I've experienced problems running Speedfan and Motherboard Monitor, or other monitoring software. If I start another program at the same time as Speedfan, then Speedfan doesn't always detect all the sensors. For example, starting CPU-Z and Speedfan, simultaneously will either freeze the computer or ...

...My 19" Viewsonic P95f monitor is actually far louder at a few feet away than the hard drive a few inches away. My monitor makes a high frequency noise (sounds a bit like insects buzzing, outside), when displaying pages with a lot of white, or light color background... Try changing your refresh f...

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): None Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): Yes (have to be within a few inches) Model Number: SP1614C 160gb sata 8mb Supplier: www.newegg.com Month of purchase: June 2004 Motor: JVC Revision: haven't looked Date of Manufacturing: have...

I've used several of the Zalman 7000 AlCu heatsinks and I have never heard a clicking noise that was audible, with the case closed. The only way I can hear it is to put my ear less than 6 inches from the fan, with the case side off. I heartily recommend the Zalman CNPS7000AlCu heatsink, and you can ...

Thanks for the corrections. I've only used diodes from 1N4001-1N4003 and they all appeared to have the same voltage drop, but it is good to know that the higher rated diodes will probably have slightly higher voltage drops Also, I would like to point out something that I didn't really cover in my in...

So are all the diodes IN4001? What about using resister in place of the diodes? They are all IN4001 (or higher) diodes. Using higher rated diodes provides the same voltage drop, they are just rated for higher voltages (overkill). There are no resistors. Using resistors is a totally different princi...

Low Profile coolers are generally far less efficient and louder. I think you will be better off with a larger cooler. Rather than replace your PSU, you could try simply disconnecting the fan from the onboard thermistor control and wire it, directly into the 5V line. I've modded dozens of FSP-300's, ...

What kind of PSU do you have? Have you considered hard-wiring the PSU fan for a specific voltage, or replacing it with a different fan? If your CPU fan and exhaust fan noise don't bother you, but the PSU noise does, then concentrate on the PSU noise. If the CPU fan noise is bothering you, then I hig...

I've used several of the Seagate and Samsung drives. I prefer the Samsung drives, hands-down. In my experience, their seek noise is noticably lower and the idle noise is about the same, maybe a tad lower. Also, the Samsung drives come with 3 year warranties, as opposed to the 1 year warranty almost ...

I wrote up an explanation of my fan-voltage-controller-strip, along with some pictures and posted it here.

A couple years ago, I read this article on building a "Diobus", which is basically a rheobus for voltage control, built using diodes, to drop voltage. I built a couple of these and have used them in various computers. My home computer, today, is an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard and P4 3.0C (overc...

cmcquistion, I have a 2.8 P4, 7000AlCu, 3700BQE...so it's pretty similar to your setup. I'm really interested in how you have the fans controlled...but I don't really understand how you use the diodes or the terminal strip...are you using them to simply to reduce the voltage? Yes, I'm just using th...

My particular favorite is the Aluminum Evercool 120. It is extremely undervoltable (if that is a word.) I have run it down to 3 or 4 volts and it is very quiet (in my opinion) at any voltage under 6V. Does that fan start up at 3v or do you start it at a higher voltage and turn it down manually afte...

For what its worth, I've ordered two 160 GB Samsung drives, from Newegg, over the past two months and both have been just as quiet as the 120 GB Samsung drives I have.

Just my two cents...

I would recommend you build a cheap Socket A system. It will offer the power you need, you can cool it fairly easily and quietly, and it will be cheap. Desktop cases are much more difficult to get quiet, so a traditional tower would probably be a better choice, from a noise perspective. Case: Everca...

My particular favorite is the Aluminum Evercool 120. It is extremely undervoltable (if that is a word.) I have run it down to 3 or 4 volts and it is very quiet (in my opinion) at any voltage under 6V.

For silence, they are about equal. For features, the LX-6A19 gets my vote.
I've used over twenty 4252's over the years and about 10 LX-6A19's. The LX-6A19 is my preferred case for most applications.

Wedge wrote:cmcquistion, your directron link is bad amigo.

Thanks.

I had a comma at the end of the link [slaps-forhead].

I, too, will heartily recommend the Evercase 4252 or Compucase LX-6A19 over the Sonata, any day. The LX-6A19 is designed similarly to the Antec SLK3700 cases, but its bezel and airflow is much better. Also, you can get one from www.directron.com , without a PSU for around $52, shipped, or you can pi...

If you loosen the screws, then eventually the vibration of the drive will completely unscrew them. This, of course, could make your hard drive fall or slide around (not good.) Are you saying that your HD makes so much vibration that it can move the screws while the HD is resting on the said screws ...

If you loosen the screws, then eventually the vibration of the drive will completely unscrew them. This, of course, could make your hard drive fall or slide around (not good.)

I built a computer, for a client, with a 3.06 GHz P4, and no fans in the case, except the Zalman AlCu (at 3.5-5V, temperature controlled) and my PSU fan (a Fortron FSP-300 with the fan modded to run constantly at 5V.) I also undervolted the CPU a bit. I left the speed a default, but undervolted a bi...

I'd go with the cheapest pc you can get your hands on - you can sometimes pick up old Pentium 133's or the like for free. Add a load of disks. Run linux with samba. Very good advice. Specifically, you could run ClarkConnect , which is very user friendly and easy for Linux novices to setup. In addit...

Depending on your hard drive, it can be a very noticable difference, if you have a quiet system.

I'm wondering if decoupling (the bungee cord method) can actually decrease the whine noise of my western digital 120gb. I guess this method only reduces vibrations but not high frequency whine..? It helps a little bit with whine, but it is most effective at removing seek noise. Give it a shot. It o...

Is it a funny camera angle or is your contraption skewing to the right? Might want to level that out a bit. I hadn't noticed that it had shifted a little, when I took the picture. I did get it straight, before I closed up the case, though. No pics Wed at 6:30AM PST. :( Server down? According to my ...

I have built a HD suspension rig for my Compucase LX-6A19, which is a clone, basically, of Antec SLK-3700 cases. (I've actually built four of these rigs, all used inside Compucase LX-6A19 cases.) This suspension rig can accomodate 4 hard drives, in elastic suspension and allow for really good airflo...

I thought about doing that, but I wasn't sure if it would actually make any difference in noise levels.

Have you noticed a definite difference?

Yes, it is possible. One of the reviewers at overclockers.com did it. He had to remove the power-on wire (green one) from one of the connectors, so he could power on both systems. It was a weird and complex arrangement to get both systems running or just one. I can't really remember how it all worke...

vector3 wrote:Do these systems work to reduce seeking noise?

Yes. These systems remove seek and idle noise, but usually make the largest impact on seek noise.