I need Quiet... and more quiet... and then a little bit of quiet after that.

O.K... here's the deal... I need quiet... absolute silence.

I have recently aquired the finishing touches for my DAW, and now I need to start recording... but I can't record jack with all that stupid case hum in the background.

So I bought me an Enermax case (the CS-003-A106) and an Enermax power supply (the EG365P-VE FC) and I am happy with neither of them. I thought I was gonna get a quieter set-up and it's actually louder than the generic crap I had before...

so...

I am gonna start from scratch... I don't give a rat's @ss what it costs.. I have got to get a quiet PC setup... having said that.. I wanna know what's the bomb... what's the stuff... what's the latest and greatest in silent cooling... :p

First off... PSU.. I have a 350W. That's enough for me.. does anyone make a quieter 350+Watt PSU? (This might not be as much of a problem as my HS/F.. but I still think it's pretty loud.)

Second... Case... what's the quietest case I can get (that also looks decent.) Unfortunately, the one I picked has two vents (top and side) so the noise eeks out from every panel.

Third... HS/F. Who makes a HS/F that can cool an Athlon XP without sounding like a 747 taking off??

Forth.. case fans... what are the best as far as high CFM's with low dB.

Let me have it.. I need it all. I did some searches on the forum here and heard the "Silverado" being thrown around as a good HS/F.. is that still the best as far as cooling/quiet ratio??

Let me know.

WATYF

Is a thin-client an option? That would reduce your noise to that of your monitor/lcd. Hell, you could just put it in a different room and run the cables through the wall w/ extensions. I figure if you caulk the holes that the cables come from, it should seal it off from noise leaking in/out.

My idea, if im wrong, or my idea is not possible, feel free to flame. Just trying to help.

no, no.. that's definitely a reasonable idea.. but I live in an apartment and I'm not willing to go through that kind of hassle...

I just want to know what are the quietest parts out there right now.

WATYF

Wow. This certainly doesn't turn up much :eek:

Since you want dead silence, I would recommend some super-quiet Papst fans. They're only 12dBA :D. Since they only come in a 80mm flavor, a Chieftec DX-01WD will do good. It's only $39, and it's basically a bare Antec SX1030 (no power supply and only 2 case fans). You already know what heatsink to get, the Silverado.

Power supplies? Beats me :o Someone else probably knows a lot more than me on this.

O.K... so Pabst it is for the case fans.. (I've also heard great things aboot those) and I'll try the Silverado... (if anyone can tell me where the heck to get one of those..) but I'm not too hip on that Case. I'm actually wondering if there are cases built specifically for noise reduction.. I mean.. they make noise reducing fans and HS/F and PSU's.. but what aboot cases??

WATYF

(yeah, yeah.. I know.. this isn't exactly a new topic..) :p

The reason you don't see a whole lot of cases designed specifically for low noise (beyond quiet fans, etc) is because that requires insulation. Insulation=heat, and even using crappy old chips, that is a bad idea. IMHO, the best choice is to get an aluminium case of some sort (I have had good experiences with Lian Li, but there are many choices in this department), and make sure it fits together snugly (this is one thing I can say lian li does well). Then, purchase components that will suit a quiet config. Papst is good (*PaBst* on the other, hand makes crappy beer), and the new Vantec Stealth series, which tend to have slightly high cfm (available at www.1coolpc.com -BEST webstore for service if not for selection, IMO-) are working nicely in my case. Panaflo also has very quiet fans that are widely available and inexpensive, but I have yet to see a "quiet" fan that has the cfm rating of the vantecs.

From my experience, unless you want to monkey around with water cooling, there is very little in the "quiet case" department that does not just consist of a normal case with quiet fans.

I don't know what performance stats that Silverado has, but I can unequivocally say that if your moboard can fit it (it's 80x80mm), the Alpha PAL 8045 heatsink ($40.00 at 1coolpc) is the most incredible heatsink I have ever used. It almost doesn't matter what fan I have used with it...its performance is never short of amazing...right now, my mildly oc'd tbird 1.4ghz (a chip way hotter than yours, courtesy of the pre-xp tbird architecture) is only 5 or 6C above room temperature. My friends in the area put their stock in volcanos, etc, and even though they have cooler chips, noisier fans, etc, they are in a world of hurt when the heat kicks up around here.

