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[Black Sheep]

  ....... if you leave yer graphing scripts at home, it's a done deal BE. 

[sheddyian]

PC noise is down to case design.  And that's down to cost, really.

I'm typing this on one of my "found" PCs, dual core Athlon XP 64 running Windows XP.  It's a fancy looking unbranded case, probably designed for a small business server.  Quite a lot of fans in it, and filters too to stop dirt getting sucked in.

BIOS settings have options to adjust speed of fans based on measured temperatures.

I've tweaked this as optimally as I can, as a result, it's lovely and quiet as I power it up, but the fans gradually get faster  as it warms up.  It has an almost revving-engine effect, as when you're hammering it hard (video conversion, driving around in Google Street view), the fans speed up noisily as the processor gets worked hard.  All good fun 

That said, I've also got an HP PC here that is incredibly quiet.  Not silent, but very quiet.  It has fans, again temp controlled, but the case design is such that efficient airflow is achieved quietly.

A bit of googling will find you "silent" power supplies, CPU coolers etc for PCs, if you care to pay the premium.

Ian

[sevenlayermuddle]

I agree that the are indeed 'silent' PSUs and fans for sale.  But whilst those I have tried (for my ION mythtv frontends) are impressive compared to standard cheapo fans, and can be made even quieter by using BIOS fan control, or even just a manual fan speed control, when you sit in the lounge with no other noise and listen carefully, they are distinctly not truly silent.

My Mac Mini in contrast is completely silent.  The only way to tell if it is powered up is to look at the stanby light.   I often find myself touching the case to make sure the cooling s actually operational and it is always absolutely stone cold, really quite miraculous.  I assumed it was passive cooling to begin with, but apparently not.  There is an interesting article here that describes (in Apple patent papers) how some of it is achieved.  This is for the modern Mac Mini, mine's an earlier one, but interesting all the same.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/12/apple-reveals-the-mac-mini-from-design-to-removable-hard-drive.html

But I must admit  I do agree with the other criticisms of Apple, such as price and upgradeability.  And I must confess, despite having the Mac and Linux too boxes too close at hand, I have a windows PC too that I could never manage without.   

[kitz]

PC noise is down to case design.  And that's down to cost, really.

I'm typing this on one of my "found" PCs, dual core Athlon XP 64 running Windows XP.  It's a fancy looking unbranded case, probably designed for a small business server.  Quite a lot of fans in it, and filters too to stop dirt getting sucked in.

BIOS settings have options to adjust speed of fans based on measured temperatures.

I've tweaked this as optimally as I can, as a result, it's lovely and quiet as I power it up, but the fans gradually get faster  as it warms up.  It has an almost revving-engine effect, as when you're hammering it hard (video conversion, driving around in Google Street view), the fans speed up noisily as the processor gets worked hard.  All good fun 

That said, I've also got an HP PC here that is incredibly quiet.  Not silent, but very quiet.  It has fans, again temp controlled, but the case design is such that efficient airflow is achieved quietly.

A bit of googling will find you "silent" power supplies, CPU coolers etc for PCs, if you care to pay the premium.

Ian

I too opted for a quiet system, it was one of my requirements hence the CoolerMaster case & PSU, addin quiet fans and an artic cooler for the CPU.  My system didn't cost the earth.   However these are the sort of things that the likes of Dell don't seem to consider.   

Saying that my last PC was a median, and to give them their due they did try set up a half decent quiet system, but I also at some point added in some Zalmans for cooling purposes, which made it quiet even when going at full pelt.

For the extra it cost me to get a quiet, cool system, I'm pretty sure some of the pc manufacturers could pump out something that would only add about an extra £30 to the build cost if they did it in bulk.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be a strong selling point on PCs.

It must be entirely possible though because look at laptops and how compact they are..  One costing about half the price of an entry spec iMac.  I really am surprised that there isnt more of a market for it and there must be a missing gap there.

...and no BS I'm not having a pop at anyone for buying iMacs..  I strongly believe in choice...  After all who am I to judge because someone had a pop at me ealier for getting a pedigree kitten from a breeder, saying I sould have got a rescue cat, making out that breeders were evil people only in it for the money.   How damn ironic if they only knew the truth but I cba to waste energy on some embicile and argue the toss.

If someone wants to buy a lada, ford or BMW then thats up to them.

[asbokid]

Here is la creme de la creme of fanless CPU coolers - the Nofan CR-95C IcePipe Cooler.   At £70+VAT it costs about, erm, seventy times more than I paid for the last CPU (99p) 

Not really justifiable - a bit like putting Pirelli racing slicks on a Nissan Micra!

It's huge - nearly 8 inches in diameter     And it needs to be fitted in a case with a grill at the top to let out the heat. Hmm.



Making a totally silent PC seems like searching for the holy grail.. you never quite get there.. it's always..just over the next hill!

cheers, a

[HPsauce]

My nieghbour has an effectively silent server in his house.
It's in a tiny box, no fans just a biggish external heat sink, SSD so no moving parts. Not sure what OS it runs.
Though I expect the (external) PSU has a low hum if you listen carefully....

[Black Sheep]

Here is la creme de la creme of fanless CPU coolers - the Nofan CR-95C IcePipe Cooler.   At £70+VAT it costs about, erm, seventy times more than I paid for the last CPU (99p) 

Not really justifiable - a bit like putting Pirelli racing slicks on a Nissan Micra!

It's huge - nearly 8 inches in diameter     And it needs to be fitted in a case with a grill at the top to let out the heat. Hmm.



Making a totally silent PC seems like searching for the holy grail.. you never quite get there.. it's always..just over the next hill!cheers, a

I'm the guy that lives just over the next hill then, Asbo !!  Can't hear a thing when my baby is switched on.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I'm the guy that lives just over the next hill then, Asbo !!  Can't hear a thing when my baby is switched on.

I believe you BS, even if the others are sceptical 

Is it just me, or is there something about Asbo's picture of the IcePipe Cooler that is somehow reminiscent (adapted for scale) of the time machine in the 60's film of the HG Wells novel ?    Makes me want one even more.

[burakkucat]

Is it just me, or is there something about Asbo's picture of the IcePipe Cooler that is somehow reminiscent (adapted for scale) of the time machine in the 60's film of the HG Wells novel ?

My initial thought was "Water wheel".

[silversurfer44]

I thought it was something to keep the hamster happy

[kitz]

I thought it was something to keep the hamster happy

[Black Sheep]

I'm the guy that lives just over the next hill then, Asbo !!  Can't hear a thing when my baby is switched on.

I believe you BS, even if the others are sceptical 

I know you do 7LM.  Once the folk on 'The Dark Side' have their eyes opened, and they let Apple into their hearts ........ then they too will know quiet, peace and harmony. I'm afraid that until that day arrives, they will just have to put up with that awful, constant whirring noise in the background, or ...... connect Asbo's hamster wheel to their towers ??!! 

[silversurfer44]

I would really love to have peace quite harmony BS.
The thing is I have tinnitus and always have whistling, ringing going on in my head.
I really would love to know what quite sounds like.
That's another story though.

[Black Sheep]

Thats a real shame SS. A few of our guys have got that, and it sounds (pardon the pun) horrendous !! My sympathies.

[kitz]

Its the NAS box fan that makes the noise in my room :/   PC is fine...  at least the NAS only fires up when accessed for backups etc, would do my head in if that was on all the time.