A quieter CPU

[Krishno22]

What have you guys done to quiet down your cpu?

I know that the obvious answer is to buy a good (quiet) fan.

I just built a 1.4 Athlon with an AMD fan. It runs pretty loud. I notice that the new Dells at the school I teach at run so quiet I can't even hear them (sometimes I have to check the power light to even see if I turned them on).

I noticed that they have this nice green vacuum looking vent that fits over the heatsink and fan and connects directly to the case to insure better ventalation.

Any ideas for making my AMD quieter?

[Sterling_Aug]

I prefer to put a very noisy fan in my case so I can't even hear the processor fan....LOL

[jokostel]

i listen to music all of the time... it helps dumm out the noise...


jokostel

[Szech]

I finally got my RMA'd motherboard back, and I'm re-hooking up my water cooling setup. When all the air bubbles are bled out of the lines, my pump only puts out a small hum. I don't have a fan on my heat exchanger, so the only noise my computer makes is from the power supply fan and the hard drive when it is at full throttle.

Keep in mind that even if you eliminate the noise from cooling the processor, the power supply and the drives can still be pretty noisy. Since I have my heat exchanger outside my case, I figure it would be safe for me to switch the fan out for a quieter, lower output one.

[Brangwen]

krishno22:

In response to your post:

I know that the obvious answer is to buy a good (quiet) fan.

Actually, not just a quiet fan. A well-sealed case will help a lot! My Inwin (which houses my 1.4 GHz CPU) is a full-tower aluminium case with very tight fitting sides. With 7 fans (not counting the one on the CPU) my case is very quiet. Admittedly, it is on casters and sits on the floor, but it is only 24" from my right arm.

Regarding the Dells at the school where you teach, what speed are the CPUs? For example my wife's Pentium III desktop "noise" is barely audible.

You wrote:

I noticed that they have this nice green vacuum looking vent that fits over the heatsink and fan and connects directly to the case to insure better ventalation.

Those "vent" like structures have a name which escapes me... I've seen them on the Net at various computer cooling sites. I'm certain someone here will supply the name to you. At least one member here has posted a photo of one mounted in his computer. The idea is to either get cool air directly to the CPU fan or to exhaust heat from the CPU through the vent. I believe these "vents" have a fan mounted in them. I do not know much about them but I know they exist. :)

Good luck.

Brangwen ;)

[Krishno22]

The Dells are refurbished 1 Ghz GX150 towers. The cases are great. They have the easiest cases that I've ever worked with. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for making a large lab. I got each computer $625 each with 15 inch monitors.

Best deal I've gotten so far.

[Szech]

Brangwen, is "duct" the word you're looking for?

They work quite well. Here's a link (http://fordpinto.homestead.com/CpuAirDuct.html) to the one I set up for my mother (in case you haven't seen it :) ). The fan on the processor's heatsink only circulates air within the case and over the heatsink. Therefore, you are relying on case airflow to keep processor temperatures down. Ducting not only assures the HSF is getting fresh air, it also prevents the air from recirculating.