I think the deal with your enermax "whisper" is one that has been bandied about here many a time...there are simply some that are defective in this respect, and if you find it noisy, you should RMA that thing. My non-whisper enermax is virtually inaudible, but I think it is the luck of the draw with the whisper series. My neighbor has the exact same pws you have, and he also designed his case entirely around quiet and compactness (difficult to reconcile both of these with heat, but that's another story), and I can attest to the fact that it is dead silent.


good luck man...and it is good that you are starting with quiet in mind, rather than trying to work backwards toward it like I did (started out with an all Delta system that sounded like I was sitting in hurricane...it cooled my whole room, I think...).

LOL.. looks like I'm not the only one who made that mistake... do a Google search for "pabst case fan" and you wouldn't believe how many hardware review sites spelled it wrong... including Tom's Hardware. *gasp* :eek:

Well.. I like the idea of a 12dB fan (the papst) :p But I don't like the idea of paying 30 bucks for one (after shipping) So I might check out those Vantecs or maybe the Panaflo.

I would try the Alpha but it's a bear to install and absolute silence is more what I'm looking for than absolute cooling.. I don't overclock,.. and really don't have the need to, and I can keep my room temps low, so I think the Silverado still whoops @ss in the "quiet" department.

I know what you're saying about the cases... it's really what you put in em... but the case I chose... (like an idiot) has two vents on the side and top allowing air (and noise) to easily escape right up to my ears, so I guess I just need something with no vents, ergo, less noise escaping.

Question... I've often wondered if it isn't just the loud Voclano 6cu HS/F that I have running that make the Enermax PSU sound so loud... is there any way to run the power supply without having to turn the whole unit on???

WATYF

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Originally posted by WATYF
(yeah, yeah.. I know.. this isn't exactly a new topic..) :p

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Wha? You think I was being sarcastic? ;)

Most people are asking for quiet cases. You're asking for a freakin' DEAD SILENT case :p

well yeah..!!! I am, aren't I??? :p

I really do want the absolute most silent set-up I can get... Silence is the only qualifying criteria here... so look at it this way.. this is a chance to spec out the quietest set-up in PC history... (or somethin' like that) :p

So,... thus far we've decided on the Silverado for the HS/F. Everywhere I look I see rave reviews about how well this thing performs in both the quiet and cooling arena... Tom's Hardware was practically wetting themselves over it... check this out... the Silverado smokes everybody in the noise department... and here you'll notice that it's way ahead of most in the cooling department too... (except for the Switftechs, which had a mind-blowing dB rating of 63!!!) :eek:

For the case fans, it's the Papst. By far the quietest. There are others out there that are cheaper and also pretty quiet. But we want dead silence.

For the case... we still have no specific offers. Lian Li is a little pricey, and unless I can see some reviews showing them to be better silencers than a standard case, I don't wanna shell out that much. Is there a reason you suggested that Chieftec? I mean,.. are they known for being quiet cases? Or do you just like em. I'm not too hip on server cases... but I like the convenience of the easy access panels and drive bays, so I would consider one if they could prove to be silent enough.

For the PSU, we stil have no specifics... although, from what I understand, the Q tech 300W fro Quiet PC is the leader at the moment. If anyone has one of those and can comment on the noise level, please chime in.

WATYF

P.S. I unplugged all the fans in my rig and turned it on. It ran (for a few seconds before the board auto-shutdown) and I could hear just the PSU. I guess it's not so loud... but I expected better, I guess.

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Question... I've often wondered if it isn't just the loud Voclano 6cu HS/F that I have running that make the Enermax PSU sound so loud... is there any way to run the power supply without having to turn the whole unit on???

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sure...just disconnect everything and then turn it on :)
It is worth testing, just because a quieter hsf will do you no good if your power supply is nearly as noisy...don't forget to close the case while you are testing so you get real world noise stats.

The difference inside a case between a 20db and a 12db fan is minimal, and not worth 2x the price (to me). I believe you can see sort of a heads up comparison at sidewinder, but I dunno how effective playing the sound on speakers is except for comparing them relatively.

Vents are a bad idea IMO, just because they do little except let in dust and let out noise. If I were you, I would consider sealing them, possibly with whatever material your case is built from (i am guessing good ol ubs plastic), using a touch of crazy glue around cut pieces.

If you do indeed have one of these inexpensive plastic cases, I think that may well be part of your problem. I find my snugly fitting Lian Li contains sound a lot more effectively, even though aluminium should be a better conductor for noises and such.

