Making a computer quieter?

[GlasseyeUK]

I have a problem in that I am moving out of my house I am in, and into a shared house, what this means to me is that I am going to be living primarily in the one room, have a separate kitchen, shower, toilet etc but the main living space for me relaxing is going to be my bedroom.

I will be having my computer in there, as well as tv and stuff, I am used to leaving the computer on the majority of the time, but its pretty noisy.

It has one fan, and a fan on the graphics card, I don't really want to go water cooling route if I can help it, and I have about £100 to spend. Has anyone got any suggestions to quieten it down, other then putting it in a cupboard.

 

[setishock]

You can get a gasket set for arourd 16usd. It isolates the fan and psu from the case.
Plus since you have a bit of a higher budget, get a quieter fan. I would suggest a fluid bearing fan.

 

[joxley1990]

Yeah, maybe a new fan, 120MM fan maybe.

What about a fan controller..

 

[jac006]

You can put special carpeting on the insides of the case to quiet the noise, add a hard drive silencer, and add a fanless psu. however, with no air flow thoroughout the case... yeah, you should always have at least one fan circulating air...

 

[Kage]

120mm ones will certainly help airflow and keep noises down like joxley1990 says, though you'll need a case for example that supports this.

You could also change fans on graphics cards, etc, though I'd find this very hard to do, but these can be bought.

Putting protection on the case itself to minimize sound levels, though it helps do that, it also limits air circulating.

I find the same problem with fan controllers, since you'll find with most, having it on the lowest setting definietly causes volume to drop, but you'll see a dramatic increase in temperature levels too.

So what ever you do, be careful, but yes, its possible.

For about 100, you could go for a water cooling kit though, even if you don't want that. They are efficent, and are usually VERY safe. Some even come pre done so you have no problems with valves, etc.

Good CPU fan/heatsinks are also around that can keep temps down, and minimize volume. Try and do a search on Google.

 

[IAntDemo]

try switching it off, shouldn't then make any noise, I do it all the time

 

[GlasseyeUK]

Ok thanks for the suggestions, I will do some googling now to see what will work best for me.......I will let people know how it goes.....

 

[IAntDemo]

like i said turn it off

 

[GlasseyeUK]

like i said turn it off

I don't think so, to me that sounds like the quickest way to damage something, if it works for you, then thats great but I think I will look at some of the other options.

 

[joxley1990]

I never switch mine off, at all. Dont see the point. You know keeping your computer on all the time takes up less power than if you were to switch it on and off all the time.

I just leave it on and its ready in the morning then, I just knock off the screen and there you go.

Glasseye>I use a fan controller on mine, and it does reduce alot of noise, but as Kage said, it can increase temps. If your clever, and play around with it, you can have a quite pc, and have good temps. What are you temps like at the moment? Idle and load?