Quiet PC build can anyone advise?

Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2007
Posts
5,413
Not sure if this part of the forum is the right one but I am looking to build a new tower and as it all starts with the case then I thought case central is the place to part. However, I am coming at this new build from a different angle to many - sound or the lack of it is very important to me and I want to build a quiet PC. Can anyone recommend a nice quiet tower with quiet PSU fitted or otherwise? I want to use a Core 2 Duo 2.4 CPU but not sure which motherboard to marry it to? As I say noise is the big factor, I'm not a games player and the reason I want a quiet PC is that I do some pretty technical reports at home and I find fan noise a real distraction. Any ideas really would be appreciated.

P.S. if this is the wrong part of the forum then can a mod move it to the right section?
 
It's not that fantastic anymore, but it still holds a part in my heart as one of my favourite cases.

The Antec Sonata (Version I or II, not so much the third model).

Great build quality, great to work inside as the HDDs are on rails to easily remove them, same goes for the optical drives too. Thumbscrews on the case rather than normal screws.

It's very quiet too.

If your main concern is fan noise, I'd replace the stock 120mm fan on the sonata with a Noctua or Xilence fan.
 
It's not that fantastic anymore, but it still holds a part in my heart as one of my favourite cases.

The Antec Sonata (Version I or II, not so much the third model).

Great build quality, great to work inside as the HDDs are on rails to easily remove them, same goes for the optical drives too. Thumbscrews on the case rather than normal screws.

It's very quiet too.

If your main concern is fan noise, I'd replace the stock 120mm fan on the sonata with a Noctua or Xilence fan.

Ah! yes I have just found it on Overclockers shop - looks nice and comes complete with quiet PSU - thanks this looks like a likely candidate. Any ideas on a Mobo to go with the E6600 2.4 CPU - again quiet fan/heatsink, the choice is mind boggling.
 
Last edited:
One of the best things to quieting a case is the fans, I use the standard ones but using a fan controller set to minimum.

If your starting a new build and don't play games think about a passive gfx card as that is one of the noisest parts of a pc, if not the most.

I'm using a zalman fan on mine and when up full blast I can hear from down the stairs!!

You can barley hear mine with the fans set near minimum.
 
One of the best things to quieting a case is the fans, I use the standard ones but using a fan controller set to minimum.

If your starting a new build and don't play games think about a passive gfx card as that is one of the noisest parts of a pc, if not the most.

I'm using a zalman fan on mine and when up full blast I can hear from down the stairs!!

You can barley hear mine with the fans set near minimum.

Will the one 120 mm case fan in the Antec plus the CPU fan and the PSU fan be adequate for cooling? My Evesham PC although a nice reliable PC drives me to distraction and I'm sure the two culprits are the P4 fan and the PSU fan. With reference to the graphics card - not sure if a passive card will do the job for Vista re: aero etc.?
 
Last edited:
Will the one 120 mm case fan in the Antec plus the CPU fan and the PSU fan be adequate for cooling? My Evesham PC although a nice reliable PC drives me to distraction and I'm sure the two culprits are the P4 fan and the PSU fan. With reference to the graphics card - not sure if a passive card will do the job for Vista re: aero etc.?

It depends upon the rest of your kit as to adequecy for cooling with low noise. If you are running a Core 2 Duo at stock, 1 hard drive and a low end graphics card then it would be fine.

I'm using a Sonata III and I'm not too happy with it really. I think the main problem is the innefficient cooling intake - there is none as standard, and the option they provide (mounting a fan on the motherboard side of the sideways facing hard drive cages) is pretty much useless.

Not too sure about the PSU either. It's certainly not quiet, and does get very hot. I know I am OCing my CPU and do have 3 drives and an 8800GTS, so I'm probably pushing it to its limit.

The Antec Tricool 120mm fans are not the quietest on the market either - even at low speed they are quite audible!

My previous case was a cheapo Chieftech Titan Micro which, though an mATX case, had room for 120mm fans at the front and back, and I put a couple of Akasa Ultra Quiets in there, mounted with rubber widgets. The Xilence PSU I bought was a bit noisier and lower efficiency than I hoped, but not too bad. I then had a 7600GT card fitted with a Zalman. I was using my E6300 at stock on an Asrock mATX board.

