Laptop vs. silentPC

profiler · Post by **profiler** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 7:46 am

can you reduce the noise level of your table-PC to correspond a silent laptop. What all you have to change in your PC. I mean I have macbook and its pretty damn quiet compared to my gaming PC.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:08 am

I've only met one laptop comparable in quietness to my desktop computers. This was a fanless Moebius from Japan--but even it still had noise from the internal hard drive. (For comparison, I put 2.5" drives within bulky silencing enclosures.)

It's easier to make a silent desktop computer than a laptop. How? This depends on your budget and desired level of computing power. I have modest computing power needs, and value low budget above all else. My approaches are very different from most people here.

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:18 am

A laptop is a good way to get a fairly quiet computer quickly and (moderately) cheaply. However, you are extremely limited once you buy it. It's almost impossible to make them quieter than they are.

It's much easier to make a desktop near-silent than it is a laptop. I have a Dell laptop as my main machine right now, and it has a fan that kicks on and off every half-minute or so. It's maddening, and I can do nothing about it. I can't change the fan. I can't duct it. I can't even change the fan speed or voltage. I'm completely limited. That's why you should be careful buying a laptop for silence.

EDIT: I re-read your post, and I guess I didn't answer your question very well. What needs to be done to make your desktop so quiet your laptop is embarassed, is to begin reading the "Recommended" links.

And welcome here!

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:50 am

@IsaacKuo:My approaches are very different from most people here.

Not that different surely? Enclosures, low-power parts, very smart airflow usage....these are all core SPCR techniques. I agree that desktops are much easier to silence than laptops; the problem with laptops is that all the heat-producing parts are crammed close together, and the parts are often proprietary, so not easy to replace with aftermarket parts.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:11 am

Well, I've been going diskless as much to save money as the overall "coolness" factor. The low power of my cheap rigs compared to others means I can get away with using just a single 80mm fan and pretty sloppy airflow. I may talk a good talk about airflow design, but honestly the majority of my rigs have silly airflow that I can get away with because they're such low power.

A few of my rigs use air blowing into the case from the PSU. That's a bizarre anomoly due to the fact that in my cheap rigs, the PSU can actually be the most valuble component.

In my latest HTPC rig, I have the CPU ducted to the PSU for a "traditional" airflow design. Usually, this is simply poor airflow design. It feeds the PSU warm air, meaning the PSU fan ramps up and such. I do it anyway because it's the quietest option and I can get away with it. (The original 120mm PSU fan was ripped out and replaced with a pot controlled 80mm fan and some cardstock ductwork.) It's ugly and bad, and with a computer on par with typical SPCR rigs, it wouldn't work.

Sometimes, I wonder about trying my hand with a more powerful rig so my experience is more directly applicable to others needs here on SPCR. However, I'm simply too cheap to do so.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:59 am

in my cheap rigs, the PSU can actually be the most valuble component.

I think you've taken cheapness to a whole new level

But on the plus side this shows that silencing doesn't have to be an expensive hobby, although it is often perceived that to get silence you have to spend big $$$. Diskless is also good; at the moment pretty much the biggest nosiemaker in my PC is the 3.5" HDD, even though it's the quietest 3.5" HDD I've ever come across (Samsung SV0411N). Are you running Linux or Windows?

vincentfox · Post by **vincentfox** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:16 am

I find it much eaiser to achieve CONSISTENTLY QUIET operation in a non-laptop build.

By this I mean I can build a system with a big enough heatsink, and good ducting, and fans on constant low RPM. I build my systems such that at FULL LOAD on CPU, GPU, and disk they are adequately cooled without increasing fan speed.

On the other hand, laptops I work with generally have this dinky littlle fan, that if you put any load at all on the system it cranks up and can be quite loud.

YMMV

cloneman · Post by **cloneman** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:37 am

laptops in general tend to be significantly quieter than desktops at stock configurations, but it's more and more difficult to find ones that can be cooled passively.

It's a shame really since I'm sure most notebook GPUs would do fine if their fans had a ~1200 rpm mode. My dell starts at 2400 RPM which isn't loud or offensive, but it does carry over a few meters. I'm sure if it ran at half speed it would be very quiet and provide adequate cooling under low loads.

hmsrolst · Post by **hmsrolst** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:05 pm

To those of you who have complained about noisy Dell notebook CPU fans that crank up to awful, have you tried Notebook Hardware Control? It turned my D420 from a beast to a quiet machine.

vincentfox · Post by **vincentfox** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:19 pm

Answering the original question:

Yes, you can get a "table-PC" to be at least as quiet as most laptops.

