Where would the best place to buy new quiet fans for my computer? I am looking for cheaper ones, but as quiet as possible...are there other things to do to my computer to make it more quiet?

There are web sites which cater specifically to building quiet PCs. They sell things like quiet fans and power supplies. I forget the URLs at the moment. Anyone? edit: start with www.quietpc.com ...

I want to figure out how to make a PC that's more like a car amplifier: Huge passive heat sink on the outside. No fans, just a silent brick.

are there other things to do to my computer to make it more quiet?

Sell it and buy a Dell. I don't know what voodoo they use to get their machines so quiet.

Seriously, I bought a bunch of stuff from QuietPC and it worked great. I also took the fan off my Radeon card leaving just the heatsink behind. That thing was responsible for most of my computer noise.

All I know is that my old Dell has this giant exhaust-like thing over the CPU. That's probably where the majority of the quietness comes from.

I agree, those things are insanely quiet.

Sell it and buy a Dell. I don't know what voodoo they use to get their machines so quiet.

On mine at least, they designed it so that there was no CPU fan. The air from the power supply draws right past the CPU heat sink. This is with one of their pizza-box desktop models. Of course, this box has no AGP slot and uses crappy on-motherboard video. And has no space for extra hard disks, and no cooling for the single hard disk it does have.

I bet it's not as quiet as my new Linux server...

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=11

Quarter of a Gb of RAM, 120Gb of disk, 500Mhz CPU and no fans at all. It's amazing what you can get for $400 nowadays.

Bizarrely it is actually the fastest PC I own and it's just going to be sitting in a friends office acting as my off-site backup space (and backup DNS/MX), silly.

I have a similar Win2K server. 533MHz fanless VIA Eden but only 256MB of ram and 80GB drive.

Using it as a desktop PC is not fast at all, but for everything else it's tits. Quiet as hell too.

256MB of ram

Which is very similar to the quarter of a Gb in mine

Using it as a desktop PC is not fast at all

I installed WinXP on it to see how it performed as a desktop machine and I was quite impressed. Definitely faster than the rest of my client machines (PII300 and PII366).

I think they missed a trick by only putting a single network socket on the motherboard. They would make great routers, with a small CF card to boot Linux/BSD from. I guess you can still do it by adding a PCI card, not as neat though.

I notice the TV out sucks on them. Is there any graphics card with a quality s-video signal, or do the people that say they get a decent output simply have low standards ? (like the people who can't notice the <75Hz flicker on a monitor)

I think this:

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/hush.asp

might be my next desktop machine...

Which is very similar to the quarter of a Gb in mine

LOL

"Ten cents each, but special for you, ten for a dollar."

I've put a lot of thought (and money) onto this in the past year.

I finally ended up with a watercooled setup. My system now only has three fans : one in the PSU, one on the front of the case (to let the air in) and one on the back of the case attached to the radiator to let the air out and cool the radiator.

I modded my case so that 120mm fans would fit on the front and back of the case. I used Vantec stealth fans for this (panasonic Panaflo fans would've been my second choice). By running both fans at 5v instead of 12v they are silent.

The loudest component in my case is still my harddisk, although I'm using a Maxtor 200gig now with has an FDB motor. I would have preferred to use Seagate (because those ones are the quietest around), but I needed at least 200gig of diskspace @ 7200rpm and Seagate simply doesn't make such a disk (yet).

I'm very pleased with my setup. The watercooling rig is *very* quiet. I'm only able to hear it if I'm really trying to and even then the ambient noise in my room most of the time overwhealms it. (expecially if the window is open).

Overclocking is a dream. I can easily run my P4 2.4Ghz @ 3.0+Ghz and the system is rock-stable. When if I do this the CPU temperature doesn't rise more than 2°C. (normally the CPU temp is 34-35°C, well within the specs) .

I could post some pics if you would like to see it.

Some advice to get your system really quiet if you don't want to go the watercooling route :

1) Get rid of as many fans in your system as you can. Replace the ones that you simply can't get rid of for overheating purposes by silent fans and run those at 5v instead of 12v.
e.g. replace your CPU fan with a Zalman CNPS(Al)Cu and replace the fan on your video card with a Zalman ZM80-A-HP.
Casefans should be avoided, but if you still want them choose 120mm fans (if you can make them fit) and -again- run them at 5v. 120mm fans turn slower but, because they're bigger, move the same amount of air.

