Whats the best Silent Computer for Recording...Fan-less vs no power supply?

CoolCat

CoolCat

Well-known member
PC Fans are the worst noise of my studio area.

A year or two ago I slayed that dragon when my tower was moved into another room and wow! it was quiet. LDC replaced dynamics.. Due to compromise in the house the old tower pc was put back on my desktop area and so the noise returned.

Choices seem to be:

1) Fanless "silent" pc ? $479 for 8GB Ram, 120GB SSD


2)laptops due to not having a power-supply fans blowing all the time, only cpu fans.
I dont need high end graphics so that takes out a fan too possibly but I want a larger screen than most laptops have.

Obviously SSD will be quieter than a old style spinning plate harddrive. No power-supply fans the main noise maker.

Anyone have recommendations for a cheap Silent/ PC going into 2019?

**typical tracking max would be 12 tracks, standard plugin eq and compressor on each maybe a couple other plugs.
2 track at a time max, 2 mics etc... I consider my needs "lite" Home Recording.
 

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CoolCat said:
PC Fans are the worst noise of my studio area.
Click to expand...

Really?
This shouldn't really be a big problem, unless you're running some overclocked or dust-clogged machine.

I would have thought a laptop would be louder, on average, than a desktop because it's one fan for the whole system and that fan's much smaller than any desktop fan would be.

Is the computer in the image the one you have?
The celeron processor there is close-ish to an e6600 core2duo which is about 13 years old.
Maybe it's running hot because it's always getting pushed hard?
 
I worked with guys that did the thermal design for laptops when they started getting thinner and thinner. It's not that easy with the demands of the market these days. Yes, SSDs help a lot, but if you want cooler, you're going to give up a lot in processor and probably memory, too. Those mobile processors use a lot less energy so they generate less heat, and they do that by cutting cores, threads and speed. Now, in many cases that's more than enough for home recording, but it's not going to be the same as a desktop processor or even an older mobile processor.

If you need to keep processing power, I'd look at something a bit bigger, even older, that was designed around spinning media and replace that with an SSD. The thermals are designed for the HDD heat, and so the fan will run a lot less. Adding memory is going to increase heat, too. So get something that's spec'd to support a lot of memory, and maybe go halfway.

Otherwise, vacuum out that desktop and go buy some quiet fans, and maybe find a place to put it so it's behind all your mics. It shouldn't be intruding that much (but I've got a couple old systems converted to SSDs that I never hear, so can't really comment on desktop thermals or fan dBs).
 
Yeah, I remember hearing people (including myself) trying to isolate computer fan noise.

10 years later, it isn't really an issue. Tower PC with large fans running slow, as opposed to little fans running fast... It isn't even an issue.

Desktop below my desk in my control room recording acoustic guitars with condenser mics, keyboard strokes are louder than the silly PC fan. Hell, my breathing is louder...
 
Yeah...I'm not sure why it's an issue.
Way back in the early 2K I had a tower with somewhat louder fans...they were small, and so would wind up more....but now I have a big tower and it's quiet, and it's not even a newer one or one of those super-cooler jobs. It's an older Dell.
It just has better, bigger fans that spin slower/quieter, and the case is large, so it's not all crammed up and overheating, which allows a lot of air to move through with minimal effort.

I also have other fans running behind some of my audio gear. They're Anatec True Quiet 120 fans...big 120mm fans that were meant for internal PC case use, but I rigged them for my audio gear use, and just spliced a 12VDC wallwart to power them. I could run 2-3 per wallwart depending on the mA.
I've get three cooling my console PSUs...a pair cooling my main studio power units (voltage regulator, balanced power, etc)...another pair cooling my 2" tape deck...and I've been meaning to wire up a couple more for my racked gear.
During tracking...I've got 7 of them going at the same time...and I can't even tell they are on. Really great fans.
 
I agree the noise issue is pretty much solved for tower computers and they are still the way to go for a really powerful multitrack system.

It is a bit daft IMHO to expect "Deep Thought" in a 15x10x1" case AND be cool and silent! I have a 6/7 yr old i3 laptop and that will playback 20 tracks of Cubase (hits 50-60% CPU grunt) and that is very quiet indeed but that is a pretty low specc' by modern standards. Just got my son a much pokier Lenovo T430 i5, 8G ram 240G SSD and that is also virtually silent but again, not super fast.

Then, someone mentioned tape machines? Tends to be forgotten that they were such noisy b'stds they had to put them in a special room!

Dave.
 
all good inputs, but makes me realize the specific layout of my room might magnify something that someone else doesn't get in their room layout.

My LDC is located 24" from my pc fan. the mic sits on a desktop and the pc is on the desk top.
side to side wall is <6ft. Basically my mic sits 10" from my computer monitor. probably more like a complete studio in a vocal booth setup.

I can try moving the pc below the desktop I guess, but a "silent pc" that can handle 12 tracks with plug-ins, only recording 2 at a time max would be great.
 
"but a "silent pc" that can handle 12 tracks with plug-ins, only recording 2 at a time max would be great. " Well, this aforementioned i3 HP lappy could handle that easily and the Lenovo i5 I bought son would barely break a sweat CC!

