We had a PC upgraded and they put 2 exhaust fans in. Its in a bedroom and
kinda of loud. I think there is on on the CPU too. Are there quieter fans
one can obtain or other quieter techniques for cooling. If so, I would
appreciated any tips or hints to websites that would carry this sort of
gear.

thank you

you can get Zalman fans, you can get fan speed regulators.

If you just want it quieter, then you'r probably going the right way.
If you are looking for real silence then do not fool yourself with
these things.

Supposing that you're not after complete silence, and it appears that
you are not, then perhaps if you are still not happy, you may want to
get as quiet as you can but still with fans.
If you're going for quiet fans, and you want to then go further and see
how quiet you can get it.
One possible way to acheive extreme quiet (I can't suggest it highly
because i've never done it) is many quiet fans running very very
slowly. You would need Y adaptors to put on your power cables so you
can power them all. It's cheap and looks like great fun to do, because
it involves sawing into the case with a rotary tool - one with a
circular blade.

You are not in the situation I was where I was very bothered by it, so
the following solution won't be for you at all. But you can move the
box out of your room far from your monitor with a KVM Extender. THey
are available from time to time FAR cheaper than the shops, on ebay.
Then you just have the monitor noise to worry about - I am fortunate
that my TFT screen doesn't make a noise. It is is perfectly 100%
noiseless. So the only noise I hear is me tapping on the keyboard,
and boy is that loud!!! but it doesn't annoy me. It annoys other people
if I type when I'm angry.

Know that even systems with No Fans (like a VIA epia eden I had - run
out of the case so no case fans) can be noisy, because the transformers
are made of cheap iron and vibrate at audible levels, making a high
pitched noise like a television - though many silence seekers are happy
with the fanless VIA computers. It all depends on how far you want to
go, which depends on how much it bothers you.

Here is the main point though
************** ANYBODY, TRYING TO MAKE THEIR COMPUTER QUIET HAS TO
KNOW THAT QUIET FANS ARE NOT NOISELESS AND FANLESS SYSTEMS CAN BE HEARD
BY THE ACUTE EAR. YOU MUST KNOW THAT COMPLETE NOISELESSNESS CAN BE
ACHEIVED WITH A KVM EXTENDER - IF YOU ARE WILLING TO SPEND THE MONEY
*********
There are a few things you should know though, regarding KVM extenders.
SEe bottom


Beware that when you quieten the PSU fan (like with a quieter PSU) you
will hear the CPU fan, which in my case was slightly quieter but a
higher pitch, and therefore more annoying to me.

Beware that although most people love these so-called silent
components, I personally have found that although quieter, their fan
noise is higher pitched. To avoid this, you may want to use a 'big'
fan - 120mm.

There are some really expensive things I haven't tried. And I do not
plan to try them, since my KVM extender is fine, and all these quiet
things need more time to develop. Also, note that it's possible that
even if you deal with 'everything', you will still be able to hear the
HDD in the case!!

By the way, when I was trying to quieten my computer, a lot of people
recommended ear plugs. Besides my irritation that they thought I
hadn't considered ear plugs, it is important to know that they are not
a good solution at all - ear wax does get warm and melt and it gets
uncomfortable. Ear defenders when on for too long made my ears hurt
- and yes, they were over the whole ear.

THANKFULLY I DISCOVERED MY KVM EXTENDER!!! (at a reasonable price - not
hundreds of pounds - on ebay)


Alphacool NC-480 - Watercooled fanless power supply 130 pounds.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=304993&cks=PRL

silentmaxx is a bit of a con it seems
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1745.html
It has a little fan that turns on when it gets too hot. How often does
it get too hot? G-d knows!!

ZALMAN FANLESS WATER COOLER - FOR CASE
http://www.buildsilentpc.com/silent_cpu_cooler.php Good. (can be
fanless)

Regarding KVM Extenders

Most KVMs are Ps2, so if you wnat to extend USB, you need a separate
usb extender - i'm talking a cat5 usb extender, not active usb
cables(aka usb booster cables) strung together.

