making current pc as quiet as possible

keyser

keyser

keyser

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hi folks :) Since there's no rush to upgrade cpu/mobo/ram for a while I wanted to make my PC as quiet as possible, which is more expensive than it seems. My current setup is pretty good sound wise, but there's room for improvement! So far the plan is:

  • get mechanical drives in a custom NAS in another room (freenas. don't let the name fool you, that'll be around £1000 for the hardware)
  • upgrade case fans with the AP182 fan (£75ish)
  • test removal of cpu cooler fan from my Thermalright HR-02 Macho or buy one of these
  • replace PSU with Seasonic fanless 520W
After that lot a future upgrade will hopefully be 27" IPS/1440/144hz/gsync monitor and either 970 or 980 Ti or wait for next gen cards, with the zero-fan-at-idle tech.

Will that PSU be able to power a 980 Ti or better get something else? If I get a PSU that spins fans when doing stuff, will it go back down afterwards? suggestions welcome :)

One thing that bugs me about my current mobo is lack of working fan controlling via the fan headers. I think only 1 of them works in speedfan and the Gigabyte software always tries to kill my cpu re:how many volts to give the cpu, so can't use that.
 
I have been running a very quiet system for around 10 years now. I really can't stand any noise coming from my PC at all.

I have 2x WD 1.5TB "green" and 2x WD 2TB "green", all of these do not make any noise as far as I can tell (with my head next to them when in use). My Antec P182 does have rubber mounted hard drive bays though so that might also help.

I use 4x fractal design silent series (1000rpm - 15dB?) case fans, which are spinning at 800RPM (controlled by my motherboard). http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/case-fans/discontinued-products/silent-series-120mm

Everything else in my sig is dead silent too. CPU cooler is this one though; https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-RT&groupid=701&catid=2330. The GPU fans do not spin when idle, and very quiet (if not silent) when gaming. I think the PSU's fan doesn't spin either until it gets to a certain temp, either way its dead silent for me and the only thing I can hear when gaming is a only slight fan noise from my GPU which is acceptable to me.

Does your motherboard not have any fan control settings in the bios? All of my old asus boards did, and so has this new gigabyte board.

What is the spec of the seasonic PSU? Nvidia website says 600W system requirement for the 980Ti but that might just to cover poor quality PSU's.
 
Those things would probably give you great results (apart from the passive cooler) but are going a bit overboard IMO!

As fobose says, isolating the drives from the case and turning down your current fan speeds (or removing a couple if you've loads) would go most of the way without needing to spend anywhere near as much money as you're thinking.

Also I can't tell which 670 you've got but that's probably a major source of noise.

P.S. regarding that passive cooler, I'm very sceptical of passive anything - there are plenty of nearly-silent products with fans that do a great job, but going from that to no fan at all usually involves major drawbacks.
 
Well you can say bye bye to any overclocking with that cooler. IMO no need to go passive, air coolers are quiet enough providing you go with the right one (or fan).

A fanless PSU isn't necessary either unless your PSU is actually loud, in that case most quality modern units have a hybrid fan anyway.
 
My system is pretty similar to yours and I originally used a FT02. Just drop the overclock, add a Nofan CR-95, and replace the PSU with a fanless one. Remove the case fans entirely. I'm powering a TX on a fanless 460W PSU, though I do use an i7-3770S.

Check out my FT02 build thread on Hardforum.
 
Just hook all fans up to a fan controller, either hardware or software and use fans with that are happy at low RPM. Dial back fans until you cant hear them and you will have a silent system that's much cooler than one with a passive heatsink.
 
BTW With my Nofan there is room for SLI, despite me originally thinking there wasn't, but you'll need a more powerful PSU.
 
I've got Seasonic G 650W PSU, fan always spinning but probably doesn't make much noise.

I did wonder about my 670 - it's the Windforce one with 3 fans going at 20% at idle, I think thats as low as they go.

I'd like no noise when idle and some noise when gaming. I'm not going 100% fanless, just want the 3x 180mm silverstone fans to do all the work at as low noise as possible.

