26 Feb
2006
26 Feb
'06
11:31 a.m.
Hello,
I have been playing with DRC and Brutefir for room correction and
digital crossover capabilities. The results have been positive and now
would like to quiet down one of my PC's in order to keep it in my stereo
system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
or something that is easy to configure in Linux). I can't afford the
expensive fanless PC cases (heat pipe style).
For those who have tried to silence their PC, any information on the
component brands and model numbers that you have had success with would
be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Alan
26 Feb
26 Feb
11:43 a.m.
On 2/26/06, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com <aljordan(a)maine.rr.com> wrote:
Hello,
I have been playing with DRC and Brutefir for room correction and
digital crossover capabilities. The results have been positive and now
would like to quiet down one of my PC's in order to keep it in my stereo
system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
or something that is easy to configure in Linux). I can't afford the
expensive fanless PC cases (heat pipe style).
For those who have tried to silence their PC, any information on the
component brands and model numbers that you have had success with would
be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Alan
Hi Alan,
I'm using a Cooler Master case. The closest I could find on their
site today is this one:
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/CoolerMaster/Products.aspx?pid=118
In that I've got an Antec 500 W power supply. Closest available today
looks like this one:
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_p_NeoHE.html
On top of the AMD64 I've got a Zalman fan. I got it from NewEgg. It's
this one or one very similar:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118112
I use a moderately priced VGA with no fan so no noise. The whole box
is very quiet, but not silent. It makes far less noise than my Win XP
machine but is not as quiet as my Mac Mini.
Hope this helps,
Mark
11:49 a.m.
I forgot to add that my computers are quieter than the florescent
lights in the room where they run.
Cheers....
--
Kevin
11:47 a.m.
On 26 February 2006 at 10:31, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com wrote:
For those who have tried to silence their PC, any
information on the
component brands and model numbers that you have had success with would
be much appreciated.
I've quieted 2 PCs. In my estimation the most important components,
in order, are quiet disks, quiet case fans, quiet CPU fan, quiet
power supply, and case quieting foam. For these components the best
I could find, in the same order are Seagate Barracuda, AcoustiFan,
Zalman, Q Technology (in my Athlon 64-X2 machine), and AcoustiFoam.
I got all these mail order through QuietPC USA <http://www.quietpcusa.com/>
Their sales guy, Steve Farnsworth, was really helpful. I've probably
bought stuff from them a dozen times. I exchanged an unused power supply
once -- I decided to upgrade my AT motherboard to ATX after I bought
the supply -- and I thought they were very fair. Their AcoustiCase
deal, buying a case with precut foam, is pretty cool.
Best of luck.
--
Kevin
12:55 p.m.
Hallo,
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com hat gesagt: // aljordan(a)maine.rr.com wrote:
I have been playing with DRC and Brutefir for room
correction and
digital crossover capabilities. The results have been positive and now
would like to quiet down one of my PC's in order to keep it in my stereo
system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
or something that is easy to configure in Linux). I can't afford the
expensive fanless PC cases (heat pipe style).
Check out http://silentpcreview.com for lots of good hardware reviews
with a focus on silentness. For a gfx-card I would recommend to stay
away from NVidia and Ati, instead go for a Matrox G400/G450/G550. Dead
cheap now on *bay, stable open source drivers, zero noise, wonderful
quality, dual head, low power consumption etc. Beats the crap out of
everything, NVidia ever did, in everything but 3D-performance.
CPU fans: Try without a CPU fan, it works. You may want to go with
Scythe-coolers or the Thermalright HR-01, which is easier to install:
http://silentpcreview.com/article290-page1.html
Then you may want to add a silent 12" fan to your case's back outlet,
or maybe the power supply's fan is enough.
For cases I don't have any recommendation. Just make sure it is big
enough to be able to mount one of the big heatsinks to your CPU.
Bigger often is better here.
Ciao
--
Frank Barknecht _ ______footils.org_ __goto10.org__
1:52 p.m.
> I have been playing with DRC and Brutefir for
room correction and
> digital crossover capabilities. The results have been positive and now
> would like to quiet down one of my PC's in order to keep it in my stereo
> system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
> 64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
> or something that is easy to configure in Linux). I can't afford the
> expensive fanless PC cases (heat pipe style).
I have built several quiet systems and I really like
http://www.directron.com/ for parts. They even have a section of their
website specifically about building quiet systems.
