making a pc quiet

thatavguy · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:29

I'm trying to help my cousin out to make his PC much quieter. I thought the best idea for him would be first to change all the fans inside the case and if that's not enough perhaps replace the case with something like the fractal r3.

What I need help in is finding what fans are quiet that I should point him to?
What cases should I recommend?
Any other suggestions to make his computer quiet without breaking the bank and heading down a water cooling path.

King Damager · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:36

Noctua's for quiet fans - but they don't come cheap...

To be honest, the best bet would simply be invest in a fan controller...

kd

mp260767 · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:40

before you do anything try to find the noisiest part of the build.

take the side off the case then disconnect all the fans apart from the cpu fan, then start the system up, get your head close by the case and see if u can identify the main noise.

what else has he got included in his build, how many hard drives, what gfx card, what psu etc

thatavguy · 7 Sep 2011 at 15:47

Unfortunately not at his house right now so I'll have to get him to check, but from memory the gfx was an 8600. The psu is a cosiar 650. Three hdd's and two CD drives.

I thought most of the noise was coming from the three case fans, but I think I best confirm that as it could have easily been the CPU fan as well.

Looking for options now and will investigate further before we purchase anything.

thatavguy · 15 Sep 2011 at 17:59

Okay - so it seems the majority of the noise is coming from the CPU fan - What would a cheap quiet recommended cooler be?

I'm thinking we will replace the case fans as well, the Gelid Silent are on special at the moment, but are they worth the bang for buck? or would it be better to go for something more costly like the Scythe Gentle Typhoon?

gwobbles · 15 Sep 2011 at 18:29

ive heard good things about the gelid tranquillo

shamzzz · 15 Sep 2011 at 18:41

xigmatek scorpion is a good cheap cooler, nice and quiet aswell

Ak!ta · 15 Sep 2011 at 20:21

Titan Fenrir Evo CPU Cooler.

mp260767 · 15 Sep 2011 at 23:20

any idea on what make the current case fans are, take it there all 120mm ?

Ak!ta · 15 Sep 2011 at 23:26

Depends on the case, most are 120mm, but so go upto 220mm (antec 900).

neoglow · 15 Sep 2011 at 23:27

If its the fans being noisey, change them for quieter ones, look for db rating when buying. Also, mount all the fans in the case on rubber gaskets / anti vibration mounts. If the HDD is noisey, get some anti vibration mounts for it, some allow you to mount a 3.5" HDD in a 5.25" drive bay on the mounts, so no metal is touching metal.