Hello,
I cannot stand the noise of computer fans so I thought I would buy a Dell laptop but the thing is that laptop screen colors tend to fade quickly with time. And I am a photographer...
I have to buy a desktop. What do you think of the Dell Dimension range? How silent are they?
Thank you for your help.
Ted
How about Dell computers?
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Hello Ted,
Welcome to SPCR!
A coupla' points: laptops have fans, too. And if you want to get the performance to quickly process photos, then the laptop are going to cost a lot more. Hard drives are smaller, screens are smaller, the RAM costs more, and the CPU's are not as fast.
You came to the right place to find out about building quiet desktop computers!
Most of the folks here build their own, and it is quite possible to build a high performance machine that run cool enough -- and very quiet, as so you might not realize that it is on. And yes, they use 2-4 fans typically.
I have not heard recent Dells, so I can't help you there -- some have complained mightily about the "gamer" Dell models. The challenge with Dell is that if it is too noisy, it is more challenging to quiet them, due to their use of proprietary components.
Welcome to SPCR!
A coupla' points: laptops have fans, too. And if you want to get the performance to quickly process photos, then the laptop are going to cost a lot more. Hard drives are smaller, screens are smaller, the RAM costs more, and the CPU's are not as fast.
You came to the right place to find out about building quiet desktop computers!
Most of the folks here build their own, and it is quite possible to build a high performance machine that run cool enough -- and very quiet, as so you might not realize that it is on. And yes, they use 2-4 fans typically.I have not heard recent Dells, so I can't help you there -- some have complained mightily about the "gamer" Dell models. The challenge with Dell is that if it is too noisy, it is more challenging to quiet them, due to their use of proprietary components.
A word of caution: laptops can be hit and miss affairs when it comes to noise. The specs may suggest it will be quiet, yet it may not be. I recently used a Toshiba Pentium 4 laptop that was touted as 'silent' but which happens to make a high pitched whirrrr noise and occasionally the fan kicks in and is very loud. I'm sure Pentium M-based laptops would be better, but the trouble is you can never be sure and it is difficult to try before you buy with vendors such as Dell.
I am also a photographer, and I would suggest that if you don't really need a laptop, you should avoid one -- mainly because you can build a very quiet desktop configuration with more memory, more hard drive space, more processing power and a better monitor for about the same cost as a decent laptop.
I've been putting the finishing touches to an audio PC setup -- see the thread "help me put finishing touches....." -- and if you look at the Pentium M setup that I'm leaning towards, my guess it that something like that would also give you a TOP RATE system for photo work with all the power, memory and CPU power you could ever need. Alternatives are mentioned in that thread, such as the AMD Athlon 64 / mobile CPUs which can be run cool'n'quiet/undervolted -- I am still looking at that too.
In my experience, using an external monitor connected to a laptop is inferior to using a DVI or even D-SUB monitor from a desktop with a good video card geared towards 2D -- such as Matrox. 19" LCD monitors are getting pretty cheap nowadays and I find they rival CRT's for photo work. It used to be the case that photo pros would only get Lacie CRT monitors. No longer the case -- Viewsonic, NEC, Samsung and LG all have top-rate LCD's, and CRT's are falling heavily in price too.
For video cards, Matrox has a feature called "dual head", while some nVidia-based video cards have something called "twinview" (If my memory is right), which let you use two monitors. If you've never tried this with Photoshop, you should look this up. It is simply amazing. And none of this can be done with a laptop. My personal photo setup has two 19" CRT monitors running off a Matrox G450. I do all the photo work on one screen, and can put all the Photoshop tool palettes on the other -- or surf!
If your photo work requires a laptop, probably best to go for a reputable brand Pentium M system -- I personally like the IBM Thinkpad's for the good worldwide after sales service, screen quality and solid build, but have never tried their Pentium M models so cannot vouch for the noise issue.
Hope that helps.
I am also a photographer, and I would suggest that if you don't really need a laptop, you should avoid one -- mainly because you can build a very quiet desktop configuration with more memory, more hard drive space, more processing power and a better monitor for about the same cost as a decent laptop.
I've been putting the finishing touches to an audio PC setup -- see the thread "help me put finishing touches....." -- and if you look at the Pentium M setup that I'm leaning towards, my guess it that something like that would also give you a TOP RATE system for photo work with all the power, memory and CPU power you could ever need. Alternatives are mentioned in that thread, such as the AMD Athlon 64 / mobile CPUs which can be run cool'n'quiet/undervolted -- I am still looking at that too.
