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Advice on building a quiet system
Dear Collegues,
The customer is always right......and he wants a quiet system 2.8 Athlon xp tower. Does this mean I just need a quiet cpu fan / power supply? or is there more to it? One more thing I see sound output quoted in dBa, but is 20Dba quiet or should it be less? Any suggestions - printable ones that is! Chris |
#2
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On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 12:45:17 -0000, "Chris Nowak"
wrote: Dear Collegues, The customer is always right......and he wants a quiet system 2.8 Athlon xp tower. Does this mean I just need a quiet cpu fan / power supply? or is there more to it? One more thing I see sound output quoted in dBa, but is 20Dba quiet or should it be less? Apparently anything less than 25 or 26 is officially "quiet" - Zalman's CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) is intended for less than 25dB at 56C. I have their 400W PSU running at 1350RPM (20dBa), combined with a 7000 series CPU cooler, no case fans. and the whole thing is completely inaudible from where I'm sitting (my left ear is about 4ft from the case) and running at 31C Brian |
#3
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"bigbrian" wrote in message ... Apparently anything less than 25 or 26 is officially "quiet" - Zalman's CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) is intended for less than 25dB at 56C. And AFAIK 50 decibels isn't twice as loud as 25 decibels, it's over 4X the overall volume or something like that? Anyhow there's some sort of factor applied to it somehow, I'm sure someone who knows would be more help. |
#4
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On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 14:35:02 -0000, "tHatDudeUK"
wrote: "bigbrian" wrote in message .. . Apparently anything less than 25 or 26 is officially "quiet" - Zalman's CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) is intended for less than 25dB at 56C. And AFAIK 50 decibels isn't twice as loud as 25 decibels, it's over 4X the overall volume or something like that? Anyhow there's some sort of factor applied to it somehow, I'm sure someone who knows would be more help. Its a logarithmic scale, so, if I understand it correctly, double the noise means an extra 3 dBa (10 times log 2 = 3) I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong Brian |
#5
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"Chris Nowak" wrote:
The customer is always right......and he wants a quiet system 2.8 Athlon xp tower. Does this mean I just need a quiet cpu fan / power supply? or is there more to it? A quiet machine just needs a bit more thought and money to build but the result will be not only quieter but almost certainly of better quality than a typical build too. You really need to check how quiet they want it to be. The noise level from the PC can be reduced by spending a few extra quid on a decent CPU cooler and PSU, but a truly quiet machine can cost a couple of hundred pounds more than a similar machine using cheaper, more common, parts. Main culprits are the fans fitted to the PSU, CPU, GPU and case. Replacing or removing them will reduce noise but can increase temperatures so you'll need to put a bit more thought into airflow. Where performance is not paramount consider using more conservative components which generate less heat. Athlons aren't the easiest to get quiet but there are a few decent heatsink/fans with low noise. QuietPC or Zalman PSUs are almost inaudible. Zalman do a whole range of components designed with efficiency/noise in mind. Case fans can be replaced with good quality Papst or YS-Tech and/or throttled back to reduce noise. Having all but eliminated fan noise you'll find other components seem noisy, drives especially. Seagate or Western Digital hard drives tend to be quieter than most although other manufacturers now have utilities for balancing performance vs seek noise. Although they only tend to be audible in use, CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives can also be distracting, especially in a quiet PC where they may well be the loudest component. I find Toshiba to be by far the quietest and most cheap drives to be noisy, with the exception of Pioneer, who tend not to be cheap but are one of the noisiest. One more thing I see sound output quoted in dBa, but is 20Dba quiet or should it be less? 20dBA will be practically inaudible in most environments. Anything less than mid-20s should suffice. -- iv Paul iv [ Mail: ] [ WWW: http://www.hopwood.org.uk/ ] |
#6
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"Paul Hopwood" wrote in message ... "Chris Nowak" wrote: The customer is always right......and he wants a quiet system 2.8 Athlon xp tower. Does this mean I just need a quiet cpu fan / power supply? or is there more to it? A quiet machine just needs a bit more thought and money to build but the result will be not only quieter but almost certainly of better quality than a typical build too. You really need to check how quiet they want it to be. The noise level from the PC can be reduced by spending a few extra quid on a decent CPU cooler and PSU, but a truly quiet machine can cost a couple of hundred pounds more than a similar machine using cheaper, more common, parts. Main culprits are the fans fitted to the PSU, CPU, GPU and case. Replacing or removing them will reduce noise but can increase temperatures so you'll need to put a bit more thought into airflow. Where performance is not paramount consider using more conservative components which generate less heat. Athlons aren't the easiest to get quiet but there are a few decent heatsink/fans with low noise. QuietPC or Zalman PSUs are almost inaudible. Zalman do a whole range of components designed with efficiency/noise in mind. Case fans can be replaced with good quality Papst or YS-Tech and/or throttled back to reduce noise. Having all but eliminated fan noise you'll find other components seem noisy, drives especially. Seagate or Western Digital hard drives tend to be quieter than most although other manufacturers now have utilities for balancing performance vs seek noise. Although they only tend to be audible in use, CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives can also be distracting, especially in a quiet PC where they may well be the loudest component. I find Toshiba to be by far the quietest and most cheap drives to be noisy, with the exception of Pioneer, who tend not to be cheap but are one of the noisiest. One more thing I see sound output quoted in dBa, but is 20Dba quiet or should it be less? 20dBA will be practically inaudible in most environments. Anything less than mid-20s should suffice. -- iv Paul iv [ Mail: ] [ WWW: http://www.hopwood.org.uk/ ] Thanks for your detailed answers - does anyone recommend a Zalman trade supplier who will take a small order? Chris |
#7
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"Chris Nowak" wrote in message
news Where is th euac group? I searched blueyonder news and it didn't find it. Chris You should be able to find uk.adverts.computer on your server... But you can find Dorothy Bradbury he http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy...ry/panaflo.htm -- Mike Email reply is spamtrapped |
#8
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Get a howler if you like - it doesn't matter ... as long as you fit a
fan-controller to shut fans up when not required. "Chris Nowak" wrote in message ... Dear Collegues, The customer is always right......and he wants a quiet system 2.8 Athlon xp tower. Does this mean I just need a quiet cpu fan / power supply? or is there more to it? One more thing I see sound output quoted in dBa, but is 20Dba quiet or should it be less? Any suggestions - printable ones that is! Chris |
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