Just a personal view previously lurked here for a number of years, and in various ways I've been experiementing with making quieter computers since before this thread was started. I don't have a problem with the OP's view though in my case I was driven to distraction with an exceptionally loud Dr. cooler CPU fan on my old AMD Duron CPU.

I could actually hear the computer clearly from my kitchen with the PC in the bedroom, and that's concrete floors as well really it was that loud probably the loudest processor fan I've ever heard (think hairdryer at full blast). Hence the move the pc strategy isn't really a solution for many people. Regarding cost making a quieter pc for recent builds I would not say the additional cost was that much, some selected fans, I added some rubber feet to the PC case, selected a PC case that was pre fitted with sound insulation which wasn't really any more expensive than a normal good quality PC case would have been.

Overall I think with careful planning the cost of making a quiet computer isn't a lot more than making a normal one. Even if you ignore sound insulation or quiet components ie fanless PSU's, you can do a lot by simply decent management of fan speeds one obvious area. It is true in the past I have splashed out on custom solutions which were somewhat more expensive ie hard drive enclosures etc, but there are many DIY alternatives available to folks too.

Cost isn't really an issue in my view regarding quieter computing. Of course like anything you can go on a quest to have no noise at all which will be more costly. I consider myself happy with very quiet computers, there are some who take things possibly a little far for my own tastes ie hardcore quiet pc folks I'm more mainstream quiet myself!

I actually moved my computer to a plaster closet, around a small corner, since the closet is wider than the door. I can still hard drive noise when it comes on from sleep, and my DVD drive can be loud sometimes, but besides that, it's quiet. I actually turned my fan speed *up* because it was warmer in there, and I couldn't hear the fans.

I did carefully choose components though... hyper 212 evo heatsink with a noctua cpu fan and a msi geforce 660

As to your hard drives, did you try any of the various hard drive silencing methods?

I felt really smart this weekend about deciding to move my pc to the other room. Only to read on this forum that the OP did it in 2004 already! The effect on audio is incredible. If I sit in the other room now with my pc on I just can't hear it at all! Which is the holy grail in silencing your pc

These days with digital connections there is luckily no video/audio degradation anymore. It's basically all hdmi and usb. I started reading on silentpc forums about a good case and I ordered a Fractal R4 case for 95 euro this weekend. I canceled it after it downed on me that moving the pc to another room would result is much more quietness I can ever get from trying to silence the pc. Total cable costs was 55 euro. The pc will be about 3,5 meter away from me which requires me to get 5m cables.

I have three usb parts, mouse/keyboard and joystick which I got 5m usb2 cables for.

The audio goes with 3 RCA plugs to my amplifier, both digital (one RCA) as stereo analog. The amplifier is closer to the computer.

I have three monitors and a projector 10 meter away. For compatibility sake I chose hdmi/dvi cables as both my monitors and my videocards have both connections. The 10 meter hdmi one for the projector is an 'hdmi 1.4 high speed' one as I like to frame double up to 1920x1080/60p which is more bandwidth than the standard full HD speed of 1920x1080/24p. Apparently, according to wiki, you can go hdmi 1.0 to 1.3 as well for the same speed if you're lucky. I also chose a slightly better DVI-D cable for my main monitor as I might run into trouble if I want to upgrade to 2560x1440 in the future. Although DVI-D technically doesn't mean extra pins, dual-link does. Ah well.

The usb3 extension isn't optimal, I liked a 5 meter one for that instead of the 3 meter one. This store didn't had it and at least I don't have to walk to the other room, just have to get up and walk 2 meters to the corner of the room I only use it once a month though.

Artikelnr Omschrijving Aantal Prijs Bedrag
175703 HQ HDMI high speed platte kabel M/M 10.0m blister 1 14,35 14,35
150662 HDMI - DVI Kabel verguld 5.0mtr 1 6,26 6,26
175687 HQ HDMI - DVI-D kabel M/M 5.0m blister 1 11,31 11,31
158233 ACT USB 2.0 Verlengkabel A-A M/F 5m 2 4,86 9,73
138401 Equip USB3 Cable A-A M/F 3,0m OP=OP 1 6,90 6,90
Order/verzendkosten 4,95
Bedrag EUR excl. BTW 44,21
BTW-Bedrag (21,00%) 9,28
Totaal EUR incl. BTW 53,50

I expect to get it this week over mail and will then start the build next weekend. Can't wait

EDIT: Mailed the store to change the DVI-D to dual link.

Optical cables will help placing the computer where it should be - far away from the display where you sit.

http://www.corning.com/CableSystems/Opt ... fault.aspx

Well, I finished moving the pc. It's real quiet here, it's perfect. I hear nothing from the pc anymore. Absolutely nothing. The only thing I hear is the transformer from my main monitor, which might be due to the crappy 'hanns-g' brand. I feel like I have more energy. I work all day behind this pc and have it on occasionally in the evening too. And I watch movies through it. The beginnings of mp3's sound different too! With actual silence when you expect silence.

One of the cables gave strange results, the 5m dvi-d -> dvi-d cable. I would get a black screen occasionally that would return in 5-30 seconds. I fixed it by switching it out with one of my other monitors, all is fine now. Yes it was the hanns-g one again. The 10 meter hdmi cable to my projector works fine by the way.

All in all I spent 55 euro on 6 long cables and in the future I can avoid expensive extra silent equipment I already started with a 9cm fan which made a rattle I was about to replace for 15 euro, got it at dx.com for 2 euro

Placing PC from one to another room seems difficult to me. This task not looks easy due to complex system of optical cables. Need much time to transfer PC to other setup. Without support of a person I can not be manage easily.