend any particular ones,
except *maybe* the discontinued st340016a which was, from memory,
listed on the seagate website as noise=2bels(20db) and the drive is
completely sealed. It's like a metallic block.
Power supply fans are the great evil of a so-called silent computer.
At last there's a possibility of a PSU that's completely noiseless.
Maybe it hums though(probably depends on if the tranformers are made
from ferrite), I haven't tried it. The PSU is expensive
and the PSU is a sealed box not a card. It's a proper PSU, and the
nicest looking PSU i've ever seen. If you were crazy you could mod it
and put a window on it, it's a bit expensive buy, let alone to saw
into. A truly noiseless PSU is like the crown jewels. I hope it
doesn't hum.
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/siliconacoustics/silpc.html
Beware of the other so-called fanless PSUs, yeah, they're fanless, but
they require about 30cfm(cubic feet per minute) of air passing over
them to cool them. i.e. they require a fan over them.
If you want to mess around, or if that extremely promising silentmaxx
psu falls flat then-
Some people say that a 7v panaflow fan is noiseless, and have modded
their panaflow fan to 7v, along with their PSU to take 2 panaflow
fans. I'm no electrician, but from consulting with an electrician,
and successfully removing the fan from my power supply, i've learnt
that if the PSU is switched off, it is impossible to be electricuted.
There are capacitors in there that store some charge, don't touch
them. You can always wait a few hours for the charge to drain from
them, if you want to be extra careful, wait a day. People that have
touched them have just been left with a sore finger tip for a couple
of weeks. You can always get a fan speed controller or voltage
regulator for the panaflow fan so you don't have to mod it to 7v.
Modding the fan to 7v
is called the '7v fan mod' it's a classic mod. You can google it.
Here is a google posting summarising it well in words. THe web has
nice pictures, but rarely a textual description as concise as this
one.
From: Nervil (
[email protected])
Subject: Re: How to quiet a PC?
View: Complete Thread (3 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips
Date: 1999/05/11
This CPU cooler should be completely noiseless. I haven't tried it.
googling CPU+fanless+fins should find it whenever you need it.
Here's the link.
http://www.tsheatronics.co.jp/zen/english/ncu1000_e.html
It certainly looks as revolutionary as the silentmaxx PSU.
There's a good chance that the silentmaxx PSU, and this PSU cooler
don't hum.
Water-cooling CPUs (not the above), have fans.
Some people say the flower cooler(not the above) with the fan
switched off is completely noiseless. It'd only do for a low power
processor though, like the via c3 which is an embedded processor.
Via Eden computers have embedded processors that don't require a fan
or any additional cooler.
As via computers are so low on power, they can take a little power
supply card+AC/DC adaptor.
The power supply card is fanless, but hums loudly.
Run them out of the case, and you have a fanless computer. Otherwise
you should have a case fan.
Note that you'd still have to deal with HDD noise and PSU card
noise(if you can hear the PSU card - I can. The PSU cards are made by
Lex and Morex, i'm told that they hum because they use cheap
transformers, not made from ferrite, but from a cheaper form of iron,
so they vibrate at an audible frequency. I can hear the high pitched
hum, most people are happy with them though)
I haven't done much research on silencing cheap transformers, but 1
google posting
I ran into by chacne may hold the answer
From: Dummy (
[email protected])
Subject: How to use ferrite beads to attenuate high-freq noise?
The Via c3 computer also has an embedded processor, but requires
cooling. I know of a person that has done this with a flower cooler
with the fan turned off. You can always monitor the CPU temperature,
there are programs for that sort of thing e.g. wcpuid
Still, you'll need a power supply, the most suitable is the power
supply card, lex and morex make them, and they hum. Though most
people don't notice it. At least it's not as bad as a TV on mute, but
it's the same pitch. If you're going to get the silentmaxx, then you
may as well get a proper computer.
whisperpc claim to make silent computers, the man says his computers
are fanless, I believe him. Whether they're silent or not is another
matter. Maybe a silentish type of seagate barracude hdd in a
SilentDrive, inside a chassis(computer case) is inaudible. I won't
know unless I buy one and find out, and i don't plan on it - i've
spent enough, and i don't mind my case fan noises. Their website
www.whisperpc.co.uk has been down for ages. I *think* he once
emailed me and said he used heatpipes(different to heatsinks).
