Silent/Quiet PC components - any recommendations?

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Imagine a PC without whirring, clicking, and and the ocasional squeal...

I'm sure it can be done for cheap - I just need your help identifying potential parts.

Well I can't afford the Zalman TNN case, and I shelled out for a Lian Li V1100 a couple of months ago.

I'm thinking of making my next PC as silent as I possibly can without comprimising performance or paying through the roof:

fanless(?) CPU Heatsinks - (e.g.ThermalRight XP-120)
Silent pipe graphics cards - (e.g. Gigabyte 6600GT)
Motherboards - (lots now have fans integrated rather than heat sinks)
Hard drives - (heard samsung/western digital are meant to be pretty cheap)
PSUs - I once saw some Tagan and Zen fanless PSUs... I think. the PSU would need to be SLi compatable (power wise)
DVD - no idea?!

PLEASE let me know of any products you've used, that fit into the above category, if you've been impressed by their low dB level.

The system will hopefully be a 939 skt AMD, and as mentioned earlier - maybe SLi compatable.

[sawyen]

XP-120 is going to be one terrible passive heatsink... no shiet..

[Dougal]

http://www.vadim.co.uk/news/The+sile...+6500+3dmark05

100% silent for fans, just hard drives.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

XP-120 is going to be one terrible passive heatsink... no shiet..

Ahhhh - ok so I'll add a panaflow fan... can AMD 64s be passively heated in a thermally advantaged case?

[kempez]

Ahhhh - ok so I'll add a panaflow fan... can AMD 64s be passively heated in a thermally advantaged case?

Yes you could but I think a low speed fan would be a better idea....maybe a silenX 14dba fan (kustompcs.co.uk stock them and they are top notch) The XP-120n would go great with that

Apparently Silverstone do a good silent PSU (I think) but also SilenX are good for silence too

[M0nkeyb0Y]

http://www.vadim.co.uk/news/The+sile...+6500+3dmark05

100% silent for fans, just hard drives.

Thanks for that - what a beast!

and that only needs a 300W PSU?! wowza - i thought dual 6600GTs would drain it.

[sawyen]

6600GTs dont drain as much power as the 6800 series..

[herulach]

Tagan psus are silent to all intents and purposes.

Quiet Pc and Silent Pc Review are your friends i think.

I dont think youll find a truly silent DVD drive, plextors are supposed to be quiet, and my LG is quiet, but definately not silent.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Quiet Pc and Silent Pc Review are your friends i think.

Thanks for these - I've bought from quiet PC before (recommended) and have been on SPCR, but wanted to see if there were any components that have slipped throught the net, so to speak, and get a few recommendations via word of mouth.

[herulach]

In that case, Consider Arctic Silencers, for the graphics cards instead of paying the extra for heatpipes, if you find a card with dynamic fan speed (Any gainward golden sample, the bfg OC ones and a few others) then you can plug it in there, and have it nearly silent except when it goes to a kind of low woosh for games.

Acoustipac is well worth the money, especially the really fat (17mm) stuff, but also bitumen if you want to do it on the cheap.

THe A8N premiums have the silent heatpipe coolers, so theres your mobo.

Ive actually been pretty impressed with the quietness of AMD stock coolers, especially with cool 'n' quiet on.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

In that case, Consider Arctic Silencers, for the graphics cards instead of paying the extra for heatpipes,

Acoustipac is well worth the money, especially the really fat (17mm) stuff, but also bitumen if you want to do it on the cheap.

Ive actually been pretty impressed with the quietness of AMD stock coolers, especially with cool 'n' quiet on.

Cheers

Know where I can get the arctic silencers?

My Lian Li is lined with that foam rubber stuff, but I may add more - always worried about the fact it might increase ambient temperature due to the extra insulation tho.

That Scythe Ninja - looks like a pretty fantastic cooler too.

[kempez]

I know www.kustompcs.co.uk do the silencers but I'm sure most good e-tailors get them in - ther the best

[robg1701]

Ive got a Thermaltake Big Typhoon heatsink, performs well (because its absolutely mammoth ) and yet very very quiet. I cant hear my 2 main pcs at all, because the fan in my P3 server over in the corner is whining a bit and completely drowning them out....and even then its not that loud a fan

[BenW]

I'm running mine fanless.

P4 2.26Ghz with a duct going to everflow 120mm rear case fan at 7v. Idle = 31C, load = 41C

Nexus lead the way in silent fans. Specs dont show it but a trip to the silentpcreview forums will

[jnm21]

For cooling, I'd strongly recommend the Zalman heatsinks (ie 7000 & 7700 and possibly the new bad boy - 9500). They're not silent (the fans are quite noisey on 12V), but as mentioned, use a mobo control feature, which should turn it down a notch & if you are brave, you can change the fan. You could also look at the silenx version of the 7700 sold by kustompcs or another similar version sold by komplett (silent storm or similar). I'm actually tempted to try my underclocked 2600XP media PC passive with a Zalman 7000.

I can also recommend the Samsung HDDs - mine's virtually silent except for minimal seek noise (I have heard that the sound varies between the motor makes on them - nidec/jvc IIRC - mine is a JVC). HDD suspension is quite easy (i.e. cheap & relatively uncomplicated, if a little time consuming) to do & may help with noise.

[herulach]

Noiseblocker fans are also fantastic, a bit on the pricey side, you can get them from tekheads.