Next Project - computer noise
 

Almost done with my computer build. Problem is that it is much louder than my previous computer (makes sense due to all the cooling required for the newer components)

I am looking into something like this -
http://www.norenproducts.com/Acoustilock/gCAB.html

just curious what you guys do to counter the noise of a computer in your audio room.

to reduce noise I just use... Mac :-P ... anyway, seriously behind and under the iMac I put some phono pannels like those one you can find in my studio pics (http://www.dedicatedtotriton.net/studio.htm pics aren't updated with those pannels though...) They doesn't stop the sound but I can record with not so much gain in the same room.
regards, Lorenzo

Special low noise fans (for both cabinet and processor) can reduce a lot of noise...

yeah, I am starting to look into these right now (replacing the fans on the watercooler and the graphics card). Should be able to get low noise versions for a total of <$100.00 us - which is considerably less than that cabinet.

Decided to go with the quiet PC components vs the super cooled cabinet.

Order brand new quiet psu, quiet heatsink for my video card and quiet case fans. All together = $175.00 vs the $1,500.00 new cabinet.

my computer geek uncles computer has a nifty fan dial on it, he has 5 fans in his computer and he can control the speeds from the faceplate... this item would be very useful in the studio as when you want to record a track you can turn the fans way low, when you've got the tracks you want... crank the fan back up.

just a thought,
dan

exactly, good call dan. My water cooler came with a fan and I saw the face place and was like wtf?? figured it out a little later on and loved it.

Would be nice if I could control all my fans with it, but these new ones coming are supposed to be insanely quiet, so we'll see.

I used to have a very noisy powermac g5. It pissed me off so bad that I went all crazy building a huge wooden box with a double thick wooden door.
I padded the whole inside of the box with pvc and made some holes in the back for the cables and I also mounted some 120 quiet fans- 1 in the back top left and 1 on the side bottom. so there would be circulation. Even know I sold that noisy g5 i still use this cool box for the mac pro even know its very quiet.

Innovative, I'll remember that idea.

The cooling unit in my uncles computer is freakin awesome. It has 3 knobs that control the fans and above the fan are analog temperature gauges, lit with a cool blue light.

My neKo is decently quiet but when you get those large-diaphragm condenser mics... they hear everything. I just use a headphone extension cable and stick the source I am recording in the next room.

Dan

heres an old pic of the custom box built from scratch..

hey that looks a lot like this

except that yours is probably a $1,000.00 less expensive!

pretty cool mr e

ya I got the idea from these guys when I was searching around what to do about the noise...To me it seems that this 1000 dollar box isn't so great because look how little space you have for the computer. what if you want to like hook something in the back you have to completely take out the computer. With my box I can actually crawl inside and play around there...I even have a led light in there always on for vision. so no hassle plugging things in and out in the back there.

Doc,

I am surprised that your new comp is noisy. I was more surprised when I read your temps in your other post.

I would suggest changing case and getting a different fan perhaps - I have an E6600 in an Antec 180 case with a Big Typhoon and it truely is almost silent. I can hear more of a hum from my Mackie CU than I can my PC and my temps are 50 idle and 58/59 peak. When I power it on I regularly have to look and make sure it is on cause it is soooo quiet.

What fan and Case have you got currently?

most definitely. when I built this machine, noise was the last thing on my mind (though it should have been up at the top of the list).

The two main sources of noise are 1. My 850watt Thermaltake PSU and 2. the fan on my ATI Radeon x1650 graphics card. The case fans (for air flow are kind of noisy too).

I'm pretty certain that replacing the above with the parts that I just ordered, should quiet the noisy beast down substantially.

For what its worth - I opted for a fanless Graphics card (ASUS) and an Antec TruePower 2 PSU (recommended for the Antec P180 case).

Try one of these - http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800



I have one, very quiet. Its a metal case with soft plastic sound deadening panels over it. On the inside - theres alot of sound deadening bits as well.

Can mount loads of large fan running at low speed - barely a whisper. Have 3 hard drives in mine - one of which is a very noisey WD raptor (10000rpm), but there are mounted on soft silicon shock absorbers so bearly a whisper.

Easy to get into it as well, no nasty sharp edges, good air flow.

Snap, thats the P180

That Antec Tower looks great. Next time i build a PC i think i'll get one of those

Managed to get computer very quiet using Zalman fans and drive coolers, PSU is almost silent too.
but although the computer is very quiet, its not silent.

Just makes me wonder when people talk of "silent" computers.. do they mean truly silent or just quiet?