2) Get a quiet PSU. A model like the Zalman ZM300A-APF, the Seasonic SS-300, the Verax F300PPFC-80KP or the SIlenX 400watt.

3) Very important : choose a quiet harddisk. Since solid state harddisks are stil much too expensive and not an option, the best you can get is a harddisk with an FDB motor. The Seagate Barracuda IV is still the quietest (but getting a bit old now), the Barracuda V is only slightly louder. The IBM 180GXP is a close third but many people don't want to burn their hands on an IBM drive again after the 75GXP debacle. The Maxtor comes fourth and then Samsung. WD is, noise-wise, a big no-no. I myself am really curious when WD will introduce their first FDB drive because I really like the their special edition series.

4) DON'T invest any money in those acoustic damping material kits because it is my experience that they don't do much good.

I guess I read too fast. Could have sworn that said half a gig. Oh well... no one will believe me anyway.

Mind if I ask you, Andy, what the "Loves Terry Jacks" is all about?

It's Tony's way at getting back at me for posting the entire lyrics for "Seasons in the Sun" in the "worst song ever" thread...

http://empeg.comms.net/php/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=offtopic&Number=157314

Ah, yes, I forgot that was you

Yeah, I did ask for it...

Have you checked out the hush systems.
Link

They are the concept you are talking about but they are only a via C3 cpu. I would like to see something like this with a P4.

Because then it wouldn't be translucent green

but they are only a via C3 cpu. I would like to see something like this with a P4.

Agreed. With Doom3 coming out, I need the fastest CPU and the fastest video card possible. Those are really interesting PC designs, though, that's the sort of thing I was talking about.

I know it would be within reason to be able to design a motherboard and case which couild take standard components (CPU and AGP video cards) and yet be able to get large heat sinks outside the casing for both. It would require a radically different mobo design, but it could be done.

Wait. I'm looking at the interior photo of those hush PC's, and I don't see the CPU up against those heat sinks on the side. In fact, those heat sinks look like cosmetic decoration to me because they're not connected to anything inside the case. That's NOT what I was talking about...

Yeah I wouldn't get one too slow but the design is neat.

I thought the block over the cpu was hitting the large heat sink on the right side.

Wait. I'm looking at the interior photo of those hush PC's, and I don't see the CPU up against those heat sinks on the side. In fact, those heat sinks look like cosmetic decoration to me because they're not connected to anything inside the case.

They aren't purely for decoration. If you look again you will see that the CPU is covered with a shiny bit of metal and that bit of metal is connected to the right heat sink by some funky new heat pipe. On the other side the HD carrier is connected directly to the heat sink on the left.

This wouldn't work with a P4 I don't think though, these EPIA processors really don't generate much heat (but then they are lots slower than the P4s).

here is a better picture
http://img.hexus.net/hush/hush08.jpg

sure...if you want to post some photos that would be great...thanks

I know somebody who's bought one and it's actually really nicely made. They're quite pricey but I'm sure that's mainly due to the custom casing.
As you said the speed isn't too brilliant compared to a mainstream processor but that's the price you pay for having a fanless CPU. The PSU is totally silent but it's only 55W.

- Trevor

I want to figure out how to make a PC that's more like a car amplifier: Huge passive heat sink on the outside. No fans, just a silent brick.

Deltatronic does just that. Their Silentium! uses a passive PSU and a heatpipe + convector system to cool the CPU and GPU. According to description one of the side walls of the case has cooling rips. HDD Cage. Also available as a kit. They claim it works for Pentium4s up to 3,06 GHz and probably even future CPUs .

Now you're talking.

That "heat pipe" thing to the CPU doesn't give me a lot of confidence though. Anyone have any information on how that works or how well it works?

Every so often whenever I hear about cooling (or heating for that matter) problems relating to space one mans name comes to mind from my uni days, "Peltier", or more specifically "Peltier Effect".

Any of you gus looked into this as a viable form of silent, space saving cooling?, seems tailor made for CPU's et al.