For CPU fans, I have had excellent experiences with Zalman products
(they even make an ultra quiet power supply but it's kind of expensive).
It sounds like you're just upgrading an existing computer but, for what
it's worth, I just got a retail box AMD 64 X2 and the fan it comes with
is extremely quiet. A 3rd party sink/fan isn't even necessary.
I haven't tried all the case fans that directron recommends for quiet
systems but, of the ones I have tried, the Panaflo fans have been the
best. They generally provide more airflow than others and are still as
quiet if not quieter.
I use a Radeon 9200 video card which does not have a fan and works very
well in my new Debian Sid system (without any tinkering). Looking at the
pictures of video cards on Directron, it looks like there are several
fairly cheap cards (both Radeon and GeForce based) that don't have fans.
I don't have any experience with the GeForce cards but I have had 3
different Radeon cards and they all worked easily in Linux.
27 Feb
27 Feb
6:12 a.m.
Check out http://silentpcreview.com for lots of good
hardware reviews
with a focus on silentness. For a gfx-card I would recommend to stay
away from NVidia and Ati, instead go for a Matrox G400/G450/G550.
There are several fanless nvidia and ati cards. I have a fanless
nvidia fx5200, and I know that there are some fanless ati 9600.
Performancewise, they beat the matroxes, and they are easier to
find.
maarten
26 Feb
26 Feb
4:38 p.m.
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com writes:
silence their PC
Zalman Reserator water cooling for GPU, CPU and chipset; 1dB SPL,
unbeatable.
Then get a fanless PSU from thermaltake, 0dB SPL, unbeatable.
The only thing making noise now, is the hd. I'm working on setting up
remote boot, but I have some issues with running apps locally. When I
figure it out, there will be no sound detectable at all;). (well, 2dB
SPL)
There is also 1dB SPL from my LCD, it seems.
--
Esben Stien is b0ef@e s a
http://www. s t n m
irc://irc. b - i . e/%23contact
[sip|iax]: e e
jid:b0ef@ n n
4:45 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 23:28 +0100, Esben Stien wrote:
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com writes:
You could experiment with laptop mode where all writes are deferred as
long as possible. With enough RAM and sane apps this should cause the
disk to stay spun down most of the time.
Lee
silence their PC
Zalman Reserator water cooling for GPU, CPU and chipset; 1dB SPL,
unbeatable.
Then get a fanless PSU from thermaltake, 0dB SPL, unbeatable.
The only thing making noise now, is the hd. I'm working on setting up
remote boot, but I have some issues with running apps locally. When I
figure it out, there will be no sound detectable at all;). (well, 2dB
SPL)
There is also 1dB SPL from my LCD, it seems.
4:50 p.m.
On 26 Feb 2006, at 22:28, Esben Stien wrote:
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com writes:
Pump noise, I assume?
silence their PC
Zalman Reserator water cooling for GPU, CPU and chipset; 1dB SPL,
unbeatable. Then get a fanless PSU from thermaltake, 0dB SPL,
unbeatable.
Surely -INF dB SPL?
The only thing making noise now, is the hd. I'm
working on setting up
remote boot, but I have some issues with running apps locally. When I
figure it out, there will be no sound detectable at all;). (well, 2dB
SPL)
It doesn't add like that!
Regards, Dan.
7:05 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 14:49 -0800, Kevin Cosgrove wrote:
On 26 February 2006 at 20:50, Dan Mills
<dmills(a)spamblock.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Heh, maybe active noise suppression (where you measure the noise in
realtime and suppress it by generating the inverse waveform) is the way
to go - has anyone tried this approach for silencing a PC?
Lee
Surely -INF dB SPL?
Negative dB would imply that the unit absorbs sound. Do you think it
does that? 0dB indicates it neither creates nor absorbs sound.
7:36 p.m.
On 26 Feb 2006, at 22:49, Kevin Cosgrove wrote:
On 26 February 2006 at 20:50, Dan Mills
<dmills(a)spamblock.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Err No!
0dB indicates a signal having the same power as the reference (in
this case 0dB indicates a signal having an amplitude of 20uPa). Note
that referencing a scale based on power to a pressure level is a
little unnatural, but as long as the base pressure and viscosity are
constant it can be done.
No power is -infinity in any dB scale by definition, and Negative dB
levels are routinely encountered, for example a transmitter may be
specified as having an output of 20dBm, or -10dbW, these two are
equivalent it is just that one is referenced to 1mW, the other to 1W.
