Want to go almost silent

[David-Stephens]

Specs: E8400 @ 4ghz
Asus p5q pro
Kingston 1066 DDR2 4gb
512mb 4870
Antec 300 case

Cooling currently:
2 antec 300 standard case fans
4870 standard cooler
1*120mm fan in front of case

Im a crazy person who loves spending money on PCs. Right now I dont think i need to update any of my components... maybe the 4870 but not this thread for that

My question is, what can i change my current cooling to to get minimal noise... im not going for silent, if i wanted that id under clock and go test bed passive

I am fully prepared to buy a new case if needs be, i am considering the Corsair h50 right now. I do not think my E8400 will go past 4ghz so im now aiming to refine the pc to the utmost. What are the recommendations?

 

[JonJ678]

Two questions. How much money are you prepared to throw at silencing it, and how do you feel about pumping water around inside the case?

 

[PwnDirect]

First step replace all case fans, try noctuas, scythes, akasa apaches etc look at DB levels

Secondly you haven’t said what cooling you have on your cpu, so you may already have a decent cooler but if not, get something £30 + true, megahelms ,scythe mugen II (stuff that you can stick a decent 120mm fan on.

Thirdly graphics card, replace it or buy a termalright t-rad or similar

Fourth PSU you psu fan might be noisy or may have whining coils replace if this is the case.

Filth make sure you hard drives are not hard fastened ,try bungee moding them

& lastly your case you have most likely the worst case there is for silence is filled with holes & is very thin, if you want true silence get an antec p180 or similar ( btw am selling mine ) or you could try sound damping foam on the panels.

Silence is golden but you have to spend gold to get it.

 

[David-Stephens]

Using a arctic 7 CPU cooler

Prepared to spend what is needed i guess

Psu is silent, HDD makes no noise as far as i can hear. Recomendations then are to replace GPU heatsink and case fans

What about CPU cooler, h50 kit? air cooling, just need quiet not performance and if im right a e8400 that does 4ghz on an artic 7 is pretty good

 

[Hotwired]

The H50 has pump noise in the form of a quiet buzz which is normal for it. If you wanted quiet you'd be looking at low rpm fans on a straight air cooler.

 

[David-Stephens]

Any other feedback?

 

[shadowscotland]

My 2c worth
Firstly PwnDirect has covered most the main areas of quietening a pc – To which you give some more info on current cooling.

Firstly as you say in your OP it’s a quiet pc you want not a silent one – this makes it’s massively easier and cheaper to achieve.
Cooling a pc with one or two fans total, is relatively straight forwards with a good solid non-perforated case
and will be inaudible in most urban environments.
Achieving a just audible pc with your current case is also a possibility.

Option 1 – simple upgrade.
Keep the 300 and swap out all the fans, and get a tower cpu cooler and aftermarket graphic cooler.

Shopping list
3x 120mm 'quality' fans at low rmp – Noiseblocker /S-flex/Scythe Gentle Typhoon/Nexus Basic
Fan controller or volt mod
Accelero S1 Rev. 2 / T-rad2
(note accelero can use a ‘case’ fan/passive - the T-rad need a higher static pressure type aka apache/gentle typhoon)
A tower cooler – there are loads, the IFX-12 is currently the best with a single 800rmp fan - but new options are just hitting the shops

Option 2 – rebuild
New case (with door and solid sides P180/Fractal Design R2/Lian Li B10/LL S80) linky
Single case fan (intake – psu is extract)
CPU/GPU cooled by second hand Zalman Reservator or simular.

Silent PC review is a good place for more info

 

[EsaT]

or you could try sound damping foam on the panels.

That's flogging a dead horse.
Direct noise escape paths negate benefits of any damping in elsewhere and leaky case is always as quiet as noisiest component.

Single case fan (intake – psu is extract)

Using PSU as exhaust of the case is bad idea. It was devised in time when other components produced maybe even 50W of heat.

 

[shadowscotland]

That's flogging a dead horse.
Direct noise escape paths negate benefits of any damping in elsewhere and leaky case is always as quiet as noisiest component.

completely agree - but PwnDirect did list it as a last resort.

Using PSU as exhaust of the case is bad idea. It was devised in time when other components produced maybe even 50W of heat.

Doh! - oops should has said psu extract, single case fan and Zalman Res 2 (cpu/gpu)
That way the psu and case fan are cooling the MosFet / NB / Ram / HHD only