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Silent PC rig?
JC:
If you're building a new PC, the rule of thumb is to use components that use less power, because they will generate less heat, therefore you will need less airflow and consequently your system will be quieter. If you're tweaking an existing system, there are a few specific things you can do to improve airflow and reduce noise levels.
There are some excellent CPU air coolers available for about $50, as well as case coolers for around $5. These are nigh silent. There are also passive cooled solutions you can add to your existing video card.
A fantastic resource for building silent PCs is silentpcreview.com. I highly recommend their reviews and product comparisons.
I consider myself an expert on air cooling so feel free to send me a PM with your setup and I can give you some specific advice.
Cheers,
JC
DrFrag:
There's no computer fast enough to run all the roms, so I'll assume you mean most of them. For a completely silent solution, there's a huge case by Thermalright that uses only heatpipes. But it costs something like $1000, so that's kind of extreme.
Those points aside, my recommendations are:
Try to get a "silent" case, like the Antec P150 (aka SOLO I think). It's made from thick steel with some kind of rubber padding that cuts down on noise. They're heavy, but muffle the noise.
Avoid using any fans smaller than 120mm. They make a *lot* of noise. I mentioned the Antec P150 - I should point out it only takes 80mm fans on the front. That's not so good.
Try to get a motherboard that uses heatpipes instead of fans for the chipset cooling. I know some Gigabyte motherboards do, I'm sure there are plenty of others. Check the product photos on manufacturer web sites.
Aim for a Core 2 Duo CPU. They use less power and generate less heat, so there's less fan noise. I guess the low end CPUs like the E1200 should be the quietest. If you need more power, the E8200 uses a 45nm design and runs pretty cool. Underclock your CPU if you like.
For your graphics card, if you're not going with onboard, get one with passive cooling. I'm using a GeForce 8500 and it doesn't even need a fan. Just make sure there's case airflow going past it.
For hard drives, fewer is better. Western Digital have released a 640GB drive that only has 2 platters, which should mean less noise. I believe there's a single-platter 320GB drive available or available soon.
Make sure you have good cable management in your case, and set your airflow to run from the lower front towards the upper back (in general). Connect any case fans and PSU fans to motherboard headers, so the heat sensors can run them slower when possible.
I've found many retail processors with heatsinks don't have the thermal paste properly applied. So if you know what you're doing (or know someone who does), then remove them and reapply your own thermal paste. Better heat spreading means better cooling, so the fans don't have to spin as fast.
There are a few other things you can do like mount your hard drives on rubber grommets, but I personally can't tell the difference.
If that all sounds like too much work, see if you can get hold of one of those slim form factor office computers (Dell and HP make some, I think). They run pretty quiet.
Don't be afraid to use low-end name-brand components. They're often slower, and therefore cooler and quieter.
Ginsu Victim:
--- Quote from: pmc on April 20, 2008, 09:48:18 am ---My MAME PC is fine inside the cabinet but my main computer is loaded with fans and hard-drives and it sounds like a jet.
-pmc
--- End quote ---
I hear ya! I have a total of seven fans in my main system. I can never hear a word my wife says.....or maybe that's just me being me.....
SavannahLion:
DrFrag is probably the only one that mentioned it, but I'd like to go into greater detail about it.
--- Quote from: DrFrag on April 20, 2008, 11:06:55 am ---Avoid using any fans smaller than 120mm. They make a *lot* of noise. I mentioned the Antec P150 - I should point out it only takes 80mm fans on the front. That's not so good.
--- End quote ---
The bigger the fan, the more air they move. That much is obvious. What a lot of people seem to forget to realize is that a nice big fan can run at a lower RPM to move the same amount of air as a much smaller fan running at a much higher RPM. This translates into the most obvious, much less noise.
Now, think about it. You're not building a PC with tight space requirements. You're building an arcade cabinet with enough room to fit six and a half clowns in. Why restrict yourself to using the traditional 80mm and 120mm fans? Go for broke and get 300mm or larger fan. Work out the airflow arrangements and mount that sucker.
Watch your voltage and amperage requirements though. I've purchased my fair share of fans that I thought would be drop-ins on some projects only to find they need some oddball (for a PC) voltage. They all ended up working fine, just the time it took for the additional circuitry.
RetroJames:
Not sure if your cabinet is enclosed yet but I have a similar setup. PC is below the monitor in a cut corner dynamo cab. The thing is loud as can be but once I put the cabinet back on, the plexi over the monitor, and got locks for the coindoor, it purrs like a kitten.
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