Regards, Dan.
Surely -INF dB SPL?
Negative dB would imply that the unit absorbs sound. Do you think it
does that? 0dB indicates it neither creates nor absorbs sound. 
7:41 p.m.
On Sun, Feb 26, 2006 at 11:36:26PM +0000, Dan Mills wrote:
0dB indicates a signal having the same power as the
reference (in
this case 0dB indicates a signal having an amplitude of 20uPa). Note
that referencing a scale based on power to a pressure level is a
little unnatural, but as long as the base pressure and viscosity are
constant it can be done.
IIRC the brownian motion of air molecules is not so far below 0dB.
--
FA
9:11 p.m.
Dan Mills <dmills(a)spamblock.demon.co.uk> writes:
Pump noise, I assume?
Yeah, a very low hum sound. I can live with this sound. Maybe I hear
it better when I get the damn hd away;). We need solid state storage.
Surely -INF dB SPL?
I'm not able to hear anything from it;).
It doesn't add like that!
Well, I haven't measured the 1dB SPL, either;)
--
Esben Stien is b0ef@e s a
http://www. s t n m
irc://irc. b - i . e/%23contact
[sip|iax]: e e
jid:b0ef@ n n
8:20 p.m.
On 2/26/06, Esben Stien <b0ef(a)esben-stien.name> wrote:
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com writes:
Boot from a floppy or CD which is then unused after the system is up
and running. Should be quite possible and 0db when you are up and
running.
If I had other forms of noise under as much control as you do then I'd
use a 1394 drive for all my local hard drive requirements and place it
in another room or a closet using a longer 1394 cable. I'd personalyl
prefer that to any water cooled setup but to each his own.
Maybe you can boot from a USB drive these days? Will BIOS on newer
systems allow that?
I like my Mac Mini as I can boot it from an external 1394 drive...
Cheers,
Mark
silence their PC
Zalman Reserator water cooling for GPU, CPU and chipset; 1dB SPL,
unbeatable.
Then get a fanless PSU from thermaltake, 0dB SPL, unbeatable.
The only thing making noise now, is the hd. I'm working on setting up
remote boot, but I have some issues with running apps locally. When I
figure it out, there will be no sound detectable at all;). (well, 2dB
SPL)
There is also 1dB SPL from my LCD, it seems.
8:37 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 16:20 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote:
Boot from a floppy or CD which is then unused after
the system is up
and running. Should be quite possible and 0db when you are up and
running.
If I had other forms of noise under as much control as you do then I'd
use a 1394 drive for all my local hard drive requirements and place it
in another room or a closet using a longer 1394 cable. I'd personalyl
prefer that to any water cooled setup but to each his own.
Maybe you can boot from a USB drive these days? Will BIOS on newer
systems allow that?
I like my Mac Mini as I can boot it from an external 1394 drive..
Boot from the network and record to an NFS mount.
Lee
9:05 p.m.
On 2/26/06, Lee Revell <rlrevell(a)joe-job.com> wrote:
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 16:20 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote:
I actually tried the boot from the network idea for my MythTV frontend
only machines. Much easier said than done is what I would say today.
Not so easy for lowly musician types as it might be for more IT
literate folks. There is a lot of work to get the kernel on another
box and to make your local machine find it.
That said I wouldn't trust my network to so audio over a wireless
connection to an NFS drive. I'd still opt for the 1394/USB drive in a
box routine and just place it in a closet much like Jan did.
- Mark
Boot from a floppy or CD which is then unused
after the system is up
and running. Should be quite possible and 0db when you are up and
running.
If I had other forms of noise under as much control as you do then I'd
use a 1394 drive for all my local hard drive requirements and place it
in another room or a closet using a longer 1394 cable. I'd personalyl
prefer that to any water cooled setup but to each his own.
Maybe you can boot from a USB drive these days? Will BIOS on newer
systems allow that?
I like my Mac Mini as I can boot it from an external 1394 drive..
Boot from the network and record to an NFS mount.
Lee
9:33 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 17:05 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote:
That said I wouldn't trust my network to so audio
over a wireless
connection to an NFS drive. I'd still opt for the 1394/USB drive in a
box routine and just place it in a closet much like Jan did.
By "network" I meant a wired network. I'd never trust wireless for this
stuff, it seems like it was engineered to just barely work. Anyway it's
not fast enough.
