iPhone 3GS from AT&T. Free Shipping
PC hardware: Less Fan Noise With No Cover??
Less Fan Noise With No Cover??
by johnb1 - 4/5/07 4:12 AMHello,
I have a new pc that's being used for heavy duty graphics - not gaming - it's for art production work. This is the first pc I've owned with a high end graphics card (Nvidia 8000). I've never had a pc before that made noise like this. I guess if I was into gaming or watching movies I might not notice this noise, but it's usually very quite when I'm working. There's no vibration noises, it's just the sound of the fan(s) running. I'm trying to find any (no cost, or low cost) solutions to this fan noise. Short of having the graphics card rebuilt with a non fan cooling system, or something like that - if I remove the cover of the cpu, will that lessen the noise level? I know you might think, why don't you just try it? but - is it safe to run the pc with the cover off? Do you think it will make a difference to the noise level?
Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for your time,
John
Go for it. . .
by Coryphaeus - 4/5/07 5:04 AM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1It won't hurt a thing.
Expected operation
by Willy - 4/5/07 7:49 AM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1Many an "air-cooled" fan equipped system has more than one fan. The multiple fan operation will cause noise. Worst, some systems come equipped for dual RPM mode, which when a certain temp level is met, will kick into a higher RPM for better cooling. All in all that causes more noise and as the fan become dusty maybe more so. This is the nature of the beast. Removing the side isn't going to greatly reduce fan noise as that's part of its usual operation. If you want more quiet, then remove the cover as a test. As the other poster mention this in itself won't be a problem running the system with cover off. As you noted, use of heat tubes or large heatsinks and/or water cooling that replace pure air fan operation maybe more suited for you.
FYI - The larger the fan the less in RPM thus less noise yet similar cooling results.
tada -----Willy 
Yes.
by R. Proffitt
- 4/5/07 7:50 AM
In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1
Here's why it could be less. Think of the side panel as the cone of a speaker. If the vibrations are just right the side panel could act as a speaker cone.
Most machines don't care if the cover is on or off.
Bob
Thanks
by johnb1 - 4/5/07 8:31 AM In reply to: Yes. by R. Proffitt
Thanks for the info everyone. I'll experiment and post here to let you know the outcome.
For me its my optical drives
by william551 - 4/6/07 4:08 PM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1I have two on my tower, one cd and one dvd. And man they're noisey.
Less Fan Noise With No Cover??
by tlmck - 4/6/07 11:43 PM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1You can run with the cover off, but I would check inside once a week or so for dust build up, and blow out with compressed air can if necessary.
Not recommended
by patnesha - 4/7/07 12:03 AM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1It is true that leaving the cover off should not hurt your PC. However, it should not contribute substantially to lowering your PC noise level. In fact, if your CPU is operating at max all the time, it might lower the operational life of your computer. This is because all PCs are designed to run with the side panel on, and therefore airflow is planned with the side panel in place. If it is not, the air taken in from the fans will go straight out the side, and exhaust from major heat sources will mix around with each other because it is harder for the fans to direct them in the correct places. This may cause overheating in extreme cases. Also, if your side panel is not on, you stand a chance of spilling something into your CPU, which will probably fry most of the components inside.
If your case really acts like an amplifier, I suggest you get a new one (or install water-cooling).
I would suggest an aftermarket fan with I8kFanGui (program)
by ClosetMonster3 - 4/8/07 8:17 PM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1If your computer is noisy, you may be able to change the stock fan for a quieter fan. NOTE, you will need to know what temperature the old fan and possibly the new fan make your cpu run at.
If you know that your fan can run slower but still cool your cpu at idle temps, you can download I8kFanGui here:
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
This is a program that allows you to control the speed of your fans at different temp levels. KEEP IN MIND that you can fry your cpu if you stop the fans from running when the cpu is under workload or gets hot.
My laptop (xps Gen 2) has fans that run a little too loud for me. Dell for some reason purposely made the fans run at higher speeds even when idle. I simply went into I8kfangui and tweaked it a bit. For me, the fan for the cpu doesnt run until the cpu goes over 50 degrees Celsius . It then speeds up only if the heat goes higher, and goes full blast when it reaches 70 C. Those are my preferences. I also am able to control my GPU chip (graphics card cpu) with different speeds. That fan runs low all the time and speeds up only when I play games. Its all customizable and up to you, but make sure that you dont let the cpu heat get too high before the fans kick in because it can damage your system.
I have a Pentium M in my laptop so it will differ with temp tolerance. Do some research to see what is an ideal temp for your processor, install I8kfangui and see what the temp is currently.
Note: you dont have to mess with the fans if you dont want to, you can install the program and check all of the temps and it will not change anything with your fans. You are safe to install the program only to verify the temps if you wish.
If you find that when you change the speed of your fan to low and it gets too hot, you may need a different fan that is going to be much more quiet.
Less fan noise
by AlanPoole - 4/9/07 9:46 AM In reply to: Less Fan Noise With No Cover?? by johnb1Just to say that removal of the cover would be a bad idea. It would drop the noise level down a bit but may fail to give adequate cooling. Check the air inlet for a filter. Removal of an air filter would increase the flow of air and either change the frequency or level of the noise (for better or worse). Remember the filter was put in for a reason i.e. keep the grit and grime out. Hope this helps
Opposite effect here.
by R. Proffitt - 4/9/07 10:17 AM
In reply to: Less fan noise by AlanPoole
Without the case cover all our office machines run cooler.
Why is that?
(hint. it's because it is so.)
Bob
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
