By David Miles Huber
I'd like to lay a little groundwork before getting to what I hope will be a short review of a killer, new and inexpensive product.
Noise! Noise! Noise!.... it's everywhere! In the streets, in the car and even in our studios. It seems like we spend big bucks getting the best sound possible out of our rooms, only to gunk it all up by having a computer that's full of noisy fans and whirring hard drives. Well, folks, I'm here to tell you that there are some cost-effective solutions that can quiet these processing beasts down to levels that have to be experienced to be believed. Let's take a look at some of the options.
Power to the PC!
One of the biggest sources of PC noise comes from its power supply. So far, the quietest supply that I've found comes from the folks at PC Power and Cooling (pcpowerandcooling.com or by calling 760-931-5700). This comes in the form of their Ultra-Quiet "Silencer" series... which comes in several P4-ready power flavors, ranging from a 235W to a 400W ATX supply. In most cases, the 275W ATX supply would offer enough power for the average PC system. As per their claim of "You'll wonder if it's on!"... I found it to be true, as there was very little noise coming from the supply's Silencer® fan.
For those few who need an additional fan to vent the electronics in the case, PC Power and Cooling also make an 80mm Silencer® vent fan.
Hushin' those Hard Drives
It's amazing how much noise one or more hard drives can add to a system. The solution to this comes from the folks at Molex (go to molex.com and click on "Thermal Acoustics" at the lower left-hand side).
Fact is, I've been a long-time fan of their SilentDrive, which reduces up to 90% of a 3 ½" hard drive's noise by sealing the drive in a suspended plastic container that fits into a standard 5 ¼" half-height drive bay. The container's innards is lined with sound dampening foam, while upper and lower metal plates safely conduct heat away from the drive to the computer's outside drive bay casing. Pretty simple, easy-to-install and boy, do they work! Since each drive will take up a 5 ¼" bay, you might want to invest in a larger tower case (often, a good idea anyway, since it gives you room to get your fingers into a less-cramped case).
Please note that this product is designed for hard drives of 5400 rpm and below. Individual and small orders of Molex parts (in the US) will need to be placed with New England Digital at nedcomp.com or by calling 800-734-4800.
CPU Cooling Fans
With the introduction of faster, more powerful CPUs, cooling these lil' buggers has become a major issue, often requiring large heat sinks and noisy fans. Although Molex has released low-noise Radial Fin™ CPU fans for Pentium and AMD processors, I've found that they're not much lighter and quieter than some of the newer low-noise fans that can be bought at your local PC store. Here, the best option is to ask the salesman to plug several fans in, so you can compare the noise levels for yourself.
The moment of truth!
It's amazing, but true! If you go through the trouble of quieting down your PC, you'll find it to be about a quarter as loud as it was before. Who knows, maybe you won't need to turn the monitors up to drown out your PC's noise.