Time to turn my PC noise down!

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technominds

technominds

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I have always been agry at the annoying "mmmmmm" sound that my PC's kindly create in my room. So i have decided to build a box to contain them in. I have two PC's, both full MIDI towers. I was thinking i should create the box and line the inside with something, but then im not sure what this will do fan wise to the computers and if they will just burn out. Does anyone know an easy way of keeping the beasts quiet while actually giving them some decent ventillation.

I just bought a PC with intels new "silent" fan's.. but they arent silent.. they still have that annoying "mmm"..

So what do you think guys, possible?
 
Hello Technominds. Well, these are a miniture version of a studio exactly. The solution to the noise is a FLOATING BOX WITHIN A BOX. That will provide a TWO LEAF Mass Air Mass enclosure. But then, just like the HVAC in a studio, you have to ventilate the system, which in reality means you compromise the isolation to some degree. And, just as in a studio, the door and cabling require seals and tight joints. I don't have time at the moment to post a drawing, but I will tonight. Later.
fitZ
 
You'll never totally kill the noise without doing what Rick suggested (or putting it in another room), but you can reduce it a lot with a CPU fan like the Zalman, an adjustable 120mm case fan (bigger fan means less RPM for same air flow, means quieter), and a quiet PSU, also with adjustable fan. I got mine to the point where the harddrives were the loudest part after doing that. Then I bought a housing for the loud harddrive and basically killed that noise too (the seagate drives are the quietest I've seen btw). There's still a very faint airflow sound, but I'm pretty satisfied. Oh, one more thing, use Arctic Silver heat compound when you replace the CPU fan, it'll give you better heat transfer which lets you run the CPU fan even quieter.
 
Thanks Rick,

I suppose but im thinking that minimal isolation will be needed, as covering these things with a towel even makes a significant difference. I think by locking them in a box with a door, with enough room inside the box they should still be able to ventilate if i open the door while im not recording. Would lining the inside with foam be worth my while?
 
reshp1 said:
You'll never totally kill the noise without doing what Rick suggested (or putting it in another room), but you can reduce it a lot with a CPU fan like the Zalman, an adjustable 120mm case fan (bigger fan means less RPM for same air flow, means quieter), and a quiet PSU, also with adjustable fan. I got mine to the point where the harddrives were the loudest part after doing that. Then I bought a housing for the loud harddrive and basically killed that noise too (the seagate drives are the quietest I've seen btw). There's still a very faint airflow sound, but I'm pretty satisfied. Oh, one more thing, use Arctic Silver heat compound when you replace the CPU fan, it'll give you better heat transfer which lets you run the CPU fan even quieter.
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Surely an enclosure would be alot cheaper? (Considering its for two PC's)
 
technominds said:
Surely an enclosure would be alot cheaper? (Considering its for two PC's)
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Depends, some of the ones you can buy are insanely priced. Much cheaper to build your own, but not everyone has the tools/means etc.
 
reshp1 said:
Depends, some of the ones you can buy are insanely priced. Much cheaper to build your own, but not everyone has the tools/means etc.
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Surely i cold find a cabinet that fits my PC's and then treat it accordingly?
 
i was at a friends house and went to turn on his dell computer and wasn't sure what to do, then i realized i HAD turned it on. he got it about a year ago. the thing is absolutely dead silent straight from the factory.. i've never (not)heard anything like it
 
Sounds like your friend is exactly where i want to be. My fan's are supposed to be very good silent fans, im guessing your friend used liquid cooling systems instead of fan's, but they can be very expensive and difficult to install. I think this case may be the idea for me, im going to build it with an external wooden frame seperated from an internal wooden frame (dense foam between), with a plexi-glass rubber sealed door at the front. I will let the PC ventilate while not recording.

Will that be a sufficient job so that PC noise is to a minimal level?
 
