Less than silent
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Less than silent
Hi guys,
I just spent a lot of money on a new pc, with a focus on silent components. Here are the components that matter:
Athlon64 3000+
Zalman 7000B-AlCu (using min. fan speed)
GeForce 6800GT (reference hsf)
Seasonic Super Tornado 400W
Now, I was expecting this to be pretty damn quiet. Like, you have to be a metre away to hear it. But no, I can hear this from outside my room and down the hallway! Were my expectations too great? Or perhaps my graphics card is especially loud? Or possibly the PSU is to blame (it's a rev A2 you see)?
I'm new to all this so any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
I just spent a lot of money on a new pc, with a focus on silent components. Here are the components that matter:
Athlon64 3000+
Zalman 7000B-AlCu (using min. fan speed)
GeForce 6800GT (reference hsf)
Seasonic Super Tornado 400W
Now, I was expecting this to be pretty damn quiet. Like, you have to be a metre away to hear it. But no, I can hear this from outside my room and down the hallway! Were my expectations too great? Or perhaps my graphics card is especially loud? Or possibly the PSU is to blame (it's a rev A2 you see)?
I'm new to all this so any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
It's almost certainly your graphics card. The rest of your fans should be very quiet. My buddy recently bought a Dell system (which are usually pretty quiet) with a Radeon 9800Pro, and that thing sounds like a friggin' vacuum cleaner.
Also, a whiny hard drive (less than recent WDs can be pretty loud) can also create significant noise.
To test if it's the graphics card, open the case and briefly stop the card's fan from spinning with your finger. This should immediately tell you if this is the noise source.
Also, a whiny hard drive (less than recent WDs can be pretty loud) can also create significant noise.
To test if it's the graphics card, open the case and briefly stop the card's fan from spinning with your finger. This should immediately tell you if this is the noise source.
WD drives are notorious for being loud (and I haven't heard of any huge improvements in the new versions to qualify them as quiet).
It may just seem quiet because you are not used to what it sounds like having been using an old noisy system.
Try disconnecting the drive's power and boot the machine. Of course it would fully boot, but you'll have a better idea where the noise is comming from.
You need to isolate the noise sources and figure out who the culprit is. You can even disconnect the case and CPU fan (but the CPU fan should only be disconnected for a short time or you'll burn out the CPU).
My guess is that the problem is with the HD, GPU fan, or case fan.
It may just seem quiet because you are not used to what it sounds like having been using an old noisy system.
Try disconnecting the drive's power and boot the machine. Of course it would fully boot, but you'll have a better idea where the noise is comming from.
You need to isolate the noise sources and figure out who the culprit is. You can even disconnect the case and CPU fan (but the CPU fan should only be disconnected for a short time or you'll burn out the CPU).
My guess is that the problem is with the HD, GPU fan, or case fan.
if you got the money
grab one of these
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... =0vvvvvvvv
should solve your problem and make your case cooling
~RaNDoM
grab one of these
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... =0vvvvvvvv
should solve your problem and make your case cooling
~RaNDoM
You are SO right, burcakb. As soon as you get the other parts quieted down, that constant droning oscillation of the PSU will make you bonkers.burcakb wrote:The hdd and the PSU aren't your problems. UNTIL you take care of the 6800.
Well, once you start down the silent path, forever will it dominate your destiny.......