How To Make A Quiet Computer Case

Having a quiet computer case is something everyone would like, but many people feel it's not possible while still being able to have the best and latest hardware.  Over the last couple of years, I've done some research as this is something that is being demanded more over time.

If you are learning how to build your own computer, you have some great options to make a quiet computer case.  If you do a little shopping around you'll often find some very low cost options that will help you get your system noise down while only spending an additional 50 or so dollars.

TIP! The biggest contributor of sound is usually the CPU fan, the resources located buying the best CPU cooler will help you find what you need for your system.  You can have monster cooling without making your system sound like a monster.

Let's go over briefly the items in a computer that contribute to the noise a computer makes.

  • The case fans make a bunch of noise, especially if you have a fast larger fans designed to simply move a lot of air.
  • The CPU fans they attach to some of the aftermarket coolers are border line jet engines.  The move so much air, they almost whistle.
  • The video card fan can also be a high RPM fan that can make a whole bunch of noise.
  • Hard drives that constantly work can make a clicking or ticking noise.  If you have a raid setup or multiple hard drives in your computer, this can easily add up.

Tips To Make A Quiet Computer Case

As you can see above, a large portion of the noise a computer makes is simply the fans.  A typical computer system I build has a case fan in the front, one in back, a fan on the video card, and one in the power supply.  That's 4 case fans, the good part about that is, a small change is multiplied by 4 so it will make a huge difference.

  • Step 1 - With the help of your motherboard manual, and the BIOS information on this page, go through and let your motherboard control the speed at which the fans run in your computer.  If your system isn't in need of a lot of air movement, the motherboard will simply slow down the fans until you need them.  This simple step can make a HUGE difference.
  • Step 2 - Open up your computer case and find out which fan makes more noise in your computer case the front or the back.  If you only have one or the louder one is in the front, move it to the back of the case.  Keep in mind the air flow in a computer case needs to go in on the front, and out of the back.
  • Step 3 - Check the best CPU cooler web page and check to see if an aftermarket cooler is available for a good price that produces minimal noise.
  • Step 4 - Disable indexing on your hard drives.  This option is available by right clicking on the drive, then selecting properties.  This reduces the amount of searching done by the drive.  If you want to completely eliminate the sound your hard drive makes, get a solid state hard drive, since they have no moving parts, they make no noise at all.

When you buy a computer tower case, pay attention to the size of the fans.  You can buy a quiet computer case simply by paying attention to the reviews and looking at the size of the fans.  Larger fans generally will run at a lower RPM but move more air because of the diameter. The reviews will usually have a lot of feedback.

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