How to quieten an older pc

fallbayuk

fallbayuk

fallbayuk

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I've got an older (2010) pre-built system from OCUK. It still does the job but it's noisy and I'd like to quieten it down a bit. Specs are:

- Case: Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
- Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w Corsair Power Supply
- CPU: Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz
- Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E LX Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard
- GFX: ATI Radeon HD 5850

It makes a ton of noise when the graphics card fan spins up, usually when watching Youtube. I don't use it for gaming. The noise from general use is loud though, I think due to the cpu fan noise not being dampened much by the case.

Any suggestions for making this thing a bit quieter? TIA :)
 
That case leaks all noises out unmuffled, so you have to minimize creation of that noise in the first place.
Meaning better fans/speed control for them.
Same for improving coolers.
If you're using stock CPU HSF that's garbage.

That graphics card is actually quite frugal in power consumption, so its cooler might be starting to get clogged by dust.
(dust can also wear down fan bearing/motor)
That cleaning of coolers would be first thing to do, especially if you want to minimize cost.

From new parts CPU cooler would be again easy to keep over any PC change.
Same for any fans.
Aftermarket GPU coolers might not be that easily transferrable.
 
EsaT said:
That case leaks all noises out unmuffled, so you have to minimize creation of that noise in the first place.
Meaning better fans/speed control for them.
Same for improving coolers.
If you're using stock CPU HSF that's garbage.

That graphics card is actually quite frugal in power consumption, so its cooler might be starting to get clogged by dust.
(dust can also wear down fan bearing/motor)
That cleaning of coolers would be first thing to do, especially if you want to minimize cost.

From new parts CPU cooler would be again easy to keep over any PC change.
Same for any fans.
Aftermarket GPU coolers might not be that easily transferrable.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Are there any cases you know of that would reduce the noise as well?
 
Which 5850 model is it? Adding a normal 92/120mm fan (or two) to the heatsink along with a cheap GPU PWM adapter will do the trick if noise is still an issue after cleaning. I'm doing it with 2 x Phanteks 120MPs and an EKWB GPU PWM adapter on an EVGA 1070 SC. By far the most silent GPU I've ever used lol.

But this won't work on blower/reference models.
 
fallbayuk said:
The noise from general use is loud though, I think due to the cpu fan noise not being dampened much by the case.
Click to expand...
fallbayuk said:
- Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w Corsair Power Supply
Any suggestions for making this thing a bit quieter? TIA :)
Click to expand...
That particular PSU can sometimes develop a thermal sensor fault, resulting in the fan constantly spinning at 100% (i had to fix/mod one recently).

My friend thought the noise was from his heatsink/case fans - but when i had a closer look it became very clear it was the Corsair fan which runs at a bonkers 2800 RPM ~49dB at full tilt (Yaletoon D14BH-12).

May be worth directing your ear towards the PSU to see if it's part of the problem.
 
fallbayuk said:
Thanks. Are there any cases you know of that would reduce the noise as well?
Click to expand...
Fractal Design Define serie models are some of the rare cases with no direct noise escape paths and real mass damping for side panels.
That mass damping with denser stuff like bitumen is needed to prevent/stop vibration of panels and increase their acoustic opacity.
And indirect noise escape paths force sound waves to bounce decreasing their intensity before noise reaches your ears.
 
You could consider an AIO conversion kit for the GPU, update the fan cases to something like eloops or SilentWings, and out a more modern heardink on...
 
Antec 300 Cases have a couple of 3 speed fans fitted as standard, one in the roof & the other at the back. Each Fan has a small switch on the end of a wire. Both are noisy at full speed but fairly quiet at low speed. Open Up the case & try them at lower speed. If they are on low speed already then give them a clean.
 
If you've never cleaned any of the heatsinks then 9 years of accumulated dust would definitely cause an increase in noise.

Has it always been noisy?

.........
 
Thanks for all the responses. The fans and sinks have been cleaned fairly regularly throughout the computers life so that shouldn't be an issue. The most noise is coming from the graphics card. Is there an equivalent that is silent?
 
personally id use a bit of plastic to jam each fan in turn to see which is making the most noise... then replace them with quiet fans (or remove them if I did not feel they were required)
 
fallbayuk said:
Thanks for all the responses. The fans and sinks have been cleaned fairly regularly throughout the computers life so that shouldn't be an issue. The most noise is coming from the graphics card. Is there an equivalent that is silent?
Click to expand...
Graphics card's fan might simply be wearing out causing more noise.
TIM might have also degraded leading to bad heat conduction to cooler.
After all 5850 is old card.
 
Quieting a PC is a process. First you find the loudest component, then you quieten it. Repeat that until you're happy.

Clean all the dust out. Get some canned air and get all the dust out, hoover any fan filters. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk-air-duster-compressed-air-400ml-kb-010-op.html

Case fans - you can either disconnect them, or stop them with your finger by touching the middle briefly (sometimes need a push to get them going again), if you jam it with a pencil you might snap a blade. You'll be able to see how much difference there is by eliminating the fan. Some cases have fan controllers built in, if yours doesn't you can add one to slow the fans down - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/air-cooling/fans/fan-controllers?spage=1&ssort=3

cpu fan - you can briefly stop your cpu fan while your system is idle, but only briefly. if you're using the stock cooler, you can get a significant improvement with a cheap cooler like this - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo-cpu-cooler-hs-035-cm.html - your CPU cooler's fan speed varies by temperature, and temperature varies by voltage. So get CPU-Z and see what voltage is going through your CPU, make sure it lowers when idle and increases under load (so it's not at full whack all of the time). And get hwmonitor to check what your temperatures are. They should idle in the 40s and peak in the 70s, roughly.

GPU - I know your model of GPU is loud because I used to own one. If you aren't gaming there's no point using a gaming graphics card, they use more power and kick out heat and noise. You'd be better off with a cheapo passive graphics card like this - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...ddr3-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-316-ms.html - but check the outputs to make sure you can connect your monitor(s).

Those are the steps you can do in the context of working with an existing system. When you eventually come to buying a new system you can ask again because you can prioritise quietness when choosing components. I can't hear my PC at idle or load, it's possible to do that these days without spending much extra over a normal build cost.
 
Really appreciate everyone's help, thank you.

I've already physically stopped the fans individually and the graphics card and cpu fan are the main noise makers in the system. When the graphics card fan really spins up it sounds like a hairdryer, even dust free. The case then does a bad job at hiding any of the noise.

I'll go for the GT710 and swap the cpu heatsink and fan for starters. Any pointers for the thermal paste and what product I'll need to remove the old stuff?
 
The stuff Billy mentioned is great:

Or Isopropyl Alcohol (preferably 99%).

Can use kitchen towels to wipe up most of it. Then finish up with lint-free cloth.

If you're getting a new CPU cooler it'll come with thermal paste.

Also, as the system is about 10 years old, do replace the CMOS battery with a new CR2032 (Duracell or other). It'll reset your BIOS settings so jot down anything you need to replicate afterwards. Will help in avoiding some CMOS issues as system ages.
 
With regards to the GT710, would I see any real world benefit with the 2GB model over the 1GB if I'm not gaming? I'll be using it in a dual monitor setup.
 
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