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The Sound of Silence: Building a Quiet PC
Written on February 16, 2005 by Daniel HermansonAlways look at the date when you read a hardware article. Some of the content in this article is most likely out of date, as it was written on February 16, 2005. For newer information, see our more recent articles.
Introduction
It's easy enough to make a fast computer: take an Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe, add an AMD Athlon 64 FX 62 processor, 4 gigabytes of high performance Corsair XMS RAM, and two PCI-express Geforce 7950GX2 video cards, and you have a system that should stay above the minimum system requirements on games for years to come. It's an easy-to-follow formula. The results are always the same, and the only problem is money. It's easy enough to make a fast computer...what's not easy is making a PC like that quiet! It can be especially difficult since the components tend to run hot. The key is finding the right balance between performance, optimal cooling, and quiet. This article will show how you can have a system that roars with power but not noise.
Define 'Quiet'
First off, it should be said that defining what we mean by "quiet" can be surprisingly difficult, since the term is subjective to the user. Many quiet PC enthusiasts define a quiet system as one that's inaudible from a distance of about 3 feet. Others define a quiet system as one that's simply not irritating to them while they work. While we have a scientific metric for loudness, the only person who can tell you if a whoosh or clicking is pleasant or annoying is the listener. It is not the goal of this article to define the term "quiet," but we did feel it important to mention!
All About Size
Case
If you're disappointed that a case you love doesn't have 120 mm fan mounts, not to worry! It is also very possible to quiet down a system that has the smaller 80 mm fans by using very quiet, upgraded 80 mm fans. Fan controllers also make it possible to run the fans at less than full speed.
Also, keep in mind that a case with a front door that you can close, such as the Antec P180 and the Lian-Li V-1100, will put more material between you and the fans, which will help to dampen the sound.
Power Supply
CPU Heat Sink
especially when paired with quality fans like those from Papst, provide superior cooling and significantly quieter operation compared to stock HSFs. Again, by varying the input voltage, these fans can be run even quieter, at the expense of cooling power.
Video Card
Other Items
So, just stick with big fans and you'll be OK, right? Well, not quite. There are more moving parts in a computer than just the fans...
How about the hard drives? They can make a lot of noise, especially when they vibrate the entire case. Cases like the Thermaltake Tsunami and the Antec cases have rubber grommets that insulate the hard drives from the case, thus preventing the transfer of vibrations. However, hard drives still make noise.
The hard drive enclosure that Puget sells, although pricey, is worth it for a truly quiet machine. It encases the hard drive in foam rubber, effectively muting the drive.
Also, choosing the right kind of hard drive is a big thing. The Western Digital Raptor series, spinning at ten thousand RPM are certainly fast, but they also make more noise than a standard 7200 RPM drive. The quietest hard drives that I have heard (while idle) are the Seagate SATA series. They spin quietly, but even they make noise when accessing data.
The last and most overlooked noise producers are the CD and DVD drives. I really can't give much advice, except this: Don't get in the habit of leaving disks in your drives! The Plextor drives (especially the CD burner) are quieter, but they also cost a lot more.
How about the hard drives? They can make a lot of noise, especially when they vibrate the entire case. Cases like the Thermaltake Tsunami and the Antec cases have rubber grommets that insulate the hard drives from the case, thus preventing the transfer of vibrations. However, hard drives still make noise.
Also, choosing the right kind of hard drive is a big thing. The Western Digital Raptor series, spinning at ten thousand RPM are certainly fast, but they also make more noise than a standard 7200 RPM drive. The quietest hard drives that I have heard (while idle) are the Seagate SATA series. They spin quietly, but even they make noise when accessing data.
The last and most overlooked noise producers are the CD and DVD drives. I really can't give much advice, except this: Don't get in the habit of leaving disks in your drives! The Plextor drives (especially the CD burner) are quieter, but they also cost a lot more.
Other Methods
I have found that some liquid cooling setups, most notably the Zalman Reserator and the Koolance 3/8 in. setup to be fairly quiet. The Zalman is a very large external radiator which works well, until you try to move your PC. Either you have to drain the system, or move it with the radiator attached, and hope nothing leaks. This is a fairly large limitation that prevents Puget from selling the product, but we do carry the full Koolance line. The Koolance cases feature an internal liquid cooling setup that works quite well. Making a liquid cooled setup quiet is arguably much easier, but with enough work, a good air-cooled system is still quieter in the end.
Conclusion
Building a quiet computer is an art: every component must be chosen carefully, and used to the best effect. A quiet system will cost more than a standard one, but it's definitely worth it. When was the last time you had to check your power LED to see if your computer was on?
Why is not possible to choose an Antec's case in the 'Build your quiet PC' page, even if in the article you say that it is between the best cases for silence performances? And why, when I choose it in the 'Build your gaming PC', it's not possible to choose an additional 12mm fan to add?
Isn't the Thermaltake Tsunami more noisy because of the three fans it has in total?
I saw an MSI 6600 GT that looked like it had a special and bigger fan than usual, do you know it? If yes, is it more quite? Is there a 6800 Gt with a similar feature? Wouldn't it be cheaper than buying too Arctic coolers (that cost very much!)? And is it possible at all to mount two Arctic coolers in an SLI configuration?
I know that it's a lot of questions, take your time! :-D
We will be adding new antec cases to that page late May/June. You should be able to add as many 120mm fans you want, otherwise just add it to your notes you would like to order more. The Tsunami and any other aluminum case with 120mm fan mounts are comparable in noise levels when using the same fans at the same speeds. The side fan on the Tsunami is optional to use. Yes the msi 6600 gt is a little quieter than most but I would still not consider it quiet. Yes you can mount two artic coolers in sli, we do it all the time. For a 6600gt I think the gigabyte fanless heatpipe 6600gt would be the quietest stock.
Is the new Phantom 500w enough for an Sli system? Isn't it a more powerful one required?
If yes, what would be the most silent?
Thanks
Well, I'm running 2 hard drives, an overclocked 9800pro, and a P4 2.4C running @ 3.3 GHz on a 350W PSU, so I should hope 500W would be enough (as long as it's a quality power supply). Correct me if I'm wrong though.
The Antec Phantom would power an SLI system fine as long as the airflow in the case was designed properly. However the antec phantom only comes with one pci express power plug for a video card included, so an adapter would be necessary that would take up a couple molex power plugs.
Hello,
just wanted to ask how noisy are the ATI cards. From pictures I saw it looks like they have much bigger heatsinks than nVidia's, are they quite too, or one still has to pair them with some other kind of heatsink?
Thanks
They are quieter stock than nVidia, but still not good enough that I'd think of them as quiet. We do have a full line of HIS Excalibur ATI cards though, that use Arctic Cooling heatsinks for very good noise levels.
Thanks for the reply :-) ,