That's the type of thing Quartz, sorry I'd googled a bit while ago and forgot to link that thread of yours - impressive :) As I say I'd like to try a variation on that, except keep the 3 case fans and have them making very little noise. I'm pretty sure 3x slow 180mm fans can push enough air even when gaming.

HD wise, I've actually only got 2x WD Reds going and the 2x Greens are for backing up via a USB-to-SATA plug in.

The whole noise/silent thing is a bit subjective too as it depends where you live etc I live down a quiet road, actually away from the road a bit so its pretty damn quiet around here (people mention that when they come round).

I'll try and pin down whats making the most noise, if its 670 then I may upgrade things in noise order.. :) At the moment it's 'some noise', couldn't tell you whats making it at the moment! thanks guys
 
I've got a very very quiet PC, and don't think I'd ever go back!! In fact, it's going under the desk later today (rather than on it) :)

That should get it pretty much completely out of earshot :cool:
 
When I was running my BFG 8800GT OC some years ago, it started off very quiet when idle but during games it was a real screamer. Eventually, after about 3 years it started to get very noisy when idle (I air dusted it but no luck).

I ended up putting a huge passive aftermarket cooler (arctic accelero S1) on to it and it was brilliant! Maybe you could look in to changing the cooler if it is your GPU? It might be cheaper than buying a new GPU if your still happy with the one you have. The idle and load temp were much lower with the passive heatsink too, I think the stock heatsink was renowned to be bad though.
 
If you have to move the hard drives then you'd get far better value with a microserver, they've really made nas boxes pointless and over priced. Expect the whole lot to cost you no more then £200 then hardware wise.

You might as well get a PSU with a fan, I have a 1300w and its silent, as in no noise with your heard next to it, this is the same:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £25.97 (includes shipping : £4.98 Ex.VAT).



I personally would never go fanless with all the high quality fans there are out there now, especially on a gaming machine. If you're looking to spend money they custom watercooling will probably get you the quietest machine.

Also I just bought a PSU I thought to be high quality but its got the most horrendous buzzing, and its not coming from the fan. must have sounded like a saw when they did the Hi-pot.
 
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Don't get the Fanless PSU, Seasonic X-Series 650 or 750 will be a better option for you as it will adjust to fan off on low useage.
They are very similar to my AX850 (Seasonic build), x-series maybe has a better fan.

650W £110.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-027-SS

750 W £126.95
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-SS


Don't worry about gold and platinum, the difference is tiny.

I believe Seasonic still have a UK RMA, but don't take my word for it check it out first. :D

The Corsair Professional Series AX (not the AX i) is also worth a look, but Euro RMA. Depends if you think the 7 year warranty over 5 year is worth it.

Your Seasonic G 650W is ok, but may be a bit louder if you upgrade to a 980ti.


As for the HDD, I don't see the point with the NAS, I can't hear my HDDs and they are 7200 RPM x3.
As with "Fobose" my Antec P182SE does have silicone washers that really stop all vibrations from the HDD which is where most of the HDD noise tends to come from. How are the HDD mounted in your FT02?

My PC is very quite on Idle with 5 120mm fans. 3 Antec Tri-cool, silent on low setting and 2 Noctua 120mm.

The Noctua's are excellent and highly recommended.
 
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Ah just read the NoFan cooler most likely blocks the first PCIe slot. My GPU could use the 2nd slot and take a slight performance hit.. I'm not going to upgrade everything just to move the PCIe slot over a bit.. :)

The Seasonic 520w FANLESS would be enough to power a MSI GTX 980TI 6G since its the 12v rail that powers the GPU and the 3v for the CPU. (MSI recommends a 400W power supply..)

Not opened it up and tested fans yet. Noticed max temp reading on CPU core 3 of 78c which is high and probably means I should do some dusting.
 
I strapped two akasa Apache fans to my d14 air cooler,very quiet indeed,accelero air cooler fitted to my GPU is also silent
 
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