Will major manufacturers ever offer silent pcs?

newbie · Post by **newbie** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 5:14 am

I am not into computer building and ordered my quiet pc from a small company (in the UK) who built it for me, which is fine and it works well, but I'm surprised there isn't a much greater demand for these products. I think it would be good to see Dell and others offering quiet/silent models.

ivan · Post by **ivan** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:39 am

A lot of people view computers as an unchangable black box and aren't aware that they can make it quieter. The rest doesn't use their computers nearly enough to demand it to be quiet enough.

badbadtz560 · Post by **badbadtz560** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:47 am

well.. I think the only people that really need/want silent computers are those of us that sleep by them and leave them on at night to say.. download stuff.
I think most people that aren't computer savvy have a separate computer room or workroom, and wouldn't really need a quiet/silent computer anyway.
Of course, understand that my computer is nearly silent... so when I refer to normal computers, I'm thinking of those newer 400 dollar dell 2.8 p4 deals. My friend has one of those, and I think those are quiet enough for normal operation, considering that any music will overcome the sound. I don't think low frequency fan whoosh sounds really bother too many ppl that don't sit by their computer 24/7.

I'm also assuming they aren't using those old maxtor/WD hardrives that have this amazingly unacceptable high pitched whine noise ;p

StarfishChris · Post by **StarfishChris** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 2:25 am

Recent mid-power computers are acceptably quiet. If you mean silent, that's a much smaller market (by the way, don't forget computers used for audio). But in comparison to old, old computers pre 2000 things are a lot better.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:46 am

For the most part, quieter computers mean hotter computers. And I suspect most major players do not want to assume the added liability......for the limited demand for quiet computers.

Selling quiet components is one thing.....if a quiet part fails normally the mfg. will just replace that part. But if a complete computer fails because of a heat problem, the replacement cost to the mfg. is much greater.

IMHO....until the demand for quieter computers grows substantially, or the availability or lower cost of cooler components grows, you'll not likely see many computers designed for maximum quietness.

For now it's build your own quiet computer...or pay the cost of a speciality manufacture.

newbie · Post by **newbie** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:56 am

I guess what you all say is correct, and I may be in a minority. I'm not on my computer day and night but excessive noise still really bugs me. I don't need silent (althought that would be nice!), but as low as posible. - I don't like listening to sound or music on my pc and normally have the speakers switched off. I guess I haven't heard enough newer computers to know what they all sound like. I was using a very old computer (1997 model) until last year and that could be whiny and vibrate a lot. I wanted to get a newer quicker, more powerful one so bought a fujitsu-siemens but couldn't stand the noise. I thought it was like an aeroplane. So I sent it back and ordered a quiet one of similar specs. Unfortunately it cost nearly twice as much.