Pics of my cheap QUIET PC mods

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Paco

pH meter
For those of you who don't have the option of putting your computer in another room, I have some tips on making that sucker quiet for cheap.

I finally took some pics of my setup. See all the pics at
http://photos.yahoo.com/turbobuick44

An important part of the process is getting your hands on a doctor's stethoscope so you can really nail down where the noise is coming from in your machine. You might be surprised - I thought my exhaust case fan was the problem, but the processor fan was actually the culprit of the high pitched humm...

My PC actually runs cooler than before after all this, so you CAN make your PC quiet without tossing a blanket over top of it and overheating it.

Mods:

1. Cheap dryer hose for exhaust (BIG DIFFERENCE!) fastened with good old duct tape. Also used some trusty wire cutters to remove the fan safety grill that was an airflow restriction.
--> $5 Lowe's

2. Quiet fans (see www.sidewindercomputers.com for listing of fans cfm and dba level - I got a quiet Sunon from these guys and one other good one).
--> $15 sidewindercomputers

3. Voltage switch for fans to run them at low/hi/off during recording (wwww.7volts.com has good stuff)
--> $ 2 radio shack (had soldering supplies and wire already)

4. Rubber grommets for fan mounts
--> FREE from cabinets at work

5. Custom brackets to mount larger fan over heatsink/processor. Larger fans don't need to spin as fast to move the same amount of air, so they are quieter (in general).
--> FREE brackets from basement - be creative with pliable metal

6. Carpet padding underneath computer to dampen vibrations
--> FREE from under carpet in my car

My custom PC setup:
* Enlight 7237 case w/ 300Watt power supply
* Abit KT7ARaid m/b
* Athlon Tbird 850Mhz
* 512 MB PC133 SDRAM
* 30 & 40 gig Western Dig 7200rpm ATA100 drives
* SB Live
* Echo Mia (will be gone soon if i can't rid these clicks/pops)
* ATI All in wonder AGP4x 32mb 128bit video
 

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Paco,

Nice stuff. The dryer hose is a great idea!

I also had a problem with my drives being very loud. The hard drive and especially the DVD/CD-ROM. I moved the HD from it's mount near the front air intakes tightly suspended it deeper inside the case with thin nylon cord. Then I turned the plastic mount into a sort of labyrinth by adding an internal panel. The HD still gets the same airflow, but now it's indirect. Internal sound is absorbed by a small amount of carpet foam on the interior walls of the case.

When spinning the DVD-ROM noise was very loud, but surprisingly easy to fix. I just shoved foam tightly around the gaps between the drive and it's mounting bay. This makes the mounting solid and damps out virtually all of the vibrations. It's whisper quiet now. :)

My fans are still pretty loud, so I'm going to try your dryer hose idea with a muffler at the end.

Thanks!
barefoot
 
Also good for damping vibrating metal sheets (sides of case) are the deadening panels you can buy at shops that sell car parts, to kill vibrations of car bodywork. Sort of self-adhesive rubber sheets.
 
i put some b-queit in my pc. if it alows my trucks stereo system that hits 158.4db not be be heard a lot with out the windows down, i knew it was gonna work in my pc.
hey paco i'm gonna try that exhaust trick you did, does the power supply fan actually sound lower now
 
Auto damping material is pretty expensive. An alternative is to glue one or more layers of asphalt roofing felt on with construction adhesive (liquid nails) or, better yet, multi purpose flooring adhesive. Make sure you let it thoroughly cure and degas before closing the case up.

The problem with putting stuff like this inside your computer is that it's not properly flame retardant for use in electrical equipment. While I think the risk of fire is very low, try and keep it well away from the power supply and the CPU. A final shield layer of aluminum foil could definitely help ease your mind. And make sure you shut down your computer before you leave it unattended. Oh, and having a fire extinguisher on hand is always a good idea no matter what the situation.

I forgot to mention that I helped make the carpet foam more flame retardant by first soaking it in a solution of borax (cleaner) and boric acid (insect and rat poison) which are easily available at any building supply store. Here's the recipe https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?postid=118401&highlight=borax#post118401 .

barefoot
 
I am going to try that. I have a bad muffler on a 81 buick. I think I will put some of that ducting on and run it up into the passenger compartment.

Fangar
 
That b-quiet stuff looks cool... I'm not sure how I feel about the odor going away "eventually" or however they put it!

c9-2001 - the fan on my power supply is actually super quiet. When I bought the case and power supply from mwave.com they recommended this power supply as a quiet one... they were right!
But the exhaust did lower the little bit of noise I was getting from the power supply fan.

The biggest difference with the exhaust was made with my super duty exhaust fan ... while it's a quiet fan (no hi pitched squeel or anything), it moves so much air that the turbulence is noisy. The muffler trick made a HUGE difference. I keep the computer under my desk, behind a thin curtain. When I came home one day, the computer sounded much louder than before so I pulled up the curtain, and surprise surprise - the exhaust fell off (oops, not enough duct tape the first time). Good thing is that if a little duct tape doesn't fix it, a lot usually does ;-)
 
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