In my experience, using an external monitor connected to a laptop is inferior to using a DVI or even D-SUB monitor from a desktop with a good video card geared towards 2D -- such as Matrox. 19" LCD monitors are getting pretty cheap nowadays and I find they rival CRT's for photo work. It used to be the case that photo pros would only get Lacie CRT monitors. No longer the case -- Viewsonic, NEC, Samsung and LG all have top-rate LCD's, and CRT's are falling heavily in price too.
For video cards, Matrox has a feature called "dual head", while some nVidia-based video cards have something called "twinview" (If my memory is right), which let you use two monitors. If you've never tried this with Photoshop, you should look this up. It is simply amazing. And none of this can be done with a laptop. My personal photo setup has two 19" CRT monitors running off a Matrox G450. I do all the photo work on one screen, and can put all the Photoshop tool palettes on the other -- or surf!
If your photo work requires a laptop, probably best to go for a reputable brand Pentium M system -- I personally like the IBM Thinkpad's for the good worldwide after sales service, screen quality and solid build, but have never tried their Pentium M models so cannot vouch for the noise issue.
Hope that helps.
Yeah, there are companies that sell quiet/silent PCs. Obviously at a certain price premium. I assume the others will have more and better suggestions, the only one that came to my mind right off was silentmaxx.de in Germany. They sell a fairly high-end computer - A64 3500+, 1 GB RAM, dual 6600GTs, dual 80 GB hard disk - that's allegedly quiet for 1700 Euros. They have been getting VERY good reviews in reputable magazines. Not sure what the forum opinion about the product is, though. The computer might actually be a bit over-speced for your needs, especially the dual graphics cards, but oh well.
Here's an URL, although it's not gonna do you much good unless you happen to speak German (or try google translation): http://www.silentmaxx.de/komplettrechner.php
Here's an URL, although it's not gonna do you much good unless you happen to speak German (or try google translation): http://www.silentmaxx.de/komplettrechner.php
No problem.Ted wrote:First, thank you sas, NeilBlanchard, Tim H for your interest and advice. I appreciate.
The problem with me is that I am not much of a handyman and do not know the first thing about hardware.
Do you think there is a company selling silent and reliable PCs? In Europe?
Cheers
I used to be daunted by putting together a PC, but it's actually not that difficult, and you have a great flexibility in choosing exactly what components you want to use. People on this forum, I'm sure, would be happy to help talk you through.
However if you don't fancy it, I won't push you in that direction.
In choosing a pre-built system, the first thing to consider is whether you want "silent" (as in ZERO noise) or just "quiet".
At the moment I'm sitting in front of an old Pentium III Dell Optiplex, which is extremely quiet (but not silent when I put my ear to it). Recently I also used a more modern HP computer that was in a small case, and I was impressed at how extremely quiet that was too. So, buying an off the shelf PC that is extremely quiet (but not silent) is also possible. The problem is to track them down, and this is not helped by the fact that big PC manufacturers do NOT provide noise ratings for their products.
I can't think of who to suggest. But where in Europe are you?
Cornell University has been buying Dell PCs for many years, and I have listened to many of them in PC labs, PhD offices, and classmates' homes. They are quiet. If I get close to 1.5 feet away form a Dell, I can hear faint air noise only from the back, but hardly anything from the front and sides. From 3 feet away, I cannot hear anything in almost all directions.
Here is why. Most Dell PCs only have two fans, including the latest Pentium 4s. One fan is in the power supply, and another is an exhaust fan ducted to CPU's passive heat sink. It is an ingenious design in my opinion. Fewer fans means lower cost and less fan noise.
Dells are cheap too. If you search on the net for Dell coupons, you can get a decent 4700 for $300.
Dells are great for people who don't want to assemble their own PCs. On the other hand, DIYers like me tend to avoid buying Dell PCs, because Dell PCs are not easy to upgrade without buying Dell components. Dell motherboards are not in ATX format. So ATX mobos will not fit in a Dell case and a Dell mobo will not fit in an ATX case. Dell mobos have few options and are hardly overclockable or underclockable. The onboard video card is another downside to DIYers. Moreover, Dells have fewer drive bays.
Would I recommend Dell PCs for their quietness? That is an absolute yes. If you need one just to edit photos, it is a smart choice to get a Dell.
Would I recommend Dell PCs to DIYer who wants to have maximum control over the hardware and upgrade path? No.
Here is why. Most Dell PCs only have two fans, including the latest Pentium 4s. One fan is in the power supply, and another is an exhaust fan ducted to CPU's passive heat sink. It is an ingenious design in my opinion. Fewer fans means lower cost and less fan noise.
Dells are cheap too. If you search on the net for Dell coupons, you can get a decent 4700 for $300.
