Advice for Silent System

[Funky_Junk]

I've sort of redone my build list, in an attempt to make my computer silent (my #1 priority) yet very usable. I will be running Ubuntu, so I am looking out for any known compatibility issues. I am on a very tight budget and cannot spend a cent more. The total cost is $820 (without shipping and tax), are there any parts available for less than would better suit this system?

1. I am looking to make this build silent, what do you think the loudest component would be?

Antec Solo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129018

Corsair 450VX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115052

MSI P5NGM Motherboard (Mini-ATX)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130127

MSI 8600GT *FANLESS*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127293

2x Western Digital GreenPower 750GB HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136150

G.Skill 2GB DDR800 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231111

Samsung DVD Reader/Writer Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151154

Scythe Ninja + Yate Loon 120mm Low Speed
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835185038
http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-12...d-pr-3825.html

Yate Loon 120mm Low Speed *Exhaust*
http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-12...d-pr-3825.html

Yate Loon 92mm Medium Speed *Intake*
http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-92...g-pr-3774.html

Ubuntu Linux

[toki_c]

Nice pick up... There's nothing to add instead of adding damping material. With you current plan, you will end up by getting a really quiet rig, but to achieve a SILENT one, you should get damping material! You can get cheaper one with a little effort.
Good luck.

PS: I got 5mx0.5mx7mm damping material for ~20€ and it's really soften all the high frequency noises... making hdd enclosure completly needless for idl and seek noises even when i got a "noisy" WD S16 and... spinning while waiting for 2x750GP.

[MikeC]

1. I am looking to make this build silent, what do you think the loudest component would be?

Probably all the fans in combination if you run them at normal voltage/speed. I'd suggest a fan speed controller (cheap Zalmans or maybe a multi-fan type) so that you can tweak the fan speeds for noise/cooling that's optimal for you.

[Plekto]

PS: I got 5mx0.5mx7mm damping material for ~20€ and it's really soften all the high frequency noises...

Minor note by me. The frequencies that such a thin material will block are in the 2Khz+ range, so as such, they will largely do nothing at all to silence any computer component other than maybe capacitor whine.

The makers of the stuff won't tell you that, though. They make tons of money on it. It works because it adds mass and keeps the panels on the sides of most cases from acting like speakers and resonating. But almost anything that you can add to the inside of a case will have the same effect. So you really don't need to spend very much money.

[lor77]

You can even add a hard drive enclosure to further reduce your noise signature.
Scythe Quiet Drive for ex.

[walle]

Shiming in

I find hard drive enclosures to be most effective when suspended, hard mounting them tends to transmit vibrations thru out the casing. So In this case (unless modifying is acceptable) I would say that using Antecs hard drive suspension would be more beneficial opposed to putting them in hard mounted hard drive enclosures.

(minor reservation for air noise)

[toki_c]

Minor note by me. The frequencies that such a thin material will block are in the 2Khz+ range, so as such, they will largely do nothing at all to silence any computer component other than maybe capacitor whine.

False. You can find fine dampping material that soften lower frequencies. What i got is labeled 69% alleviation for 1kHz for exemple...

The makers of the stuff won't tell you that, though. They make tons of money on it. It works because it adds mass and keeps the panels on the sides of most cases from acting like speakers and resonating. But almost anything that you can add to the inside of a case will have the same effect. So you really don't need to spend very much money.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all dampping material sold out there are efficient at all... Not to mention, I saw more than one doubtful foam sold as a very efficent computer dampping material and so on...
You have to pick up carefully the fine damping material.

After using the dampping material I bought, when using an old 320GB WD SE16 as vista x64 boot drive and an old 320GB Hitachi as Xp 32 boot drive, main noises were from hard drives: spinning and seek noises. It was really "unbearable" for a silent computer. With damping material seek and spinning noises were almost disappeared.
The big difference with the 2 GP drives is of course fewer vibrations and lower idl and seek noises. But with the damping material used with the former drives, it's the lower frequencies of spinning noises, woosh, which are less noticeable when close enough to the case to distinguish noise sources.

And yeah, I didn't buy damping material labeled for computer usage but "real" damping material sold 5mx0.5mx7mm. Reasons are, firstly cheaper than those too expensive and unefficient foam sold as computer damping material, secondly insulation efficiency of course.

And yeah, I'm saying it again, I do not see the need of hdd enclosures with efficient damping material. The remaining noises is mainly caused by air turbulence and "high frequency psu noises" from an Enermax Pro82+ when I'm close enough to the case. At 1m at quiet night, I can say that air turbulance and high frequency PSU noises are slightly noticeable or it got its presence but nothing disturbing.
Anyway, the level of remaining noises is at the PSU level. I could consider getting hdd enclosures if ever I could get a quieter PSU. But I doubt I could get a quieter one than what I got.

Good luck with your silent project,
Once again, you need damping material to achieve silence. Believe me or not it's all up to you.

PS: Mike is right, use fewer fans as possible. And use only 120mm ones... You know why of course?
I have 3x120mm plus the one from the PSU, that makes 4. I'm thinking about getting a larger CPU heatsing and get rid of one fan to lower noises/air turbulance noises. Working with a negative pressure with a single fan plus one to aim air to the GPU... yes a 8800Gt is a main heat source.

[Plekto]

Note - they claim 69% reduction, but 1Khz is very high. About C two octaves above middle C, actually. Most computer noises like seeks and humming from fans and such are pitched quite a bit lower. For those instances, acoustic foam an inch or two thick tends to work better.(it's basically based upon the wavelength of the sound - low frequencies pass right through thin materials as if they hardly weren't there)

In any case, a tight connection/bond with the panels that you are trying to dampen is the most important thing.

[lethul]

doesn't solo have acoustic foam included?