Quiet Fans

Dan Banquer · « **on:** 3 Jan 2007, 12:26 pm »

Hi Folks;
I'm looking for some quiet fans to put in my PC to reduce the fan noise. I need one power supply fan, two chassis fans and a CPU fan. If anyone have any links or experience they would like to share I would be most appreciative.
d.b.

60srok · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 01:11 pm »

Dan,
Try this site http://www.silentpcreview.com/

Steve

chadh · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 02:17 pm »

Try the Detroit Lions fans. They certainly have nothing about which to cheer.

Chad

Levi · « **Reply #3 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 02:23 pm »

I found that totally eliminating fan would tremendously reduce wind noise. Going with 100mm or larger slow moving fan that pushes lots of volume can also help with the noise. Silent PC has some good information about this. Water cooling has come along way and proved to be extremely reliable nowadays.

Carlman · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 02:46 pm »

There's no such thing as a 'silent' fan. Once you accept this, you'll be a lot happier with whatever you purchase. I've bought a good bit of silent PC's stuff only to find it does make a noise. Your entire PC with hard drives and proper cooling will probably emit about 40db of noise in the 100-1000Hz range. The 100Hz range is the hardest to deal with... It just flows through foam and such.

I've decided to put mine in a cabinet with good ventilation. So, it'll be a box within a box. I might get a Salamander or more likely, go all custom/DIY. I'm going to line the cabinet with dense sound blocking material and cut a hole in the bottom and the top of the back to allow for air flow.

Oh, one thing that also helps is to put little rubber grommets on your fan screws. If the fan frame isn't touching the computer case, it doesn't resonate as bad. The squishier your grommets, the better.

-C

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 03:14 pm »

My thanks to all who have positively responded. I have started to do some initial research and and I have much more to do.
Thanks again;
d.b.

ctviggen · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 03:40 pm »

I purchased a relatively nice PC setup. I have four fans running (three in my case and one for the cpu). Even with all of these fans (all 110mm), this PC is quieter than my other PC.

Val · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 03:46 pm »

There certainly are silent case fans out there, but not small ones. You need 120mm fans on rubber grommets at low speed (1200 RPM or so); a Zalman Fan-Mate controller helps. The best case fan is the 120mm Scythe, but Nexus and Yate Loon are good too. However, for low speed cooling you also need a well-designed ATX case (Antec P-180, Antec Sonata II) or mATX case (Chenming MATX-118, Antec NSK2400) and suspend your hard drives or at least install them on rubber grommets. There are several silent CPU coolers from Zalman and others. Thanks to SilentPC.com I built a computer that can't be heard at more than a couple of feet away. On the floor below my desk it's like it doesn't exist. Email me at val at dorta dot com if you think I can be of help.

NewBuyer · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 04:23 pm »

I have built many, many silent computers currently in use within our house, and you can't even tell they are on, unless an led or viewscreen gives it away. You simply can't hear them, even from within an inch of any part of the chassis.

The variables to accomplish this are many, and everything begins with a list of the given hardware (processor type/speed, case format, etc) along with the application of the PC and the environment it will be placed, etc.

P.S. Don't forget the option of '5-volting' the fans, foam fan mounts (much better than rubber grommets), and the Papst brand. Fanless power supplies are easy to find these days - thankfully that part of the puzzle is easy to solve now.

randytsuch · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Jan 2007, 04:36 pm »

Hi Dan
like others here, I have used silentpcreview to build a quieter PC.
I have tried the yate loon and global win fans, and in my sample of one each, preferred the yate loon. I also used rubber grommets for mounting, and a fan controller. The controller gives the fan a higher voltage to get it started, and then allows you to set the final speed. A good fan with a fan controller, set down to a lower speed, makes for a very quiet setup, hard to hear from more than a foot away.

The 120mm fans are quieter, because they are larger.

