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Of line conditioners and electronic noise

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:50 pm
by Avder
For some reason (sinus infection thats messing with my ears?) during the last few days, I've become incredibly aware at the amount of noise created by my computers from just being turned on. Ive been pondering various things that could be done to my machines to make them more silent. Among the various options I've found are Liquid Cooling, Quiet-Running power supplies, and low-RPM fans.

I was wondering, would adding a line conditioner reduce any of the noise produced by any of the components in my computers? Like say, the PSU, for example. Eventually my ears will revert to their normal sensitivity and I wont hear the noise again, but these last few days have been painfully enlilghtening to just how noisy 3 computer systems can be.

Anyone else have suggestions as to how best I should go about silencing my PC's?

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 6:36 pm
by BAAL
a line filter or similar type product wont affect anything inside your pc. It MAY reduce speaker humming and maybe a minor affect to the monitor when its on. other than that you are out of luck.
Is your tower resting on a hard surface?If so a rubber underpad can be helpful, as well as oiling any noisy case fans.

Watercooling will also reduce noise..albeit a rather expensive way to do it. Unless you are planning to overclock as well, i dont see this as being worth the extra $$$.

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 6:57 pm
by Krom
I use water cooling on my CPU, it is effective at getting rid of the wail from a typical high speed CPU fan. However most radiators for water coolers have 120MM fans on them, 120 MM fans still produce a clear hum, granted its softer and much less irratating then any 80MM 5700 RPM fan.

I took the silent approach in this old house, I drilled two 1/2" holes in the floor and ran the water lines through into the basement, then I mounted a 120MM delta fan on the radiator. Even though that 4000 RPM / 190 CFM fan is as loud as a freight train I can't hear it from my room. The performance is clear though, Athlon XP 1700+ chip running overclocked to 2.4 GHz/1.8v core is only 29C after running all day at 100% CPU.

The fan in my PSU is silent, I can't hear my hard drives but I can hear the fan that cools them, and the two fans on my video card, I am thinking about getting a new case to see if I can improve that. But overall I am satisfied, with my headphones on I can barely hear the fans.

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 8:47 pm
by BAAL
The Antec Sonata is a great case for deadening sound.