Comments on: How to Build a Powerful Silent Computer http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer Making the web work for you Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:09:29 +0000 hourly 1 Foliovisionhttp://foliovision.com/site/wp-content/themes/foliovision/images/foliovision-logo-380.gifhttp://foliovision.com24066Making the web work for you By: alec http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-30061 alec Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:09:29 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-30061 Hi Eric, Really you should be building from scratch yourself. You get longer guarantees on the components as well (2 to 5 years) as opposed to an assembled PC. * Go with a laptop drive. * Samsung drives have been very quiet of late * make sure to mount everything with rubber gaskets (reduces vibration) * get a low-middle end Nvidia graphics card 7300, 7600, 9400 with air cooling * buy a large case to there's lots of space for air to circulate * underclock your CPU * don't use a standard CPU fan, but just a slow large fan and do a custom mount If you do the above, your PC will be next to silent. Straight out of the box, we've been very satisfied with our MacMinis. You can also make MacMinis boot Windows if you must (but you might Previous generation MacMinis are available for as little as $500 (2GHz Core2Duo with Nvidia 9400). Great solution out of the box. Take up next to zero space. There is a fan but it isn't audible. We bought five of them to cover our expansion. Hi Eric,

Really you should be building from scratch yourself. You get longer guarantees on the components as well (2 to 5 years) as opposed to an assembled PC.

* Go with a laptop drive.
* Samsung drives have been very quiet of late
* make sure to mount everything with rubber gaskets (reduces vibration)
* get a low-middle end Nvidia graphics card 7300, 7600, 9400 with air cooling
* buy a large case to there’s lots of space for air to circulate
* underclock your CPU
* don’t use a standard CPU fan, but just a slow large fan and do a custom mount

If you do the above, your PC will be next to silent.

Straight out of the box, we’ve been very satisfied with our MacMinis. You can also make MacMinis boot Windows if you must (but you might

Previous generation MacMinis are available for as little as $500 (2GHz Core2Duo with Nvidia 9400). Great solution out of the box. Take up next to zero space. There is a fan but it isn’t audible.

We bought five of them to cover our expansion.

]]> By: Eric Breidenbach http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-29033 Eric Breidenbach Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:17:11 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-29033 I would be most grateful for a recommendation for a stock desktop P.C. in the $400 to $600 range that is relatively quiet. I would be willing to make some changes, e.g. power supply, but can't afford much. Is any Intel processor better than AMD in terms of heat? Is the Core 2 Duo chipset way better than other Intel chips in terms of heat generation? Also, would a cooling tray and fan replacement maybe help significantly to quiet my laptop (2002 Sony Vaio) -- or other things I might do with a laptop? (I have "hyperacusis" i.e. diminished resistace to sound, and tinnitus exacerbated by sound.) Thanks a lot for any help. ericqb @msn.com eric tel. 650 575 2599 I would be most grateful for a recommendation for a stock desktop P.C. in the $400 to $600 range that is relatively quiet. I would be willing to make some changes, e.g. power supply, but can’t afford much. Is any Intel processor better than AMD in terms of heat? Is the Core 2 Duo chipset way better than other Intel chips in terms of heat generation? Also, would a cooling tray and fan replacement maybe help significantly to quiet my laptop (2002 Sony Vaio) — or other things I might do with a laptop? (I have “hyperacusis” i.e. diminished resistace to sound, and tinnitus exacerbated by sound.)
Thanks a lot for any help.
ericqb @msn.com
eric tel. 650 575 2599

]]> By: nile http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-22527 nile Thu, 21 May 2009 01:47:22 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-22527 Agreed, a good cpu heatsink is where you need to be, that and adjusting your bios so the fan speed relates to cpu usage and hence temp. I use a 3.6 hyperthreaded processor now (bit old these days), and every time the load upped, so did the noise from the Intel fan. With a good replacement, i can hardly hear anything at all. Agreed, a good cpu heatsink is where you need to be, that and adjusting your bios so the fan speed relates to cpu usage and hence temp. I use a 3.6 hyperthreaded processor now (bit old these days), and every time the load upped, so did the noise from the Intel fan. With a good replacement, i can hardly hear anything at all.

]]> By: Guaranteed SEO company http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-22389 Guaranteed SEO company Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:58:38 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-22389 The best way to get a lot of air in there is just to leave the side door off the case. Apart from the hard core video card (that 8800 GPU is sucking down 80 watts alone), most powerful modern systems can run just fine on the Zen power supply. The best way to get a lot of air in there is just to leave the side door off the case. Apart from the hard core video card (that 8800 GPU is sucking down 80 watts alone), most powerful modern systems can run just fine on the Zen power supply.

]]> By: Eric http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-12824 Eric Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:00:26 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-12824 Yeah, the 8800gt is pretty power hungry, but my Real Power Pro 650watt PSU handles it quite nicely. The fan rarely kicks up. What do you recommend for a quiet yet powerful CPU heatsink for the Q6600. I am looking at the Scythe Ninja and Tuniq tower right now. Yeah, the 8800gt is pretty power hungry, but my Real Power Pro 650watt PSU handles it quite nicely. The fan rarely kicks up.

What do you recommend for a quiet yet powerful CPU heatsink for the Q6600. I am looking at the Scythe Ninja and Tuniq tower right now.

