Hey all!

I'm glad I found this forum, because I just recently had the epiphany that my comp is freaking LOUD! I really want to get silent, since I am a music producer and need that precious silence for obvious reasons...

Anyway, I have a Athlon 64 2800+ processor (with ATX motherboard I'm pretty sure), Radeon 9800 Pro vid card..nothing else too special that needs cooling. More importantly though, I have one of these stupid cases with the blue lights everywhere, the light-up golf ball power button. It has a side case 80mm exhaust fan that currently is a Thermaltake (which is really loud), and no rear fan slot. I'm not sure what fan is on the CPU, since the case fan drowns out that noise...some kind of stock fan maybe? I'm not sure what the power supply is either, or how much noise that makes. My CPU temp is normally tops out at around 100 degrees F.

What would you guys recommend for this set up? I'm pretty sure I need a new case, from just reading around...and definitely a new, quiet case fan (if I need one). Any advice would be great!

Hi!

Antec Solo is a good, quiet case for ex. Not exspensive either.
Just replace the Antec tricool fan with a Nexus 120 mm (softmounted with elastic cords). Remove the honeycombed fan grille first, before you mount anything into the case. This will lower the noise further and improves the air flow. Also seal the vent in the rear of the case.

Just make sure you clean the case throughout after the cutting.

If you feel the need of an intake fan? Then a 92mm Nexus is a good choise.

As for videocard. Get a passive AGP Geforce 7600GS ( GIGABYTE GV-N76G256D-RH). Those are pretty cheap and decently powerful.

If you wanna keep the 9800Pro? Then replace the stock cooler with a Zalman VF900 CU instead. Fits all 9000 series cards except 9500 and 9600. Replacing the included thermal paste with Arctic Silver Ceramique, will lower the temp a couple of degrees more. At the lowest to mid setting, this vga cooler is very quiet and still cools very well. Very simple to mount. Comes with RAM sinks, that have thermal tape pre appied. Just clean the gpu and memory throughout with oil free Acetone or Isopropyl alchol, and a lint free cloth before mounting cooler / RAM sinks.

A good strategy, is to mount the RAM sinks first. Then letting the tape settle for a few hours, before you mount the Zalman cooler. Othervice you risk that the RAM sinks comes off easily.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/vie ... 2&code=013

The Corsair HX 520, is said to be a silent psu. This is a modular powersupply, wich means, you just hook up the cables that you are using for the moment.

This will help you to reduce the cable clutter.

The HX 520 is 20 + 4 pin main power connector, so you will need one of these for your AMD motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812145002

Heatsink. Scythe Ninja Plus with a 120mm Nexus, Or a Noctua NH-U12 for ex. Check motherboard compability at the manufacturers home first.

It's probably possible to run the Ninja without any fan at all. If you make a simple duct made out of cardboard ( preferably glossy), or plastic. And connect the duct to the rear exhaust fan of the Solo case.

A cheap but slightly noiser soloution, would be Arctic Cooling Freezer 64.
This will work with 99 % of the motherboard brands and models.

The Freezer will still cool better, and be noticeable more quiet than the stock fan / heatsink.

Any of those heatsinks, will fit into most cpu sockets of today.

if ur a music producer whos usccesful u shou;ld be rich..just buy a 500tnn and notebook hdd's and ur set!

Buy a coolermaster centurion 530, 532 or 534 case and a coolmaster 430W extreme power PSU, 2 1000RPM 120x120mm case fans and you have a fairly quite case and PSU. This staff isn't very expensive 130-140€.
I think after making that mods you will find out that your ghaphic card and CPU fan make most of the noise.
As you are set now you can't hear that noise because your PSU and case fan are covering it. So is better to save some many in order to quite down those too.

Welcome here, Stratosphere.

There's some good advice here, although it would take some money to impliment. Let me suggest a "cheap-ass" route.

I think the best way to go about quieting a computer is to start with the loudest part first. With your case open and your computer running, put your thumb on the hub of the case fan so that it stops (don't stick your fingers in the blades!). Listen. Then stick your thumb on the hub of the CPU fan (just briefly, you don't want to cook the CPU!). Listen again. Which one is making the most noise?

If it's the case fan (and I imagine it is, because Thermaltake fans are The Great Satan), you need to either swap it out (recommended) or remove it (not recommended). Read the "Recommended - Cooling" section off the front page for a quiet 80mm fan that fits your budget and that you can locate in a store. Buy it. Replace Thermaltake fan. Enjoy your quieter computer.

Then, after a few days, you'll notice it's still too loud! No problem. It happens to all of us. Then find out what the next noisiest thing is in your case and tackle that.

By the way, if you can find out exactly what kind of case you have, or better yet, provide some pictures, we can help you much more accurately. There is a lot that can be done to a case to make it better. It would be a shame to spend money on a case when some work would make it better. Then you could spend your money on a super quiet PSU or something instead.

Good luck!

Some good advice but I am going to come in with a medium price build.

A good quiet system is built around a quiet well designed case. It is much easier and more fulfilling to start with a good case than modify a really bad one. From your description you hate your case so go pick up a Antec Solo or P150. The P150 will solve the power supply issue at the same time. If you go with a Solo than there are several good power supply options starting with the best. A seasonic S12 380, an Antec neoHE, an Antec earthwatts, and a few others...check out the recomended list.

Next I would replace the cpu cooler with an Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 and get a fan controller.

After that you can find a better cooler for the 9800 pro. A Zalman vf700 is cheaper than the 900 and will cool the 9800 without problems.

Then I would address the harddrive. If the drive is too loud a replacement will give you more performance and quieter operation. Western Digtal and Samsung have quiet drives.

After all that you can consider replacing the Antec Tricool fan with a Nexus, Noctua, or Scythe 120mm.

Now your computer is quiet

Thanks for all the replies!

I ended up getting an Antec Solo case, and my comp is already much quieter! Its funny; I read all of these things about reducing hard-drive noise, and always wondered what they were talking about. Now I can actually hear the harddrive noise (which isn't bad at all, really)!

It is, I admit, not is quiet as I want it to be. So I'm going with some of the suggestions here and will begin to replace all the fans with quieter ones. I'm pretty sure that the stock AMD fan is making the most noise now, so I will start with that one.

Anyway, I'm well on my way to a real quiet PC, so thanks a bunch! Its great having all of that extra silence for my music...

Strat, glad to hear you went with the Solo. I too am new to SilentPC and just replaced my old case and PS with a Solo and Corsair 620. Even with all the same parts on the inside, it's already much much quieter.

The best thing is that I can now actually identify which parts are making the most noise. My motherboard has a northbridge fan than I learned last night makes this really annoying clicking noise. And my Zalman CPU cooler is easily the loudest fan in the system. I'm looking to replace the board with an Asus A8N32-SLI for the passive cooling and a Scythe Ninja in passive will go in for the Zalman.

Then maybe I'll finally be able to hear the hard drive too.

Zalmans can be pretty quiet if you turn the cpu fan down using the bios fan control or another type of fan control. If you have a P4 then the ninja will be worth it.

I went ahead and took your advice and got an Artic Cooling Alpine 64, and the Zalman vf700 off newegg.

What is the deal with the fan control? My mobo just has a 3 pin connector. Do I have to get the fan control seperately? I'll see how quiet it is, and then I might do that next.

I think that the Zalman should be able to just run on "silent mode" with the fan off, I'm not a gamer at all. But how do you tell how hot the VGA is getting just to be sure?