Advice on silencing pc!

[Guy]

Ok, at the moment my pc is pretty quiet im running:

500watt Phantom "fanless" psu
amd 3000 barton
2gb ddr 400
Aero 7+ cpu fan (with the speed nob switched right to the bottom lol)

The biggest noise on my system are my hard drives.

They are driving my so barmy that at the moment i only have 1 in (300gb seagate barracude - reccomended as a quiet drive) but its still really loud. If i leave my pc 5 minutes so the hard drives power down you can barely hear it (power options)

I was thinking: Get a laptop hard drive for my OS/apps (maybe 40gb would do) and suspend it hopefully making it nice and quiet.

Then having my normal hard drives plugged in aswell ( 5 x 120 - 400gb)

Obviously having them plugged in will ruin the whole laptop hd idea *unless* there is some app where you can disable the harddrives spinning unless they are in use. ie only the laptop hd would spin usually then if i download something or access something in f: it would power up until it has idled for 10 minutes or so then power down.

Worst case scenario: I still want atleast 3 drives in at once (1 x 300gb OS drive (barracuda), 2 x 120gb barracudas in raid mirror)

what are my options for doing either configuration?

Hope i have made my self clear - this post was a bit of a rush job sure i will have to clarify next post:p

Cheers, Guy

[MrBleeble]

You could get an enclosure to quieten them down. I hear good things about the SilentMaxx enclosure (which keeps the drive cool too apparently) and the Scythe Silent Box. Apparently they reduce noise by up to 90%

[jacobzcoool]

Look at the back of your HDDs. If they are IDE, there will be a molex connected to them, otherwise there will be a SATA power connector. Unplug that :)

[ControlPC]

If you need that many HDs you're not going to be able to make the system particularly quiet.

You could have a networked storage server where you can keep all those drives in another room and acess them through the network or put them in external enclosures that you can turn off, but none of these are ideal solutions.

Are the hard drives hard mounted to the case (screwed directly into the HD cage)? Is it noise caused by the vibrations when seeking or is it the constant noise of the HDs spinning?

[Guy]

The Network'd storage space might be an idea, ihave an old pc i built up as a linux f+p server a few years back, might dig it out and get my main drives in.

I would prefer it local however as i do a lot of video editing (hence the large amount of drive space) and not sure how network would cut it

thats why i was asking about the individual drive ACPI, im sure there must be some way of doing it?

The drive is currently just mounted as normal and im not sure whether the noice is vibration or spinning, i guess i will try suspend first and let you know.

where is the best place to get some elastic?

I Will probably look into a silentdrive aswell, do they mount in a 5 1/4 inch bay?

thanks for the advice so far :)

[Verbyl.Belch]

The elastic the guys over on silentpcreview use alot is "stretch magic"- do a google search for it. You should be able to pick it up at jewellery/craft shops. Other than that i think you can buy "bungee cord" elastic from homebase/B&Q. Hope that helps somewhat.

VB

[Guy]

Thanks for that mate, ill pop into B+Q if its open on the way home tonight, cheers.

[Fireblade]

The elastic the guys over on silentpcreview use a lot is "stretch magic"- do a google search for it.

I got a 5m roll of black 1mm Stretch Magic off eBay (from none other than 'Frenchie' - the "Queen of Beads" herself :D ) for £3.50 + 60p P&P

[Guy]

I ebayed it as well :D 4 meters of 0.8mm width clear stretch magic for £1.59 icl p&p - does me!

cheers guys :)

[Verbyl.Belch]

Good to hear you found the stuff, might take a look over at the 'bay too.

Keep us posted with the results.

VB

[Guy]

Just a quick update!:

Got My magic elastic through the next day and fitted it on monday, worked wonders! the thing is very quiet now :)

Im going to get a new cpu fan, what do you reccomend? (Socket A)

as silent as possible please!

[BloomerzUK]

Maybe a Scythe Ninja could go on there Fanless?

or: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_2602.html

[ControlPC]

Maybe a Scythe Ninja could go on there Fanless?

or: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_2602.html

Scythe ninja doesn't fit Socket A.

I'd recommend a Arctic Copper Silent 2 - very cheap, quiet but not great performance

or a Thermalright XP-90 with a quiet fan of your choice - probabaly the best Socket A HS available but not cheap.

[Guy]

Well ive had a slightly different view in the end ;-)

time for an upgrade ive decided, im looking towards:

AMD 4400 x2
Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4

Could i ask, will amd's "cool n quiet" technology work on the x2 processors and how exactly does it work?

What cpu fan would you reccomend for the above? or will just a stock fan do due to the cool n quiet technology?

I would also need a new graphics card (need PCI-Express) for this board - what do you reccomend, anythng that i can run passive please!

My budget for graphics card is around the 150 mark - tops.

Thanks again :)

[ControlPC]

Yes, X2s have CnQ.

CnQ basically underlocks and underclocks the CPU when it is not in full use and this reduces power consumption and heat output. When it is needed the CPU returns to full speed or the speed required.

Gigabyte make completely passive PCI-E cards, have a look at the 6600GT.

[six5tring]

Gigabyte make completely passive PCI-E cards, have a look at the 6600GT.

Asus's passive 7800gt's are beginning to trickle in too! :) but for your price range a 6600gt or dunno about x800/850 passive cards. - six

[Guy]

Thanks for this info guys. A few other questions:

1: Stock fan? or get a new one?
2: What options are there for fan speed controllers. I have several case fans which are currently not in use (standard 80mil fans - connect via 4 pin molex) I would ideally want something whereby i can flick them completely off withough having to unplug them - even if this is literally an on/off solution thats fine
3: Graphics cards - is there anything similar to cool n quiet for them? - I dont mind the noise if i am gaming and for a few minutes after i just want them to be off / VERY quiet when im not. If not ill go passive.

Basically my situation is: I dont mind a pc that is extremely loud when im on it / using it but it needs to be silent when not in use or as close to as possible (it is in the same room i sleep in). when im not using it.

any suggestions appreciated!

[Fireblade]

2: What options are there for fan speed controllers.

About this (http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Kustom_PCs_Shop_Fan_Controllers_19.html) many :D

[Guy]

Fireblade, i am capable of reading a page.

If you had read you would have noticed i was asking specifically for fan controllers which allow you to fully stop your fans on 4 pin molex adaptors. Thankyou.

[ojobson]

I swear by Zalman fans. They are just amazing imho. (see sig)

[Fireblade]

Fireblade, i am capable of reading a page.

Oooh... get you!

You do understand the meaning of a :D smiley, right Guy?

Lighten up fer Pete's sake :rolleyes:

Thank you ;)

[powelli]

3: Graphics cards - is there anything similar to cool n quiet for them? - I dont mind the noise if i am gaming and for a few minutes after i just want them to be off / VERY quiet when im not. If not ill go passive.

If you go for an Nvidia card, there's a nifty little program released by Gainward for their graphics cards. It will work on most standard designs by othe manufacturers, and allows you set either different fan speeds for 2D and 3D situations, or a dynamic option that varies the speed depending on the temperature of the card.

http://www.gainward.com/html/download/utility/expertool/expertool.htm

It works a treat on my XFX 6600gt, even with stock cooling could turn it down to about 50% for standard 2D use, making it almost silent, and with an arctic silencer its basically inaudible.

Hope this helps.