I am not going to lie to you and say the alpha is easy, but it is an amazing piece of engineering like no other. It takes maximum a half hour to install even the first time, and works well with any fan. You get a perfect contact surface every time due to its superior attachment, and it requires no foolin's aroudn with those &^*&^& clips.

the only reservations I would have with it would be if I did not have a slide out moboard tray, in which case I would imagine the alpha would be a real pain in the ***.

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sure...just disconnect everything and then turn it on :)
It is worth testing, just because a quieter hsf will do you no good if your power supply is nearly as noisy...don't forget to close the case while you are testing so you get real world noise stats.

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looks like I just beat ya to that idea.. :p although, I didn't put the side panel back on when starting it up.. so I may try it again just to see if it's any quieter.

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The difference inside a case between a 20db and a 12db fan is minimal, and not worth 2x the price (to me). I believe you can see sort of a heads up comparison at sidewinder, but I dunno how effective playing the sound on speakers is except for comparing them relatively.

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I see what you mean... but that page didn't have any 20 dB samples on it.. I think 25 or so was the lowest.. but still I understand what you're saying... but I gotta be strong on this one... I want dead quiet. So I gotta go with the lowest dB possible.

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Vents are a bad idea IMO, just because they do little except let in dust and let out noise. If I were you, I would consider sealing them, possibly with whatever material your case is built from (i am guessing good ol ubs plastic), using a touch of crazy glue around cut pieces. If you do indeed have one of these inexpensive plastic cases, I think that may well be part of your problem. I find my snugly fitting Lian Li contains sound a lot more effectively, even though aluminium should be a better conductor for noises and such.

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I know.. I know.. I kicked myself for buying that stupid thing... there's actually an identical enermax case to the one I bought that comes without the vents and I picked the one with the vents. (like the idiot that I am) :p But it's not cheap plastic. It's that nippon steel stuff (or whatever you call it)

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I am not going to lie to you and say the alpha is easy, but it is an amazing piece of engineering like no other. It takes maximum a half hour to install even the first time, and works well with any fan. You get a perfect contact surface every time due to its superior attachment, and it requires no foolin's aroudn with those &^*&^& clips. the only reservations I would have with it would be if I did not have a slide out moboard tray, in which case I would imagine the alpha would be a real pain in the ***.

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and that's something I don't have... maybe if my search for the ultimate quiet case lead me to a server case or a lian li I would have a mobo tray... but at the moment I don't.

WATYF

Another thing u could look at is sound deadening material. Im not sure how much this stuff affects heat but if thats not ur main concern than it could be an option.

This is one u could check out:

http://www.coolerguys.com/Merchant2/...ry_Code=CS-NOI

Thanks.. I'll check that out..

A good thing to consider about the case... (and the other stuff for that matter) is that I'll probably be keeping it for a good while.. I'm sure case configurations won't be changing any time soon, even though my hardware will.. :p So if I really pimp this thing out :p then it's not like it's wasted money when the time comes for my next upgrade... (which will prolly be in aboot 3 months or so.) :p

WATYF

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Originally posted by WATYF
Thanks.. I'll check that out..

A good thing to consider about the case... (and the other stuff for that matter) is that I'll probably be keeping it for a good while.. I'm sure case configurations won't be changing any time soon, even though my hardware will.. :p So if I really pimp this thing out :p then it's not like it's wasted money when the time comes for my next upgrade... (which will prolly be in aboot 3 months or so.) :p

WATYF

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For the power supply, get an Antec True Power 330 or 380. They don't make a 350 watt version. :(

And please, get the Antec SX1030. Best case ever. :)

Here is what you do. Go and get yourself an alpha pal8045 and a delta focused flow 68cfm 80mm fan. Get a case that has good ventilation (3-4 fan slots in good places). Make a top blowhole, 120mm and get a super-quiet fan. Check out my thread: http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthre...22#post1001222

Basically, get good ventilation but have it controlled by a rheostat. The thing is easy to make and works like a charm as long as you got good quality fans and the right amount of resistance on the rheostats. I'd suggest 1 10W, 50ohm rheostat for a delta focused flow 68cfm 80mm fan. Another 10W, 25ohm rheostat for the case fans (I suggest panaflo 80mm, 30cfm for these). You can hook up 5 case fans (1.5W and below, like the 30cfm panaflo) to one rheostat. The 68cfm delta is loud as crap when turned up high, but doesn't make a sound at low speeds. It consumes around 6-7W though, so don't wire anything else on the cpu rheostat. Wire it all up through a fanbus, bring it to the rheostat baybus and you got absolute control over the noise that your computer makes. That's my .02 Works great for me.