Very disappointed after I took all suggestion from SPCR

[Gunzee]

Like most people here, I hate noise from my computer. I used to own a AMD, but it was loud as the jet engine. Heard the Intel P4 is not as hot, switched over. So, I took all the suggestions and recommendations from this forum. After all is done, I am still faced with a computer that makes noise, that is heard from the hallway. It's not the quiet PC or the result I wanted. For god sake, it's not as quiet as the Dell PC i bought couple years.

I think I am basically given up. Going to buy a laptop instead of the damn to hell desktop PC.

Here is what I put in my PC from the suggestion/recommendations:

Intel 2.6Ghz/512MB dual/Radeon 9800pro

-Zalman 7000A AlCu
-Enermax 470w noise taker
-Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Cooler
-Arctic Cooling VGA silencer rev 3
-Samsung 160GB hard drive

Oh god, what am I doing wrong? Why am I wasting all the work and money to have this headache. I guess I have to be crying back to a laptop and let my friends laugh me(I told them I hate laptop),


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[MikeC]

Well! That's v-e-e-ry odd.

Judging from your component list, if you have set the fans to min -- and have a decent case with good airflow -- you should have a 25~28 dBA/1m machine. Maybe better. This should be quiet.

What case? What case fans? Fan on Z7000 turned tdown with fanmate1?Decouple mt. of HDD?

[Bluefront]

Too bad you got the impression that you could just screw a bunch of pieces together.....and then have a super-quiet setup. I know some people make it sound easy, but it's not quite like that. The whole setup has to work together, fit together, to achieve what we all want.

But all is not lost. Post your total specs.......case, fans, fan control system, voltages, temps, all of it. There are enough smart people around here willing to help out. Whatever went wrong can be fixed.

[icancam]

How very frustrating for you, Gunzee! All is not lost. How about seeking out and isolating what's making the noise and then dealing with it?

I have a Dell based system (Optiplex GX-240) that was already considered to be quiet in comparison to other commercially available units. At work, in a typical busy office environment, it was virtually inaudible. However, in my very quiet home office, particularly late at night, I found it to be too loud. So I learnt that if one is in a very quiet environment then one must make some allowances because any device with moving parts, such as fans and hard drives, will necessarily make some noise. The ideal machine has no moving parts. Most of what the people at SPCR do when modifying their computers is to arrive at a compromise between an acceptable noise level versus unacceptable heat build up.

Because the parts you have installed are known to be low in noise, my guess is that the objectionable sound level results from air movement by the fans and from case resonances caused by vibrations from the hard drive. You may have to modify your case to improve air flow so you can slow down the fans. You may also have to de-couple the hard drive. Finally, you may have to place some damping materials in strategic locations in the case to quiet things down.

Those three steps made a great difference as I modified my Dell so it has become virtually inaudible. It has taken quite a while to track down the various interactions that created the noise and then dealing with them one by one, starting with the loudest. Simple and inexpensive tweaks to the configuration often created the greatest improvements. Once one has low noise parts, it's all a matter of tuning them to work together as a harmonious (and quieter) whole, going from an assemblage of equipment to an optimized system.

Don't despair, it can be done!

[mudboy]

You make no mention of what case you are using, or what settings you are using on those quiet components you bought (i.e. are you using the resistor adapter with the Zalman, etc.), or if you actually spent any time trying to analyze which parts were the primary cause for the noise.

As mentioned before, building a quiet PC isn't a matter of buying a box of parts and slapping them together; it is usually a slow and methodical process of isolate the noisemaker/determine why it's making noise/come up with a solution (which can involve either mods, settings, or buying something else).

Pete

[trodas]

Gunzee - sorry to hear your rant, but... Someone should tell you upfront, that it's not just the components you select. For example, the CNPS7000Cu is still noisy for me much, when run at 12V - so you have to slow-it down a little
I also don't think and have no idea where you come with the thing, that Intels generate less heat I don't know what from Intel you can compare to mobile Barton CPU, in both terms of power and heat generation
Anyway, Samsung HDD is quiet, but how did you monted it?
Also your specs says nothing about case/case fans you used

Having computer that you can hear downstairs must be painfull... Mine are almost fanless and I have to concentrate to hear it. And it's AXP 3500+ Barton machine with 1Gby ram, 160G Maxtor HDD and FX5700Uutra card, with fanless watercooling and so on... But hey, all the stuff I got you can get too, but you have to do all the moddind I did to get where Im
Take a look there and see, that the components is only start of the path to noiseless computing
http://ax2.wz.cz/galerie.php?p=wc&c=7&d=1&v=v2

In case you did not feeling up to, the excelent VoodooPC Rage F-50 PC quiet performer just reviewed by MikeC there:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article161-page1.html
Might be for you. All it need is better HDD mounting and you get silent machine, you will have to LOOK at the LED's to see, if it's ON!!!

(I know the problem, mine are almost noiseless, so I have to look )

[Gunzee]

Thank you. Your replies are very informative. Here is some additional info on my computer.