All in all I was pretty happy with the power/performance/noise/heat ratio, but then I got the upgrade bug and just had to get an 8800GTS - unfortunately that knocked everything sideways and here I am now £600 lighter with a much more powerful but noisier and hotter-than-I-would-like PC.

As regards your concern re: passive cards running Aero - it depends on the card but I think pretty much anything new on the market will do it - take a look at the passive ATI 2400 pros & XTs, the nVidia 8500GTs etc. Hell, I think some of the onboard graphics chips should be okay with Aero - GMA3000, X3100 etc, plus they would run very quiet!

Considering your needs a selfbuild might not be the best option - I'm sure there are plenty of cheap quiet branded solutions out there these days.
 
I like the Antec Solo as a slightly smaller, quiet case. It certainly handles a C2D E6400 and even an E6600 that aren't overlocked very nicely. If you want something larger then it's still hard to beat the Lian-Li PC-7 and after that you're looking at the Akasa Eclipse 62 but that's really much bigger than you need.

Have a look at the Gigabyte P35-DS3R or Abit IP35 as reasonably priced, current production motherboards that will also handle the next generation of C2D for when you want to upgrade.
 
Hmm! conflicting views then on the Antec - I should have said that I will be placing two 300 gig HD's in the unit and will rely on the onboard sound for my audio needs. I had considered an off the peg PC but who can you trust these days and who makes a quiet PC? Lets face it they all seem pretty quiet in a large store until you get them home then you realise they sound like the wifes hairdryer and it's to late by then.
 
I bought a Lian-Li PC-7 S III which came with three 120mm fans.

They are virtually inaudible.

There’s nothing else in the case yet so I don’t know how well they cool a fully kitted out PC.
 
Last edited:
Not sure if this part of the forum is the right one but I am looking to build a new tower and as it all starts with the case then I thought case central is the place to part. However, I am coming at this new build from a different angle to many - sound or the lack of it is very important to me and I want to build a quiet PC. Can anyone recommend a nice quiet tower with quiet PSU fitted or otherwise? I want to use a Core 2 Duo 2.4 CPU but not sure which motherboard to marry it to? As I say noise is the big factor, I'm not a games player and the reason I want a quiet PC is that I do some pretty technical reports at home and I find fan noise a real distraction. Any ideas really would be appreciated.

P.S. if this is the wrong part of the forum then can a mod move it to the right section?

Lian-Li PC-7B - unplug back and front 120mm fans.
Scythe Ninja + or similar heatsink with 120mm fan
Core 2 Duo E6600
Some low-voltage RAM
P35-DS4 motherboard
Corsair HX

My setup is the same as I listed above, apart from the low voltage RAM. When I unplugged my back and front 120mm fans and it was near on silent.

My RAM got a bit toasty, but my GTX, HDD etc. were all fine.

If you go for some RAM that requires less voltage then you'll be good to go :)
 
Last edited:
Some thoughts Faustus,

I think you should have put this under the general hardware section as it's about marrying many parts to get the quietness you want, and there is a bigger readership there.!

Everything is relative. If you're coming from an Evesham, I bet it's got 80mm case fans, a stock cooler/fan, a cheap, noisy PSU and a northbridge fan maniacally whirring away like a hairdryer at 6000 RPM!

Need to know if you are a big gamer/heavy overclocker type. Implication from the thread so far is that you are not. As said earlier, the key is the fans and 120mm is the way to go if possible. That can unfortunately mean a bigger (midi) sized case.

So on that basis:

Case: perm 1 of:

Antec 182 - nicely soundproofed, but heavy and not much fun to work on and I hated the door. I think the Tricools set at low are fine (everything is relative).

Lian Li V1000+ - surprisingly quiet, good cooling, light, pretty (IMHO), but expensive.

Akasa Eclipse - probably a good compromise on the above two, but not pretty (IMHO :D)

Mobo: Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R - fanless, well reviewed, some future proofing, and relatively cheap.

