What makes a quiet system?

[Tyrannosaur]

Ha ha all this modern technology and the solution could be as simple as an elastic band. I like it.

[Saracen]

I found rubber bands (or bungee cord for a stronger alternative) much more effective at reducing drive noise than any rubber mountings or the like. You need sufficient length of rubber/elastic so that it can damp the vibration; too short a distance through the mounting (as is common with rubber mounts) and you still get a lot of transmitted noise.
....

Agreed. Cheaper, too.

I guess a lot depends in the exact "rubber" used. Also, some types tend to harden, and reduce in effectiveness, over age. But I tend to use rubber bands. Heavy-ish bands, and usually doubled up, just in case one ... erm .... goes twang.

[Tyrannosaur]

How are they used?

[drone567]

I've been watching some of the DIY experiments on YT. One guy mounted his GPU fans on a foam layer, it seems alot of noise is created by vibration through metal components. Cost 10p, very quiet! Another guy mounted a huge cooling blade structure to his GPU(very effective at heat transfer). Which got me thinking; why don't they do away with fans, build a case with cooling fins on back and base, say made of aluminium, basically a huge heat sink. Attach all heat producing devices to it, either directly, or via piping. Then they could have a clear perspex top and front(I want to see my components, and have instant access). Also the unit could be effectively sealed, keeping out my pet hate, dust. It seems incomprehensible to me to have dust blowing across circuit boards etc. Next I want to redesign the gaming handset!

[Spreadie]

How are they used?

I used to do it with that elastic cord you get inside tent poles - camping shops sell it by the metre. Looks similar to the stuff in that pic.

[Tyrannosaur]

Ah right, so you use the elastic band or cord to suspend the drive. Thanks for the pic.

[boothy02]

why don't they do away with fans, build a case with cooling fins on back and base, say made of aluminium, basically a huge heat sink.

Streacom make a few cases like this, the issue when i looked into it was component compatibility, the heat pipes can be adjusted but but its not ideal and i think they only recommend low power components.

I'm a big fan of noise dampening foam, not an ideal solution but it certainly helps.

[drone567]

Just checked those out, thanks, but I was thinking massive heat fins(Like on old motorcycle), maybe cast in ali, with air blow holes all along between fins, air from one suspended fan internal, but seperate to components. Did anyone see that design, guy cast his own case in concrete. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iegpwo9SqSg

[Ulti]

As many others have said already, it's fans and HDDs.

Generally, the less fans you have, the quieter the system will be.

I would consider my system relatively quiet as I have two case fans spinning at 850 RPM, one as intake, one as exhaust and I've taken the fan off my CPU cooler (Coolermaster V8) as the case fans are enough to cool it.

I haven't used a HDD in years now as they were really loud, especially the 7200 RPM older drivers.

Unfortunately my PSU has quite a loud fan and even on load it's running really cool so once it's out of warranty I'm going to open it up and change the fan as I'm sure running 10 C hotter won't make too much of a difference.

Finally, as everyone else has mentioned, the GPU is the loudest thing in the system when under load. I actually went and bought 3 different R9 280Xs so that I could choose the quietest one under load. All of them were quiet when idle and almost silent. Asus' DirectCU II TOP cooler had the slowest spinning fans along with the coolest temps but Powercolor's TurboDuo cooler had the quietest fans, even when they were spinning faster at 2000 RPM vs Asus; 1500 RPM.

As you can see, I've pretty much sacrificed higher temps for lower noise but everything is running within limits and I've yet to see any problems this way.

[Tyrannosaur]

What case and fans are you using Ulti?

[Ulti]

What case and fans are you using Ulti?

Just a NZXT S340 with no sound dampening and the provided case fans. If I got a case with sound dampening and Noctua fans then I'm sure it'd be even quieter but it's quiet enough for me in both idle and load cases.

[MrRockliffe]

My hard drives are louder than my GPU under load when gaming. I used a custom fan curve to keep my GPU quiet as possible, but it does result in pretty poor temperatures (still under 80 though). Then there's the H80i pump, which is super loud.

[Ttaskmaster]

Just checked those out, thanks, but I was thinking massive heat fins(Like on old motorcycle),

Old??!!
Crimony, you're making me feel old, talking like that!!
You need to be travelling at (ahem) miles an hour for those to work, though, as evidenced by my 'old' motorcycle...

I still stand by large, slow-spinning fans and would put them in if my own case would take it.
As is, I have nine 120mm fans in my case, but the loudest thing is still the H100 pump unless I turn everything up to full-chat and load the GPU... and even then, it's mostly the noise of the airflow through the grilles, meshes and so on rather than any specific components.

I found it worse under a desk, as there are more surfaces for the airflow to sound off and the general resonance of the machine humming away was amplified by having a structure around it.

[Ulti]

I'm just waiting for a NZXT Kraken G10 GPU bracket to test out the Corsair H55 on my R9 280X in both thermals and noise levels but you guys are putting me off with how loud pumps are.

A while ago I owned the CoolIT ECO CLC and I remember that was pretty loud. I hope things have improved since then.

[Agrippa]

While fans and hard drives are two of the three greatest culprits as far as noise is concerned, I've always found the case to be the third. A well designed, well built case will ensure that drives and fans can operate without generating much noise, while a crap case can effectively scupper any and all efforts to build a low-noise system.

I've never had a case, out of maybe 25 or so, which didn't need some judicious application of at least a little gaffa tape or rubber damping material in order to perform optimally and some have sounded much like a Morris Marina after three decidedly careless owners no matter what was done to them.

By choosing your case wisely you can save yourself lots ans lots of work later on (if you're after a low-noise system) - specifically by looking at smart solutions for hard drives, fans and whatnot. My own system has a total of 14 fans and 22 hard drives and after adding a little gaffa tape all I can hear, regardless of work load, is a weak, low-level hum. And that's without elastic bands, bungee cord or any such remedies.

[Ttaskmaster]

Corsair H55 on my R9 280X in both thermals and noise levels but you guys are putting me off with how loud pumps are.

*Can* be...
AIOs are not as good as custom water loops, but better than most air coolers.
Some are noisier than others. Mine is an older model, for example.

I'd really only care if the noise disrupts my gaming and movie-watching.
I know most of my noise is accumulated - I sit about 2 feet away from my case and while each component is pretty quiet even on full chat, the combined sound of 13 fans and the pump all hurling air through and resonating around my fairly open case does stack up a touch... but again, I only care when it's 2am and the Mrs cannot sleep through it. She actually complains more about the clicketty-clack of my ham-fisted late night typing!!