But, it is much easier to put a tower in another room than it was. You can run HDMI video 5mtrs no bother and wireless keyboards and mice are £20 a pop (or less atmo in my Sainsburys) I don't know technically why (baud rate?) but the dongle fed wireless kbd kit does not seem to fork computer speed the way wi fi and internet sometimes can.

I have a 13A double outlet on each side of a single course brick wall and that feeds 4X RJ45 from living room to "studio". I just use it for internet copper but could of course carry video, USB, whatever.

Dave.
 
I had it in thru the wall and was amazed how my "vocal booth studio" went silent. but ….

Smart Phone db Meter is around 45db "idle".

As I understand the noise issue, the Power supply fans on the Tower pc is the main noise, then its the cpu fans (I don't have a video card fan).

A used laptop might be a cheaper way to go.
 
CoolCat said:
As I understand the noise issue, the Power supply fans on the Tower pc is the main noise, then its the cpu fans (I don't have a video card fan).
Click to expand...

I'd download Open Hardware Monitor first and see what the temperatures are at.
Maybe there's something wrong, which can be fixed.
 
CoolCat said:
I had it in thru the wall and was amazed how my "vocal booth studio" went silent. but ….

Smart Phone db Meter is around 45db "idle".

As I understand the noise issue, the Power supply fans on the Tower pc is the main noise, then its the cpu fans (I don't have a video card fan).

A used laptop might be a cheaper way to go.
Click to expand...

The i5 Lenovo was under £400 that I bought my lad and it was through Amazon. Impeccably refurbished and 12 months warranty. I got it with Win 10 Pro because I wanted him "future proofed" but W7 is available. He is running Samplitude Pro X3 on it and says it is great. It is only a 14" sceen which is a bit of a struggle for my old eyes but then s/h FSTVs are cheap as chips and silent!

Dave.
 
Go into your BIOS and see what all fan profile options are available. Usually there are options for silent, eco, performance, turbo, full speed, etc. Try the silent profile and use something like RealTemp to monitor temps as it idles, and when it's under load.

If your mobo doesn't have profiles available, you should at least be able to set the speed-vs-temp curve for each fan. Set each fan to stop or spin slowly if the CPU temp is low (like 25C or so) and ramp it up from there.

If your mobo doesn't allow you to set fan speeds, then I wouldn't consider it to be fit for music production. Silent operation is one of the most important factors for a computer in a home studio setting, so I'd be shopping for something else that's better suited for the intended purpose.

As another factor, take a look at some new fans (look for PWM, and the largest your chassis will accommodate) from Noctua, Be Quiet, Corsair, etc. They all offer fans designed with quiet operation in mind. But really just controlling their speed thru your BIOS or fan controller software from your mobo manufacturer will be the biggest factor in controlling their noise level. Even crappy fans are quieter when they spin more slowly.
 
AS others have mentioned the new PC's seem to be a lot less noisy. After 20 years of going PC I finally moved to an iMac and I have to say it is pretty damn quiet...I picked up a used 2014 27" with i5 processor for $400 ( good deal on craigslist) then overloaded it with Ram (Double what it said it was capable of taking ) @ $550 invested and I love it..
 
edit-

I have two large fans running, the CPU and the case fan.about 4".....on a cheap HP Pavillon tower.
With the case cover off I unplugged the Case Fan and the sound didn't decrease, so its likely the CPU fan after all? I wouldn't have guessed that.

The power supply is a small 2" fan and its brand new...so it does appear its the CPU fan making the large majority of the noise.
Maybe a new CPU fan that's quiet is cost effective?

I can try the BIO Fas setting at least for a test. Never done that before though...
 
CoolCat said:
I wouldn't have guessed that.
Click to expand...

Why guess anything? ;)
There are endless programs out there that will show you, in real time, the various temperatures and fan speeds in your computer.

If you can post computer model/specs, and a screen shot of idle temperatures and fan speeds, we'll have something to go on.
 
Its a HP Pavilion Core i3 tower.
S5-1414

I tried the HP suggestions just now and nothing changed. The fan runs constantly on the CPU, even in "power save " mode the HP site suggested.
Its a stock cool master fan, I cant recall if it was always ON....but it was found to be my "vocal booth studio" noise sourse and I had moved it to the next room and problem was gone, but the next room got occupied and now its back in here.

Of course in addition to the noise I like some dirt on my mic and the compression cranked up makes the fan noise worse. I did turn the compression down from 7 to 2 and it of course reduced some of the fan noise.

The Bios showed 1321 speed...and the Case Fan 1117. the software caught me plugging in and dis connecting the case fan, I left it plugged in as its cold in this room and not a noise source anyway.

The CPU fan doesn't seem to slow down or ever turn off, its 100% on and spinning 1321 speed. A Cool Master stock fan.
Its very clean and no dust, no smoking soot.
 
Here - This'll give some meaningful information.
A screenshot on the main page with everything expanded for mainboard + cpu would be ideal.
 
It opened with some app File Viewer....

heres the picture...pretty wild all this info is kept.
 

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