The Making Of A Silent Office Room

[staykov]

Hello Guys,
New here, new to silent computing as well. Definitely not new to appreciating quietness.

I have a mission to make a small office room silent pc noise-wise.
I believe that this is a very easy goal since the PCs are very minimalistic (don't even have a discrete GPU).
They don't have an HDD either just an SSD.

This is the PC config: (There are 4 of those PCs in the room)
CPU: Intel i3-4370 s.1150
CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Cooler
MB: some MSI board
SSD: some Kingston SSD
GPU: Integrated Intel HD4600
PSU: Noname Loud Crappy PSU
Case: Noname Crappy Case Top PSU
Case Fans Installed: 0

Most of the noise is caused by the PSUs. Since there is no GPU/HDD to deal with the other noise source is the stock intel cooler.

My idea of fixing this:
- Swap the PSUs with the Seasonic X-400 Fanless
Potential Issue:This is a cheap PC case with top PSU mounting, I'm not sure if the Fanless PSU is suitable for top PSU mounting.

- Swap the Intel Stock Cooler for something classy-ish which is near-completely silent. Mid-end Noctua/Thermalright maybe?

- Add some Very Low Rpm case fans. Not sure which ones and how much.
Problem: This crappy case only has 1x92mm in the back, 1x120mm in the front and 2x120mm(weird) on the side panel.

Please note: I don't have a large budget, so I'm not looking to do a major overhaul. I'm aware that a better PC case for example will provide a better opportunity for silencing, but to be honest I feel that these PCs need very little to become inaudible. Since I am a noob when it comes to silencing PCs, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance,
Cheers!

[vishcompany]

I did a setup lately which turned out to be really nice.

CPU: i3-6100 (51W TDP, your 4370 has 54W TDP, which is fairly close)
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-L9i
MB: MSI H110I Pro
SSD: Samsung
GPU: Integrated Intel HD 530
PSU: Corsair SF450
Case: Noname Crappy mATX case Top PSU
Case Fans installed: 0

The PC is being used for office work and Photoshop Lightroom.

The PSU is semi-fanless, so the fan only starts spinning at certain loads (which this CPU never will be anble to generate) or temps. This PSU is actually overkill, I used a Silverstone ST30SF Rev.1 in another, very similar setup and it also never starts spinning. Do not consider the Rev.2 of this PSU, as it is not semi-fanless.

I had to set a custom fanscurve in the BIOS, as the cooler reacted a bit too nervously on short temp spikes. I also could have put in the low-speed-adapter, which comes with this cooler.
So the only moving part is this fan.

There are no case fans. I trusted, that the PSU fan would kick in, if temps get high, but it just never happened.
In your case I would start with a good PSU. The silverstone is a SFX-PSU, so the cables might be too short, it comes with an ATX adaptor. But any semi-fanless PSU of some quality will do. The X400 is a very good unit (though I have one, which buzzes like hell), but overkill for your setup.

I don't think, you will need to change the case, as soon as there are no more sources of noise. It is quite easy to cool an i3.

If I was in your position, I would start with one PC, swap the PSU first and listen. If the CPU cooler is annoying, swap that, too. Watch the temps, but my guess is, you should be set. Have a go at the other PCs then.

[Abula]

Welcome to SPCR!!!!!

My advice since you are in a budget is do one thing at the time and see how it turn out, we all have different tolarances to noise, hell we even have different base noise levels, so its best to do one at the time and see how you like it, and if you are willing to continue investing on it.

- Swap the PSUs with the Seasonic X-400 Fanless
Potential Issue:This is a cheap PC case with top PSU mounting, I'm not sure if the Fanless PSU is suitable for top PSU mounting.

While my X400 has been perfect, there are some that have reported Coil Whinning on them, weather you get it or not its hard to predict, to me its more a sum of hardware that creates this condition, that said, i would probably go with cheaper alternative like Corsair RM550x or if you are willing to go external, a picoPSU should be able to power your setup.

- Swap the Intel Stock Cooler for something classy-ish which is near-completely silent. Mid-end Noctua/Thermalright maybe?

For some its tolareable for others not, i would upgrade the PSU first and see how you find it. But if you are sure you want to change it, and if you have the clearance on the case, i would go with Scythe Kotetsu at $40 its hard to beat. If it cant clear the case in height, look also into Scythe KATANA 4

- Add some Very Low Rpm case fans. Not sure which ones and how much.
Problem: This crappy case only has 1x92mm in the back, 1x120mm in the front and 2x120mm(weird) on the side panel.

Here be sure to check if the motherboard can control fans, as not all fans will be very quiet running at 12V, so a fan controller might be in line if you do or chosing the correct speed from the begging might be a good route to take.

The cheapest i would recommend on 92mm is Nexus DF1209SL-3 92mm and for 120mm would be Nexus Real Silent 120mm, you will still need to undervolt them, so keep that in mind.

[VERiON]

If your current PSU has 120mm fan and you don't mind a little of DIY - I would simply remove PSU fan (cut the cables) and replace it with a new silent one connected to the case fan header on the motherboard. Easy to do and realtively cheap (about 10-15$ for good silent fan).

And I would definitely replace that intel stock heatsink. It's pure evil because you can't replace the fan (it's a part of the plastic bracket that holds the heatsink in place.
I would buy a "tower" type of cooler with 120mm fan and mount it rotated 90 degrees - to blow the air upwards - towards the top PSU. If all you are doing is a "normal" office work - chances are that with i3 you won't even need that CPU cooler fan or you can set it to lowest speed possible.

[quest_for_silence]

Please note: I don't have a large budget

What's your location?

[staykov]

Please note: I don't have a large budget

What's your location?

Sofia, Bulgaria


P.S.
Thank you all for the replies so far.

[quest_for_silence]

Please note: I don't have a large budget

What's your location?

May you point out some local e-shops (you may use) to us, please? I don't know any in Bulgaria and we can't know what's locally available.