Getting absolutely silent

[The Terk]

Ok, my computer used to make the loudest noise and whines, and its botherin me.... so i had to take some action

Purchased and installed a Volcano 9 and Crystal Orb which significantly lowerd my noise levels, but my psu is still loud...

the question is, how can i mod the psu with a new fan? I heard it is not smart, u can die, but i gotta get that thing quiet! anyone ever do this mod, and was it safe enough? If no modding, anyone have a recommended PSU that is quiet and pumps 350+ watts?

[howste]

The fans inside power supplies are pretty standard. Some of them have the fan hard wired in, and others have a plug that plugs into the circuit board. It's simple to replace them.

You might want to let the power supply sit for a few days to let the capacitors discharge. Or, if you're careful to avoid the capacitors, or use rubber handled tools, you shouldn't get zapped. Of course if you do get zapped, don't blame me.

[grandchehaw]

I just modded my buddies PSU and I am still alive. It was very easy. I just cut the wires and spliced in the new fan. It was a standard 80mm fan. Twist the wires together and wrap it all up with some electrical tape. Good luck on your quest. I have replaced all of the stock fans in my case but now I hear my hard drives. ARGH!!!

-JR

[nomaxim]

You can replace the fans by splicing, just use caution!!!

[thekingofpain]

Id solder and heatshrink those connections rather then simply "twist and tape"---
Enermax fans are pretty cheap and quiet, maybe try one with the speed control in your p/s...

[The Terk]

yea, my hdd is makin some wicked vibrations, anyone have an idea on how to fix this? anyone else have some good pointers to making a low noise system?

PS... anyone use that sound absorber stuff?

[n3uxf]

Originally posted by The Terk
PS... anyone use that sound absorber stuff?

I have the sides of my case lined with the sound absorbing foam. It does a decent job of muffling a fair amount of the sound. I have a few sheets left if you are interested.

[The Terk]

Does it really keep the sound down that much? if so... i might consider buyin off newegg, cuz they rox0rz my box0rz

[n3uxf]

Don't have and good measurements on how much it dampens the sound, but I can tell you this: I only have to turn up the volume on the TV about 5 notches with the insulating foam on my case. (The TV is about 20 feet away from my computer). Before I installed it, I had to turn it up at least 10 notches.

[dunbar]

Ummmmmm I may be new to modding, but you should always choose a replacement fan with at least as much CFM as the original fan had!!! Lower CFM means hotter PSU; hotter PSU means PSU will be dead sooner.

Lowering the CFM guarantees sooner PSU death!!

Granted, some fans are quite noisy, for a given CFM, and with some cross referencing, you can shave 5-10 decibels of the noise in certain instances, maybe even more, possibly less; but the most common error will be to cut CFM to reduce noise, that would be bad.

One thing to consider: the finger guards on some fans might be contributing to making noise. Curved fan blades tend to make less noise vs blades with straight (leading) edges.

Anyway, look at the fan in the PSU, write down the model numbers. Then Google the model numbers, along the way you will likely find a cross reference from your model to some other manufacturers 'equivalent' model. get into the catalog pages of the fan manufacturer websites, you can frequently get a bit more CFM for the same or less noise, or less noise for the same CFM. Not a hard trade to research, IMO.

[PartsMan]

Why not isolate the PSU and move the fan inside your case .... where it still forces air through the PSU but isn't so close to the outside of the case.

[custompccases]

If you do change the fans make sure you use a fan with similar wattage usage so that you dont pull to much power. I know some ps's only allow so much wattage to go to the onboard fan. My friend had a ps with two fans he bought a clear acrylic ps cover with no fan holes on the bottom. The he went ahead and drilled a 120 mm fan hole and attached the 120mm fan with like 60 cfm and only 30db. He kept the 80mm fan out and just left the fan grill.

[Djinnmage]

I thought about doing that, but ended up shelling the money for an enermax variable fan power supply. It's bar none the quietest one I have ever heard.