Making My PC Quieter

[samich17]

i am looking for some suggestions to quiet my computer. i'm planning on getting a condenser mic to improve quality, but there's no chance of that happening with my computer in the background. i can't move it to another room, so i was thinking about building a box, padding it and putting my computer inside, but i'm afraid that might cause my computer to heat up. it isn't the fan that's making the noise/ it's just the computer itself running that makes noise. any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[Queue]

Tons of info here:

http://7volts.com/

Queue

 

[TexRoadkill]

I gave up on trying to make the computer quiet and just started tracking in another room. It is a pain if your recording yourself but it beats a bunch of half-ass remedies that still wont make it silent. And yes you need silence with a good mic. No air cond, no fridge buzz, no cooling fans on equipment...... silence.

Hopefully that is an option for you. If not try to put the computer in a closet or build one of the boxes that will isolate the comp and make it quiter...but still not silent.

 

[darrin_h2000]

the box will work just use it durring tracking. use carpet as insulation giving it a few inches of clearence then make sure any existing fan isnt being choked of air. I use an exhaust fan in the back of my box and vents on the bottom. the fan is silent and the floor benieth the box is always cool.

 

[axehead]

If you don't mind investing a bit of money, I'd go for the kit from www.quietpc.com - it's a UK site, but I see they've just opened up a new site at www.quietpc.ca

They make kit designed for use in music production etc.. You could then get a "silentdrive" enclosure for your hard drive (reduces over 90% of noise), an ultra-quiet PSU, cpu fan, and graphics card fan if you needed one. That lot would set you back just over £100 (~$150).

A quote from their website says "The University of Turku in Finland found that our Ultra-Quiet PSU, in combination with a passive CPU cooler and SilentDrive™ acoustic enclosure, can bring the noise level of a PC down to as low as 26.4 dBA. At this level, in a quiet room it would be virtually impossible to tell that the PC was making any noise at all!"

I've heard great things about them, and one of these days when I've got the money, I'll be investing in some of their kit. Then when I switch on my 4033, I won't get the damn 'whirh' of my PC in the background!

 

[TexRoadkill]

Before you spend the money to make it quiter just make sure that is the only thing making noise in your control room.

 

[samich17]

thanks to everyone for the responding...i think i will go ahead and build a ventilating and insulated box with a swing door so i can remove it when i'm not tracking.


Tex - yes, i'm sure it is my computer. my room/apartment is very quiet other than my PC. i can't feasibly track in another room, since i live in a studio. i stand on the opposite end of the room, but still pick up the electronics inside the computer.

 

[darrin_h2000]

My box costed only 10.00 to make and eliminated the problem But I have a reasonablely Quiet computer in the first place.

 

[crosstudio]

i put my PC in a closet that is adjacent to the studio room, then made a whole and passed the mouse, keyboard, lightpipe, and video monitor cables through the hole.

 

[lucid]

darrin_h2000: can you please elaborate on your box?