Why isn't my computer silent?

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h20
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Why isn't my computer silent?

Post by h20 » Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:33 am

I built my first PC 3 years ago. As soon as i turned it on i was getting headaches etc... I could here a high pitch sound so i decided to change some things. First I changed the case from cooler master praetorian to sonata 2 (definitley an improvement). I then put an artic cooler on my radeon 9800 pro. I changed hdd from western digital to seagate. I changed the hsf for my AMD 3200+ CPU.

I don't understand what people mean by "my computer is quiet or silent" because I'm not experiencing that pleasure while i have good equiptment.

Oh and now i also have tinnitus in my ear, for those who don't know what it is it's a high pitch ringing sound in your ear that never leaves. ( have it for 2 years)

basically I'm quite sensitive and would like to shut my computer up

Conclusion:
Zalman HSF on 2000RPM
Antec sonata 2 with back fan on LOW
I put an akasa amber with fan controller in the middle
the PSU comes with the case its an antec 450W with 2x 80mm fans. One spins at all times and the other is activated when temps are high.

What can i do people?

Thanx h20

angelkiller
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Post by angelkiller » Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:56 am

Hi,

Well by looking at your specs here's what I see making noise in order from loudest to softest.
1) Zalman
2) Seagate
3) Stock Antec Tri-Cool

All three can be easily fixed:

1) Zalmans are wonderful upgrades from stock cooling. Zalmans are both quieter and perform better than stock coolers. But they arn't silent. Even at their lowest setting. In your situation, you have two options. a) Replace the Zalman fan b) Buy a new HSF. If you replace the fan, just search SPCR for "Zalman fan swap". A fan swap is a simple, cheap, and easy way to make your computer quieter. If you get a new HSF, a Scythe Ninja would be very very quiet, assuming it fits in your case.

2) I can't speak for three years ago, but currently Western Digital and Samsung hard drives are the quietest. I got my Seagates a year ago and they have really loud idle noise. You may want to purchase a new hard drive.

3) Similar to the Zalman, the stock Antec Tri-Cool fan is a great improvement over regular fans, but still far from silent. Fortuneately, quieter fans are availible. Such fans include Nexus, Yate Loon, and Scythe S-Flex. Nexus are a favorite here at SPCR, but they are expensive. Yate Loons are rebadged Nexus's but spin a bit faster and are very cheap. Scythe S-Flex's are also expensive but are very quiet. Because of their small price, I'd recommend Yate Loons.

Hope this helps!

h20
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Post by h20 » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:25 pm

damn i just installed speed fan.

I reduced the zalman up to 40% and the difference is huge.

What if i open the Antec PSU and install an Akasa Amber 80mm in the fan that spins all the time.

Would that be possible?make a difference?

protellect
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Post by protellect » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:44 pm

A good way to check is to manually stop the fan [stick a pencil in it or something]. Stopping each fan is a okay way to figure out what pieces are your big noise makers.

JoeWPgh
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Post by JoeWPgh » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:51 pm

Which Zalman do you use, and what are your idle temps?
I assume it has the associated fanmate controller. I have 2 different Zalmans on 2 different machines and get decent temps with either of them dialed down to minimum. I'm not in love with the large Zalman flower in my Sonata II and I'll likely change it one of these days. The other is a low profile deal in a media case, so I'll live with it.

As for the Sonata II: I had a 2nd 120mm in my Sonata II and it didn't make a significant difference in my temps, so I ditched it.

The stock PSU isn't quiet, but there are worse. I'd describe it's noise is a low rumble. I changed mine to a Corsair HX 520 and it was a nice improvement - Others have reported whining and or buzzing with it, but mine's been fine.

I dampened my Sonata with a build up of foil backed butyl, self stick floor tiles and open cell 'acoustic' foam. That made a big difference. Here's my list for you, that oddly goes from cheapest to most expensive, as well as biggest difference to smallest.

1: Turn down the Zalman's fan (watch your temps)
2: Turn off the mid case fan (watch your temps)
3: Dampen the case. Look around, there's threads about doing it.
4: Replace the PSU

Suspending your HDD(s) will also make a big difference. Again, there's thread aplenty about how to do that.
You can replace your tri-cools with something from the recommended list, but in my case, that made the smallest difference.
Once you've mowed through all that, you'll probably want to look into passive cooling for your video card.
Welcome to obsession :)

h20
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Post by h20 » Sun Jul 29, 2007 12:55 pm

much thanx for all the tips, I'm most likely going to remove the tri cool in the back and put the akasa amber 120mm thats in the middle in the back.

The foam idea seems good.
And for the hdd does it really make a difference if its suspended i mean in the sonata 2 they are already on those rubber things in the hdd "cage"

JoeWPgh
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Post by JoeWPgh » Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:09 pm

h20 wrote: And for the hdd does it really make a difference if its suspended i mean in the sonata 2 they are already on those rubber things in the hdd "cage"
From where you were, it wouldn't have made much difference. Once you tame everything else? A big one. If you only have 1 HDD, you might be interested in this.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g7/c113 ... age1.html.

I have 4, making this solution a little too spendy.