I had a quick search and you can pick up this nifty kit for $14.50 @ http://kitsrus.com

Peltier Module Kit 66
We are selling one type of module 4cm x 4cm, (1.6" x 1.6") with 127 p-n couples. When current passes through two different conductors, heat is produced in one and absorbed in the other. Peltier first described this in 1834. Modern semiconductor materials can make p-n junctions which produce large temperature differences. This 4cm x 4cm x 4mm thick module contains 127 p-n junctions connected electrically in series but thermally in parallel.
Maximum temperature difference = 59 deg C at 30 deg C ambient with no heat load.
Maximum ratings = 13.5V, 4.4A, 36W. Production code TEC1-12704.

Sounds good so far except that you still gotta shift that heat with a suitable heat sink otherwise the device will fry.

Still may be worth a bit of research and a play for those with too much free time (can't be bothered with all that heat dynamics stuff anymore.... shudders in memory of REALLY long and pointless equations......)

Cheers, Sim

My problem with peltier coolers and water coolers is that I don't want to have to deal with condensation/moisture. I want a system that silently and passively radiates the heat. I know that it could be done with a large enough heat sink and a proper mobo/case design.

Yeh, I think you can over complicate things, what's wrong with nice LARGE lump of metal.

Cheap, effective, will never break, the benefits are endless.

Oooh, almost forgot..... and its greatest asset is that it stops the B'tards nicking your stuff (as long as it's well bolted on of course).

Anyone have any information on how that works or how well it works?

I don't know anything specific about above heatpipe, but heatpipes in general consist of three components: container, working fluid inside the container and a capillary structure. Different materials are used for different applications. It's a thermodynamic cycle that involves the liquid entering a vapor state at the input end and condensing at the output end. Here is an animation. It works pretty well with a thermal conductivity many thousands of times that of copper.

Sounds good so far except that you still gotta shift that heat with a suitable heat sink otherwise the device will fry.

Correct. The only right way to do this is in combination with a water cooled setup.

BUT...Though the idea of peltier cooling is nice, I really don't like it.
This is because most of the times, peltier cooling is not worth the effort. You've got to use a really powerful peltier to really make a difference in temperature. (a difference of 2-3 degrees is not worth it IMO)
But, this has so many downsides that I really don't know why anybody would consider it.

1) biggest downside : peltier elements really DRAIN power. I mean REALLY drain a lot of juice. In practice, you'll always end up having to put a secondary PSU into your PC, solely for the purpose of powering that peltier.

It's not uncommon that one Peltier element alone will drain a lot more power than any other device in the PC!

2) not every PSU is a good choice. Most peltiers require AT LEAST a PSU that's rated at 16 ampères, some even need 24 ampères. Those PSU's don't come cheap.

3) The heat effciency for a peltier is really low : only 5-8%. Al the other energy is just lost. That's why it drains that much power.

In practice you'll need a pretty hefty peltier to reach temperatures below 10 °C.

Conclusion : it's not really worth it. If you really want to try die-hard cooling, you'l have to consider phase-change cooling. Great solutions in that area are Vapochill and Prometeia cases. (basically putting a mini fridge in your PC)

I've also added a pic of my watercooling setup when I was bleeding it. At this point it hasn't been built in to the case yet. (a safety period of 24hrs at least is needed to check for leaks) . On the picture you can see the pump with reservoir, the CPU block, the VGA block and the radiator. The bottle next to the circuit is a bottle of demineralised water.

My problem with peltier coolers and water coolers is that I don't want to have to deal with condensation/moisture

Condensation could be a problem with peltier, but not with a normal water cooling setup. Because the water temperature will NEVER drop below room temperature there is no chance of condensation.

This story changes when peltiers are used. But as said in my previous post, you'll need a pretty hefty peltier to really get that temperature down.
In practice, temperatures up to +/- 15°C (59°F) won't give you any problems with condensation.
However, this is dependant on air humidity. If this is tried in a region where the air humidity is high, you setup might start developing condensation even from the point when the temperatures go below room temperature. (this is exceptional though)

I added a second picture of my water cooling install. Appologies for the bad quality of the pics, they were taken with my Nokia 7650 cell phone for lack of a real digital camera. This was right before the cooling rig was fitted into my case. The pump was already installed at that point.

