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
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