CPU Cooler: Anything that can sport a 120mm fan. Scythe Ninja, Tuniq Tower for example.

GFX Card: I personally would steer clear of fanless cards unless you have absolutely no intention to game. I had one once, and the number of lockups was unbearable. Modern cards with fans are now very quiet when idle, and only sometimes noisy under load (which is irrelevent if you are gaming). The HIS IceQ range is superb in this respect.

PSU: Again, one with a 120mm fan. Corsair or Seasonic.

Hard drives: These can be remarkably irritating, and if you were to build a system on the lines of the above, may become the most annoying things in your case. Note, I did not say noisiest. You will be having 4 or 5 120mm fans going and a smaller one on the graphics card. These will make a noise even at 5 volts, but it will be a low, pleasant purr. The wrong hard drive can make a horrible, relatively discordant whine. You mention you have 2 on your Evesham. Suggest you review once you have built your new system, and if these are the cause of irritation, then swap to Samsung Spinpoints, or better still the WD AAK500s.

Fan Controller: The default fan speed for case fans is 12v. This is a veritable wind tunnel, even with 120mm fans. You'll need to reduce that to a whisper.

I have a Sunbeam Rheobus (hard to find, takes a bit of getting used to, but allows precise fan setting from stop to 12v). However, I think the new Zalman ZM MFC1 Plus will look fantastic in my Lian Li V1000+, and does 5v to 12v

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-001-ZA

Hope this helps.
 
There's a few things you can do. Use a fan controller to turn down your decent 120mm fans. I recommed the sonata case, corsair psu etc. Heartily recommended is the Enzotech Ultra-X HSF. this is the best cooler available at the moment, and will be able to cool your chip quietly.

The arctic cooling rear exhaust graphics coolers used to be very good, but haven't used one for a while.

For the best hard drives, Samsung Spinpoint or Seagate Barracuda. These are the quietest drives. I use\spinpoints, but other builders i know insist on seagates...

Pick your fans carefully anset it all up, there's no need for all this accoustic sound deadening stuff, it just insulates heat too. Try to avoid front fans, a decent set of rear fans will drag air in through the holes left by front fan removal :)
 
Some thoughts Faustus,

I think you should have put this under the general hardware section as it's about marrying many parts to get the quietness you want, and there is a bigger readership there.!

Everything is relative. If you're coming from an Evesham, I bet it's got 80mm case fans, a stock cooler/fan, a cheap, noisy PSU and a northbridge fan maniacally whirring away like a hairdryer at 6000 RPM!

Need to know if you are a big gamer/heavy overclocker type. Implication from the thread so far is that you are not. As said earlier, the key is the fans and 120mm is the way to go if possible. That can unfortunately mean a bigger (midi) sized case.

So on that basis:

Case: perm 1 of:

Antec 182 - nicely soundproofed, but heavy and not much fun to work on and I hated the door. I think the Tricools set at low are fine (everything is relative).

Lian Li V1000+ - surprisingly quiet, good cooling, light, pretty (IMHO), but expensive.

Akasa Eclipse - probably a good compromise on the above two, but not pretty (IMHO :D)

Mobo: Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R - fanless, well reviewed, some future proofing, and relatively cheap.

CPU Cooler: Anything that can sport a 120mm fan. Scythe Ninja, Tuniq Tower for example.

GFX Card: I personally would steer clear of fanless cards unless you have absolutely no intention to game. I had one once, and the number of lockups was unbearable. Modern cards with fans are now very quiet when idle, and only sometimes noisy under load (which is irrelevent if you are gaming). The HIS IceQ range is superb in this respect.

PSU: Again, one with a 120mm fan. Corsair or Seasonic.

Hard drives: These can be remarkably irritating, and if you were to build a system on the lines of the above, may become the most annoying things in your case. Note, I did not say noisiest. You will be having 4 or 5 120mm fans going and a smaller one on the graphics card. These will make a noise even at 5 volts, but it will be a low, pleasant purr. The wrong hard drive can make a horrible, relatively discordant whine. You mention you have 2 on your Evesham. Suggest you review once you have built your new system, and if these are the cause of irritation, then swap to Samsung Spinpoints, or better still the WD AAK500s.

