For many enthusiasts, high-performance components and a quiet computing experience are mutually exclusive. If you need a computer capable of delivering impressive frame rates in all the latest games, you’ll probably prioritize performance over unobtrusiveness. Here we’ll dig deep into our bag of tips, and even bend the ears of expert modders Bob Stewart and Rod Rosenberg (www.bsmods.com), for how best to decimate decibels. It’s true, you can have your highpowered cake and eat it (very quietly) too.
Sudden Sounds
For the most part, PC component manufacturers design their products to perform within certain parameters, and noise output is usually fairly high on that list of priorities. Many of us start out perfectly happy with the noise output of our machines, but over time, you may notice that the system seems to be getting noisier and noisier. There are a number of reasons this can happen, and luckily, they are usually easy and inexpensive fixes.
Dust buildup is a big culprit in the noise output of your PC. As it begins to collect in between the fins of the heatsinks on your motherboard, graphics card, radiators, and CPU cooler, it reduces the cooling efficiency of those components, and the heat they generate increases. A handful of PC components are able to read temperatures in real-time, so they will respond to the increased heat output by raising the fan RPMs (revolutions per minute). The faster a fan needs to spin, the louder it will become. If left unaddressed, dust buildup can force temperatures to go high enough that even fans running at their peak RPMs will be unable to keep the components within their rated operating temperatures, which can lead to instability and even reduce their overall lifespan.
To quash this cacophony, periodically clear your components and fans of dust and debris. Start by shutting down and unplugging your system. Take it to a well-ventilated area, remove the side panels, and use a can of compressed air or an air compressor to blow the dust off fan blades and components. When using compressed air, follow the label instructions to keep from damaging your parts. Some brief condensation may occur, but make sure your system is dry before you plug it back in and power it up. If using an air compressor, set the pressure gauge to 50psi (pounds per square inch) or less, and keep the nozzle approximately 12 inches away from the parts. Also make sure to not allow the compressed air to spin the fan blades, as doing so may push the fans above their maximum speed, which can damage the bearings and prematurely kill the component. If there is a lot of dust buildup, use a vacuum cleaner with a narrow nozzle first.
Dust filters can really cut down on the amount of dust that gathers on your parts, but they can result in dramatically higher system temps if allowed to clog. Remove and clean them periodically.
As dust accumulates on fan blades, it can also generate unwanted air turbulence, which will often manifest as an annoying change in the tone of your fan noise. With dust buildup affecting multiple case fans and heatsink fans, this can gradually morph into an unbearable hum.
Sometimes, cleaning the dust from your components will require that you remove the parts. If so, never use a chemical cleaning product unless designed specifically for the purpose of cleaning computing parts. Use a dry, clean lint-free cloth and avoid applying too much pressure to the fan parts, heatsinks, and other sensitive areas. You should perform this cleaning approximately every six months, or more frequently if your PC is exposed to a lot of dust. Pet owners may also need to keep a close eye on hair accumulation of dust filters, around vents, and on fan grilles.
Quiet From The Ground Up
Although there are a handful of things you can do to reduce the noise generated by an existing PC, which we’ll talk about later, the best way to enjoy a quiet computing experience is to purchase components designed to run discreetly. The three components that tend to generate the most noise are the power supply, case fans, and CPU cooler. These components contribute the most to the overall noise a PC generates, so getting them silenced will go a long way toward improving your overall computing experience.
An awful lot goes into picking the perfect power supply. If you don’t need a whole lot of power, you can find a handful of fanless PSUs that rely on a large heatsink to dissipate heat. Typically, you won’t find many passively cooled PSUs that are over 400 watts, which should be enough for most types of PCs save gaming and video contentcreation and rendering systems. More powerful PSUs that feature 120mm and 140mm fans will also tend to be quieter than PSUs with an 80mm fan.