Dells are great for people who don't want to assemble their own PCs. On the other hand, DIYers like me tend to avoid buying Dell PCs, because Dell PCs are not easy to upgrade without buying Dell components. Dell motherboards are not in ATX format. So ATX mobos will not fit in a Dell case and a Dell mobo will not fit in an ATX case. Dell mobos have few options and are hardly overclockable or underclockable. The onboard video card is another downside to DIYers. Moreover, Dells have fewer drive bays.
Would I recommend Dell PCs for their quietness? That is an absolute yes. If you need one just to edit photos, it is a smart choice to get a Dell.
Would I recommend Dell PCs to DIYer who wants to have maximum control over the hardware and upgrade path? No.
One note about modern dell desktops. They are very quiet, at idle. Once you put them under load, that CPU fan goes to full blast and that is one loud mother fudger of a fan, (i'd say around 40-50db).
I have a dell i bought for my parents and under load it is at least 2-3x as loud as the 4 computers i have in my room, put together.
So, if you will be putting it under load a lot i would not recommend a Dell.
I have a dell i bought for my parents and under load it is at least 2-3x as loud as the 4 computers i have in my room, put together.
So, if you will be putting it under load a lot i would not recommend a Dell.
Good point, teknerd. I completely agree.
Dells have thermo controled fans, and those fans can be very loud at high rpm. If you replace it with a low rpm fan, the reduced airflow might overheat the CPU. So if you always run CPU intensive apps, Dells can be loud. If you just use it to surf, email, and edit photos, it should be fine.
Dells have thermo controled fans, and those fans can be very loud at high rpm. If you replace it with a low rpm fan, the reduced airflow might overheat the CPU. So if you always run CPU intensive apps, Dells can be loud. If you just use it to surf, email, and edit photos, it should be fine.
It's been a few years since I last used a Dell Dimension, so things may have changed, but generally I've found the Optiplex line to be quieter than the Dimensions. The "ultra-small-form-factor" models use small, high rpm fans so are a bit noisier than the larger desktop and mini tower models, but generally Optiplexes are very quiet, and have plenty of ventilation holes at the back. I haven't seen the latest BTX Optiplexes yet.
But forget overclocking or any form of modding with an Optiplex! Still, I prefer to have things in the BIOS like PXE boot and scheduled startup, which Optiplex has, than the ability to mess around with CAS timings...
But forget overclocking or any form of modding with an Optiplex! Still, I prefer to have things in the BIOS like PXE boot and scheduled startup, which Optiplex has, than the ability to mess around with CAS timings...
i agree, my friend's dell (has an x800xt video card, don't know what else) is very very quiet at idle, not silent but very quiet. i admit i didn't hear it at load but then again he had his speakers up full blastteknerd wrote:One note about modern dell desktops. They are very quiet, at idle. Once you put them under load, that CPU fan goes to full blast and that is one loud mother fudger of a fan, (i'd say around 40-50db).
Hi again Ted,
Are you near Paris? If yes, take a trip to the 12eme arrondisement (not far from Gare de Lyon), where there are a load of computer shops, including the big one Surcouf which has a large showroom. In shops in this area, you could put select the components yourself and the shop would put it together for you. That way, you would have EXACTLY the components you want and need. It would end up more expensive than a Dell, but it would perhaps be more suitable for you. Shops in the 12eme are a good place to go anyway just to take a look at the possibilities -- laptops, desktops, SFF's (such as Shuttle XPC's) etc. I would recommend taking a trip there, unless of course you are at the other end of the hexagone..
Some of the Shuttle models are not that noisy (check out the Zen XPC), so that may good to look at.
With Dell, my experience is also that the Optiplex models are quieter than the Dimension models. If you have a chance, give Dell a call and ask what offers they have and if they have a showroom somewhere.
hope that helps, sas
Are you near Paris? If yes, take a trip to the 12eme arrondisement (not far from Gare de Lyon), where there are a load of computer shops, including the big one Surcouf which has a large showroom. In shops in this area, you could put select the components yourself and the shop would put it together for you. That way, you would have EXACTLY the components you want and need. It would end up more expensive than a Dell, but it would perhaps be more suitable for you. Shops in the 12eme are a good place to go anyway just to take a look at the possibilities -- laptops, desktops, SFF's (such as Shuttle XPC's) etc. I would recommend taking a trip there, unless of course you are at the other end of the hexagone..
Some of the Shuttle models are not that noisy (check out the Zen XPC), so that may good to look at.
With Dell, my experience is also that the Optiplex models are quieter than the Dimension models. If you have a chance, give Dell a call and ask what offers they have and if they have a showroom somewhere.
hope that helps, sas
Hi!