The shuttle sff pc's use a heat pipe from the cpu to a small block of fins with a fan. This page has some pictures. The shuttle system works good it still has a fan though.

I wonder if I could make something similar and have a large passive heatsink sticking out of the case. I don't care about GPU cooling I am not a pc gamer.

I think that what a couple of people have alluded too, but have not categorically stated is;

Peltiers create a lot more heat than they pull from the processor. Their benefit in overclocking is that they can cool below ambient, but that extra heat still has to go somewhere.

One of the big voodoo things Dell does is the hard drive rails. There's a strip of semi-soft rubber between the rail and the drive, and the screws are mounted in rubber feet, so nothing touches the hard disk except rubber. It's amazing how much vibration thos buggers can cause. And vibration is the root of all sound in your computer. Example, take a loud fan and hold it in your hand, while it's on. No matter how loud it was in your case, they're all quiet when they aren't making your case vibrate.

Peltiers create a lot more heat than they pull from the processor. Their benefit in overclocking is that they can cool below ambient, but that extra heat still has to go somewhere.

That's very true. This is a direct consequence of their low effciency rate. I'm sorry if I wasn't more clear about this.

Is the drive still grounded to the casing though? They're supposed to be from what I hear and if you don't then the chances drive failure are higher.

- Trevor

Isn't that what those two black wires are for?

Not sure if the power ground is actually connected to the casing. Some of the drives I've got have actually a seperate grounding tab for you to connect to. As I said, I could be wrong. It's just what I've heard.

- Trevor

http://www.warp2search.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13396

Here's the one for a P4 . The rumor is they are supposed to cost about 900 USD for the case.

True, but I still want one !
NO fans in the case anymore, not even in the PSU! Aaah! The sweet sound of silence!

Ah, that's it. That's what I want! Even heatpipes for the hard disk, nice.

Well, now I see why they don't make PCs like that... expensive!

Still, really really cool (in both senses of the word).

Agreed!
I've been looking into this thing for a couple of weeks now, but there isn't that much information to be found on it yet. I have found two other links. The first link provides some additional information. Link 1, Link 2

I contacted Zalman on the matter, more specifically about when it would be available, and this was what they had to say :

Thank you for your question.
The TNN500A will be on Korean and Japanes market first by September 2003. Launching time of the TNN500A to other conturys will be posted, when all seted, by our home page.

--- There is no fan in TNN(Totally No Noise)500A, also not in the PSU! so it's a TNN. The HDD noise also can not go out because 5mm~7mm thicness AL case prevent the HDD noise.

sclee/zalman

Very nice! Thanks for posting that, I'll be keeping my eye on it too, though I can't see myself paying that much for it

Speaking of quiet computer fans and Zalman, I just ordered one of their new products. I couldn't find the all-copper version for sale anywhere, but Directron had the aluminum/copper version which will be fine for me. I've become convinced that the fan which came with my AMD CPU is defective, as the noise it makes can't possibly be simple fan noise. It sounds like the bearings are off.

I just hope the new HSF will fit my mobo/CPU/case

Did you check out their list of mainboards that interfere with CNPS7000 ?

If your motherboard is not on that list you'll probably be fine.

I hope you meant your INTEL fan doesn't work, since that heatsink (CNPS7000) isn't made for socket A - unless you have an Athlon64.

I also ordered one of these, and I already have one of their fanless NB heatsinks. Hopefully there is enough clearance for the CPU heatsink.

Damn! Thank you, sir. I must have looked at the page where I first saw it incorrectly. Luckily I was able to cancel the order quick enough.

That still leaves me looking for a very nice, quiet fan to keep me tided over until that Zalman case comes out.... in the US.... for AMD.... and for cheaper

There is a new version out - CNPS7000A - that supports AMD. The product page is here.

That's probably what I was looking at initially. That fits on a Socket A?

Tom's Hardware liked the thing, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The reason I was worried about it not fiting in my machine is because of the case, not the mobo. The bottom of the PSU ledge is not very far above the board. We'll see

*edit*
This claims to support Athlon XP, but it seems to be the same thing. I think they might have the model numbers mixed up. Well, they must since they report two different ones in the same descriptions. I will say that Zalman themselves don't have the best organization to their website.

