Tips for making PC quieter?

ormus

you look in the bios. only on some computers/mobos, not all.
some SW let you change the settings. inc the voltage.

NastyMatt

What case do you have? Do you have a link to the machine? To be honest if it's a new machine then the psu will be able to handle any new case fan.

Got to remember when you go into the bios the cpu is not under load so the fan spins slowly.. then it's all sounds nice and quiet. Fire any apps up and the cpu starts to generate more heat and rightly so your fan has to speed up to compensate.

If at low speeds the fan is quiet you need cooler air to the cpu/fan. A fan can only cool the cpu to the ambient temperature (no lower) so if the heat in the case is high you are simply pumping hot air over cpu. A case fan at the lower front dragging cool air in and a case fan at the back top pumping your hot air out will really help.

Amalea

Rev wrote: »

Sorry didn't see this. It's a Nvidia 7300GT, I don't game so at all so I got the cheapest card they had in with a silent heatsink. Went for silent because every card I've had before it with a fan, the fan has gone wrong.

Not the graphics card then. I agree with others though regarding case fans, as it does sound like what I thought-that the existing fans are having to work that much harder. Bear in mind that although you may only have temp monitor for CPU the other components (eg RAM and Motherboard) can still get hot and take damage.

I have a fairly quiet PC, and only picks up in games (6800 GS so quite a bit more powerful than a 7300 GT). My components are:

PSU-I actually have the 485W version but its no longer listed: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-EN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=111

Case-bigger cases=more airflow, bigger fans=quieter case, plus it comes with optional wheels which is much better for moving it!:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-005-AK&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=507

Case Fans-120mm, nice and big so low RPM:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-024-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

CPU Cooler-again nice and big, low RPM and keeps other components cool, although getting the RAM in next to it was a bit tricker, its huge with the heatsink:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-031-ZA&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=821

I'm not saying these are necessarily what you need to get, but just some things to look at for reference.

NastyMatt

I am a gamer and build my own rigs and OC and this is what I am running:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-065-AN&tool=3

It is a stunning case when it comes to cooling.. standard it has 4 fans... you'd think it would be too loud... all fans on low you can barely hear it. Space for another mobo fan and even holes for water cooling at the rear.

Rev

The PC was bought at the local PC fair and I changed the PSU and CPU fan before even switching it on and installing windows. I prefer to use decent PSU's as opposed to cheap generic ones, and I've used Arctic CPU fans for years without problem, so I chose the Freezer 7.

There's isn't room in the case for a fan in the lower front of the case I have, just the side and the back.

I am hoping to change the case in the next few months, but cash just wont allow me to right now. I'll be getting the Antec Solo Mini tower.