EDIT: I forgot to suggest you simply turn off the mid fan and watch your temps for a day or 2 before eliminating it.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:18 pm

I haven't actually heard the akasa amber fans you speak of, but I have a hard time believing they are particularly quiet. I bet the only advantage you get with them (maybe) is that they might be running slower than other fans in the case. Stay with SPCR recommended fans which you can pretty much be sure of performing the way we say they do.

The Seagate HDD you have is NOT quiet. Just swap it out for a new Samsung or WD -- and yes, suspending a HDD definitely quiets it more than rubber grommets.

h20
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Post by h20 » Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:51 pm

It's strange that you don't know this fan because it's really popular and tones of people recommended them to me

http://www.akasa.co.uk/akasa_english/sp ... 83_l2b.htm

i bought the seagate also because that was recommended and its true the high pitch sound is lower then the WD. Mabey buying a good internal enclosure for my hdd would work better then suspending it?

I've also always thought that the high pitch noise i hear comes from the motherboard around the socket area.
Is it possible for capacitors to make a high pitch noise or the inside the socket where it connects with the CPU pins?

Thanx
h20

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:56 pm

h20 wrote:It's strange that you don't know this fan because it's really popular and tones of people recommended them to me

http://www.akasa.co.uk/akasa_english/sp ... 83_l2b.htm

i bought the seagate also because that was recommended and its true the high pitch sound is lower then the WD. Mabey buying a good internal enclosure for my hdd would work better then suspending it?

I've also always thought that the high pitch noise i hear comes from the motherboard around the socket area.
Is it possible for capacitors to make a high pitch noise or the inside the socket where it connects with the CPU pins?

Thanx
h20
Let's get straight on the HDD. If you bought a Seagate HDD less than 3 years ago, then it must be a 7200.8, .9, or .10 None of these have been very quiet compared to the latest from WD (over the past year or so) or Samsung (for the past several years). Of course, if your previous WD was several years old, it would have had standard ball bearings rather than the now common FDB bearings, and it would be louder than your more recent Seagate.

If your SEagate is is Barracuda IV, V or 7200.7, there's a good chance of it being very quiet.

So which model do you have?

Yes, it is very possible for capacitors and coils on the motherboard to make buzzing, humming or whining noise. Not easy to solve, other than adding damping material (foam) on the inside walls of your case, which may not suppress it altogether.

W/ regard to the Akasa fan, there are simple very few fans with transparent plastic which have impressed in any way. The plastic itself exhibits a more resonant kind of sound. But if you're happy with it....

h20
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Post by h20 » Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:05 pm

just check and indeed i have a silent one

the 7200.7

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?v ... age=Legacy

dfrost
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Post by dfrost » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:53 am

just check and indeed i have a silent one

the 7200.7
My 80 Gb 7200.7 was NOT silent, compared to either of the recent Samsungs in my sig. It wasn't loud, but somewhat irritating instead. I now use it only on a very occasional basis.

monkiman
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Post by monkiman » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:54 pm

h20 wrote:damn i just installed speed fan.

I reduced the zalman up to 40% and the difference is huge.
I was running my Zalman at 40% too and it is a big improvemnt over full speed - I finally got around to fan swapping to a Nexus 92mm - running at 100% it cools better and is much quieter. The Zalman fan is just not good.

h20
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Post by h20 » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:07 pm

monkiman wrote:
h20 wrote:damn i just installed speed fan.

I reduced the zalman up to 40% and the difference is huge.
I was running my Zalman at 40% too and it is a big improvemnt over full speed - I finally got around to fan swapping to a Nexus 92mm - running at 100% it cools better and is much quieter. The Zalman fan is just not good.
yes going down to 40% is really a BIG difference but as soon as i use photoshop or game i have to go up to 65% even 100%.

With your fan swap you can have the same "40%" sound but at 100%?
I have something like this except its older version like a 7200AlCu or something

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/vie ... =238&code=

you can take that fan off and put a nexus one? Do they seel a fan without its plastic "cage" surrounding it?

Thanx
h20

mcoleg
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Post by mcoleg » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:48 pm

yep, that zalman fan is somewhat loud.

you don't necessarily need to install a replacement fan inside the sink. an easier option is to remove the old fan and put a new one just sitting on top. you could tie it to the mounts and put something soft (i used earplugs :P ) under the frame to remove any vibrations. if you could find a quiet 92x38 fan instead of 92x25, it will be even better since the air pressure would be greater with the same speed.

i found this:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/nmb92lowsp36.html

and it's pretty good. a slight ticking at low speed if you put your year to it but almost silent inside the case. the fan is temperature-controlled so it won't ramp-up till 50C is reached.

i got almost similar result with kaze-jyu 100mm fan but seems that 38mm thickness does make a small difference in temperatures.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2522/ ... g36c15s463

not sure if those stores ship overseas though, they actually might if you email them.

sjoukew
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Post by sjoukew » Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:42 am

The best way to figure out how loud your hdd is, is to open the case and disconnect the hdd, then startup the pc. If it is a lot quieter then before it was you hdd ;)

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