Make my pc quiet!!!

ozyboyross

ozyboyross

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I've been given a desktop by my dad to repair and use!

I've done the repair (failed hdd) and got it all up and running etc

But the thing drones like crazy the whole time it's on and it's really very loud! It annoys my mrs and that means I have to sort it lol

So how can I make it quieter? New case? New fans? Sound deadening?

Any pc builders got any advice ( I've never built or fiddled with a pc before )

Thanks in advance!
 
Replace the fans,

Try to get good airflow with as few fans as possible.

Make sure you have thermal management set up, so that the motherboard can control the speed of the fans depending on load, this is usually done in software, consult your motherboard manual for exact details.

Or failing that a fan controller may be the way to go

:)
 
Regarding software it could be

EPU (Asus)
Q-fan (intel)
Cool n quiet (AMD)

:)
 
Disconnect each case fan in turn (only for a short period of time) to see if the noise stops, a droning sound usually indicates a fan that is poorly balanced (most of the time replacing with good quality fans makes all the difference, they usually have proper bearings and dampening.) Cheap case fans are the most likely culprits next to the graphics cooling fan.

If this doesn't resolve it the next culprit as said can be the graphics card cooler. I don't recommend disconnecting this for any length of time but gently touching the tip of your finger onto the centre of the impeller momentarily to slow it down will let you know by the change in sound if its the card cooler.

It could be the CPU fan but this is clamped down so tight it rarely gives trouble but its not unheard of.

Lastly and not so common is the Power Supply fan and I don't encourage you to do anything to check this just use a process of elimination on the rest till only that is left (but its not likely)
 
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The are usually at least 2 fans in a PC, one in the Power Supply Unit (PSU) and one over the CPU. If you open the case you can usually hear which one is loudest. The PSU fan can't be changed without changing the whole PSU, the CPU fan can be changed fairly cheaply, same for other case fans if there are others.
Another quick & easy fix is to blow the thick layer of dust off the inside (dust insulates, heat is retained & fans work harder & faster). If you do this, use a can of air (air duster) that you can get from PC stores as you can potentially damage your PC if you blow some spit onto a circuit board. Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the advice so far! I've got a lot to look at in the morning!

It's a great machine for a freebie but it does make a racket it has I be said lol
 
I've noticed that the fan on my graphics card is very noisy for about 30 seconds when I start the PC and then it reduces to a much lower speed once the PC is up and running, so the PC is then almost silent. I assume there is something in the software that controls the fan speed, but it would be annoying if the fan kept running at full speed the whole time.
 
The hotter the computer gets, the more the fans try to keep it cooler, the more nosier the fans get, so better cooling means fans don't have to make an effort.

Make sure you clean all air holes, fans (including the PSU fan), and all other parts of dust. Of course it may be possible that you've already done that when doing the repair. Dust keeps the computer warmer so fans have to make an effort to keep it cool.

If you can, replace an fans in the case with a little bigger fan depending on how far the case can go. An example would be if the case got a 120mm fan, see if you can replace it with a 140mm fan. A bigger fan at lower speed can do the same job as a smaller fan at higher speed.

Not sure how old the computer is, but you may consider replacing all fans with new modern ones if computer is really old. It could be wear and tear of the fans that makes the noise.

If there are spaces for extra fans, you could fit some on.

Instead of a new replacement HDD, you could have opt for a SSD, but i guess it's too late now, but then you could still add a SSD and move Windows from the HDD to the SDD, use the HDD for saving files.

All that won't silent the computer, but it could lower the noise.
 
I am planning to get an SSD for the boot drive in the future but I had an old hdd in a drawer so just used that to save some money for the moment lol

I'm not sure it's noisy because it's hot though because it makes the same noise when you first turn it on!

It an oldish machine but it's not a bad spec it's a core2quad 2.5 with 4gb ram so runs nicely!

Faster than my laptop anyway lol

Just need to hush it up a little as its really very loud!

When I turn it off your ears goes "aaaahhhhh" lol
 
it could also be the case, some cheap cases vibrate nastily.

with it on, open the side up and without touching any circuit board (carefully) touch a few surfaces/fans(the outers, not the blades!)/hard drives and see if the hum stops. if you have a cd in the drive too they can make a racket even while idling.
 
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How many fans you have in that case?
Simplest solution could be installing fan controller.next step could be getting better fans.
What is the cpu cooler you have? Maybe it is it that makes most of noise?
 
Ill open it up tonight again and have a quick look at everything suggested!

It is a cheap case I think *** it's pretty ugly lol

But I'm off to the coast for a family BBQ so can't do anything today!
 
I had this problem with my main work machine (I work from home). I spent a small fortune in reducing the noise from the cpu HS, the case fans and installing a super quiet psu. It still made too much noise for my liking.

I did, however, find a solution.





















I bought an iMac!
 
ozyboyross said:
Just need to hush it up a little as its really very loud!

When I turn it off your ears goes "aaaahhhhh" lol
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Wow if its that loud its almost definitely a fan. In fact if its that loud it sounds like the fan impeller is making contact with the fan housing.
 
Gazamonk said:
Wow if its that loud its almost definitely a fan. In fact if its that loud it sounds like the fan impeller is making contact with the fan housing.
Click to expand...

Which I cured once by simply pushing the impeller back onto the shaft. It was OK for about 2 years until I gave the computer away. :)
Hope that you are as lucky
 
ozyboyross said:
I am planning to get an SSD for the boot drive in the future but I had an old hdd in a drawer so just used that to save some money for the moment lol

I'm not sure it's noisy because it's hot though because it makes the same noise when you first turn it on!