One thing which I did was extend the wires on my power supply and move
the power supply out of my room. The extension wires you buy would
have to be the same gage/thickness, not thinner, than the wires you're
extending. It was horrendously boring extending dozens of wires and
you have to establish a technique otherwise you'll get them all
tangled and have to start all over again.
I did finish enough power connectors to try it. It worked but
switching on the computer was a awkward. I had to push the power
switch and it wouldn't turn on, then flick one of the wires and it
would go on. I stopped using it when I read that it could spike the
computer. (note, you can get a surge protector so your computer isn't
destroyed when it happens) but i'm don't want a weird PSU like that.
Also, looking at the PSU gave me bad memories of extending all those
wires.
Unfortunately the SilentMaxx hadn't come out at the time when I was
doing that. If it had, I would have bought it.
Another technique to cool your case and PSU is using long Air ducts,
with the fan ends out of your room. I haven't tried it, but it's is
done. Or - and i don't recommend this - put the end of the duct out
the window or through a hole in the wall leading outside, with the end
of the ducts tilted downwards to avoid rain.
This is a bad era to go looking for a completely noiseless computer.
There are too many bad boy components, and you need a lot of luck and
time and money for experimentation. Hence I drown out the high
pitched noise with a lower pitched noise.
To summarise:
*************************** Silent PSU *******************************
Method a) Of Silencing PSU
SilentMaxx looks promising that it will be perfect(humless), if
it works, and doesn't hum, then I think it's worth its price.
I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT HAD IT BEEN AVAILABLE EARLIER.(probably will
in the future)
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/siliconacoustics/silpc.html
Method b) Of Silencing PSU
Morex/Lex Power card. Cheap, but hums - no good for me. Maybe
that google posting can make it completely noiseless. THey would
be put in Via computers btw, the via website is aweful, I use
www.linitx.com
I GOT IT AND WISHED I HADN'T. Linitx were amazing though great
support, great website. via website has some specs though - if you
can fine them, they're useful.
Method c) Of Silencing PSU
A So-called quiet PSU. Just a PSU with a quiet fan. Zalman make
one, Nexus is supposed to be quiet. QuietPc make one. There are
loads. I wouldn't risk it I GOT THE BEST ONE FOR ITS TIME AND
SENT IT BACK - Too high pitched.
Method d) Of Silencing PSU
7v fan mod of 2 panaflow fans (panaflow is popular) one on the
bottom of the PSU, the part of it above the CPU, sucking.
Another at the back blowing.
From memory, i think that's recommended by AMD's case cooling
guide. You can put a temperature probe in there. In which case
know what temp the PSU normally runs at by using the probe
before modding the PSU. I haven't tried this. It looks like
fun, will do it one day. Don't have high hopes that it'll work
though, but it should be a great improvement to a typical PSU.
See footnote [1] Don't be suprised if the fan wires don't match
the wires that the power supply wants.
See footnote [2] about blowhole making equipment
note: people that have done it and probed the temperature say
that 1 panaflow is not enough. You must use 2.
Method e) Of Silencing PSU
The heatpipe (different to heatsink). This is a serious mod. I
have no idea if it's silent. Apparently some heatpipes are noisy.
Method f) Of Silencing PSU
Somehow get hold of a quiet PSU fan from a zalman or other model of
PSU and install it yourself. That's really screwing the system!
Some PSUs have the fans soldered in, no big deal, wires can be cut.
See footnote [1] Don't be suprised if the fan wires don't match
the wires that the power supply wants.
