Computer guys, how to reduce the noise from cooling fan

Rocker

As the title says, the fan on my computer makes a loud whirring sound. Loud enough to be distracting. Replace the fan? Yes, but which one is very quiet? Thanks

Gadget

http://quietpc.co.uk/

ToneControl

it's a long fruitless path. I tried it. It's just not possible to get quiet enough for recording, unless you have a lower CPU power, SSD and water cooling

Easiest and best option is to cut a 4 inch diameter hole into the next room, and store the PC in there

ecc83

"it's a long fruitless path."

Well I am sorry TC but I must disagree! Our first computer, a PCWorld special was indeed too noisy for anything but cab recording. Biut then I bought an HP Win7 64 bit tower and that is remarkable quiet. So quiet in fact that you can record an acoustic guitar in the same (small, 12x12x8.5 feet) room with SDC mics no bother.

I am typing on an HP i3 laptop and that is also very quiet, again easily AC git or speech friendly.

Last year I built a PC based on an Asus MOBO and an AMD 3.6G 6 core cpu. That is also very quiet except for slightly noisy "naked" 7200rpm drive which I intend to sleeve at some point.

OP, look on the web for "be quiet" fans, the ones with the "petal" moulded blades. You need a 200mm or so slow jobbie or two.

BTW even with a noisy..ish PC you can work wonders with a "GOBO" that's a heavy board, chipboard, better 1"MDF, one side faced with absorbent material. Put in front of noisy PC.

Dave.

PolarityMan

ToneControl said:

it's a long fruitless path. I tried it. It's just not possible to get quiet enough for recording, unless you have a lower CPU power, SSD and water cooling

Easiest and best option is to cut a 4 inch diameter hole into the next room, and store the PC in there

Recorded our entire album using a desktop that while dos use quieter components is still air cooled.

randomhandclaps

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Rocker

randomhandclaps said:

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Yes, many times.  Actually this suggestion works with other troublesome electronics so thanks for that.  Tomorrow I will open up the box and take a good look inside.  The sound is a medium to high pitch whine, might be caused by the hard drive, unlikely as this drive was quiet before the computer upgrade [8 GB RAM & NVIDIA video card with 2 GB RAM]

Mick

Sounds more like the fan bearing making the noise.  Even the one on the graphics card if it has one. 

Freebird

Record to an iPad or a new fan-less Broadwell PC?

PermanentWaves

I had exactly the same problem as you. I changed fans and only the noticed a small fan underneath the graphics card, A new graphics card cured the noise and also gave the machine a boost. I also upgraded the power unit so it didn't need to work so hard

axisus

I had a noisy fan in a mac. Swapped it out for another one and it was OK. Dodgy unit.

Fuzzdog

Power supplies are another big source of noise - I replaced all the fans in my machine with super quiet ones but it was still noisy, so I recently replaced the PSU with a nice quiet one, and had to double check the PC was actually on when I first fired it up. )

If you don't use the PC for games, go for a passively cooled video card.  Couple that with a nice big, slow case fan and one of the quiet CPU fans which are available, and you can certainly get the noise down to 'record in the same room' levels, if not quite 'record with a sensitive mic next to the PC' silence.

SSD's are also wonderful for shutting up a noisy PC - you don't realise just how much noise traditional hard drives make until they're not there any more.

ecc83

Re graph cards.

The Ausus I mentioned does not have on board graphics so I had to splurge 30quid at Maplins for a passively cooled card.

This ran too hot for my (tronics tekky!) liking so I bought an 80mm BQ fan and propped it up with some semi-rigid foam to blow on the heatsink. Now finger friendly forever!

Dave.

digitalscream

Is it the CPU fan that's causing the noise? If so, remove the fan from the heatsink and try getting rid of all the dust that's accumulated on the heatsink itself - there's often a "carpet" of the stuff that's blocking the airflow and thus causing the fan to run at a much higher speed than it needs to.

Also, get a wet wipe and clean the fan blades themselves; unbalanced fan blades will cause nasty noises too.

The most you should be hearing is a rushing of air under normal circumstances (ie low load).

joeyowen

Record the fan noise, then invert the polarity .. something something .. remove it

Ok that probs won't work heh

Buy compressed air to try and clear the dust

Make sure the vents are clean

Check for heavy 'background' processes that you might not realise are running

Take it to a PC shop and get them to switch the fan, (be careful trying your self it can go wrong if not done correctly if the heat sink paste isn't removed/applied right)

Out of interest, what spec is the comp?

Is it noisy when first turned on? Or just when big programmes are opened? 

Heartfeltdawn

First establish what fan it is making the noise (CPU, graphics card/case fan/power supply fan). 

There are plenty of ways to make things quieter. My main computer is located inside a Fractal Define R4 case that has excellent soundproofing on that. PSU is a Nexus Value 430w which is very quiet and was absurdly cheap when I bought it. Stuff like Seasonic would be quieter. I have no case fans on and no fan on the graphics card (an old HD4670 which is going to be upgraded soon). The CPU is an AMD FX6 6300 which has a TDP of 95 watts, meaning it runs pretty warm. Stuck a Noctua NH-14US cooler and fan on it operating at 7 volts (I think) and it keeps that CPU temp bang on 51'C. No SSD to speak so and it still runs very quietly indeed. 

GuyBoden

Use a SSD (harddisk), replace the noisy fans and then glue black insulation foam to the insides of the case.

Rocker

@joeyowen, computer info as requested:

System
Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard   Model HP Compaq dx2400 Microtower   Total amount of system memory 8.00 GB RAM   System type 64-bit operating system   Number of processor cores 2

Storage
Total size of hard disk(s) 1397 GB   Disk partition (C:) 105 GB Free (466 GB Total)   Media drive (D:) CD/DVD   Disk partition (E:) 632 GB Free (932 GB Total)

Graphics
Display adapter type NVIDIA GeForce 6600   Total available graphics memory 2287 MB         Dedicated graphics memory 256 MB         Dedicated system memory 0 MB         Shared system memory 2031 MB   Display adapter driver version 9.18.13.783   Primary monitor resolution 1280x1024   DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better

Network
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)

Rocker

There are four fans in the computer, PSU, Processor, Graphics card, Case.  The processor was covered in dust which I vacuumed out, all the fans had an accumulation of dirt and dust which I cleaned off.  Seems to be a bit quieter now.  Do I really need the case fan as I only use the computer for Excel, Word, Internet and Music [Sonos & Squeezebox]?

Thanks.

Heartfeltdawn

So it's a 2 core CPU, up toIntel Core 2 Duo E8600, max TDP therefore of 65 watts so it's not going to get that hot. Probably stock fan so shite cooling made even shitter by the dust. 300 watt power supply, probably noisy. Graohics card has fan, probably noisy. 

This is what I would and wouldn't do:

Dump the power supply. Get something like this if you're on a real budget but want something much quieter:

Graphics card - dump it. Buy a cheap passive card.

CPU cooler - again, dump it. It really depends on your budget. I'm in the process of rebuilding my father's PC and will be sticking an Arctic Cooling Freezer on his machine as it gets the balance right between cost and sound output. He doesn't need a silent/near silent fan. 

SSD - I wouldn't bother. Sticking an SSD on a Core Duo 2 machine is like putting a V12 engine in a Vauxhall Viva. Plenty of better ways to improve the system. 

Rocker

Thanks @Heartfeltdawn, the video card is new so it has to stay.  The PSU is something I will look into....  Thanks.