I've got an old PIII 800Mhz PC which has recently started making a real racket... It was never quiet, but I think the fan bearings are starting to go so there are now some fairly unpleasant squeals and a lot of vibration coming from it. It's driving me crazy, so I need to do something about it in a hurry. But I don't want to spend a lot of cash as I'm planning to upgrade to an A64 set-up for my main PC in the near future (but am planning to keep this old PC for use as a Linux box).
My original plan had been to replace the Graphics Card, the CPU Heatsink/Cooler and possibly the Case Fan and get something to allow me to control the fan speeds. I had even thought it might be possible to passively cool my old CPU? (PIII 800Mhz, I think - BIOS says "Coppermine 533Mhz"???).
However, I'm now wondering wether this is just chucking good money after bad, and whether I might not be better getting a new mobo with onboard graphics and a low power CPU that will be easy to find a heatsink for (and, ideally, cool passively).
What do you reckon?
Try to quieten old components OR buy newer ones instead???
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A little over a year ago, I overhauled an P3 866. I performed the following to get things to make it quiet:
1. Replaced PSU fan with Panaflo 92mm M and added Fanmate.
2. Replaced stock CPU HSF with $21 Aerocool (on sale) and added Fanmate.
3. Removed fan from GeForce GTS2 and added 80mm Panaflo overhead with Fanmate.
4. Isolated hard drive cage and hard drives (2 IBM Deskstar) with high density foam.
5. Used same foam on walls of case near hard drive.
6. Added 80mm Panaflo case fan with Fanmate.
These things made a huge improvement, and taught me a lot about quiet computing. For me it was probably worth it since this machine still performs reasonably well and has 512MB RAM, DVD, Ethernet, Sound Card, etc. But if I knew up front that I would have to do all the above things, I might not have bothered. When I started, I thought the only problem was the PSU fan, but as you quiet each component, you realize how bad the other components are.
That was a over a year ago, and prices have dropped even further. You could probably build an Athlon 2000+ system pretty cheap and maybe salvage the memory and other components with some motherboards (I know Biostar makes a MB which still takes 100/133 MHz memory, but also allows faster memory).
1. Replaced PSU fan with Panaflo 92mm M and added Fanmate.
2. Replaced stock CPU HSF with $21 Aerocool (on sale) and added Fanmate.
3. Removed fan from GeForce GTS2 and added 80mm Panaflo overhead with Fanmate.
4. Isolated hard drive cage and hard drives (2 IBM Deskstar) with high density foam.
5. Used same foam on walls of case near hard drive.
6. Added 80mm Panaflo case fan with Fanmate.
These things made a huge improvement, and taught me a lot about quiet computing. For me it was probably worth it since this machine still performs reasonably well and has 512MB RAM, DVD, Ethernet, Sound Card, etc. But if I knew up front that I would have to do all the above things, I might not have bothered. When I started, I thought the only problem was the PSU fan, but as you quiet each component, you realize how bad the other components are.
That was a over a year ago, and prices have dropped even further. You could probably build an Athlon 2000+ system pretty cheap and maybe salvage the memory and other components with some motherboards (I know Biostar makes a MB which still takes 100/133 MHz memory, but also allows faster memory).
First, identify the offending fans and replace/undervolt them. Get a good fan, because you'll be able to swap it to your A64 computer later on. Also, any undervolting power adapter mods you make or fan controller you buy can be reused.
I wouldn't bother with replacing any components other than fans, unless it's something you intend to eventually use in your A64 computer. The PSU is an obvious candidate. I wouldn't personally upgrade the graphics card since they'll be less expensive and/or more powerful later on.
I wouldn't replace the CPU cooler. However, I might remove the fan and possibly bodge something to duct air at it or use a larger quieter fan to blow air onto it. For example, depending on the layout of the system, a flipped PSU fan might blow air onto the CPU cooler.
I wouldn't bother with replacing any components other than fans, unless it's something you intend to eventually use in your A64 computer. The PSU is an obvious candidate. I wouldn't personally upgrade the graphics card since they'll be less expensive and/or more powerful later on.
I wouldn't replace the CPU cooler. However, I might remove the fan and possibly bodge something to duct air at it or use a larger quieter fan to blow air onto it. For example, depending on the layout of the system, a flipped PSU fan might blow air onto the CPU cooler.
I built the PC myself from scratch in Fall 2001. Then I developed "noise adversion" and set about quieting it.
(1) My PC was moved to the closet to keep the noise down. I could still hear it.
(2) Using Dynamat on the inside case walls did not help to dampen the noise. The culprits were all the fans and the HDDs (hard disk drives).
(3) Since the biggest volume was heard when I put my ear near the PS (power supply), I first replaced and slowed the PS fans, went with a heatsink only on the chipset and the Athlon Thunderbird 1.0 GHz CPU chip, with a 92", slowed down fan above the two. It was still too noisy, so I bought a Seasonic Super Tornado PS and I think I slowed that fan down too. Still too noisy.
(4) Putting an existing HDD in a silencer enclosure did not help. Got rid of several Western Digital and Maxtor HDDs and picked up some Seagates. That helped alot.
(5) Now the biggest noise was from the small fan on the video card, so I went with a fanless Sapphire Radeon 9600.
You even need to watch the CD drive. A new Plextor was too noisy and I sent it back. Other CD drives have been fine.
The CPU still makes a small and tolerable amount of noise with the one 92" internal fan and the one PS fan, and it's silent when the closet door is closed. Just get yourself a cordless mouse and keyboard, a long video cable, and you're set.
If I build a new computer, it will be based on either A64 or Pentium-M (with one of the better Pentium-M boards that will be coming out later this year (if the M board and chip prices drop considerably)).
(1) My PC was moved to the closet to keep the noise down. I could still hear it.
(2) Using Dynamat on the inside case walls did not help to dampen the noise. The culprits were all the fans and the HDDs (hard disk drives).
(3) Since the biggest volume was heard when I put my ear near the PS (power supply), I first replaced and slowed the PS fans, went with a heatsink only on the chipset and the Athlon Thunderbird 1.0 GHz CPU chip, with a 92", slowed down fan above the two. It was still too noisy, so I bought a Seasonic Super Tornado PS and I think I slowed that fan down too. Still too noisy.
(4) Putting an existing HDD in a silencer enclosure did not help. Got rid of several Western Digital and Maxtor HDDs and picked up some Seagates. That helped alot.
(5) Now the biggest noise was from the small fan on the video card, so I went with a fanless Sapphire Radeon 9600.
You even need to watch the CD drive. A new Plextor was too noisy and I sent it back. Other CD drives have been fine.
The CPU still makes a small and tolerable amount of noise with the one 92" internal fan and the one PS fan, and it's silent when the closet door is closed. Just get yourself a cordless mouse and keyboard, a long video cable, and you're set.
If I build a new computer, it will be based on either A64 or Pentium-M (with one of the better Pentium-M boards that will be coming out later this year (if the M board and chip prices drop considerably)).