The fan running in your PSU will typically start out slow and quiet under idle. As power demand increases, so too does the fan’s speed, resulting in a louder system. For example, if your components draw 600 watts at typical loads, but you have a 650-watt PSU, that fan will be noisy most of the time. One of the best ways to keep the fan from running at its higher levels is to choose a PSU that’s slightly overpowered. If the PSU rarely breaks a sweat, then its fan will stay nice and quiet a majority of the time you’re using it. Bob Stewart is a fan (pun not intended) of PSUs that keep the fan off until the system reaches a certain power threshold.
Many PSUs are also sold based on their quiet power delivery, so look for models that prioritize this feature, but be aware, it’ll cost you. The more efficient a PSU is, the less energy it will leak in the form of heat, which keeps the fan load light. But getting a PSU to that’s 90% or better efficient at various loads takes some fairly advanced (read: expensive) technology. Some PSUs also ship with a silencer, or a rubber gasket, that goes between the PSU bay mounting screws and the PSU itself to eliminate vibration.
When it comes to the case fans, know that ball bearing and fluid dynamic bearing types will tend to be quieter than sleeve bearing types. Some aftermarket fan manufacturers will also have patented fan motor technologies that deliver long life and quiet operation. Stewart recommends comparing the rated decibel levels of various fans when trying to narrow down your choices. The blades of larger fans can revolve more slowly while outputting the same or more air as smaller fans. Whenever possible, get large fans. Modern cases, for the most part, have mounting options for 120mm fans, so make this size your minimum. 80mm fans will tend to be loud, and anything smaller should be avoided if at all possible. Small fans generally emit highfrequency sounds that can be particularly irritating. Rubber mounting hardware and rubberized frames can also help keep noisy case fan vibration to a minimum. Case fans classified as silent will generally tend to peak at much lower speeds, so you may need to add one more of these fans to keep your system as cool as if you were running typical case fans.
A fan controller is a good way to take the speed of your fans into your own hands. Fan controllers let you install temperature probes or turn rheostats to manually adjust fan speeds for between one to a half-dozen fans, depending on the model you choose.
The CPU cooler you choose should use fans that, as described above, are built for quiet operation. Copper is a better conductor than aluminum, and generally speaking, CPU coolers with copper plates or heatpipes will do a better job of getting heat away from the CPU die and heat spreader, reducing the component’s temperature and allowing the CPU cooler’s fans to keep quiet. It’s also important to orient the CPU cooler’s fan so that its airflow does not conflict with that of the exhaust fan. Having two adjacent fans blowing in opposite directions will cause air turbulence, which increases the noise output and can negatively affect the lifespan of the fans.
It’s important to plug your CPU cooler’s fans into the 4-pin header near the processor socket, commonly labeled CPU_Fan. This lets the system control the speed of the fan based on the temperature, which keeps the fan nearly silent during idle, and only spins it up when under load.
Quiet Cases
Modern PC enclosures have a number of features that can help keep noise levels down, such as rubber supports in the PSU bay, insulated panels, rubber HDD mounts, and separate compartments for the PSU, drives, and motherboard. Stewart suggests avoiding cases with windows and as few direct vents and openings as possible.
Consider where you plan to keep your PC. If the front panel will be facing you, a solid panel with angled side vents will be able to deflect noise away from you better than a metal mesh front panel. Stewart’s tidbit? “Don’t keep the case next to your head.”
Another quiet case consideration is making sure there’s a clear path for air movement; any area where air runs into a wall or a fan blowing in the opposite direction will generate unnecessary noise. Although having tons of vents can be good for heat dissipation, it can also let out noise that would otherwise get absorbed by the case’s internal features, such as foam dust filters or panel insulation.
Hard drives can be noisy little devices, but using rubber mounts and giving them lots of room to breathe and a steady blast of fresh air can keep them from becoming too loud. If your budget allows, opt to use SSDs over HDDs whenever possible. Having lots of capacity is never bad, but if you aren’t using that spare legacy drive, you might make your system noticeably quieter by leaving it out of your rig entirely.