Technomind,
I have a PC that is as close to being silent as it can get without being silent. With the computer sitting under my desk I cannot hear it. Here is how I did it:

1) The case is the most overlooked part of silencing. The new Antec p180 is the best case around for silent computers and you can get one shipped to your door for $123. Check it out here: http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=9343455/search=p180

2) Fans (especially 120mm fans) have to be quiet and you should mount them on rubber gaskets. Zalman and Pabst are the way to go in my book.

3) The PSU has to be either a) quiet or b) silent. I have yet to find a decent water cooled system as the pump is louder than what the PSU would be. I have also not used a fanless power supply, but reports from others are favorable.

4) You want all hard drives to be mounted on rubber gaskets. (p180 comes with gaskets to take care of this)

5) The CPU fan needs to be adjustable and quiet. Zalman is yet again a great choice in this category.

6) If you have a hot video card, then you have to cool it. Get a silent fan. The p180 comes with a vent for the video card fan and it works well for both temperature control and sound reduction.

You can find everything listed above, except the case at http://www.quietpc.com. If you go this route you will save a significant amount of cash and will have a system that you won't even know is in the room.

Hope this helps,

-LFO
 
Thanks for the details.

Unfortunately im in the UK, so i cant get any of that shipped over. But for $123 alone, surely i could build a box that would reduce the volume enough?

Does anyone have plans/idea's that would be suited for making this box? Or maybe they are already available?
 
I suppose but im thinking that minimal isolation will be needed, as covering these things with a towel even makes a significant difference.
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Whatever floats your boat. As with Homestudios, there is always an isolation compromise somewhere. It all depends on your threshold of "silent". Just as there is no such thing as total "soundproof" in studios, interpretation of silent is in the ear of the beholder. If it works out for ya, cool. If not, give me a holla. :)
fitZ
 
I've been slapped back for making this suggestion before but, if you really want silent...Zalman's TNN500AF case seems like the end-all solution...a bit spendy but if you're serious about it...it might be worth a look see.

I can't help with the construction of an iso cabinet. I've looked into it but it seemed that it gets complicated in that you can't just put a pc in to a thick skinned air-tight box...I gave up on that idea.

Best luck to ya.
 
The two computers I use in the studio are based on the "shuttle XPC" case style, and while they are very cramped, their cooling system isn't very loud - it's a fluid based heat sink deal that hangs on the back of the case, with a fan. While I could hear the two fans, the motherboard in both PC's have the ability to set the RPM for temperature, so I just looked at the bios, saw what the temperature was, added 10 degrees, and plugged that into the 'fan full speed' entry point in teh bios.

Now both fans run at 2/3 speed and I can't hear them. I monitored the temp for a while, and the processers in each computer runs 2 degrees higher than it did before.

Works for me.
 
Might give that a go, either that or im putting up a rail and im hanging the heaviest sheets i can find.... no more machine noise on my accapellas please!
 
frederic said:
The two computers I use in the studio are based on the "shuttle XPC" case style, and while they are very cramped, their cooling system isn't very loud - it's a fluid based heat sink deal that hangs on the back of the case, with a fan. While I could hear the two fans, the motherboard in both PC's have the ability to set the RPM for temperature, so I just looked at the bios, saw what the temperature was, added 10 degrees, and plugged that into the 'fan full speed' entry point in teh bios.

Now both fans run at 2/3 speed and I can't hear them. I monitored the temp for a while, and the processers in each computer runs 2 degrees higher than it did before.

Works for me.
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Shuttle are def really nice. I have my fans on high for everyday use, but when I record I will definatly slow it down. It's a little tight but they have a firewire port, a ton of USB..everything else is just extra imo. room for 2 hd if you dont run a floppy, and its so small. the only thing that might be better is a rack mounted system.
 
I appriciate everyones replies, and I know their are hardware alternatives. As this is a new machine i wont be adding anything new or replacing cases, I would just like advice for these box's :D

Thanks for any help you can give me on building!
 
Trying to answer your original question. You could build a box but the insides would overheat FAST. The best material for the box would be MDF board with and inner lining of something like 703 or Rock wool.

One solution that few people seem to hit upon is a long keyboard, mouse and monitor extension cable and move the whole darn noise producing box out of the room.
 
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