Community weekly poll: How would you describe the noise level of your computer?
- 7/20/06 1:42 PM
the noise of my computer,,, is acceptable.
by bmiddlet73 - 7/21/06 12:52 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
All I hear is the normal noise of the fans.
Quieter than I expected
by WaNana - 7/21/06 1:28 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
As my computer starts up in the mornings, it is quite noisy. No one around would doubt that the noise is a computer in the throes of start-up. Lots of whirring, printer greetings, start-up applications humming, and overlapping sounds.
Once that initial process has completed, however, the day continues with virtually no noise whatsoever. Sure unlike my first computers beginning in 1983!
The noise of my (laptop) computer sounds ....
by lindzus - 7/21/06 2:14 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
The noise of my (laptop Toshiba) computer sounds like a coffee grinder on steroids; when it is not sounding like that, it sounds like a modified lawn mower that has been designed to work unattended on Mars. I believe from reading the helpful replies here that the problem is a fan, so I'm going to open my computer for the first time in my life and have a poke around with a soft stick - maybe if I fill every space with banana skins it might help, I've heard that works well on cars with grindingly bad gear boxes.... good luck to me! Thanks for the help, all:)
Lindzus
Noisy fans? Yes!!
by raoulleon - 7/21/06 2:22 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
My 3 fans (includes cpu fan) on my new K8 64X2 Athlon PC with the Raptor 10,000 speed HD is so noisy I can't hear my phone ring. It's noisier than my previous K7 which had the same 3 fans. However, the components in this system get hotter so need to be compensated for. Both are custom-built by an online PC store at my specs. When the hard drive kicks on at first (or over 50%), yes, it sounds like an airplane taking off! 
But what can a person do? They tell me nothing. The whole case vibrates with the hum, and yes, it's on a low shelf on my desk like most PC's. I don't think anyone should blame Dell or any other brand. It's what's inside that counts!
Loud Noise In Computer
by n32a90 - 7/21/06 2:28 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
Per the current email sent in regards to someone saying that they had a loud noise coming from their computer?? I can attest and agree that it is probably the fan..I just went through this myself and I had taken my computer in for repair and I was told that the fan was not good and that it was going to be replaced...well, guess what? they ripped me off, it was never replaced and then I was told it was probably on its way out-dying..so I got a new computer from Dell and just recently had my other computer looked at by a new person in another town who is an IT tech and the fan was ceased..could not rotate even if you tried to manuelly move it by yourself..The guy felt so bad that they charged me big bucks, that he charged me what it cost him for the fan and labor and had to clean it up some, now its working great...but if its something you can do on your own to save on cost?? Go for it..
Agree, it's the cooling fan
by texasteddy - 7/21/06 3:43 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
I have been involved in a program with Stanford U where idle time on my CPU is used to crunch numbers in a research protocol. I have heard the fan get noisier and noisier over the past year or two. I can exit out of the project and the noise level drops to pretty near nothing. I'm hoping I get around to a new PC before the fan fails or processor frys. It's my donation to humanity. Fans, by the way, are relatively cheap and no great challenge to replace.
Very noisy
by m_touat - 7/21/06 5:00 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
The difference is, mine only does it in the heat. My computer is a Dell, itel pentium 4, and I've been told this is a common problem with these. True?
Ommmm -- zen like
by Harriett Ferziger - 7/21/06 5:27 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
My CPU emits a gentle, self-satisfied hum, like a Zen master during his meditations.
IF you find it's not a fan...
by btljooz - 7/21/06 6:49 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
check the drives...
ESPECIALLY the Floppy Drive (if you have one)
One of my computers makes that same noise upon bootup and it is in fact the Floppy Drive on this particular computer making the noise. In their 'infinite wisdom' MS decided to mess with the way the Floppy is recognized (didn't you hear? Floppies are being phased out). Ever since the last time I actually installed their garbage patches (a LOOOOOONG time ago) that Floppy drive of mine 'sings it's song'. No biggie.
Quieter after upgrading
by Dave_H - 7/21/06 8:42 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
the HS/Fan for the CPU (installed a Zalman CNPS 9500) and the power supply.
While the PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool 510 Deluxe was rated ''noisy'' by early reviewers, I found it to be substantially quieter than the Thermaltake Xaser Silent Purepower 480 it replaced! ("silent" it wasn't)
Since I built this as a ''power'' unit for video editing, and don't want to be bothered with water cooling, I consider the sound level acceptable.
Quiet systems - Mac G4 and Gateway laptop
by meyersba - 7/21/06 10:02 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
I have a Mac G4 desktop as well as a Gateway laptop. Both are very quiet. However, my laptop has a sound that occurs without warning.....the sound of a gorilla in the jungle...probably a mating call. Don't know how it got there and heaven knows I have no clue to getting rid of it. Other than that, everything is great!
Full disk => noisy disk
by csmarkham - 7/22/06 10:39 AM In reply to: Quiet systems - Mac G4 and Gateway laptop by meyersbaUsually intermittent grindy noises are from disks that suddenly have to churn a lot to get or put data. If you have a new, empty disk, data can be laid down and retreived from a small area, with relatively little head travel. The spin of the hard disk itself makes very little noise (though I had some old Quantum 200Mb [yes, Mb] disks where the grease broke down under heat and they were always noisy). It is the motor that snaps the head back and forth across the surface--a "stepping motor"--that makes the most noise on most drives.
So anything you can do to reduce that travel not only quiets your computer, but improves data I/O speed! You can defragment your disk, to move similar data closer to its kin. You can put in a bigger disk, so that the disk isn't filling "holes" left all over the disk from whenever you delete data, freeing space desparately needed, and you can switch to a fixed-size virtual memory partition (a big performance hit on a very full and fragmented disk).
If your stepper motor gets really loud, it could be going out of adjustment, especially if you hear it seeking and seeking and seeking before it finally settles in and finds the right track. That's a danger signal that can't be ignored and you'd better make sure you have a current backup...cause you're going to need it soon!
noisy due to dust
by fsdesign - 7/21/06 11:36 PM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
My computer's noise is acceptable now but last summer it gradually became very noisy, so noisy that I was afraid it was going to explode!
Finally, it was the fan that had been thicker and thicker by 3-years-dust stuck on it. I was advised to open the computer and clean it carefully with a vacuum cleaner once in a while.
I can live with the noise
by The Clue - 7/22/06 1:54 AM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
I have built myself a storage cabinet to hold my primary pc, work station and server with the hdd tower and CD tower. It seemes a little loud when you first experience it but you become acustomed to the sound. The reason for the increased sound is that I run my pc's at 100% 24-7. The server is the loudest because it has four processors and I like using every bit of power that I can get from my systems.
I find some noise reasuring...
by Muad Dib - 7/22/06 9:41 AM In reply to: How would you describe the noise level of your computer? by Marc Bennett
After upgrading both hard drives the noise level is down to a nice fan "hmmmmmm" hardly noticeable over background noise.
While a fan upgrade would help I prefer a "little" noise. "Silent" systems really NEED software to monitor fan speed and temps to provide an alarm when the "silence" is actually a cooling system failure which can harm the system components.
My DVD-ROM is OK as well but my DVD-Burner sounds like a jet engine preparing for takeoff on the runway. Fortunately I don't use the burner during typical operation.
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