What you have to do to achieve that is typically, read Silent PC Review! As you didn't even list what kind of "table-PC' you have, it would be impossible for anyone to guess what you need to do, in order to make it quieter. There's all the articles on the main site, the Recommended lists, and the Forum entitled "Newcomers Briefing Room"

ShadowVlican · Post by **ShadowVlican** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:57 pm

vincentfox wrote:I find it much eaiser to achieve CONSISTENTLY QUIET operation in a non-laptop build.

By this I mean I can build a system with a big enough heatsink, and good ducting, and fans on constant low RPM. I build my systems such that at FULL LOAD on CPU, GPU, and disk they are adequately cooled without increasing fan speed.

On the other hand, laptops I work with generally have this dinky littlle fan, that if you put any load at all on the system it cranks up and can be quite loud.

YMMV

exactly as he says

my tablet is inaudible when idle, but during load it screams

profiler · Post by **profiler** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:49 pm

my tablet is inaudible when idle, but during load it screams

Thats what I'm looking for. What system and cooling components do you use? I've got Amd64 3200+ and ATi X800 XL.

I've been thinking of putting in tuniq tower without fan for processor and VFU-900 for graphic card. Also some silent case fan. You think that makes it as silent as my macbook?? At least on idle load ???

I'm having hard time deciding whether or not I should invest near 100â‚¬ for this without not knowing what the difference would be.. I have an assumption that single cooler can be quiet but when you put like three of them in your case it will turn out audible.

Now CP- and GPU are both on stock coolers and the noise is very disturbing
Watercooling is out of question in my case.

Y-3 · Post by **Y-3** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:35 am

laptop is the easiest quiet solution. but its performance is limited.

all depends on the applications i reckoned.

kakazza · Post by **kakazza** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:45 am

IsaacKuo wrote:I've only met one laptop comparable in quietness to my desktop computers. This was a fanless Moebius from Japan--but even it still had noise from the internal hard drive. (For comparison, I put 2.5" drives within bulky silencing enclosures.)

It's easier to make a silent desktop computer than a laptop. How? This depends on your budget and desired level of computing power. I have modest computing power needs, and value low budget above all else. My approaches are very different from most people here.

Got a link to your systems? Like your homepage or a forumsthread?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:43 pm

I haven't yet met any laptop that would be quieter than my current desktop. Besides part of the silent PC is Do It Yourself philosophy. Besides upgrading and silencing laptops is pain in the neck, unlike silencing and modding desktops... Since let's face it, most "out of the box" silent computer's are not silent enough for enthusiasts.

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:48 am

profiler wrote:
my tablet is inaudible when idle, but during load it screams
Thats what I'm looking for. What system and cooling components do you use? I've got Amd64 3200+ and ATi X800 XL.

I've been thinking of putting in tuniq tower without fan for processor and VFU-900 for graphic card. Also some silent case fan. You think that makes it as silent as my macbook?? At least on idle load ???

I'm having hard time deciding whether or not I should invest near 100â‚¬ for this without not knowing what the difference would be.. I have an assumption that single cooler can be quiet but when you put like three of them in your case it will turn out audible.

Now CP- and GPU are both on stock coolers and the noise is very disturbing
Watercooling is out of question in my case.

....he meant it screams (loud) not "screams" as in fast

The CORE is to minimize moving parts--notably fans and fan vibrations. The other noise is HDD related..seek chatter----see the Silent storagee for suspension/Gel pac/Enclosure options.

SMALL fans are EVIL

Big fans are your friends. A tiny fan tends to spin at 3000-6000 rpm. A big 120/140 mm fan moves as much air at under 1000 rpm,and the new jumbo fans 200-250 mm can do ALL your cooling at UNDER 400 rpm.

HOWEVER

If you are a GAMER/OVERCLOCKER,you have the equivalent of a Fuel dragster......you'd measure your Gallons per mile,not your miles per gallon. Likewise you take a $500 CPU and a $500 Vid card---and soup them up---overclock...and you're generating enough heat to roast a chicken (not recommended) and to REMOVE all that heat----you need big expensive heatsinks + more and/or faster fans.

So far,the Ninja is the king of fanless CPU coolers. You'd still have a case fan-not nessicerily more than 600 rpm.

The LOW power,Low price, AMD Semprons are especially cool,but an A64 Venice 3200 can do fine with a Ninja. For those not hardcore games-there's LOTS of passive vid cards. In the $100 plus area there's even a Gigabyte 7600 GT that's passive and can do pretty much all the games.

Mirar · Post by **Mirar** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:25 am

If you buy an off-the-shelf laptop and desktop with the same specs, the laptop will most probably be more quiet.

But that's not because it's silent, it's because the desktop will make a racket.

The PC you can "easily" mod with better fans, better heatsinks, or even a fanless solution, and make it very silent - more silent than a laptop - with just a few steps.

But there is no way you can mod your laptop. They are usually already extremely optimized and have custom everything. You usually can't even replace the fans when they start to give out (without expensive original parts, that is).