What would you do?

aussiepuck · Post by **aussiepuck** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:49 pm

G'day All,

Frequent lurker first time poster....

Ok have a bit of an issue. Basically ive moved back with the olds and ive got my pc in my room. i cant have it anywhere else in the house so im out of options there. Thanks to the way australian isp's run their show i have to do my downloading after 2.00am which is kinda when im asleep (or trying!) Basically the pc is so loud (and everything else so quiet) that i can still hear it with earplugs in! I download NHL games/movies/games etc so this is becoming a big problem.

Specs of current setup:
CPU DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6420, Stock Cooler
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P
PSU Just upgraded to Seasonic s12II 430W
System Memory 2048 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM)
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS (256 MB)
HDD1 Seagate 120gb
HDD2 Seagate 320gb
Case Thermaltake Soprano
Case fans Upgraded both 120mm to noctua NFs12B and disabled side case fan

So ive pretty much upgraded the PSU and the case fans and its still noisy as all hell and even worse at night. Leaving the pc off at night is not an option and im a student with little funds available for wastage.

I think i still have two major sources of noise being the HDD's and the graphics card. I've also got like a humming sound coming from the pc which i think is vibration from the HDD's?

I think i have two options and i want to see what people think

1. Upgrade the case to an Antec P183 - ($214 AUD) and hope that reduces the overall noise
or
2. Upgrade the graphics card and HDD's and pray thats the end of the noise. (was thinking of a powercolor 4850 and for the hdds the samsung spinpoint HD103uj 1tb) (1hh and GC = $250)

Any help would be fantastic guys.

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:26 pm

Hi,

First, WELCOME TO SPCR !!!!!!

Second, you could try fitting an Accelero S1 on your GPU. If you still want to upgrade later, you can always reuse it on your new GPU. You might be able to run that 7900 passively with it. It would be a small investment for a BIG result.

Lastly, did you try suspending your Hds ? If yes, upgrading is a good idea. If not, try to ; sometimes it makes a big difference.

Hope that helps.

incorrect · Post by **incorrect** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:32 pm

i think changing the video card and hard drive(s) will do a much better job of quieting your system, than a new case. plus it'll be much faster with the new parts.

you could even skimp on the video card if you wanted, radeon 4770s are being shipped with arctic cooling heatsinks as stock. still much faster than your 7900gs.

aussiepuck · Post by **aussiepuck** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:37 pm

ok well i could downgrade the graphics card to a powercolor 4670 thats $96 AUD plus the Samsung HD i could prolly do for around the same price as the case....however after reading the reviews of the Antec P183 im starting to sway back that way.....

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:42 pm

It is a nice case.
But keep in mind that if you have a lot of noisy components to start with, your computer will not be quiet even with the P183.

aussiepuck · Post by **aussiepuck** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:42 am

Ok well ive decided to go down the replace the components route. will be picking up the samsung 1tb drive to replace the 120g i have. i'll see how noisy the new and old ones are.

as for the graphics card i'm a little confused. i rarely play games (although if i had some id probably play them but thats a side issue) i really dont have a need for a powerful card but the noise is constant so id rather get a quet card than an awesome card.

i also want to keep the price down so should i go with:

512MB 4650 Powercolor - $60
1GB 4670 Powercolor - $96
or
512MB 4850 Powercolor $127

i am assuming powercolour is the best for noise reduction otherwise i can pretty much get HIS/ASUS or Gigabyte for those models.....

Cheers

Klusu · Post by **Klusu** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:44 am

HD 4350...
Or any card + Accelero S1
+HDD