Zalman's site is confusing. I finally found where the motherboard incompatibility page was - it was under the "news" column. I kept going to the product page, and I never found the listing.

For my AMD system I am using a Thermalright SK-7. It seems to work well with a slow fan.

So you aren't sure whether that HSF will work with my processor? It doesn't say anything about socket A, though I don't know why they have brand new HSF combos for styles that (I thought) were pretty old...

I need to learn more about the different processor designs. Anyone have a link for me?

I really want one of these Zalmans, but I can't seem to find a place to buy the correct one, assuming there is one that works with my CPU.

It looks like Newegg has both heatsinks, old and new (A). The title description for both are the same, but in the details, one shows 7000A instead of 7000. Also, if you look at the picture that shows the package for the 7000A, the package claims to be compatible for the socket 462 (Athlon) here. I think this is the one you want. The other pictures show the blue and white snaps that are needed to work with socket 462. The snaps are also shown at the Zalman link in my earlier post. It looks like the snaps are the only difference between the old and new heatsinks.

One thing - since this heatsink attaches to the motherboard using the four holes around the socket, you will have to remove the motherboard to attach the clips - a little inconvenient.

Damn. That sucks. I was hoping to never have to move the mobo again.

I must as a question: how many of you use an antistatic wrist strap or something to that effect when operating on your PCs?

I must as a question: how many of you use an antistatic wrist strap or something to that effect when operating on your PCs?

I've never used it and I've put hundreds of PC's together. Never had a problem because of not using it.

I always touch the metal on the case while it's plugged in before I operate just to make sure I'm discharged.

A couple of years back (4or5). Digital was selling an alpha based system that had active cooling of the cpu. They were getting about 700+ mhz speeds at the time. Doesn't seem like much now but it was double what everyone else had at the time.

Those systems shipped with a UPS. But the SysA's didnt bother installing them until a couple of cpu's came up dead. Seems like if the power to the cooler was interupped the cpu temperature would spike. This happened when the entire system was switched off at the power strip. The residual heat would be enough to kill the chip. When the vendor asked about the ups's, they were found stacked in the server room. Unopened.

I also heard that when the cooling system was deisgned, the big problem wasn't getting the cpu cool. But what to do about the condensation. Seems it could get down in among the chips pins and cause trouble.

I wonder what could be done if I had one of those chassies today.

Well, I received the HSF today. This thing is massive! Even if it's attatched to the motherboard, do you guys think there could be damage done if the computer were transported in a car for 2.5 hours with the case lying on the system board side? This thing just weighs a ton! Here's an image I just took with my phone, so the quality sucks:

Yes, it could do some damage when being transported. The Zalman website specifically warns for this.
Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but if you really have to transport it you might want to lay it on the opposite side of the system board side.
The downside of transporting it like that is that your expansion cards may drop a little out of their slots, but at least the CPU fan wouldn't crack the CPU core.

Good point. I hadn't thought about what damage it could cause on that side. You don't think it could really torque the system board every which-way? I usually carry the whole machine in the box the case came in which has styrofoam inserts, and I could place that box on top of a comforter while transporting it. I have plenty of room in my minivan to make accomodations.

But this may all be moot anyway. The unit may not fit in my system. Could there be any problems from having the heatsink very close to the PSU shelf? The PSU fan isn't pointing downward, it's just the metal shelf is pretty close, and it looks like the top of the HS might just barely not touch the PSU shelf. Could that cause problems at all?

You don't think it could really torque the system board every which-way?

No, I don't believe it will. Though I wouldn't be sure in case you'd have to make an emergency stop.
Especially in the case of an AMD processor (which I believe you're using, right?) Those CPU's have VERY fragile cores. Putting a normal cooler on the wrong way is enough to crack it, so I can imagine that a cooler of more than 750g of weight can do some serious damage.
I would really consider removing the cooler before transporting the unit. After all, removing it and putting it back on is an easy enough process.

Could there be any problems from having the heatsink very close to the PSU shelf?

I don't see why it should. As long as the PSU and the cooler aren't touching each other and the PSU doesn't blow hot air onto the CPU you're golden. I wouldn't worry about it.

