Hi there,
This should help:
Choice Of Hard Drives
In my opinion, this is the most expensive part of silencing a computer. The hard drives have disks in them which spin and cause noise. You also get noise when the drive is seeking data, known as seek noise. IDE is quieter than SATA because they are a little slower. The best known make for quiet hard drives would be Samsung but Seagate are also known to be quiet too.
If you really want a quiet hard drive then the best thing would be to go for a 2.5” Laptop style hard drive as they are incredibly quiet and are practically inaudible. These are much more expensive and have low space limits. On OcUK the highest is 120GB. I have no real experience of all the Laptop hard drives so it would be unfair for me to say that one is quieter than the other but western digital say this about their laptop hard drives:
WD Scorpio™ delivers best-in-class performance with power requirements comparable to much slower drives. In addition, you'll get the quietest 2.5-inch drive on the market, and the one with ruggedness, reliability, and data-protection features that actively watch over valuable data.. So I would suggest getting these.
Remember you will need a converter to use these in a desktop PC!
Bottom Line: IDE is quieter than SATA and 2.5” is quieter than 3.5”.
Quietening a Hard Drives
There are options to make a 3.5” hard drive quieter and some of them are quite effective too. Here they are:
- OcUK PC Anti-Vibration Hard Disk Mounts (Pack of 4) - These are to absorb vibrations from the hard drive to the case and thus making your hard drive quieter but you are still able to hear seek noise. They mount your hard drive in a 5 ½ Bay instead of the normal 3 ½ Bay.
- OcUK Silentmaxx Aluminium Hard Drive Enclosure - These are probably the best thing, in my opinion, if you want to silence a hard drive. They cover the hard drive completely and mount on the vibration absorbers in the 5 ½ bay like above. They are covered with a big heat sink so your drive doesn’t get too hot. They are easily re useable and I have heard they work very well. On the OcUK website it says: ” Reduces hard drive noise by over 95%”. It doesn't fit on a 2.5" drive.
They are other cheapo options:
- Hard Drive Suspension - You can actually suspend your hard drive using rubber string to absorb the vibrations
- Lopez's Quide to Stealthing Drives - This is a Mod's guide to stealthing Drives
- You can also run your hard drive out of the case on top of some fabric or bubble wrap or similar to absorb vibrations.
Bottom Line: The hard drive enclosure is the best option for quietness of 3.5" drives, but the suspensions and other methods do help. Suspending a 2.5" Laptop hard drive with the rubber string as shown will be the quiestest hard drive option
Quietening Power Supply
The fan in the power supply is what makes a power supply loud or not. There are several options you can go for to make it quieter
AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! - Voids Warrenty
1. Replacing this fan with a quieter spec'ed fan.
2. Voltmodding the Fan - either setting the ran to 7V or 5V with a voltmod.
3. Vibration absorbers - not that effective but if fitted will stop vibrations of the fan to the psu.
All of these are dangerous as you can electricute yourself, or your PSU could blow as there may not be enough airflow to cool it down, etc.
Quietening CPU (FAN)
This is also dangerous for your CPU as it might not get enough air to cool down and could break your pc
TRY AT OWN RISK
1. You could either voltmod this fan to 7V or 5V.
2. You could control the speed via the computer controls.
3. Buy a passive heatsink - most expensive but quietest option.
4. Buy a quieter specced CPU Fan
Quietest Option
Passive Heatsink
No Case Fans
Replace Fan in PSU
2.5" Hard Drive with hard drive suspension techique.
Useful Links
How to Build a Quiet PC –
ways to quieten your pc
Silent Pc Review –
reviews on equipment and also some ways to quieten your pc
Stealthing Drive Guides –
Mods guide to stealthing a drive
Suspending Hard Drives -
Guide to suspending a drive
Hope this helps...
Thanks....
