SPCR's reputation spreads

ahrbruz · Post by **ahrbruz** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:45 pm

Globally, SPCR is getting quite the reputation. Check the 'case fan audiophiles' line to return to an earlier SPCR series of posts.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php? ... did=274557

SometimesWarrior · Post by **SometimesWarrior** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:05 pm

In essence - these fellas are a noteable focus group - their number one priority, it seems, is not overclocking, temperature control, or fancy looking mods.... it's QUIETNESS.

We're freaks!

aston · Post by **aston** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:21 pm

And proud of it.

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 4:57 am

w00t

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 12:48 pm

Why do they make it sound like a bad thing or that we're idiots..?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 1:00 pm

bigred wrote:Why do they make it sound like a bad thing or that we're idiots..?

For the same reason we think they are going down the wrong path by using a half-dozen Delta fans in their OC'ed boxes.

baka · Post by **baka** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 2:19 pm

silencing is the new(ish) news, overclocking is old news

PC's are powerful enough (until the next big software thing?), and silence is golden

these forums rock

trodas · Post by **trodas** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 2:41 pm

Ralf Hutter - ROFL

Ralf, i buy the Delta fan, just to hear it into my hand

I hear that these are incredible noisy, tough high CFM, ones

Friend even keep telling me, that the Delta fan is such powerfull beast, that it can fly off your desk, when you just power it on desk ...

It's that true? Anyone knows?

...hell, i give him even 17V to fly, damn crap

And im starting to be proud silencer of my PCs

One fanless via machine and one watercooled - fanless WC!

- one, however this yet have two fans into my Enermax, both at 5V and nearly unaudible, but still...

ahrbruz · Post by **ahrbruz** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:45 pm

Reading further into the thread: another reference.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php? ... genumber=3

1398342003 · Post by **1398342003** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 12:13 am

An 80mm delta with 80CFM cannot provide it's own lift. I have one from an ALX-800 I bought for my dad and just tried it. It is loud and moves a LOT of air, but cannot hover without help.

Xspringe · Post by **Xspringe** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 9:20 am

It should be. it's a wicked site.

And the quality of the reviews down here is very good compared to most other sites where reviews consist mainly of superficial benchmarks without any in-depth analysis.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 7:53 pm

Hello:

SPRC made it into Fred Langa's letter -- because I wrote to him, and encouraged him to check us out. It's item number 1 in this week's letter:

Hello Fred, You might want to check out http://www.silentpcreview.com/ -- by far the best and most comprehensive web site on quiet computing. They are actually based in Canada as well, though the users are from the USA, UK, and many other areas around the world.

Sometimes, all it takes is installing quieter fans, but very often the power supply is still too noisy, hard drives still whine away, and CPU and/or video card temps can climb too high -- unless you also get more efficient heat sinks and improve the air flow through your case. The restrictive air vents on many cases are the culprits -- they force you to use faster, higher air flow fans -- and the noise just gets out of hand. Sincerely, Neil Blanchard

Thanks, Neil. Indeed, there's almost no end to the changes you *can* make to reduce noise from a PC, and some users consider total silence as the holy grail. It can be done, but it's hard and expensive.
My goals were much more modest: I just wanted to make my PC quieter--- not silent, but simply quiet enough not to be annoying. And that turned out to be relatively fast, easy, and inexpensive to accomplish. My PC is now literally whisper quiet: I can hear it if I concentrate on it, but it's normally all but unnoticeable.
There are three factors in fan noise. First, turbulent air flow is the white-noise "whoosh" normally produced by all fans, to one degree or another. It's speed dependent: The faster the fan spins, the more energetic the turbulence, and the greater the airflow noise. Likewise, the more restrictive the case openings, the greater the turbulence, and the greater the noise. (Actually, on some systems, simply removing one of the slot covers on the back of the PC is enough to ensure an abundant, low-speed supply of fresh air, although you do have to pay attention to the way air flows through the case.)
The fan blades themselves also make noise as they slice through the air. Most of the noise actually comes from the tips of the blades, which are the fastest-moving part of the fan assembly. The faster the fan spins, the more noise the blade tips make. In some cases, the fans end up sounding like tiny sirens!