After all, removing it and putting it back on is an easy enough process

I wish it were. This is one of those where I'll have to remove the motherboard to install it. Replacing the $69 CPU is technically easier

Wasn't there an Alpha heatsink that was over 1kg? I remember seeing pictures of it years ago.
My friend has a Zalman copper flower cool and it somehow worked itself loose when he was moving it around. He heard a clunk noise when he picked it up. Luckily nothing was damaged and it worked after he reapplied the thermal paste and reinstalled it.

I thought the snaps were screwed to the board (which you had to remove the motherboard to install), and the heatsink then screws in the snaps. This should be easy to change in/out.

I got the AlCu version because it was cheap and lighter. It only weighs about 450 grams, which is about the max spec for Intel boards.

I wish it were. This is one of those where I'll have to remove the motherboard to install it. Replacing the $69 CPU is technically easier

Oops! Confusing it with the Intel version of the cooler again, sorry!

I thought the snaps were screwed to the board (which you had to remove the motherboard to install), and the heatsink then screws in the snaps. This should be easy to change in/out.

Ooo, if that's the way it works, then I'll have to install it now then. As long as I don't have to remove the board every time I move my computer

Holy crap! I should get credit for at least half of the hardware portion of the A+ certification just for installing this fan! I mean really, I had to disconnect all components, dismount the motherboard, and get a little too aggressive with a screwdriver right near the processor. By that I mean that the threads on one of the mounting brackets wasn't drilled very well, and it took a good amount of force to get it in there.

But now that all is said and done, the HSF is mounted, it is enormous, there is actually about a centimeter of clearance between it and the PSU shelf, and at its lowest setting, the fan is absolutely silent. What's more, I was able to test CPU temperatures using the supplied motherboard monitor before and after the installation. With the stock CPU fan, I was getting an idle temperature of 54C. Now, even after a game of GTA Vice City, the temp is about 40C. When Windows starts it's only 36C. That's all at the high fan speed, though. Still, the low speed starts the temp at about 39-40C.

Thanks for the help, everyone!

Yay!

My limited experience and that of others I know (perhaps a dozen of us that geekfest (err, LAN party?) 3 or 4 times a year is that no one has ever hurt their computer by transporting it in the car. And almost all of us have AMD's. I really wouldn't worry about it. (Yeah, famous last words, hope I didn't jinx myself). If you're really worried, what about sliding a piece of stiff non-cunductive non-absorbent closed cell foam underneath it. So even if it does want to bounce it has no where to go? But seriously, even with a lot of weight, it's spread around really well...

BTW I have a Thermalright AX-7 and 80mm fan, maybe not as big as yours but somewhat heavy as well (if that lends any merit to my successes moving this PC everywhere). http://www.svc.com/thaxsoco.html

Glad to see you've got it working! Those are pretty good temps you're getting there !

Thanks! I'm very happy with it! As far as I can tell, it really is silent. The loudest thing in my case now is the video card fan.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make my hard drives quieter? Is that even possible without buying new drives? Aside from the video card the disks are the last things that make noise in my case (PSU is silent, case fans seem to be as well).

I got one of these for my video card it works great.

Some HDD have a silent mode you can enable. My maxtor on does and it is very quiet after setting it to silent.

My maxtor on does and it is very quiet after setting it to silent.

My new 250Gb Maxtor drives are essentially inaudible, even without setting them into quiet mode.

The Seagate Barracudas are very quiet, too.

Hmm, I wonder if my Western Digitals have that option...

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make my hard drives quieter? Is that even possible without buying new drives?

Yes, you can try this. It supposedly works very well, effectively silencing your HD with +/- 10dB. (which is about 3x less noisy). Just be very sure to get a Smart Drive, and NOT a Silent Drive. The Silent Drive is about the same thing, except that that thing doesn't dissapate the heat effectively with 7200RPM drives, and thus "cooks" the HD.
The Smart Drive however, is very good at keeping the HD silent AND cool, even with 7200 RPM drives!
Review here. (this is a review of the first generation Smart Drive, that's no longer for sale. It's successor, the Smart Drive 2002 is even better)

Thanks! That looks like a very cool product. At $60, however, I might have to wait on it a while. I'd need to buy two or even three of them! At that point I could buy a very large silent hard drive

But that looks like a good solution. I have no problems using 5.25" bays, as I've got 5 out of 6 of them available I would worry about heat, though. Right now the drives are sitting in front of the front fans. I doubt I have much airflow at the top of the case...

