doug Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 my pc uses a Duron 800 and a GF4 Ti4200. I had a major problem last year when I had a domestic power surge when I was on line. This did immedeate and medium term damage and resulted in a lot of replacements This included a 400w twin fan psu. although I am a bit mutton jeff the total noise from all the fans is a bit overpowering. I was wondering about sliding the pc - midi tower - into an insulated box. Loads of carpeting available. Propose to leave the back open to allow the air to get in and out. Possibly even split the incoming and out goig air flows. Don't wish to fork out any spondulas after the last expense. Any suggestions? :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 must admit I like the whirling of my fans,reassuring,must be plenty on the web about soundproofing I will have a look . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Damo Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 dont think insulating the sides will do much good. Most of the noise comes through the air holes in the back (on mine at least), and as u say this needs to be left open for cooling. Also the front will still be uncovered as access is needed to cd drives etc.But as ellas says, there are plenty of other ways, quieter fans, psu's etc etc.Damo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dan Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 I got my new pc with sound insulation which basically consists of some kind of material sitting around the sides and bottom inside the case. (I've not had to open it up for anything yet so I don't know what it looks like). This said it's still a fairly noisy machine and much of that is down to the rear fans. I dread to think what it would be like without the sound insulation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted February 25, 2003 Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 I added sound insulation to my pc and it made a little difference, what actually made a bigger difference to the noise level believe it or not was adding another fan. I purchased a quiet fan and cut a hole in the side panel approx where the cpu is beneath, this in turn cooled the system more, meaning the fans could run slower and in turn quiter, it's still noisy compared to the Compaq we have, but at least it dosen't sound like a Dyson anymore. Another thing a friend did, was attach larger fans (90mm instead of the usual 80mm) which once again ran at a slower speed but with extra airflow in comparison and was therefore quiter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted February 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 Useful thoughts all. Haven't done anything yet but will maake some mods soon and let you know how I get on. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LB Posted February 25, 2003 Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 just a thought, may be completely wrong but will carpeting generate static??? and will this have any effect??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted February 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 That could be shocking! But then I walk on it all the time. <_> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted March 1, 2003 Report Share Posted March 1, 2003 have a look here doug http://www.quietpc.com/uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted March 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2003 Thanks, ellas. Will do. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted March 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2003 Just had quick look at the quietpc site and now have paused for thought. I think I should specify my system in detail and some questions that come to mind.mobo Elite K7S5ACPU Duron 800 MHz with 60mm cooling fanVideo card PNY Verto GF4 Ti4200 AGP4HD1 Western Digital 40 GBHD2 Seagate 60 GBPSU Q-TEC 400w dual fan rated at 33db(A)CDRW I don't think is relevant to noiseModem V92 PCI dittofloppy dittoRAM 2 x 128 MB DIMMsother external peripheralsAll in a Midi tower which sits under my desk.When I had my blow up last year, which was progressive, I had been posting my problems on the PCAdv website. With the last of my erratic problems I was advised to replace the PSU so I installed the above unit. Going for something with reasonable capacity for the future, I am hoping to get an Athlon with DDR RAM and I would also like to install a separate sound card. However I have finished up with a fairly noisy system so sound card is totally out of the question for the present.I have opened the case and swung out the psu to see if I can determine where the worst of the noise is coming from. As far as I can tell, including using a rolled up tube, both the psu and cpu units are producing the same volume of noiseOverall what would be the recommendations regarding noise reduction. Is the 33 db(A) rating for the psu over “optimistic”?Would I be better off with a 300w psu from quietpc rated at 26 db(A) or should I go for the twin fan 400w unit rated at 28 db(A). Is 300w more than sufficient?Any suggestions regarding the CPU cooler? :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 If you are going to upgrade to, say, a Athlon 2000, most pc shops advise at the least a 350watt PSU. I don't understand how you can't add a seperate sound card at the moment, it shouldn't make any noticeable difference to the noise levels (apart from the noise from the speakers when you are playing your Techno music etc :D)If you are going to upgrade and noise is a problem, maybe you would be better going for a Pentium as they run cooler than Athlons and the fans can run at a slower speeds so making less noise. Another thing to look at if you are buying a Athlon is your case, look at AMD's website for advice on this AMD Adobe documentalthough I was told by the shop that my case was suitable for a Athlon, I felt it wasn't cooling the cpu enough and was very noisy, hence the reason I made the mods I spoke about in my earlier post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted March 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Ranger, OK. Yes I could add a sound card instead of using the on-board chip. It's just poitless as I won't appreciate the sound with the existing noise racket. I will be better of investing in sound proofing. Hence the questions for recommendations. All those received, so far, are extremely useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted March 2, 2003 Report Share Posted March 2, 2003 Christ! it must be noisier than a big noisy thing :D if it's not worth putting in a seperate sound card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted March 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2003 It is! :angry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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