If you have a few boxes, you will need a KVM switch with your KVM
Extender.
There are issues there too. I have a lovely 4 port Zonet kvm switch and
a lovely blackbox kvm extender. (note, you have to flick a DIP Switch
on the blackbox kvm so it doesn't use scroll lock to reset, since the
kvm switch uses scroll lock to switch boxes)
A main issue though, is if you have many boxes, it means that you are
nowhere near the button on your KVM switch because the KVM Switch is
near your computer. KVM Switches have a hotkey, so you don't have to
be near it, but the hotkey may not work at all times. (just like
sometimes CTRL ALT DELETE doesn't restart after a BSOD). The hotkey may
not work whilst windows is booting. Whereas a the actual button will.
So you can extend the button on the KVM switch, by opening it up,
looking at the contacts, soldering a long wire to it and putting a
switch on the end.
I"m no electrician, I haven't successfully done it yet. It appears that
I need shielded wire, because my wire is apparently picking up noise -
it must be noise - apparently - because i'm told that the 3 ohms
resistance that the wire has - i testd it with a multimeter - is fine.


You are far from being as serious about this as I am. But, because
these are archived and read by many, I shall include some references to
earlier posts I made from when I was experimenting.

posts were
subject- Silent Computer - Onwards and Upwards
subject- Silent Computer - Advice

I hope that the aggravation I had with this will at least let me help
others to swiftly overcome theirs!!!

jtsnow wrote:
> We had a PC upgraded and they put 2 exhaust fans in. Its in a
bedroom and
> kinda of loud. I think there is on on the CPU too. Are there
quieter fans
> one can obtain or other quieter techniques for cooling. If so, I
would
> appreciated any tips or hints to websites that would carry this sort
of
> gear.
>
> thank you

Another silent computer post !

It seems that you just want it a bit quieter. That is different from my
situation. People in your situation are usually content with products
they buy from Zalman or they go to a website like endpcnoise.com or
quietpc.co.uk and they look at the products, and they read reviews, and
if a product has loads of great reviews then they get it. I suggest
you seriously consider following that path - as long as you are not
deluded into thinking that it will lead to complete noiselessness or
that it is closest to complete noiselessness. Most of these products
just have quieter fans, though there are other products that are rather
pricey, a bit unknown and often a bit gimmicky, but no doubt some of
those wacky ones work well.

A product that has surpassed the wacky gimmicky stage and is extremely
popular and widely used is the Zalman flower cpu cooler. Everybody
raves about it. It has a fan, but doesn't solely rely on the fan to
cool the cpu, thus the fan can run very slowly, and thus quietly.
Infact, some processors, - one i saw 2 years ago - the Via c3 -
officially requires cooling, but not much cooling, and people found
that they could put a flower cooler on it and disable the fan and it
was fine.

For PSU noise, somebody like you may be best off just buying a quiet
psu - one with a slow fan. There are some very expensive fanless 350w
and 400w (that's full power) PSUs but it's a risk, since these things
are not widely used and tested, and some of them are known to blow.

I was seeking peace 2 years ago, and the people that were a bit more
serious but not that serious, got the via epia eden, which had a
fanless psu, and a power supply card which an ac/dc adaptor plugged
into, and before they had heatsinks on the case, they sometimes ran it
out of the case. So they had a fanless system. I actually tried
that, but suffered from the high pitched noise coming from the
transformers on the power supply card. Most people don't have that
problem. And the Via c3 was perhaps a better option, since it was
discovered that the zalman flower cooler with fan disabled, would cool
that processor sufficiently. I personally only experienced the via
eden, not the via c3, sdo I can't tell you what temperatures it got up
to.

If you do want a VIA (unlikely), note that the VIA website is not
nice(at least it was ugly 2 years ago when i last checked). I found a
uk third party website that clearly showed VIA's computers and the
techie at their tech email address new about the products on offer.