It an oldish machine but it's not a bad spec it's a core2quad 2.5 with 4gb ram so runs nicely!

Faster than my laptop anyway lol

Just need to hush it up a little as its really very loud!

When I turn it off your ears goes "aaaahhhhh" lol
Click to expand...

Could still be the fans.

If it is old machine then the fans could be old too, wear and tear on the fans could make noise, maybe later on if computer gets hotter, fan speed gets faster, the faster it go, the more noiser it will get.

With the machine off, and the case opened up, check all the fans, including those on CPU and anywhere else, check if they got free play or loose or anything like that. Only suggestions I could think of.
 
Well if download yourself speccy. Its a piece of software which allows you to monitor the components of your computer. It also shows thermally how the parts within your PC are doing. This will allow you to determine whether to take fan are doing their job...

If you are going to swap fans out. Have a look at the corsair sp120 quiet fans or the be quiet silent wings fans. They are great for air flow and low noise.

Another easy tip, check to make sure no wires are hitting the fans once the side panel is on, this can increase the noise a bit.

Also get old henry the hoover out if the case is a bit dusty...
 
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Yeah the Hoover scares me lol it is full of dust but i don't want to damage anything trying to clean it!

I haven't had a chance to investigate this further yet! This weekend has been hectic so far but hoping to get it open for a look and listen today!
 
id settle for a rocket blower (we all have one being on a photography forum right? :D ) or at a push compressed air (with the little bit that collects/stops moisture being blown out).

hoovers generate a lot of static from dust flowing over the nozzle. ask the other half how many times I get zapped while hoovering the flat, its not funny :D
 
The hdd is definitely noisy but that's a recognisable noise so I knew that and I will upgrade it to an ssd one day lol

Inside it looks like I have one case fan to the rear the CPU cooler the psu and a small fan on the graphics card....

The case fan is noisy the CPU seems very quiet and no noticeable difference over the rest when briefly unplugged...

The graphics card is noisy but I guess there's nothing I can do about that one?

And the psu doesn't seem overly loud and has super silent easy cool written on it.... So I'm gonna assume its not that either...

Here's a photo, I was expecting more than one case fan but??


Untitled by ozyboyross_40D, on Flickr
 
New case and better heatsink.

You could do worse than a cheap case (with PSU at the bottom - much MUCH better than at the top IMHO) and something like an Arctic Pro 7 Rev 2.

I have just built a system with the following components:


I left all the airvents unblocked and have no case fans. Not too bad given the price... especially if the BIOS has a method of controlling the CPU fan speed.
 
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PS. Just checked, Yorkfield/Wolfdale is socket 775 so the Arctic Pro will fit.
 
boliston said:
I've noticed that the fan on my graphics card is very noisy for about 30 seconds when I start the PC and then it reduces to a much lower speed once the PC is up and running, so the PC is then almost silent. I assume there is something in the software that controls the fan speed, but it would be annoying if the fan kept running at full speed the whole time.
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The fast spinning graphics card for 30 seconds could be built in for dust removal form the fan blades some cards do this.
 
PS II. You could also get a cheap passive graphics card. Assuming you don't game, most of the £20-£25 ones here: http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=price+ascending&cat=215&store=2&cat=215&page=1 would be fine (anything that is a GT210 would work perfectly adequately).

£60-£80 would quieten it as far as you can without spending serious money (the next step would probably be a quiet power supply).
 
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Well after all the advice I got I've had the whole thing in pieces this morning and got the rocket blower out on it!!

All fans and heatsinks and vents are now dust free and clean!!

It's definitely alot quieter than it was! No where near as intrusive! So I'm chuffed for now!

Will definitely look into some upgrade when funds allow to try and quiten it further! But at the moment I'm skint lol

My psu claims to be a super silent ez cool so in assuming that's about as quiet as they get?

I do game a little bit but only counter strike an a few others nothing really demanding!

Thanks to all the advice from everyone! I'm pretty new to the hardware side of things! I've only ever done a hdd swap and a ram upgrade before this lol

I think the only reason I weren't scared to do it was because it was a free machine lol
 
Result!

Just because it says Super Silent EZ Cool doesn't mean it is... Although I have no way of telling if it is what I would consider loud or not :D
 
arad85 said:
Result!

Just because it says Super Silent EZ Cool doesn't mean it is... Although I have no way of telling if it is what I would consider loud or not :D
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I couldn't hear much from it to be honest! I'm sure there are quieter out there as I believe this desktop was built 5 years ago lol

It's an ezcool atx 600 jsp if that helps?
 
Thats a result! Glad it is now running cooler and quieter!

From what I could see, there might be some dust that might be a little bit difficult to get off. try using a small paint brush to 'dismount' the dust... :)
 
If it's not used for GFX intensive stuff, you could get away with cutting the case fan wires and soldering in a 33ohm 1w resistor (and cover with heatshrink afterwards), this usually brings them down to almost silent, but maintains a reasonable airflow.
 
a cheap case (with PSU at the bottom - much MUCH better than at the top IMHO
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Why is the PSU better at the bottom of the case than at the top? It is something I've always wanted to know as I'm looking to replace the case on my own PC.
 
redsnappa said:
Why is the PSU better at the bottom of the case than at the top? It is something I've always wanted to know as I'm looking to replace the case on my own PC.
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You're not heating the PSU with the heat from the CPU. Going to be easier to keep it cool (but you do need a case with some form of filter to stop dust getting in).
 
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