Randy

RH Customs · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Jan 2007, 01:15 am »

That is easy, use the Vantec Stealth Fans, they are not cheap, $12 for a 80mm, but well worth it.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 12:25 pm »

Last night I installed two empabst chassis fans and a Antec "quiet" power supply plus a heat sink for the Northbridge chip. Installing the heatsink for the Northbridge chip was a real pain in the arse. The acoustic noise appears to have dropped considerably so now I am looking for ways to reduce the noise of the Hard Drives. I have seen a few things on the net but I would like to know if any one has any recommendations.
Thanks in advance.
d.b.

ctviggen · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 01:57 pm »

One way is to mount them on rubber grommets, which is what my Antec case does. However, the three hard drives I have are relatively quiet to begin with. I also had one (which I gave away) that was so loud nothing would help it. Other than this, I'm not sure.

bpape · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 02:15 pm »

Don't forget damping the metal case. If it's undamped, it only transmits and amplifies any mechanical noise/vibration going on inside.

Bryan

randytsuch · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 04:00 pm »

Quote from: Dan Banquer on 18 Jan 2007, 12:25 pm

Last night I installed two empabst chassis fans and a Antec "quiet" power supply plus a heat sink for the Northbridge chip. Installing the heatsink for the Northbridge chip was a real pain in the arse. The acoustic noise appears to have dropped considerably so now I am looking for ways to reduce the noise of the Hard Drives. I have seen a few things on the net but I would like to know if any one has any recommendations.
Thanks in advance.
d.b.

Depends how quiet you want your PC. I have rubber grommet mounted my HD's, and it has helped.
But, there are companies that make little enclosures for HD's, which would make them VERY quiet. Cost about $50 each, I think. Never tried, but they are supposed to be effective.
Another method that I have not tried is to suspend the drives, using something like a very thick rubber band.

BTW, pabst are supposed to be very good fans. And if you can live with less air flow, you can undervolt them, and make them basically noiseless.

Randy

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 04:59 pm »

Quote from: randytsuch on 18 Jan 2007, 04:00 pm

Quote from: Dan Banquer on 18 Jan 2007, 12:25 pm
Last night I installed two empabst chassis fans and a Antec "quiet" power supply plus a heat sink for the Northbridge chip. Installing the heatsink for the Northbridge chip was a real pain in the arse. The acoustic noise appears to have dropped considerably so now I am looking for ways to reduce the noise of the Hard Drives. I have seen a few things on the net but I would like to know if any one has any recommendations.
Thanks in advance.
d.b.

Depends how quiet you want your PC. I have rubber grommet mounted my HD's, and it has helped.
But, there are companies that make little enclosures for HD's, which would make them VERY quiet. Cost about $50 each, I think. Never tried, but they are supposed to be effective.
Another method that I have not tried is to suspend the drives, using something like a very thick rubber band.

BTW, pabst are supposed to be very good fans. And if you can live with less air flow, you can undervolt them, and make them basically noiseless.

Randy

Hi Randy;
The hard drive enclosures are what I'm going to be looking into next. The fan noise at the moment is dwarfed by the hard drive noise, or so it appears, so I'm not ready to think about lowering the voltage on the chassis fans. In addition I am using an ASUS mother board with the Northbridge chip heat sinked, so I am leery at present of lowering the two chassis fan's speed.
d.b.

jqp · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Jan 2007, 05:09 pm »

I second that, definitely do not play around with heat. Heat is the enemy of stability, component life, power supply performance, and probably everything else that happens inside your PC case.

NewBuyer · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 Jan 2007, 08:23 am »

Quote from: Dan Banquer on 18 Jan 2007, 12:25 pm

...now I am looking for ways to reduce the noise of the Hard Drives. I have seen a few things on the net but I would like to know if any one has any recommendations...

Hi Dan,

Are you open to replacing your existing hard drive(s) with laptop drives?

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 Jan 2007, 12:28 pm »

Quote from: NewBuyer on 19 Jan 2007, 08:23 am

Quote from: Dan Banquer on 18 Jan 2007, 12:25 pm
...now I am looking for ways to reduce the noise of the Hard Drives. I have seen a few things on the net but I would like to know if any one has any recommendations...

Hi Dan,

Are you open to replacing your existing hard drive(s) with laptop drives?

Not at this time. I did not replace the CPU fan this time around so that's on order. When the CPU fan gets replaced I will look into hard drive enclosures if needed. I'm moving slowly here, and partly out of curiosity to see just how much fan noise, or the lack there of can make a difference.
d.b.

Levi · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 Jan 2007, 12:45 pm »

If you go with water cooling, then that would eliminate most of the fan noise that you are hearing.

My rig is too far from being quiet.