Everything you need to get some peace and quiet while retaining your PC ’s performance.
Of all the things you think about when building a PC, the noise it makes isn’t usually at the top of the list. The search for more power can often leave you with a big box of noisy parts, and the way your bespoke machine sounds may only become an issue after you’ve got it up and running for the first time.
You may be designing a machine with silence as an afterthought, or peace and quiet could be your highest priority. Either way, silence is an important consideration when building a system intended for use as the hub of a home theatre, a rig assembled for use as a server, or even just a system that’ll keep humming while you’re living or sleeping in the same room. Whatever the reason behind it, it is possible to achieve a serene machine.
Assembling a silent PC requires a slightly different way of thinking from other types of custom jobs. Instead of upping your levels in terms of power, it’s time to tone it down and go for the lowest sound level stats. Noise-making components are usually rated in terms of the amount of sound they produce. There are proper standards used by acousticians to measure noise, but seeing as how sound output is usually only a key factor when choosing a sound card, the measurements taken in manufacturers’ labs may not be the best indicator. Any info you find should be a dB (decibel) rating, and this figure can be added together for all components to come up with a total sound level for the whole system. 30dB should be about silent enough.
So here’s the lowdown on banishing sound, reducing vibration and cutting down on the whirring. Whether you can’t hear yourself think and you want your existing machine to cut it out, or you’re building a new PC that needs the sonic footprint of a greenfly, we’ve put together some guidelines for banishing that wall of sound – and we’ll show you how to do it on a budget as well.
As personal computing power gets better and better, the heat produced needs to be dealt with. Just as with humans, for computers the simplest, cheapest weapon against heat is the fan. In recent years, we’ve gone from having one fan hanging out inside our machines to having a rig full of them – there’s a fan on the graphics card, one over the CPU, another to back them up and spit the excess air out of the case, and maybe more. Oh, and let’s not forget the PSU fan. We are slaves to thermodynamics.
With a view to curing the noise problem, specs have sprung up to offer a cooler and quieter time for users with lower demands. Home theatre PCs (or HTPCs) provide small machines for people who just want enough processing power for video and audio purposes. Thanks to smaller motherboard designs such as Mini-ITX, these devices eat up far less power and need less effort to cool. Their small, lightweight casing and components are an advantage in the low-noise stakes.
Cool it
So the first step along the path to your new, silent machine is getting rid of the fans – or they’ve got to become less of a problem, depending on how much money you have to spend. The big bucks will get you alternatives; pocket change will get you compromises.
Attempting to do away with fans altogether are alternative systems such as water cooling. Disposing of heat using the conductivity of water and not with airflow is an effective – but expensive – consideration. Water coolers aren’t the hazard they were once thought to be, but they’re by no means the dominant choice for heat reduction.
Technological development has also brought us the option to buy more efficient, less noisy versions of the traditional fan. Special anti-vibration models can cost a little extra, but they could be a good sonic compromise.
Take control
Certain types of fan be can controlled, enabling you to increase and decrease their rotation at will, or to set upper and lower boundaries to be controlled by software. The speed of a fan (or several) has a direct impact on the noise generated both by the fan and by the air it’s shifting. A brief look at your fan’s motherboard connection will show you whether it connects using two pins or four. The two-pin model uses those wires for power only, while the additional wires in a four-pin model will provide the opportunity to control its speed.
If you’re running a four-pin fan, you can download software to take control of it. Finding the right software to interface with your components usually depends on your motherboard – Fan Xpert works with ASUS motherboards, for example, while Almico’s SpeedFan serves a wider range of hardware. With software, you can dial in minimum and maximum fan speeds, as well as, potentially, shutdown temperatures for if things get too hot. It’s also possible to select minimum and maximum rates for four-pin fans in your PC’s BIOS setup.
Doing this will cut down on the din some of the time, when fans aren’t needed, but they’ll still be intrusive when the load placed on your system becomes higher. However, bear in mind that the controlling system is only as good as the temperature sensors on your motherboard – old or dysfunctional thermometers could be giving you the wrong reading, which could lead to component meltdown.
Sink it
Heatsinks are actually the front-line defence against overheating components, and while they may be chunks of metal, more efficient designs are also available that can give your noisier, hot-air-sucking components an easier time. It could be worth investing in better heatsinks – depending on the quality of what you have already, and the budget at your disposal – in order to take the pressure off the fans you mount on top.
Cutting down the number of fans in your machine may not be the only solution to fan noise, though. The design of the case plays a large part in the efficiency of cooling, and the layout, design and materials used in your casing play a part, too. Get the right case and it’ll not only allow a better chance for things to cool, but it’ll also direct the airflow, getting everything where it’s supposed to be and cutting down on noisecausing turbulence.
Bad vibrations
Spinning drives and transformer circuitry also contribute to that low, humming, white-noise sound you hear when you switch on a PC. Laptop users will know the difference a disc can make – start a laptop with a CD in the drive and there’s often a noticeable difference in the hum. On a similar note, a classic HDD is also made up of spinning discs, which add to the overall noise coming from your machine. Low-noise HDDs are available, but consider trying out a solid-state storage solution if you’re aiming for silence.
If you’re going for total noise reduction, consider taking additional steps in the nuts and bolts – literally – of your machine. A moving component attached directly and rigidly to your case transmit its vibrations immediately through it. The further the vibrations travel – perhaps to the floor and outward – the louder your system will be, potentially reaching other rooms.
Fitting rubber gaskets between components and the case may reduce unwanted vibrations like these. Similarly, HDD enclosures can provide an extra layer of insulation. By wrapping up your drive, they not only cut down on some of the sound but, depending on your model, could provide some anti-vibrational cushioning against the sides of your case. Rubber feet on the case could also dampen sound to keep it from transmitting through the floor, but they’re hardly the front-line of noise reduction.
Total isolation
Acoustic foam blocks may be recommended on your search for a placid dream machine, but take these with a pinch of salt. While they may be said to offer help in isolating your noise problems, they aren’t likely to be the right solution specifically for use inside computers. Some go the whole hog and wrap the case in acoustic foam. In reality, though, unless the entire box is isolated, there’s still plenty of opportunity for sound to escape through the cracks, and insulating foam will only ramp up the heat problems back inside the machine.
Outside the box
It’s not just the buzzing of your tower that disturbs your tranquility. Other options for cutting down the racket are at your fingertips. Special quiet keyboards are available to turn that 1930s typewriter into a joyful glide for the fingers; and a wireless mouse with the right mousepad could make a difference to others around you. The chances are, though, that this isn’t the biggest priority on your hit list.
If possible, would you actually be better off using longer cables or wireless solutions, and moving your PC out of the way altogether?