[clue-tech] Noisy computers

[Timothy Klein]

On 5 Mar 2005, at 9:43 AM, Angelo Bertolli wrote:

> /I ha/ve an older computer (P2) that is pretty loud when it's on.  
> Does anyone know of anything I can do to make it quieter?  I guess 
> it's the fan on the CPU that's making all the noise, but it's driving 
> me crazy.

First off, if they are ball-bearing fans (most likely), replace the 
fans.  Ball-bearing fans get noisy when they are dying.

If you have the option, upgrade case fans and CPU fan to a larger size. 
  I don't know what options are like for fan mountings on old CPUs, but 
I think there are manifolds to adapt a larger fan to a smaller mounting 
for pretty cheap.  A large fan can move the same air at a lower fan 
speed, and the higher the speed the more turbulence, thus the louder 
the fan (small fans also tend to make high frequency noise, which is 
much more annoying.

You can also get special, quiet fans.  Some Vantec model stealth fans 
were in stock at CompUSA when I was there last.  Nice fans that are 
made to be quite don't have ball-bearings -- I don't remember what it 
is that they have, but they don't make as much noise, they just work 
until they quit.

You could also make sure that vibration is dampened.  Or get some of 
that sound insulation.  Or get a doo-hickey to dial down the speed of 
fans.  A P2 doesn't really need all that much cooling, comparatively, I 
would suspect.

You could go all out and get a heat-pipe or water-cooling system :-)

(Also, check if it has any video or chipset fans -- these are often 
tiny and can make really annoying noises).

Tim
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Timothy Klein: tecce at silverklein.net
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