You may want to download the Data Lifeguard tool from Western Digital. There may be an acoustic management setting under the ATA management tools (the data sheet doesn't specify).

I used a similar setting for my Maxtor drive. I don't have any spindle noise, but the seek noise was too loud. Going to "quiet" mode supposedly reduces performance, but I don't see a difference, and the drive is much quieter now.

My new 250Gb Maxtor drives are essentially inaudible, even without setting them into quiet mode

Interesting.
I recently upgraded my Tivo with a Maxtor drive.
It was so damn noisy that it sounded like a coffee grinder was continuously at work in my living room!

I pulled it and replaced it with a Western Digital.
Now I have blissful silence (well, nearly).

I guess I should have tried the Maxtor software tweaks first, because
the WD drive was actually 4GB smaller than the Maxtor (though
both were labelled as identical capacity).
This meant that I couldn't use the wacky Tivo backup software to
copy everything onto it; it only handles copying to equal or larger size
drives (in order to avoid messing with the non-standard Tivo filesystem
too much).

So I have a week's worth of unwatched programs sitting on a spare unused drive
on my desk.

But it was worth it to get that extremely noisy Maxtor out of my living room!

Plus now I have two backup drives if a power spike takes one out.
(You'd think it'd be the other components; but when workmen started
yanking my power on and off, it fried a Tivo drive, but the rest of the
Tivo survived just fine.)

/music

Thanks for the idea, it was a good one, but there doesn't appear to be such a tool.

However, when you got me going to the WD site, I happened to see the new 250GB SATA drives That's a size I can use! None of this 30GB nonsense! It's currently $300, but when it comes down I may get one of those and a Smart Drive I can always sell my other drives to my roommate

what is the lowest decibal fan they make for the CPU, motherboard, and power supply?

Well, I suppose you can check out Zalman's line of CPU fans/heatsinks (you're most likely going to have to buy them together). I have this one and can't hear it. Many of them have a speed adjuster so when you're just doing basic desktop stuff you can have it near silent, if audible at all.

What do you mean by motherboard?

And it's not quite recommended that you go replacing your power supply's fan. We want to see you on the board again Zalman sells "silent" power supplies (so they say), like this one.

I know I seem Zalman biased, but the products I've bought from them have been just great. They've served me quite well.

Oops...I actually meant the case fan...I forgot that my new motherboard doesn't have a fan, just a heatsink (it is also called a chipset fan, i think.) What are the decibals for the quietest fans?

Sorry to butt in here so late in a thread but Guschti works for Studer and I saw on the photos on this website about their new Vista desks which have PCs in them. They solved the heat problem by using big heatsinks like this one:

Can those be bought? or does it only come in certain PCs?

They aren't purely for decoration. If you look again you will see that the CPU is covered with a shiny bit of metal and that bit of metal is connected to the right heat sink by some funky new heat pipe...

...this wouldn't work with a P4 I don't think though, these EPIA processors really don't generate much heat (but then they are lots slower than the P4s).

I was wrong of course:

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/hush-atx.asp

Completely fanless 2.8Ghz P4 ATX machine from the same people...

Too bad they won't just sell the case.

Has anyone seen this fan cheaper anywhere else? I found one on Pricewatch a little bit cheaper, but I am skeptical of some of these "no name" companies

I know this thread's half dead, but... just because it needs to be seen:

http://www.colour9.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album17

http://www.colour9.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album98

...this is how you make a very, very quiet PC. I've got it down to one fan (in the power supply), everything else is passively cooled by the big wrought-copper radiator.

It's not the most economical solution (the labour time alone makes it shockingly expensive), but then I've always preferred over-engineering wherever possible :-)

Oh, and I've also water-cooled my server box:

http://www.colour9.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album96

Now I just need to find a way of squeezing the pipework into a mini-ITX case and I can water-cool my MythTV setup...

Gavin