| Quiet PCs |
Modern PCs are annoyingly noisy, not surprising when you consider a high spec machine
can contain from 3 to 10 fans. Generic PC fans are designed to move reasonably large
amounts of air over heatsinks and out of the case as cheaply as possible.
A combination of quiet undervolted fans, underclocking and undervolting processors, big efficient
heatsinks and case modifications can seriously reduce the racket and make using the thing a far more
pleasant experience - even late at night.
Lots of good information is beginning to become available as people get sick and tired of computers
that scream for attention.
SilentPCReview is currently one of the best sources of information
Fan Noise Solutions contains a bunch of useful information on ways
to slow down fans effectively.
I'm just starting out, so this is a list of things I'm trying and how well they worked:
| Modification |
Result |
|---|---|
| The AMD XP-1800 OEM heatsink fan was the most obviously noisy thing in the box so thats
where I started. I fitted a Silver Mountain 2 Quiet HSF (silver plated copper heatsink with a Sanyo Denki "Quiet" fan) using Artic Silver 3 silver grease, and a shim (for core safety). |
Pros: Much quieter, and the CPU temperature dropped by 10°C Cons: but still the loudest thing in the box, so a bit of a disapointment. The quiet fan is temperature controlled, so spins slower until the heat builds which is why it is deemed quiet. I will replace the 60mm fan with a quiet 80mm undervolted one soon. |
| text2 |
result 2 |