-The case is a full tower, I don't remember the brand and model.
-It has two case fan, Vantec Stealth, one front of the case(bottom), one at the back(middle)
-samsung hard drive is mounted using paper paddding
-there is no vibration coming for the tower
-did not use the Zalman resister(didn't notice any difference)
-no voltage mod or change to anything
-didn't overclock cpu

I can not work on my computer right now, because I twisted a muscle on my neck. Pain... Can't sleep... Once I get better, I will try the suggestions.

Thx.

[the_smell]

Hi Gunzee

Sorry to hear about the neck, sounds nasty
The fact you didn't notice any difference when you used the zalman resistor on your CPU cooler shows how noisey your PC is - this can definitely be helped! I've heard a lot of bad things about the noise generated by those vantec stealth fans, assuming they are 80mm (?) maybe try replacing them with the panaflo L1A, and possibly undervolt. It might be an idea to check your case doesn't have restrictive fan grills, and cables restricting airflow.
Also did you turn on AAM on your spinpoint, it should also make a big difference.

Once you've done that, unless your case airflow is really bad (so the PSU fan is running quickly), you should hear a noticable difference when you turn down the zalman and the VGA silencer. You should be able to tune your case/CPU temps and noise level by adjsting voltages of all those fans.
The only problem is then you'll probably get the quiet PC bug and want to start fiddling even more

Get well soon!

[pdf27]

-It has two case fan, Vantec Stealth, one front of the case(bottom), one at the back(middle)
-did not use the Zalman resister(didn't notice any difference)

I can not work on my computer right now, because I twisted a muscle on my neck. Pain... Can't sleep... Once I get better, I will try the suggestions.

Try taking the side off the case and unplugging the two case fans. With the side off the lack of airflow from them won't matter for a few minutes, and they sound like they may be the source of a lot of your noise. Also try fitting the resistor to the Zalman with the case fans turned off.
The parts you mentioned in your first post are fairly quiet ones, so the chances are it's something else making the noise. Once you've figured out what the problem is, it's virtually solved usually.

Hope you feel better soon

[luminous]

I would agree with pdf27's suggetsions.

I also reckon that the Vantec fans will be causing your problem. I've never used the Vantex fans myself, but I have 2 Zalman 92mm ZM-F2 fans. These fans are meant to be much better than the Zalman units. Personally I feel they are the worst fans I have ever heard! So if your case fans are worse than that, God help you.

My seuggested fix is nearly identical to pdf27's:

Step 1
With the machine on, open the side panels, then disconnect the case fans. The amount of noise should drop dramatically if we are correct. If this is the case then proceed to step 2

Step 2
Leaving the machine with its side panels off and the case fans disconnected, shutdown the machine. Connect the Zalman HSF through its fanmate and turn on. Monitor your temps and turn the fanmate to min. You should now be able to hear the difference as your case fans aren't on. I would expect temps to be OK even with this at min.

Step 3
Post back with your results. If the above has worked, all we need to do is get some quiet case airflow so that the side panels can go back.

[wsc]

Gunzee - IMO the two "stealth" fans are probably causing the most noise. My system runs totally fine with no case fans - even though I keep one in the case and hooked up for emergencies, it stays turned off through software. You'd be suprised how little airflow your computer really needs once the cables are routed correctly. I am pretty confident you could ditch the two "stealth" fans, and use one inaudible fan such as a panasonic L1A running at 5 volts. You may even be able to get by with no fans running at all like I do. Anyway, I hope you get it sorted out. You WILL have a silent computer if you keep tinkering with it. Good luck and make sure to keep us updated!

[lenny]

Intel 2.6Ghz/512MB dual/Radeon 9800pro

-Zalman 7000A AlCu
-Enermax 470w noise taker
-Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Cooler
-Arctic Cooling VGA silencer rev 3
-Samsung 160GB hard drive

Well, for what it's worth, I have almost the exact same configuration, except I have a Maxtor instead of a Samsung (resting on Sorbothane) and my PSU is a 120mm Fortron.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it silent, but it's certainly quiet even in the poorly ventilated ATC-600 desktop case (much closer to user than a tower case). I disabled all case fans since the ACVS and Fortron exhaust a fair amount of air.

The ACVS is always switched to low unless I'm playing games for extended period.

You might have some bad components. Certain users find their Zalman noisy. Try stopping individual fans to find the culprit. Good luck and take care of that neck.

Edit : Ah, yes, the Stealth. You didn't follow all the advice in the forums, I see

[samwc912]

Hi Gunzee

If you cannot hear the difference between a 12v and undervolted zalman 7000, it's probably because something else is generating more noise. And I think the culprit is the vantec stealth. I have two of these and they are everything else other than "stealthy".

I agree with earlier posts, try unplugging the vantec fans and I'm pretty sure you'll hear the difference.

Good luck.

[Beyonder]

Like others said, I bet the vantecs are the source of your noise. My dad's computer had two of those suckers running by the hard drive, and it was LOUD. Unplugging them solved the problem nicely.