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Silencing PSU

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hugoc

Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2003
Details of system:

ABit BP6, dual C366@550
GeForce DDR
256MB
Case open

Problem: I've relocated my computer into an ajoining room - my office is in the basement, and the case now sits in the laundry room and the cables run through a hole drilled in the wall. The ambient temperature in the laundry room is about 9 degrees C, as opposed to double that in the office. This means that I can turn off my CPU fans and get a temperature of 20-35 degrees with only passive cooling. Anyway, the largest remaining source of noise now is the PSU fan.

Any recommendations as to stopping this? The exhaust air from the PSU fan is around 18 degrees C. I've considered removing the PSU cover and disabling the fan, and passively cooling it as the CPUs are, however I'm discouraged by the possible exposure of live components in the open. I can't afford to buy an Enermax or other expensive PSU, so please don't suggest it - I can't throw much (if any) money at this project due to demands of kids, mortgage, car etc.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Hugo
 
Simply replace the power supply fan with a quieter model. There are lots of quiet 80mm fans out there to be had cheaply. One of my favorite dirt cheap and dead silent options is a Top Motor sleeve bearing fan. This is what is provided as case fans in the Antec cases. Panaflo fans are also very quiet, albeit usually somewhat more expensive. I can't recommend the Vantec stealth fans, as the last 4 80mm ones I got had rough bearings and consequently unstealthy noise production.
 
Thanks for the reply - it sounds like a decent idea. However, as the exhaust temperature is so low, do you think a thermostat-controlled fan would be a good idea, the idea being that most of the time it might not even need a fan? If so, where would you say the best place to mount the probe would be? I would guess on one of the heatsinks inside, but if you know different please let me know.

Thanks for the help.

Hugo
 
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