And thank you to all the contributors.
I do not live in Paris but at the other end of the hexagon, Toulouse. I will call Dell to see if they can give me information about the noise levels of their computers.
I will also visit a local computer shop to see if they can assemble a quiet PC for me. What kink of standard quiet components do you think I should ask for?
Cheers
And thank you to all the contributors.
I do not live in Paris but at the other end of the hexagon, Toulouse. I will call Dell to see if they can give me information about the noise levels of their computers.
I will also visit a local computer shop to see if they can assemble a quiet PC for me. What kink of standard quiet components do you think I should ask for?
Cheers
I've been looking around our office -- we have some recent Dell Dimension PCs and some older Optiplex models. All of them are VERY quiet but NOT silent. I would personally be very to use one in a home office, but probably not in a bedroom.Ted wrote:Hi!
And thank you to all the contributors.
I do not live in Paris but at the other end of the hexagon, Toulouse. I will call Dell to see if they can give me information about the noise levels of their computers.
All this talks about noise is very difficult because we don't know how how noisy your current computer actually is!!! You could potentially end up with a quiet Dell only to find it too noisy!
One tip: do you know anyone who is the manager of a PME? If so, they can get access to Dell's special offers, which are faxed regularly to all PME's in France. That may be worth looking at.
If only it were so simple. The trouble here is that the shop may have some quiet components, but not others. There is the recommended list on this site, but sourcing all the individual components, getting the PC put together and then 'tuned' for quietness is a difficult process -- hence the large amount of activity here!Ted wrote:I will also visit a local computer shop to see if they can assemble a quiet PC for me.
What kink of standard quiet components do you think I should ask for?
Cheers
In your case, because you would not feel comfortable building a system yourself, probably the best bet would be to start off by contacting Dell and harass them with question about noise.... report back here with your findings, because I'm sure many people would be interested to hear what they say.
I just installed a Dell 3000 for my daughter at college. It has only ONE fan inside because on board graphics is good enough (it uses the case fan and a duct over the CPU - smart design).
However, if your criterion is "I cannot stand the noise of computer fans", then even one-fan 3000 is WAY TOO LOUD. I would never accept that level of system noise for my use. This is not to say that it is obnoxious or abnormally loud for a pre-built. But by spcr forum standards it is just not even close to acceptable.
However, if your criterion is "I cannot stand the noise of computer fans", then even one-fan 3000 is WAY TOO LOUD. I would never accept that level of system noise for my use. This is not to say that it is obnoxious or abnormally loud for a pre-built. But by spcr forum standards it is just not even close to acceptable.
Hi Ted, my suggestion is to try and find a fellow SPCRer who is (fairly) local to you to build a PC for you. That way you've a good chance it would get built and set-up to achieve the sort of quietness that we all look for.
Personally I'd be happy to build a fellow SPCR's PC for the challenge of it and the chance to work with some new kit for a few days
The Deals, Vendors and Classifieds forum might be the place to look/advertise for such a person or even a local/French quiet computer company.
Sebastien
Personally I'd be happy to build a fellow SPCR's PC for the challenge of it and the chance to work with some new kit for a few days
The Deals, Vendors and Classifieds forum might be the place to look/advertise for such a person or even a local/French quiet computer company.
Sebastien
Hi all!
After a few phone calls to Dell I've had the following information. They say that the most silent PC in their range is the Optiplex GX620. Here is its noise levels:
Declared Noise Emissions in accordance with ISO 9296
Sound Power
(LWAd, bels) (1 bel=10 decibels, re 10-12 Watts)
Floppy Drive Accessing: 4.8
Hard Drive Accessing: 4.2
CD Drive Accessing: 5.2
Idle: 4
Sound Pressure Operator Position
(LpAm, decibels) (re 2x10-5 Pa)
Floppy Drive Accessing: 33.4
Hard Drive Accessing: 33.5
CD Drive Accessing: 33.5
Idle: 32.4
What do you think?
After a few phone calls to Dell I've had the following information. They say that the most silent PC in their range is the Optiplex GX620. Here is its noise levels:
Declared Noise Emissions in accordance with ISO 9296
Sound Power
(LWAd, bels) (1 bel=10 decibels, re 10-12 Watts)
Floppy Drive Accessing: 4.8
Hard Drive Accessing: 4.2
CD Drive Accessing: 5.2
Idle: 4
Sound Pressure Operator Position
(LpAm, decibels) (re 2x10-5 Pa)
Floppy Drive Accessing: 33.4
Hard Drive Accessing: 33.5
CD Drive Accessing: 33.5
Idle: 32.4
What do you think?