Silencing my PC (nonviolently)

[stuck]

My setup is as follows:

ASUS M2N32-SLI DELUXE, AM2+/AM2
Athlon 64 X2 4600+
Corsair DDR2 301.4Mhz, 2GB
Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Antec P180

At the moment its so loud I hate even turning it on... I'm planning on upgrading soon but would like to sort this out in the meantime and plan to give it to my younger brother when I upgrade.

I upgraded the case fans a while back so have a yate loon and zalman on back and top with the standard case fan blowing on the psu (is this necessary?)

I think the main issue is the cpu cooler and so this seems a good thing to replace first? How hard is the thermal paste bit? When I installed it the fan already had a layer of paste on it so just had to sit it on top.

Thanks for your advice

[mikemikemi]

Most coolers out there with 120mm fans will be better than the stock one if that's what you're using at moment, although it's been a while since I looked at any am2+ compatible ones, so can't recommend anything in particular.

Thermal paste is easy to apply, I generally squeeze a small blob on the cpu, use something flat to scrape/spread it thinly over the cpu and remove excess, then install cooler on top.

[Vimeous]

The fan onto PSU is fine in the P180 - it's setup that way to draw air through the second HDD caddy and use the PSU as an exhaust.

The two most likely noise generators are your CPU and GPU fans. The smaller they are the higher pitched the noise and therefore more irritating.

My old HD2900XT was a big card and when I swapped it to a 4650 I got the same performance. However noise levels increased as although the card is tiny the fan is equally so.


As to what CPU cooler you should choose - budget rules.
The Gelid Tranquillo (£20) or the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced (£40) have given good noise results from what I've read although I've no idea how much hassle they'll be to fit.

It's worth noting that a CPU cooler change is likely to need the motherboard removing as many require a back-plate or mounting to be fitted to the motherboard.
Check the mounting method for your chosen cooler first. It seems the Tranquillo requires north-south config on AMD boards so it might interfere with the 1st two RAM slots. Otherwise it's a very handy cooler.

[no_numb]

The fan onto PSU is fine in the P180 - it's setup that way to draw air through the second HDD caddy and use the PSU as an exhaust.

The two most likely noise generators are your CPU and GPU fans. The smaller they are the higher pitched the noise and therefore more irritating.

My old HD2900XT was a big card and when I swapped it to a 4650 I got the same performance. However noise levels increased as although the card is tiny the fan is equally so.


As to what CPU cooler you should choose - budget rules.
The Gelid Tranquillo (£20) or the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced (£40) have given good noise results from what I've read although I've no idea how much hassle they'll be to fit.

It's worth noting that a CPU cooler change is likely to need the motherboard removing as many require a back-plate or mounting to be fitted to the motherboard.
Check the mounting method for your chosen cooler first. It seems the Tranquillo requires north-south config on AMD boards so it might interfere with the 1st two RAM slots. Otherwise it's a very handy cooler.

AM2+/am2 is the same mounting as AM3 and does not require the motherboard to be removed. Other decent options are the arctic freezer 7 pro for ~£15 or I have this in my main rig http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...ed=0CCsQ8wIwAA

Probably graphics card as well though, I hate the noise from graphics cards.

[Vimeous]

AM2+/am2 is the same mounting as AM3 and does not require the motherboard to be removed. Other decent options are the arctic freezer 7 pro for ~£15 or I have this in my main rig http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...ed=0CCsQ8wIwAA

Probably graphics card as well though, I hate the noise from graphics cards.

I had wondered about the mounting - ta for the clarification.

How do you find the Arctic for noise? While they're well known for great cooling for the price they're meant to be a bit rowdy once the temperature rises.

[shaithis]

Before spending any money you should check to see exactly what is causing the offending noise.

Disconnect or stop each fan in the case, including the gfx card fan, I use my finger to do it when identifying noisy fans and haven't lost a finger or a piece of hardware doing it yet, so don't be worried about it.

You may find it isn't just 1 fan, it may be a combination of multiple fans.

Once you know what is causing the noise, you can then investigate the various options for those fans. Speedfan software, BIOS PWM settings, resistors, new heatsink/fan, etc.

[masterplan1]

If it's the actual fans that are causing the issue, replace them with Fractals, I find they're rather impressive at being silent, and pushing a good amount of CFM.