Be A Part-Time Overclocker
Here at CPU, we love overclocking our components, but all that extra horsepower comes at a price. The best overclocks are the ones that you can turn on when you need them, for instance to increase frame rates while gaming or to shave some time off your encoding, but turn off when you don’t. Many overclocking suites give you a handful of programmable hotkeys that let you quickly switch between stock speeds and one or more overclocking profiles.
Liquid-Cooling
Although liquid-cooling is sometimes considered a viable way to hush your PC components, one that earns the BSMods seal of approval, loading up your radiators with cheap fans can utterly defeat the purpose. The key for making a quiet liquid-cooling system is making sure there’s plenty of cooling capacity built into the system so some low-RPM fans can manage the task easily. Our friends at EKWB have an easy formula for figuring out how much radiator real estate is enough. Start by adding up the number of physical CPUs and the number of GPU cores, add one, and then multiply that number by 120mm. For example, for a system that consists of an Intel Core i7-4770k and three Radeon R9 290Xs, you will want at least 600mm of radiator to keep it all running cool and quiet.
In an air-cooled system, fans and mechanical components are the major sources of sound, but a liquid-cooled PC adds a pump and potentially a reservoir to the mix. As long as the intake and output on the reservoir are well submerged, the reservoir shouldn’t produce much noise. Most highquality pumps are fairly quiet, but mounting the pump to the case securely and using a piece of foam or rubber between it and the panel can further dampen vibration. The larger the diameter of your tubing, fittings, and barbs, the quieter your system will generally be. Any time you attempt to shrink or expand the stream of liquid between the pump, reservoir, tubes, or radiators, unwanted liquid turbulence and excess noise will occur.
Liquid-cooling a graphics card is a good way to reduce overall system noise. The fans of a graphics card heatsink tend to top out at approximately 90mm or so. Replacing that heatsink fan with a waterblock and a 240mm radiator will lower GPU temperatures, and let you run larger fans that can keep everything cool while spinning significantly slower.
If you want the ultimate in liquidcooled silence, Rosenberg suggests submerging your PC in mineral oil. (This mod is not for the faint of heart).
Silence Tweaks & Aftermarket Mufflers
For many computing enthusiasts, the systems we use are an amalgam of hand-me-downs, legacy parts, and the fastest components we could afford at the time. As a result, they tend not to be optimized for quiet operation. But there’s actually quite a bit you can do with the components you have to slash their sound output.
One of the best things you can do is to ensure air can flow from the front of the case to the top and back of the case with as few obstructions as possible. Put larger slower fans in the front panel or side panel depending on which is facing you. You can also install foam into the side panels, and even swap your side panel window for a foam panel. Keep in mind, foam panel insulation can also trap heat, raising your overall system temperatures, so make sure all vents are still open, and periodically clear dust from the foam.
If you have a case that has some lessthan-ideal cooling options, and you’re willing to get your hands dirty, you can always make your own fan mounts using a hole saw. Pick a hole saw designed to cut through metal, and use a diameter that’s just smaller than the diameter of the fan blades. For instance, choose a 4.5-inch hole saw to make a 120mm fan mount. You can also cut out squares of low-density foam to slide in between case fans and the fan grille to act as dust filters and noise dampeners. Look for 10 or 20ppi (pores per inch) open-cell foam, and make sure the foam doesn’t come into contact with any part of the fan blades. One of Rosenberg’s favorite tricks is to line case panels with thin rubber and felt, which eliminates rattle and absorbs other sounds.
Ninjafy Your PC
The average enthusiast couldn’t be blamed for thinking that you can’t have a powerful PC that’s also quiet. But making adjustments, mods, and component purchases with noise output in mind can ultimately result in a system that runs cooler, lasts longer, and performs well regardless of how hard you push it. A lowdecibel rig that makes benchmarks cry for mercy? That’s music to our ears.