You should know about VIA - they may have something on offer, but I
suggest you take the route of looking for quiet components, and trying
Zalman stuff.
They are the most convenient solution, so if you are happy with a
solution like that, then it's great. If tha solution is not good enough
for you, then you have to get a VIA or the perfection of the KVM
extender, and there are sacrifices that come with having them. Such as
VIA's low spec, and the kvm extender's wires and needing a usb extender
with it - a little over $100 for the usb extender.

Good luck, I hope your journey isn't too long, and that your irritation
doesn't last. With a KVM Extender, and for some with the VIA, there
is no need to suffer.

thanks for the very comprehensive response. that should get to what I
want..
thanks again

<marf@aceinternet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1106538233.233758.88000@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
>
> jtsnow wrote:
>> We had a PC upgraded and they put 2 exhaust fans in. Its in a
> bedroom and
>> kinda of loud. I think there is on on the CPU too. Are there
> quieter fans
>> one can obtain or other quieter techniques for cooling. If so, I
> would
>> appreciated any tips or hints to websites that would carry this sort
> of
>> gear.
>>
>> thank you
>
> Another silent computer post !
>
> It seems that you just want it a bit quieter. That is different from my
> situation. People in your situation are usually content with products
> they buy from Zalman or they go to a website like endpcnoise.com or
> quietpc.co.uk and they look at the products, and they read reviews, and
> if a product has loads of great reviews then they get it. I suggest
> you seriously consider following that path - as long as you are not
> deluded into thinking that it will lead to complete noiselessness or
> that it is closest to complete noiselessness. Most of these products
> just have quieter fans, though there are other products that are rather
> pricey, a bit unknown and often a bit gimmicky, but no doubt some of
> those wacky ones work well.
>
> A product that has surpassed the wacky gimmicky stage and is extremely
> popular and widely used is the Zalman flower cpu cooler. Everybody
> raves about it. It has a fan, but doesn't solely rely on the fan to
> cool the cpu, thus the fan can run very slowly, and thus quietly.
> Infact, some processors, - one i saw 2 years ago - the Via c3 -
> officially requires cooling, but not much cooling, and people found
> that they could put a flower cooler on it and disable the fan and it
> was fine.
>
> For PSU noise, somebody like you may be best off just buying a quiet
> psu - one with a slow fan. There are some very expensive fanless 350w
> and 400w (that's full power) PSUs but it's a risk, since these things
> are not widely used and tested, and some of them are known to blow.
>
> I was seeking peace 2 years ago, and the people that were a bit more
> serious but not that serious, got the via epia eden, which had a
> fanless psu, and a power supply card which an ac/dc adaptor plugged
> into, and before they had heatsinks on the case, they sometimes ran it
> out of the case. So they had a fanless system. I actually tried
> that, but suffered from the high pitched noise coming from the
> transformers on the power supply card. Most people don't have that
> problem. And the Via c3 was perhaps a better option, since it was
> discovered that the zalman flower cooler with fan disabled, would cool
> that processor sufficiently. I personally only experienced the via
> eden, not the via c3, sdo I can't tell you what temperatures it got up
> to.
>
> If you do want a VIA (unlikely), note that the VIA website is not
> nice(at least it was ugly 2 years ago when i last checked). I found a
> uk third party website that clearly showed VIA's computers and the
> techie at their tech email address new about the products on offer.
>
> You should know about VIA - they may have something on offer, but I
> suggest you take the route of looking for quiet components, and trying
> Zalman stuff.
> They are the most convenient solution, so if you are happy with a
> solution like that, then it's great. If tha solution is not good enough
> for you, then you have to get a VIA or the perfection of the KVM
> extender, and there are sacrifices that come with having them. Such as
> VIA's low spec, and the kvm extender's wires and needing a usb extender
> with it - a little over $100 for the usb extender.
>
> Good luck, I hope your journey isn't too long, and that your irritation
> doesn't last. With a KVM Extender, and for some with the VIA, there
> is no need to suffer.
>