[lego batman]

Before spending any money you should check to see exactly what is causing the offending noise.

Disconnect or stop each fan in the case, including the gfx card fan, I use my finger to do it when identifying noisy fans and haven't lost a finger or a piece of hardware doing it yet, so don't be worried about it.

You may find it isn't just 1 fan, it may be a combination of multiple fans.

Once you know what is causing the noise, you can then investigate the various options for those fans. Speedfan software, BIOS PWM settings, resistors, new heatsink/fan, etc.

^this.
To be honest, I'm surprised your system is loud - your case is quiet and the fans are meant to be too. Maybe something is broken, like fan bearings gone.

[Vimeous]

Daft question - has the machine only been loud in the current hot weather?
If so is it getting any cool air or is it stuffed under a desk?

[mikemikemi]

Before spending any money you should check to see exactly what is causing the offending noise.

Disconnect or stop each fan in the case, including the gfx card fan, I use my finger to do it when identifying noisy fans and haven't lost a finger or a piece of hardware doing it yet, so don't be worried about it.

You may find it isn't just 1 fan, it may be a combination of multiple fans.

Once you know what is causing the noise, you can then investigate the various options for those fans. Speedfan software, BIOS PWM settings, resistors, new heatsink/fan, etc.

This is a good point, years ago I did this on my old s939 and discovered that it wasn't my graphics card causing the noise in my pc but the north bridge crappy tiny motherboard fan spinning at a few thousand rpm.

[Pob255]

Before spending any money you should check to see exactly what is causing the offending noise.

Disconnect or stop each fan in the case, including the gfx card fan, I use my finger to do it when identifying noisy fans and haven't lost a finger or a piece of hardware doing it yet, so don't be worried about it.

You may find it isn't just 1 fan, it may be a combination of multiple fans.

Once you know what is causing the noise, you can then investigate the various options for those fans. Speedfan software, BIOS PWM settings, resistors, new heatsink/fan, etc.

Cannot of said it better myself.

Hexus.TV did a thing on this a while back, watch and learn http://tv.hexus.net/show/2008/11/Pac...e_s_the_noise/

On the Acrtic cooling freezer 7 pro rev2, it's ok but not great, for this dual core it should be ok, the problem generally comes when you stick is on a greater heat producing quad core cpu.
It does have the advantage of pre-applied thermal past (although thermal paste is pretty easy to apply) and the easy mounting system that doesn't require the motherboard to be removed.

If you've got these zalman fans http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm...zm-f3-case-fan then you'll find they are not that quiet at full speed, but they do move a lot of air.
you need to look around 1400-1200rpm for low noise and 1000rpm of less for silent fans.
they will move less air though, not matter how fancy the blades or bareings are rpm is the key factor for noise and airflow.
However once you drop below 1200rpm then the air flow drops to the level where bareing and motor matter as they will be louder (normally a ticking sound)
Fancy blade design generally comes in when you've got two fans around the rpm as they can increase the air flow or lower the noise slightly and static pressure effects (a whole other issue, which shouldn't really effect you.)

However before you go buy or replacing stuff at random, please, please check you system first and locate the worst noise offenders.

This is a bit of a pet peeve of mind, people who just randomly buy stuff without doing any basic troubleshooting.

[stuck]

Thanks for the input.

It is the cpu fan that is making the large majority of the noise, and it has always been this loud. However when playing FPS the gfx really gets going and makes a lot of noise too.

I will prob go for one of the artic cooling cpu fans unless anyone has any alternatives? Is there anything I can do for the graphics?

many thanks

[Pob255]

Coolermaster hyper 212 plus can be had for around £20 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...m2-am2plus-am3 it's a much better cooler however it will require you to remove the motherboard to fit it as it uses a back plate.
Or the Corsair A50 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...156-amdam2-am3, a bit more money but not quiet as good, still should be more than enough for you, uses a standard amd cross bar arrangement, so it's pretty easy to fit and no fiddly clips for the fan (one thing some people complain about on the hypere 212+)
Corsair guide to fitting it on AMD here http://www.corsair.com/blog/a70-a50-amd-mounting

For gpu Arctic cooling accelero twin turbo pro http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...idia-vga-cards