If you've not tried it already, try out Firefox together with the NoScript and AdBlock Plus addons. They can block a lot of the CPU-eating advert rubbish based on Flash etc and thus cut your CPU usage whilst browsing (and make reading websites a lot easier on the eyes!).

I've read that the Cherry Evolution Stream keyboard is pretty quiet, like a modern notebook keyboard both in look and tactile response. I agree that the rubber keyboards are probably the most quiet, but not sure I could handle typing on them for long.

If you have some time, you could always pop on a Eurostar from Brussels (not sure if you have to change at Paris?). I have friends in London who visit Brussels by train quite often and it's apparently quite hassle-free.

Sorry if that's not helpful!

That's amazing! Thanks for posting that, proc. Made me smile...

The Nexus and Scythe fans seem to get better writeups than the Noctuas, from silence enthusiasts... but the Noctuas seem to be more widely available (at least, in my locality). Reviews are pretty good for all three brands and much of it depends on tweaking the speed of the fan(s) with a fan controll...

I'm planning to build a very quiet (maybe not silent) Core i7 based PC sometime this year. I'm sure it's possible to roll your own by choosing components carefully. (And even more possible if you've got a large enough budget for multiple SSDs, etc!) There are ready-made systems - designed for music ...

In my current setup (circa 6 years old) I just use Zalman Fanmate2s inside the case to run my system fans at a constant low speed. I use watercooling for my CPU and GPU in that system, so the fans don't need to run at much past the minimum just to keep several HDDs and MB components cool. I don't ru...

Thanks very much for the tips. I've never ventured into Linux but if Windows7 doesn't live up to my expectations then I'll be giving it a whirl (or perhaps even making a Hackintosh if I can figure it out). ;) I don't like Vista at all but my new system is going to have way more than 3GB ram and shou...

I've read some reports on here about the Zalman producing an annoying whine/buzzing sound. The problem here is that individual samples sometimes are better or worse than others. And the other problem is that people only generally post on forums with problems rather than praise for their performing-a...

The CS4 acceleration thing is a bit odd. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an Adobe-nVidia deal which went bad... because as FartingBob said nVidia made all the noise before release about it being CUDA acceleration (i.e. nVidia-only), but then CS4 got released and it turns out any card with shade...

I have two HD103UJs in my current system and I can't hear them over the slightly aging 320GB SpinPoints I have next to them. Using the HD103UJs on their own, I hear quite a defined spin-up sound at startup (I get that 'beating' effect as the noise of both drives interacts) until their motors seem to...

I use an APC Smart-UPS 1500VA for my home PC and it's pretty damn silent. Once every two weeks or so it does a self-test which seems to involve switching to battery power momentarily and running the internal fan for a while. That's the only noise I get from it, and IMHO it's worth an occasional clic...

Thanks for the comments, psiu. You're 100% right about 'the itch'. I'm thinking a Core i7 920 is pretty good value given it's alleged OC potential (in a couple of years when I'm a bit braver maybe!). Of course the trouble with i7/X58 platform is that the motherboards and ram required push the overal...

You could use the elastic band(s) but also fashion a looser 'cradle' from the shoelaces, so if/when the elastic snaps, your drive doesn't clatter into the void but just rests within the shoelaces? The shoelaces won't decouple the vibration as well as rubber in themselves, but they'll last longer. So...

Hello! I've been reading on here for while and just recently signed up, please be gentle. :) I built myself a quiet PC around 2003/4 (Acousticase, Zalman Reserator, drive silencers, etc) and although it's been well-loved, it's beginning to show its age in terms of CPU 'oomph'. I do quite a bit of DV...

Watercooling can often be pretty quiet so all is not lost. What are the loudest elements in your system (subjectively)?

I think this could be a known issue... I found this FAQ on Noctua's site which seems to imply there's a specific problem using the NF-P12 fans with the Zalman ZM-MFC2: Apparently I can't post links yet, so you'll have to sort out the beginning of this URL yourselves if you want to look: www dot noct...

My CPU is very different (C2D P9500), but I found RMclock to be really useful and now use it all the time on my laptop.

YMMV, but I added roughly an hour to my battery life without taking away any performance, by following the undervolting guide as linked previously!