Expert Tips on Silencing your PC

[rwayne]

I wanted to ask the advice of system builders of the forum on the best tips you have ever received on silencing your PC.

I have had a build in place for about a year want to redo it and make some modifications to quiet it down.

Sound dampening foam
Grommets
Gaskets

Can anyone lend any advice on what HAS and HAS NOT worked for you in your attempt to silence your PC?

What techniques or hardware have worked best for you?

Here are some starter questions:
- Has anyone ever used rubber screws before? Do they really work or is it just a gimmick?
- Which work better? Grommets or fan gaskets?
- How many Power Management Fans can you typically have controlled by your motherboard?
- Do rubber case feet make a big difference?
- Is it best to buy sound dampening supplies from a place like FrozenCPU or Xoxide or can you get the same stuff
like sound dampending foam from a Home Depot or Lowes for for a cheaper price and get more of it?

 

[blacksci]

I have a antec 900 thats the quitest comp i have ever put together, and it pushes air through it at a fantastic rate. Grommits will help if you are getting raddeling noises, if the fan is loud, its loud, not much you can do but put in a fan controller and kick down the speed, buy new fans, or just live with it.

 

[akhilles]

- Yup, it works by absorbing vibration and ergo reducing noise. Antec uses rubber grommets for mounting hard disks.

- I think the grommets.

- Varies. 1-7. The deluxe from ASUS does 7 or more. nvidia does quite many fans. IMO, best use a fan controller that can be migrated to any other pc. Mobo will be sold. New one may have fewer or more fan connectors.

- I don't think you can find a new case with non-rubber feet.

- Doesn't matter. It depends on your knowledge & budget. You can give $5000 to 2 different people to build gaming pcs & they'll come up with 2 different results. If you shop at a hardware store, you may have to have proper tools or rent them to do your mods.

 

[piratepast40]

Not sure what you mean by "rubber screws". There are plastic fasteners that are typically used for fans and there are also nylon and plastic screws. Each has it's purpose. Nylon and plastic screws are typically used for as electrical insulators and since they are hard, can transmit vibration.

Grommets and washers are effective for rotating objects (optical and and hard drives). Just keep in mind that you're trying to isolate the vibration to other parts of the case so you don't want to over compress them or allow the screws or metal washers to touch the case.

A fan gasket may be more effective since it achieves multiple purposes. You not only isolate the fan frame from the case but you also channel the air in the direction you want by providing a seal. However, the vibration dampening could be negated if you use metal fasteners that transmit vibration to the case.

Like others have said, I've found manual fan controllers to be more effective for quieting since thermostatically controlled fans tend to err on the high side and run longer than necessary. I've played with some to find the sweet spot (temp and noise) then just "set it and forget it".

It doesn't really make a difference where you obtain your material and supplies but it depends on how much time you want to spend. Usually, the computer supply stores will have more specific items for your use but that's certainly not a hard and fast rule.

Google up "quiet PC" and you'll find quite a few sites that will give you more ideas and examples.

Good luck!

 

[jay2tall]

-Use 120mm fans not 80mm
-Don't push more air then you REALLY have to. I have 2 coolermaster quiet fans, one for intake one for exhaust and are not fan controlled at all. They run at about 2000rpms. My CPU fan is 120mm and have it on a fan control and is a sythe fan which tend to be quieter.
-GPU fan is quiet when not gaming but cranks up a bit. I can't hear it over explosions and such though.

-rubber grommets and foam are overated. Just make sure everything is secure. Don't buy cheap fans they tend to be the worst.

 

[ausch30]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

As other's have said if you start with quiet components half the work is done for you already. Quality cases usually have some sort of noise dampening built in and there are other things you can try such as bungee cords to suspend you hard drives.

 

[scryer_360]

Actually, Sparkle released a 8800GT with passive cooling. They did not make too many of them but you can still find them online. I built a system using two of those AND the "ButterflyCooler" from Zerotherm. Its a CPU cooler that uses no fan.

I only added one 120mm fan at the back of the case that runs at very low speeds, in fact the hum from the laundry mat below my buddies apartment complex is louder (and thats going through concrete walls that were designed to virtually eliminate sound). Altogether, the whole thing makes no noise at all (well, perceivably in the room). Using a decible meter, the noise level in the room did not raise at all when we turned on the case.

Specs: E8400 Wolfdale, with MX-2 thermal paste and ZEROtherm BTF95 CPU cooler, 2x Sparkle 8800GT's with passive cooling, PC Power and Cooling power supply he had from previous build, but also whisper quite, and custom aluminum case (made it on a CNC machine at his garage).

It doesn't run hot at all, but I wouldn't overclock if for anything. 3 gigahertz is plenty anyway.