well i'll tell you everything for that matter,
i'm going to build new pc soon for my needs and the first thing it would have to be is quiet so if anything comes cross that, quiet will have to be prioritized.
i'm going to record in this room where this pc would be, with a condencer microphone, meaning - as much as it would be quiet the mic is going to pick up on it. so it has to be dead quiet. that's why this is so important to me. if you'll say this certain heatsink won't go into any case because it's very big, then i would rather get a big case if it's the quietest i'll get my pc to be.
so once you got this point now, what would you do if you were me, starting out fresh with a new pc all from scratch, what would make it dead quiet?
ok, in relation to the other post about there is NO "B
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Bluefront
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If the quietest possible computer is your only priority.....get a VIA board that will run fanless. Get a PICO PSU that runs off a fan-less wall-wart. Find the quietest laptop drive you can (if you need storage space). Any tower case will do. Leave the PSU opening for a passive exhaust vent. Close off the other rear exhaust hole.
The airflow will be passive, assisted by convection. The heat will go out the upper rear PSU opening. The intake air will be pulled in any other vent openings in the case......one in the lower front of the case should be enough.
If you find the setup running too warm (doubtful), mount a small fan over the CPU heatsink, running at 5V. I doubt you could hear this setup at all.....
The airflow will be passive, assisted by convection. The heat will go out the upper rear PSU opening. The intake air will be pulled in any other vent openings in the case......one in the lower front of the case should be enough.
If you find the setup running too warm (doubtful), mount a small fan over the CPU heatsink, running at 5V. I doubt you could hear this setup at all.....
though the silence is top priority, there is another thing to consider, i do have to do stuff with that computer - audio processing, so the suggestions Aris had are not realistic for me. this does have to be a strong PC in terms of CPU. that is also why i doubt any passive cooling would be enough as it is all to itfself, i do believe that it might help reducing fans speeds.
thank you both anyway for that. if you have other suggestions i would appreciate it.
thank you both anyway for that. if you have other suggestions i would appreciate it.
I'd still do what he suggested. An under-volted E4200 will still run plenty fast, and onboard video is more than adequate. The entire thing can be made to use less than 50W.
My suggested setup:
Board with built in video and passive setup(no Northbridge fan).
Tower case, placed on its side, side panel removed. A desktop case with the top removed also works well.
Ninja or similar passive cooler and an under-clocked 45nm processor.
Fanless power brick/supply.
2.5" laptop drive.
The only thing in the case should be the motherboard. Left to the open air, the Ninja will cool well enough.
The drive will be audible. This can be largely mitigated, though, by putting it in an external 2.5" external SATA case.
If you want completely diskless, the Gigabyte I-ram might also work. Use Linux or something similar that will fit everything in 2-3GB. 0db is possible and for recording, is well worth trying to achieve. Of course, it goes without saying that unless the room is built like a recording studio with a noise floor of 15-20db or less, this is all moot.
Note - another cheap way is to have a quiet but normal computer or laptop in another room. Put the screen right against a double pane window built into the wall. Wireless keyboard and mouse in the recording room.
This is usually what you see in recording studios - a monitor built into a wall or behind glass/isolated - and a keyboard/control in the room. If you are building this into a basement, it's easy to make a 4-6 ft wide "room" at the rear that is where all the gear goes. Inside the other, main recording room is the typical foam and padding and mics - and maybe a keyboard.
Recording studios are their own special brand of insanity.
If not, then any laptop will work fine. They'll all be far more quiet than the background noise.
My suggested setup:
Board with built in video and passive setup(no Northbridge fan).
Tower case, placed on its side, side panel removed. A desktop case with the top removed also works well.
Ninja or similar passive cooler and an under-clocked 45nm processor.
Fanless power brick/supply.
2.5" laptop drive.
The only thing in the case should be the motherboard. Left to the open air, the Ninja will cool well enough.
The drive will be audible. This can be largely mitigated, though, by putting it in an external 2.5" external SATA case.
If you want completely diskless, the Gigabyte I-ram might also work. Use Linux or something similar that will fit everything in 2-3GB. 0db is possible and for recording, is well worth trying to achieve. Of course, it goes without saying that unless the room is built like a recording studio with a noise floor of 15-20db or less, this is all moot.
Note - another cheap way is to have a quiet but normal computer or laptop in another room. Put the screen right against a double pane window built into the wall. Wireless keyboard and mouse in the recording room.
This is usually what you see in recording studios - a monitor built into a wall or behind glass/isolated - and a keyboard/control in the room. If you are building this into a basement, it's easy to make a 4-6 ft wide "room" at the rear that is where all the gear goes. Inside the other, main recording room is the typical foam and padding and mics - and maybe a keyboard.
Recording studios are their own special brand of insanity.
If not, then any laptop will work fine. They'll all be far more quiet than the background noise.
Last edited by Plekto on Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
How strong?worrywort wrote:this does have to be a strong PC in terms of CPU.
Seems to me you need to get a good handle on how much CPU power you actually require, other you're shooting in the dark on specifications, and so is everyone else here.
We can suggest something, you can say "it's not enough". Then we go round in circles until everyone gets bored and wanders away from the thread.
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Bluefront
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I suggested a VIA board like this one from Logic Supply. Combined with a PICO power supply, it draws 15-20W maximum, and can be run fanless. It runs XP without problems, and has a PCI slot for a high-end audio card if you need one. It is powerful enough to play and record DVDs...... should be plenty for recording audio.
You want maximum silence without a bunch of trouble...... this board can do it. Want something more powerful? Get more specific in your requirements.....
You want maximum silence without a bunch of trouble...... this board can do it. Want something more powerful? Get more specific in your requirements.....