Fan Controller: The default fan speed for case fans is 12v. This is a veritable wind tunnel, even with 120mm fans. You'll need to reduce that to a whisper.

I have a Sunbeam Rheobus (hard to find, takes a bit of getting used to, but allows precise fan setting from stop to 12v). However, I think the new Zalman ZM MFC1 Plus will look fantastic in my Lian Li V1000+, and does 5v to 12v

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-001-ZA

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the help - your right on some of those points re: the Evesham, though it has remarkably few fans, in fact just the one 80 mm case fan set on the front panel behind the HD's, but this is not the one that causes the noise as I tested this be disconnecting the fan. The case is quite large i.e. 420mm x 490 x 200 so plenty large enough. The PSU is a 300w FSP noise killer which again I don't think is the culprit. However, I fear you've hit the nail right on the head with the CPU fan which as you say is an Intel Northbridge whirring it's silly head off sat on top of the 3.0 P4 CPU. I'm sure if I could do something about this baby then my life would be a lot quieter. I have two different drives in there, the original WD 160 which is now a slave and which Vista spins down after about 20 mins and a 250 gig Samsung Spinpoint. The Graphics card does have a fan and it's one I fitted about 12 months ago ATi X1300 Sapphire which does have a fan but never appeared to increase noise levels from the old ATi fanless card. Finally no - definitely not a gamer, the whole concept is lost on me, tried a few and they leave me cold - cold but stressed.
 
Have you tried Speedfan as an interim solution:

http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

Takes a bit of figuring out (google for it), but once up you can reduce you CPU fan to c25% (c800 RPM) and a lot of that noise will go.

And its free :)

Thanks for that link - I have downloaded it however, my mobo not being the latest is a bit vague and it just lists fans 1,2,&3 though I think I know which number relates to the CPU as dropping the % one immediately notices a drop in noise. However, speeds in the viewing window seem erratic to say the least, set at 50% with the auto fan speed box checked, fan speed first says 0 rpm then it says 168750 which I don't think is possible then 8975 rpm. At 100% fans 2 & 3 are at about 2735 rpm according to fan speed info window. I am concerned about cooking the unit though as temps are showing 46C and 42C respectively?
 
Speedfan is "vague" about these things, in that you have to figure out the right fan and rename fan 1 etc. Never come across the rpm figures you mention.

I'm a bit busy at the mo, so can't step you through it. Here's a tutorial I found - it looks like the writer knows his stuff, but I haven't read it through...

http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=41049&mpage=1&key=&

Speedfan does not support some motherboards, but it has worked on all ine to date...
 
Speedfan is "vague" about these things, in that you have to figure out the right fan and rename fan 1 etc. Never come across the rpm figures you mention.

I'm a bit busy at the mo, so can't step you through it. Here's a tutorial I found - it looks like the writer knows his stuff, but I haven't read it through...

http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=41049&mpage=1&key=&

Speedfan does not support some motherboards, but it has worked on all ine to date...

It's only a partial success on my MSI mobo as some vital elements are not supported. I suppose a more permanent method would be to replace the Intel heatsink/CPU fan with a more efficient quieter alternative, although I am going to build a new PC in any event. Anyone any suggestions for a replacement to the Intel Northbridge P4 fan/heatsink?
 
For the best hard drives, Samsung Spinpoint or Seagate Barracuda. These are the quietest drives. I use\spinpoints, but other builders i know insist on seagates...

I bought a few Spinpoints once after reading that they were quiet and wasn't too impressed. I'm currently using a couple of Western Digital Caviar SE 160gb in a RAID array, plus a 250gb one for data, and I think they are pretty quiet.

When it comes to drive noise, I'm not too bothered by disk read/write access noise (apart from when Vista is grinding away even when I'm not doing anything!) - it's the whine of the motor and the vibrations and rolling rumblings that bother me. Luckily the WDs have a quiet motor without whine (unlike the howling 80gb Maxtor I have in an external caddy) and very low vibration. If your hard drive cage has rubbery silicon grommets like those in an Antec Sonata or P182 case the vibrations are more or less eliminated too :)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom