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yakimushi · 01-10-2004, 09:52 AM

For a long time I was all about extreme cooling and whatnot. I even put up with the Delta black label for over 6 months before losing it (for those unaware of the Delta, imaging a 60mm fan at 7000rpms).

After that I started the quest for a quiet but well cooled PC.

I started by dropping the voltage on all my fans to 7v. I did this at first just by combining the 12v and 5v leads, but that just made a mess with wires. I invested in a cheap ($12) baybus that had six switches with 12v, off, and 7v modes of operation.

I then bought a decent case. I had been using an el-cheapo aluminum, but that didn't mask any noise. I upgraded to a sturdy steel case with 1.0mm thick panels. That reduced a hell of a lot of noise. This case also has a very thick door over the optical drives, providing more noise insulation. Oh yeah, its a GMC Trinity X21.

I also got a decent power supply, but switched one of the exaust fans to a silent, temp sensing fan. I voided my warranty, but what the hell

(/legal rant, don't fiddle around inside a power supply unless you know what you are doing or are willing to lose a finger, the large capacitors in there can store lots of juice for a long time. I am not advocating modifying power supplies so if you do I am not culpable for any damage you might incur to your hardware or your body /legal rant)

Lastly, I got some of that rubber/foam/no slip drawer liner stuff and glued it to the inside of the case panels. That reduced the higher pitch noises from the hard drives (two 7200rpm drives).

I have a total of seven 80mm fans in my case (2 front, 2 back, 2 powersuppy, 1 CPU) and I can barely hear my PC when its 3 feet from me.

Good luck!

01-10-2004, 09:52 AM	#7 (permalink)
yakimushi Addict	For a long time I was all about extreme cooling and whatnot. I even put up with the Delta black label for over 6 months before losing it (for those unaware of the Delta, imaging a 60mm fan at 7000rpms). After that I started the quest for a quiet but well cooled PC. I started by dropping the voltage on all my fans to 7v. I did this at first just by combining the 12v and 5v leads, but that just made a mess with wires. I invested in a cheap ($12) baybus that had six switches with 12v, off, and 7v modes of operation. I then bought a decent case. I had been using an el-cheapo aluminum, but that didn't mask any noise. I upgraded to a sturdy steel case with 1.0mm thick panels. That reduced a hell of a lot of noise. This case also has a very thick door over the optical drives, providing more noise insulation. Oh yeah, its a GMC Trinity X21. I also got a decent power supply, but switched one of the exaust fans to a silent, temp sensing fan. I voided my warranty, but what the hell (/legal rant, don't fiddle around inside a power supply unless you know what you are doing or are willing to lose a finger, the large capacitors in there can store lots of juice for a long time. I am not advocating modifying power supplies so if you do I am not culpable for any damage you might incur to your hardware or your body /legal rant) Lastly, I got some of that rubber/foam/no slip drawer liner stuff and glued it to the inside of the case panels. That reduced the higher pitch noises from the hard drives (two 7200rpm drives). I have a total of seven 80mm fans in my case (2 front, 2 back, 2 powersuppy, 1 CPU) and I can barely hear my PC when its 3 feet from me. Good luck!