You could still eliminate the local hard drive by booting from CD and
recording to the NFS volume.
Lee
9:14 p.m.
Lee Revell <rlrevell(a)joe-job.com> writes:
Boot from the network and record to an NFS mount.
Sure, the problem is a no problem for audio, but I have other
requirements. I do a lot of 3d and I play free software 3d games, so I
need them to run locally.
--
Esben Stien is b0ef@e s a
http://www. s t n m
irc://irc. b - i . e/%23contact
[sip|iax]: e e
jid:b0ef@ n n
9:35 p.m.
On Mon, 2006-02-27 at 04:04 +0100, Esben Stien wrote:
Lee Revell <rlrevell(a)joe-job.com> writes:
Why? They should run exactly the same from an NFS mount.
That's why /usr is its own partition, and binaries and libs go there,
it's designed so all the machines on your network can use the same /usr
over NFS.
Lee
Boot from the network and record to an NFS mount.
Sure, the problem is a no problem for audio, but I have other
requirements. I do a lot of 3d and I play free software 3d games, so I
need them to run locally.
9:49 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-user] Re: Quiet PC Components?
Maybe you can boot from a USB drive these days? Will
BIOS on newer
systems allow that?
I know you can boot from USB-Flash drives ('sticks') these days, which
use the USB mass storage protocol just like any hard drive does.
There's an entire section in the Debian Manual on how to install from one.
9:58 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-user] Re: Quiet PC Components?
On Mon, 2006-02-27 at 02:48 +0100, Carlo Capocasa wrote:
Sure, booting is the easy part, but this is LAU remember - what do you
record to? Flash drives don't cut it.
Lee
Maybe you can
boot from a USB drive these days? Will BIOS on newer
systems allow that?
I know you can boot from USB-Flash drives ('sticks') these days, which
use the USB mass storage protocol just like any hard drive does.
There's an entire section in the Debian Manual on how to install from one.
27 Feb
27 Feb
4:50 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-user] Re: Quiet PC Components?
300 Gig USB Drives and 1 Gig MemSticks use the same protocol, USB-EIDE.
I know it is possible to boot from a MemStick newer BIOS.
It can be followed it should be possible to boot from a USB-Drive as
well, as far as BIOS goes, because the BIOS doesn't know the difference
between the two.
Carlo
26 Feb
26 Feb
5:09 p.m.
On Sun, 2006-02-26 at 10:31 -0500, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com wrote:
Hello,
I have been playing with DRC and Brutefir for room correction and
digital crossover capabilities. The results have been positive and now
would like to quiet down one of my PC's in order to keep it in my stereo
system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
or something that is easy to configure in Linux). I can't afford the
expensive fanless PC cases (heat pipe style).
For those who have tried to silence their PC, any information on the
component brands and model numbers that you have had success with would
be much appreciated.
I took the coward's way out. I got keyboard, mouse, video, USB
extenders, and a special extender for my external ADC/DAC and moved the
CPU to a closet. Ah, blessed relief (as Frank used to say).
--
Jan 'Evil Twin' Depner
The Fuzzy Dice
http://myweb.cableone.net/eviltwin69/fuzzy.html
"As we enjoy great advantages from the invention of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and
this we should do freely and generously."
Benjamin Franklin, on declining patents offered by the governor of
Pennsylvania for his "Pennsylvania Fireplace", c. 1744
10 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-user] Re: Quiet PC Components?
Man I envy you. I've got a LAPTOP to silence and the darn thing (a Dell
Inspiron by the way) inspires me to wish I was deaf. It started out fine
and if you only use it for a couple hours and turn it off it's fine. If
you use it for a while suddenly you wonder why the neighbour is using a
hacksaw to cut through his concrete driveway before you realize good ol'
Mike designed the fan to sound that way by Porsche sound designers who
got kicked out for their sound being not masculine enough. My computer
sounds like the 'angry Italian housewife' version of a 911 boxter.
Squeaaaak! Braaaawwwl!
Carlo
27 Feb
27 Feb
10:39 p.m.
On 2/26/06, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com <aljordan(a)maine.rr.com> wrote:
Hello,
system. I am looking for a particularly quiet case, CPU fan (for Athlon
64), and a video card that does not need a fan (hopefully NVidia based
I very much enjoy my Antec Sonata case - have the first revision, and
will likely buy the second revision next time i build a computer; and
I second others' recommendations on the Matrox series cards - no fan,
and no messy driver setup (though your gaming friends will laugh at
you.)
