Please help, all components < 22 dBA, still noisy!

scrawnypaleguy · Post by **scrawnypaleguy** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:41 pm

I just joined these forums in the hopes that I could find some useful information about silencing my new system, but I've done all I can and this thing is still loud. Here's what I have running, tell me what you think the problem may be: I have a Cooler Master wave master case (which has three 80mm fans, two front and one rear), the two front fans were being controlled by my antec neopower 480 psu, but I've since disconnected the lower one in an effort to keep noise down by only using the one intake fan. Both the stock fans are rated by cooler master at 24dBA, which I think has been reduced due to the fan controlling ability of the psu. The Neopower itself only runs at about 900 rpm, and I've never seen it exceed 1000. I replaced the stock exhaust fan with a vantec stealth which is 21dBA. I'm using an xp-90 heatsink on my 3500 venice with a 92mm vantec stealth (20dBA), but I'm replacing this with a 92mm panaflo L1A, and I have cool n quiet enabled, so that once I get the new fan I can use Q-fan control on it as well (the stealth's rpms can't be changed since it changes itself via a built-in thermometer, although I've observed that it stays at about 1750 rpm no matter what my cpu temp is). I've replaced the noisy stock northbridge cooler on my Asus A8N-E with a swiftech MCX-159R heatsink, which is rated at 18dBA, but I've seen others getting away with just a passive zalman on their A8N-E, do you think I could get away with just unplugging the fan? My X800XL is a special gigabyte model that came with passive cooling. I think that about covers it, I've done everything I can (including removing the fan guards on the rear exhaust fan) but There still seems to be an inordinate amount of noise coming from my box. The only thing I can think to do is apply noise dampening material, but I've heard mixed reviews about it and it's expensive. I've tried everything I've read on this website by myself but I'm at my wit's end.

eLekTRiK · Post by **eLekTRiK** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:07 pm

See how your temps do when you get rid of all the intake fans... your system isn't especially high-power so the combination of PSU and case exhaust fans may be enough to get by. Chipset fans are notoriously whiny. I have been running Zalman NB47J fanless heatsinks on 4 NForce4 boards w/o trouble, but those heatsinks do get extremely hot. I'd hold off on noise-damping materials until you have exhausted all other options, since it really doesn't do much.

Step 1 - Don't trust the dBA ratings on your equipment. Read some SPCR reviews and you'll see that companies pretty much stick whatever number they like best on their products.

Step 2 is to identify the source of the noise. Try shutting off any fans you can (just for 30 seconds or so) and see if your system is still annoyingly loud even without those fans. If it is, start looking at things you didn't shut off. Hard disks can be surprisingly loud, so you might also try unplugging them and booting up to see if you can hear the difference.

Step 3 is to silence the worst offenders. There are tips all over SPCR once you know what the source of your problem is.

skj · Post by **skj** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:52 pm

Hey scrawnypaleguy,

As eLecTRiK mentioned, manufacturers' specs are almost meaningless. There's usually no way of knowing how (or if) they measured noise and how that compares to the competition.

Here are some potential noisemakers in your system:

-Cooler Master Wave Master case... it's aluminum, which tends to resonate more than steel cases.
-The Coolermaster and Vantec fans... check the recommended section if you want alternatives.
-The fan on the Swiftech northbridge cooler... I'm sure this is quieter than the stock NB fan (I had one of those) but it's still going to be spinning fast. Check out this post for more info on your Swiftech and an idea on how you can run it passive.
-Your hard drive... which you didn't list here. If it's hard mounted to an aluminum case it's making some racket. Search this site for ways to soft-mount or suspend your drive.

If you decide to try disconnecting your intake fan, keep an eye on your X800XL Silentpipe. That thing runs hot even in cases with good ventilation.

skj

scrawnypaleguy · Post by **scrawnypaleguy** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:38 pm

Thanks for the advice guys. I found an old zalman fanmate 1 lying around, so I'll attach it to the rear vantec and run it at 5v, see how that works out. I'll probably end up reconnecting the front fan and disconnecting the chipset fan, then I'll run prime95 for a couple hours to see how it holds up. As for the hard drive, I don't really mind the noise from that since it's only noisy when it's seeking. And thanks for pointing me in the direction of those recommended fans; upon closer inspection it seems that my current cpu fan is terrible, so it's a good thing I'm taking care of it.

sgtpokey · Post by **sgtpokey** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:30 pm

re: your hard drive.

It may still be exhibiting a whining even in idle mode (the disc still spins even in idle mode). The new hard drives are better but since you don't list your model it's hard to say.

And since you haven't pinpointed you noise source you shouldn't rule it out.

It's easy to figure out the loudest component by the way, just turn on the computer with the cover off and manually stop fans by pushing your finger onto the CENTER hub of the fan (don't touch the spinning blades, just the hub). The pressure from your finger will temporarily stop the fan and you'll be able to hear the noise change when you've identified the loudest fan. If the noise does not change much, the problem could be your hard drive.

scrawnypaleguy · Post by **scrawnypaleguy** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:22 am

Oops, I knew I forgot something in my sig. It's a Maxtor Diamondmax10, 250gb, with 16mb cache. Serial ATA, of course. I was looking into the Zalman hard drive cooler/silencer because it's cheap and I've had good experience with zalman. The only thing I'm worried about would be the heat; since the drive has to be mounted in a 5.25" bay instead of in front of my intake fans. Will my drive be ok?

scrawnypaleguy · Post by **scrawnypaleguy** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:47 pm

UPDATE:

Well, it turns out that it was the rear exhaust fan. Wasn't so "stealthy" after all. No worries though, I had an old Zalman fanmate 1 lying around and i'm running it at 5v now, and everything's super silent. Thanks for the help guys!

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:58 pm

A search for the Vantec Stealth would tell you it's closer to a stealth plane than anything else