]]> By: alec http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-12813 alec Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:30:14 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-12813 Hello Eric, The best way to get a lot of air in there is just to leave the side door off the case. Apart from the hard core video card (that 8800 GPU is sucking down 80 watts alone), most powerful modern systems can run just fine on the Zen power supply. We actually drop the Zen (or equivalent) into even our least expensive computers. Silence has no price. No ATI cards as the good ones tend to require heavy duty fans. Amazingly enough one can acquire even an Nvidia 8800 which is almost fanless (MSI's zilent model). Although there I'm starting to agree with you about costs going through the roof. Good to know that there are some high end users who appreciate (relative) quiet in their computers. Hello Eric,

The best way to get a lot of air in there is just to leave the side door off the case. Apart from the hard core video card (that 8800 GPU is sucking down 80 watts alone), most powerful modern systems can run just fine on the Zen power supply.

We actually drop the Zen (or equivalent) into even our least expensive computers. Silence has no price.

No ATI cards as the good ones tend to require heavy duty fans.

Amazingly enough one can acquire even an Nvidia 8800 which is almost fanless (MSI’s zilent model). Although there I’m starting to agree with you about costs going through the roof.

Good to know that there are some high end users who appreciate (relative) quiet in their computers.

]]> By: Eric http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-12778 Eric Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:16:10 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-12778 Nice guide, however, most people do not have the money to buy a totally fanless PSU. Moreover, most fanless PSU's cannot handle the load of a high end system. Luckily, most of the high quality PSU's out there today are fairly quiet. Also, I want to add that replacing the cheapo punch out 80mm fan holes with a chrome fan grill will make a HUGE difference in both sound and airflow, especially if you have a high rpm fan. Cheers Specs: Silent Tuned | 3D Marks 06: 11566 Q6600 2.4ghz CPU | Gigabyte GA-P35 LGA 775 MB EVGA 8800gt 512mb Video Card G.Skill 4GB Ram | Western Digital 400GB HD X-Fi Xtrememusic Sound Card Antec P180B Case | Evercool Sharks HSF CM Real Power Pro 650watt PSU Nice guide, however, most people do not have the money to buy a totally fanless PSU. Moreover, most fanless PSU’s cannot handle the load of a high end system. Luckily, most of the high quality PSU’s out there today are fairly quiet.

Also, I want to add that replacing the cheapo punch out 80mm fan holes with a chrome fan grill will make a HUGE difference in both sound and airflow, especially if you have a high rpm fan.

Cheers

Specs:
Silent Tuned | 3D Marks 06: 11566
Q6600 2.4ghz CPU | Gigabyte GA-P35 LGA 775 MB
EVGA 8800gt 512mb Video Card
G.Skill 4GB Ram | Western Digital 400GB HD
X-Fi Xtrememusic Sound Card
Antec P180B Case | Evercool Sharks HSF
CM Real Power Pro 650watt PSU

]]> By: alec http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-4059 alec Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:17:55 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-4059 Actually DRH, my silent PC's are much quieter than any Mac I know of except a Powerbook with a silent 4200 RPM drive. I managed to live with a Sawtooth DP 500 quiet happily but suffered with both a G4 DP 1.25 (revised Quicksilver) and a G5 DP 2.5 GHz. The latter had liquid cooling but was horribly loud, even with the processors tuned down to 2.0 GHz (with the help of <a href="http://www.bresink.de/osx/CPUSpeedMenu.html" rel="nofollow">CPU Speed Menu</a> from the brilliant Marcel Bresink of Tinkertool fame). Our silent PC's are really silent. Hard drive noise only. (In fairness, on the Quad processor we do have an ultra quiet special custom copper fan. But the copper fan is quieter than a hard drive. And that's running with a half open case to improve air circulation.) What I don't like about Macs and silent computing, is that it is so difficult to change and adjust the fans and cooling. With a PC if you want to spend an extra $30 and have a really silent fan, you have that option. We are running an office with seven computers in it and not a whisper from a single one most of the day. Actually DRH, my silent PC’s are much quieter than any Mac I know of except a Powerbook with a silent 4200 RPM drive.

I managed to live with a Sawtooth DP 500 quiet happily but suffered with both a G4 DP 1.25 (revised Quicksilver) and a G5 DP 2.5 GHz. The latter had liquid cooling but was horribly loud, even with the processors tuned down to 2.0 GHz (with the help of CPU Speed Menu from the brilliant Marcel Bresink of Tinkertool fame).

Our silent PC’s are really silent. Hard drive noise only.

(In fairness, on the Quad processor we do have an ultra quiet special custom copper fan. But the copper fan is quieter than a hard drive. And that’s running with a half open case to improve air circulation.)

What I don’t like about Macs and silent computing, is that it is so difficult to change and adjust the fans and cooling. With a PC if you want to spend an extra $30 and have a really silent fan, you have that option.

We are running an office with seven computers in it and not a whisper from a single one most of the day.

]]> By: drh http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/comment-page-1#comment-3898 drh Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:50:30 +0000 http://foliovision.com/2007/07/31/silent-computer/#comment-3898 The best way to have a quiet ans silent computer is to buy a Mac. it's just what i did, I will never go back to Pcs again. The best way to have a quiet ans silent computer is to buy a Mac. it’s just what i did, I will never go back to Pcs again.

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