I have a small 10 HP air compressor I bought from a friend a few years
ago. I try to take each computer out to the back yard once or twice
yearly, where I blow as much dust as I can out of the fans. While I
haven't done any real measurements, I think this cuts the noise down
to half its previous level (and stays down for a few months).
(Perhaps if I did this every day, I'd get to those negative decibel
levels!) Then again, I'm probably just compensating for my
chain-smoking of filterless cigarettes and my steadfast refusal to
vacuum the carpet.
--
dan(a)towndowner.com dan(a)burntpossum.com daneasley(a)gmail.com
http://towndowner.com http://burntpossum.com
28 Feb
28 Feb
9:37 a.m.
Thanks for everyones advice regarding quiet components... it was all
very helpful.
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Easley <daneasley(a)gmail.com>
Date: Monday, February 27, 2006 9:39 pm
Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Quiet PC Components?
To: A list for linux audio users <linux-audio-user(a)music.columbia.edu>
I have a small 10 HP air compressor I bought from a
friend a few years
ago. I try to take each computer out to the back yard once or twice
yearly, where I blow as much dust as I can out of the fans. While I
haven't done any real measurements, I think this cuts the noise down
to half its previous level (and stays down for a few months).
(Perhaps if I did this every day, I'd get to those negative decibel
levels!) Then again, I'm probably just compensating for my
chain-smoking of filterless cigarettes and my steadfast refusal to
vacuum the carpet.
blick... Do you also have eighteen indoor cats?
11:38 a.m.
On 2/28/06, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com <aljordan(a)maine.rr.com> wrote:
<laughs> no, but i probably would if i could. ('cept for the indoor
part. back yards also make wonderful litterboxes.) i do have two
equally unhealthy housemates.
--
dan(a)towndowner.com dan(a)burntpossum.com daneasley(a)gmail.com
http://towndowner.com http://burntpossum.com
I have a small 10 HP air compressor I bought from
a friend a few years
ago. I try to take each computer out to the back yard once or twice
yearly, where I blow as much dust as I can out of the fans. While I
haven't done any real measurements, I think this cuts the noise down
to half its previous level (and stays down for a few months).
(Perhaps if I did this every day, I'd get to those negative decibel
levels!) Then again, I'm probably just compensating for my
chain-smoking of filterless cigarettes and my steadfast refusal to
vacuum the carpet.
blick... Do you also have eighteen indoor cats?
3:10 p.m.
On Tue, 2006-02-28 at 08:36 -0500, aljordan(a)maine.rr.com wrote:
blick... Do you also have eighteen indoor cats?
One is enough. A cat will fill a PC with dust much faster than smoking
will. I expected this to get better when I moved to a new place where I
don't smoke inside, no such luck - the fans are just full of cat dander
now.
Lee
3 Mar
3 Mar
11:16 a.m.
On Tue, Feb 28, 2006 at 02:10:24PM -0500, Lee Revell wrote:
On Tue, 2006-02-28 at 08:36 -0500,
aljordan(a)maine.rr.com wrote:
IF I ever get a door on this studio, the cats (4) are never ever coming
in here ever again. Not only do they fill cases and fans with fur and
dander, they seem to like the taste of cables.
--
Eric Dantan Rzewnicki | Linux Audio Developer and Sysadmin
Technical Operations Division | Radio Free Asia
2025 M Street, NW | Washington, DC 20036 | 202-530-4900
CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION
This e-mail message is intended only for the use of the addressee and
may contain information that is privileged and confidential. Any
unauthorized dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly
prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please contact
network(a)rfa.org.
blick... Do you also have eighteen indoor cats?
One is enough. A cat will fill a PC with dust much faster than smoking
will. I expected this to get better when I moved to a new place where I
don't smoke inside, no such luck - the fans are just full of cat dander
now.
6842
days inactive
6847
days old
linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
30 comments
14 participants
participants (14)
-
aljordan＠maine.rr.com -
Carlo Capocasa -
Dan Easley -
Dan Mills -
Eric Dantan Rzewnicki -
Esben Stien -
fons adriaensen -
Frank Barknecht -
Jan Depner -
Kevin Cosgrove -
Lee Revell -
Maarten de Boer -
Mark Knecht -
Tim Moss