Seriously noisy system, need advice on making it quiet.

[#1]

G'day all..

Right.. some of you might be aware that i've recently developed a tinnitus problem and i'm pinning the blame for the low frequencies on my trusty HP xw6600 workstation. It's a great machine (although DDR2) with 2 quad core processors, 16Gb ram and 500Gb HDD. It does everything i need and more.

The trouble is that its so damned noisy and the pitch of the fans seems to be the same as the lower pitch ringing that has developed in my left ear - the left side being where the computer is.

Now being a worky instead of a normal PC I have found out that HP did a custom job using fans that have 4 wires instead of three. There is a topic on their site where someone mentions fan speed reducers (yet to order those) however I have a hunch that it may be a few fans that are either knackered or just noisy by nature which need to be dealt with to get the big beastie running again.

The most frustrating thing is that after swapping messages with other sellers of the same machine on ebay, these machines are apparently normally silent... so i've got a bit unlucky apparently.

Any advice out there from you experienced experts?

Thanks,

7up

[#2]

Get some Arctic Cooling PWM (aka 4-wire) fans, they're quiet even at full chat, I've been using them in my gaming system and it's silent enough to the point I forget if I've left it switched, but then I also have the motherboard's fan controller software set just so and they barely run until it gets hot in there (which it rarely does, plenty fans = less noise)...

There's also noise-deadening material you can stick onto the inside of the side panels, same stuff you can put into classic cars to reduce their noise, this can help with noisy workstations that have noisy fans...

[#3]

although my case had decent fans supplied , swapped them for Noctua pwm fans .

a bit more expensive but really quiet and give plenty of air 

and as Twockbloke says the 4 wire fans are better as you can control them from your BIOS settings or via software 

[#4]

Computers have evolved over time to use larger fans running more slowly; one reason why a modern machine is much quieter than the computers of yore.  

[#5]

clean the fans  so they are in balance again. pull the sticky lable back and oil the bearing  with new engine oil its thicker than 3in1. that will quieten it down lots

also there is a  little free program called speedfan. it uses the  heat sensors and fan speed sensors on your motherboard and can control the fans.

(maybe not all fans it will depend on your mboard)

you can set the fan speeds and the temperatures  so it speeds it up if it gets too hot or runs  at a % of max speed 

lots you can set and configure to suit your needs.

you can stick foam on the inside of your tower on panels to absorb the noise.

there is a firm called quietpc.com who specialise in v quiet fans  and non fan cooling solutions.

[#6]

Water cooling still appears popular but I'm not sure I'd want to try that myself.

[#7]

Water cooling utilises distilled water so if it sprang a leak, there would be, in theory, no damage to components, just a computer that looked like it had a wee on your desk...

[#8]

have you seen how expensive water cooling is ? at those prices its still the domain of extreme cooling for overclocking etc  and as you have to have a radiator at the back of your pc with  fans on its not nessacarilly any quieter either. 

i have looked at all that shiny stuff like a kid at the sweetshop window but if you spend that much on cooling what you have left for a system means you dont need water cooling anymore

[#9]

The price of watercooling isn't all that expensive if you want to take the minimalist route. There is the open loop and closed loop systems, one will use a large resevoir that will pump coolant to your components, the other is a self contained system that has no resevoir.

I personally have a closed loop corsair H55 CPU water cooler and it costs as much as a high end cpu air cooler. Quite an affordable solution and it's extremely quiet.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/corsair-hydro-h55-quiet-liquid-cpu-cooler-hs-013-cs.html

Gone are the days of only hobbyists that have these massive open loop systems with two large resevoirs and neon cooling fluid running between all the components (though it is still an option if you got the cash). Here is a ridiculously priced water cooled system (you'd have to be mad to spend this type of money imo)

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/overclocked-custom-gaming-pc-uk-nvidia-sli-carbonextremesli

[#10]

---

@maulz wrote:

have you seen how expensive water cooling is ?

Yep, I used to work in a computer shop building the things, rarely built up a system with water cooling though, those were sold to home modders mostly, with all the UV reactive tubing and UV lights and UV reactive dye to throw into the water tanks, it's not for me though, air-cooling is less hassle and more reliable...

[#11]

As repliers have already mentioned, visit www.quietpc.com and check out Noctua 4-wire (i.e. PWM) fans. I have used many Noctua fans; they cost a bit more but you get what you pay for. Usual disclaimers.

Two-wire fans just run; three-wire fans tell the motherboard what speed they are running; four-wire fans also have their speed controlled from the motherboard by pulse-width modulation  (its DC supply is chopped on-and-off such that the average voltage supplied can vary according to how fast the motherboard wants fan to go)

[#12]

You could also try rubber mounting grommets for the fans.

[#13]

Was considering those myself, any good?

[#14]

They CAN reduce the fan noise, if it is a rattlling fan and not air flow noise.
My current case came with them for the hdd's.

[#15]

@HairyMcbiker

Thanks, I may have to investigate those. I think my trouble is the one on the CPU which although managed by the ASUS EPU 4 Engine it's still too damn noisy. I wish those 'Bio Owl Fans' would become more readily available, then fans will be truly silent or as good as.

I saw these on some technology show last year and they're based on the feathers of an owl which has the quietest flight when hovering over it's prey. Not much info on the web but I did find these photos. I'm wondering if I could make a pattern and stencil it on some old fan blades and use a Dremel tool. Worth a shot I suppose.

By all accounts these newer fan blades are much more efficient and also the feather like trailing edges break up any noise generated.