See footnote [2] about blowhole making equipment
Method g) Of Silencing PSU
If you find that a really low power PSU with a fan is effective,
like the ones that linitx.com sell on some of their via
machines, then you could use many of them to power up the
computer and devices. Apparently the Mod is very simple.
In order to get a PSU to run without plugging it into the
motherboard, see
http://www.gideontech.com/guides/psu_powerup/ It's a
wonderful guide. I suggest buying a little atx extension cable
and modding that. I haven't done that yet though. Scott Mueller
warns that you should use a low wattage soldering
iron so as not to damage electronics. Not more than 30w. In
this case, there's a risk of burning the plastic a bit.
Method h) Extending PSU wires - DON'T DO IT. COULD CAUSE SPIKE (for
electical reasons that i don't know about - yet)
*********************Silencing CPU *****************************
Method a) Of Silent CPU
The passive(fanless) heatsink cooler with fins cooling
http://www.tsheatronics.co.jp/zen/english/ncu1000_e.html
It looks promising that it will be perfect (humless), don't know the
price though. If it was available earlier, I would have bought it.
Method b) Of Silencing CPU
A quiet fan (if you have a noisy PSU fan then you *probably* won't
notice a quiet CPU fan) Unfortunately CPU Fans can be high pitched,
though so can PSU fans. I can't guarantee anything.
Method c) Of Silencing CPU
The zalman flower cooler. It comes with a fan, but if you have a low
power processor like the via c3 then you can turn the fan off. At
least
that's what a lot of people do. I've never done it myself. You should
monitor its temperature if you do. There's software that'll do it like
wcpuid, or temperature probes.
Method d) Of Silencing CPU
Get a via eden and then you don't need to add any cooling to the CPU.
It's got a passive(fanless) heatsink built over it
***********************Case cooling**************************
Method a) of Case cooling
Panaflow fans (may need to make a blowhole, see footnote [2])
Method b) of Case cooling
Some other make of 'quiet' case fan (may need to make a blowhold,
see footnote [2])
Method c) of Case cooling
Use 2 air ducts 1 to suck and 1 to blow air out of the case. I've
never tried it, but maybe if you make the ducts really long so they
go out of your room. Attach fans to the end of the ducts that are
outside the room, 1 to suck, 1 to blow (fans suck or blow depending
on which way you put them in). I don't know how effective this is.
You can check the ducts, hopefully 1 fan at the end is enough to blow
or suck the air all the way along. I think it should be, but you have
to try it to make sure.
Method d) of Case cooling
It's bad and against all manufacturer's recommendations to do so, but
one could take the cover off the computer and monitor the temperature,
many people find that it's ok.
Method e) of Case cooling
Maybe many little case fans, or 2 very large(120mm) case fans at low
rpm, would be a little bit quiet, but i wouldn't count on it.
Method f) of Case cooling
Maybe many 7v panaflows would do it nicely.
Method g) of Case cooling
Some say water-cooled cases are very quiet. Koolance make water-
cooled cases. They may require a case fan, albeit a lower powered one
than would be needed had the case not had the water-cool feature.
*****************************Hard drive 'silencing' *****************
note: Hard drive silencing looks bleak. There's seems to be no
promising way to have a completely silent HDD. Maybe i'll run into a
silent HDD 1 day, or maybe we'll just have to wait till HDDs are
replaced. I should find out why those little computers i've seen seem
so quiet, why i couldn't hear the HDD. Maybe if I ran them in my room
i'd hear it. (I mention the little computers later)
Method a) Of hard drive 'silencing'
Use a 'quiet' model of Seagate barracude and put it in a SilentDrive
to muffle the sound
Method b) Of hard drive 'silencing'
usb kvm extender with the bios set to boot off the usb device. (you
can get a usb hard drive, or a usb-ide adaptor) (everybody should have
a usb-ide adaptor anyway)
Monitor
Look at TFT ones. Buy and sell on ebay until you find a quiet
one. You
can only judge for yourself. They may all actually be very
quiet. I
don't know if there's a truly noiseless one.