Finally, there's the mechanical noise of the fan assembly itself. The motors and bearings in fans make at least a little noise, but cheap fans using needle or sleeve bearings make more noise than ball-bearing fans; and fans manufactured sloppily may suffer from vibration-inducing imbalances. All these noises get worse with speed: The faster the fan spins, the more mechanical noise it produces.
From the above, you probably already inferred the #1 rule for lowering fan noise: For lower noise you need slower speeds. Beyond that, careful design, superb manufacturing, and the use of top-quality components all will help, but the place to start is with lower speed because that instantly reduces all three major fan-noise components.

But there's a catch: If you slow down a fan, it won't move as much air, and won't cool as well. To maintain a given level of cooling--- to move a given volume of cooling air--- a slow fan has to be larger than a fast fan (everything else being equal). Likewise, a heat sink designed to work with low airflow volumes has to be larger than a heat sink designed for higher flow volumes.
Fortunately, high-quality. low-speed fans are amazingly inexpensive; and carefully-engineered heat sinks likewise don't have to cost an arm and a leg. In fact, for a few dollars to a few tens of dollars, you probably can make your PC wonderfully quiet. I did!
Please click on over to "Cool--- And Quiet! Part One" at http://www.informationweek.com/story/sh ... D=17701645 .There, we'll look at airflow through a PC; at fans and heatsinks; and more, including using your BIOS, OS, and free add-on software to monitor and help control exactly what's going on inside the box.
Start on the road to quieter, cooler computing now: it's at http://www.informationweek.com/story/sh ... D=17701645 . See you there!

wisefool · Post by **wisefool** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 7:02 pm

I have to admit I was an overclocker till somewhere around Christmas 2002. For Christmas I built a new system with a shiny array of four WD1200 SE's, along with a three-fan watercooled radiator.

As nice as it was to have a windows desktop 10 seconds after pressing power button, the noise got to me after a while. I started with www.7volts.com I think, then fortunately found this place.

I started trying to quiet that computer, going through bunches of PSUs, replacing fans on the radiator, bought a dremel to cut stuff up, etc. It was annoying, nothing could get rid of the noise. So I just started over, put the computer in a closet, and built a new one from scratch with quiet components. Big "waste" of money and time but I think I learned a few things along the way. Learned what a holesaw is for example.

Thanks for all the hard work on the reviews, Michael Chin. It's a labour of love, it shows. Kudos to all the helpful people kind enough to share experiences. If I were to build a new rig again all this combined knowledge helps save time and money experimenting.

Flame bait comment: I checked the ocforums thread - people on this forum seem to have a much better grasp of grammar and writing skills.

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:15 pm

That's a nice link, NeilBlanchard, thanks for the effort.

I guess you must be a regular reader of Fred Langa's letter? Is his column good?

trodas · Post by **trodas** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 3:34 am

1398342003 - perhaps not 80mm one, but maybe the 120mm one does?

Im just awaiting it (bought just to this test and also to scare the shit out of my friends when i turn it on

), so i check this out

wisefool - well, i started like my holesaw thing too:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/antixchat2/holesaw.jpg
...and silencing is a art

You have to know and understand your machine, and then you can silence it

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:08 am

Hi Mike:

MikeC wrote:That's a nice link, NeilBlanchard, thanks for the effort.

I guess you must be a regular reader of Fred Langa's letter? Is his column good?

You are welcome! And yes, his letter is excellent! The free version is very good, and the subscription version is just $12/year -- and he is supporting several kids around the world who really need it, with some of the proceeds. Fred Langa was a senior editor of Byte magazine, and his advice in the letters, is very high quality.

wgragg · Post by **wgragg** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 8:16 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

SPRC made it into Fred Langa's letter -- because I wrote to him, and encouraged him to check us out. It's item number 1 in this week's letter:

So you are the one who beat me to it. I wrote to him the night I received his letter. Either that or he just likes you better!

Anyway, good work!

SPCR's reputation spreads

SPCR's reputation spreads

We made it into the Langa Letter

Overclockers Anonymous

Yup

Re: We made it into the Langa Letter