Mouse/Keyb
I'm sure there are quiet keyboards, the mouse/keyb noise doesn't
bother me.
Complete solutions
maybe whisperpc.co.uk, though they're expensive.
There are some computers that I may have found completely inaudible,
really small computers, smaller than laptops, (I could guess that
they're palmtops though i thought palm tops weren't so powerfull. I
haven't got time to look into exactly what models they are right now,
I'll repost this with the details another time). They're proper
computers that run Windows XP, but they're expensive, though so is
whisperpc. You see them in regular computer shops - At least in
tottenham court road (rip-off road in rip-off britain). You can take
the idea further, as if you have a LAN, e.g. a broadband connection
using a router instead of a modem, and plug another computer into the
router. Then you can use VNC or Radmin to access a fast noisy computer
somewhere else in the house as if you're at that computer. If you're
at work and you have a fast connection, then you can connect up to
your fast computer at home, it may be in almost real time.
However, if a connection is 56k, then it wouldn't be much fun to use
continuously.
If the small computer is powerful enough, then you won't need to
access a fast computer anyway. Note, maybe if I bought one I'd be
able to hear it clearly. I can't imagine that the HDD is inaudible.
There are 2 models and many types of IBM thinkpad X22 (about 20 in
each model). I'm think that 1 in particular, is completely inaudible
to my ears (and that's saying something). But I don't know which type
it was, the guy that had it, sold it on to somebody else and doesn't
know what model and type it was. Most of the types make a very
audible hum. Maybe if i had used it in my room for a couple of hours
i'd have started to hear the HDD, the hum of the PSU e.t.c., but i did
really put my ear to it and didn't hear a thing.
[1]
I've noticed that some PSU fans have 3 wires (2 black, 1 red)others
have 2 wires (1 black, 1 red).
Some CPU fans, are (Red,Black,Yellow) others are (Red,black,black).
Some case fans are (Red Black,yellow) Others are (Red,Black)
With my red+black case fan the wires lead to a 4-pin power connector.
There may be other possibilities for fan colours.
I don't yet have the electronics/electrical knowledge to change 1 set
of colours/voltages to another set of colours/voltages
[2] A blowhole - hole for a fan. Requires either
Drill and hacksaw
or Drill and Rotary tool
or Drill and a holesaw (a holesaw is a type of drillbit, you want
it the right size. Note that fans come in 40mm,60mm,80mm,90mm,92mm -
most people don't bother with 40mm and 60mm, maybe lots of little ones
would be quiet.) I think a holesaw requires a special arbor bit. The
holesaw way may be very expensive, especially if you don't have a
drill.
I guess you can cut a square or an octagon. Below is an ascii drawing
of an octagonal blowhole
produced by pbrush, passed through ASCGEN and amended in MS Word using
ALT+mouse dragging. (ascgen and that feature of word are highly
recommended, hence i squeezed that in)
The 'M's on the diagram mark where the drill holes screws would go.
Circles are good too.
MMMMMMB MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM .MMMMMM
MMMMMM: @M MZ MMMMMM
MMMMMMMM; ZM MMMMMM
M; MM BSaZZM
WM M:
XM, 7Mi
M M
M M
M M
M M
M M
M M
M M
M M
MMZ ZMM
SMM MS
SZ :ai
MM@8SM M@ .:M M20MMM
MMMMMM iMM. MMX MMMMMM
MMMMMM MMMZ 7MM MMMMMM
,MMMMMM SMMMMMMMMMMMMM0 , MMMMMM
The following are unusual ideas. Not mine, I have no idea if they
would work, I probably wouldn't try.
From: Kalypso (
[email protected])
Subject: The ultimate Quiet & Cool solution
This is the only article in this thread
View: Original Format
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips
Date: 1997/12/27
or, Putting your computer in an oil bath.
