Noise Control Stealth Tower 217
Ben writes: "I have just reviewed a really innovative case. Noise dampening kits have been available for some time, but I think this is the first solution where the manufacturer has done something to combat the noise coming out of the BACK of the case! With its whisper box, the Noise Control Stealth Tower finally solves this problem" Update: 06/06 21:02 GMT by T : Ben points to this mirror, too.
great! (Score:1, Interesting)
The even more ultimate solution. (Score:5, Interesting)
Doesn't this seriousl reduce heat disapation (Score:2, Interesting)
Noise can be good sometimes. (Score:2, Interesting)
I've found the noise from the Athlon 1800+ in my bedroom to be quite soothing in the amount of white noise it creates in the background.
I did a little somewhat unscientific case study on the white noise it generated a few months back. I started shutting the box down at night while I was in bed. It turned out after 1 week of shutting it down to get rid of the noise that I actually had a harder time getting to sleep, and often woke up in the middle of the night. Within a few nights of leaving it on all night and day again I was back to sleeping like a baby.
With a baby on the way I'm tempted to set up a computer in the baby's room, not only so I have something to do at 4AM in the morning between feeding/changing, but also as an introduction of white noise into the room. I guess I'll see how well this works, maybe it'll be as soothing his mother's voice.
Water cooling is the answer (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been running a reliable water cooled setup (including many moves, dropping upside down, upgrades, etc) for over 6 months now. It works great. I have install details [nyx.net] written up for anyone who's interested. The noise went from deafening to a mild hum.
I'm currently gathering pieces for a passive watercooled setup (no fans) that handles cooling the video, system chip and processor. The power supply fan will be removed and replaced with a low-voltage 120mm top-mounted fan that runs silently with good airflow (for HD cooling as well).
Rather than mount the radiator inside the case, the radiator will be top mounted with a custom lexan mount. This moves the heat outside the system (closed box). In addition, the inside will be sound deadened with leftover Dynamat Extreme [dynamat.com] from my car stereo install. This should result in a cool looking, silent machine, with no compromises. It isn't going to be cheap though.
Re:great! (Score:3, Interesting)
First, you MUST have racks with doors on front and back, second you must have a plenum on the bottom of the rack and the AC drop in the top (or my raised computer room floor with a Libert unit in the other room feeding the floor with cold air, vent out the top back to the AC unit) We placed car audio damping material (Dynamat) on the solid doors and sides, and ther front smoked plexi door is left normal.
with the doors closed (Oh add felt around the doors for a sound seal) you can barely hear the 14 servers screaming along (anyone notice hoe ML530 fans sould like jet's taking off?)
Been there... (Score:2, Interesting)
Athlon XP noise reduction (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Noise can be good sometimes. (Score:4, Interesting)
A perfectly quiet room is not conducive to a good night's sleep - you wind up being woken by small noises, such as the house creaking, wind blowing through trees, the HVAC system coming on and turning off, etc. White noise gives a higher base noise level that makes these events less noticeable because they're not such an abrupt change from what's in the room otherwise.
did you get to sleep before you had a computer?
Most people leave a fan running in the room - not only does it generate white noise, but it helps air circulation and keeps the temperature more stable.
White Noise Generators (Score:2, Interesting)
A recent advancement in technology that is becoming widely used in psychological counseling and health service settings is the random noise generator. These devices, similar to the size and configuration of a smoke detector and/or an air purification device, emit a wide frequency band described as "white" or "pink noise." Adjusted to a relatively low level, these can be effectively utilized in the spaces in which the client interaction occurs to mask undesirable environmental sounds without negatively impacting the client interactions by being intrusive in nature.
AFAIK the noise from a fan is pretty close to white.
Seems that in medicine though there are always conflicting studies so I expect to be presented with the opposite result in a case study.
What about active noise control? (Score:2, Interesting)
Seeing this post I just remembered that research is going into subjects such as noise cancellation and the like. Doing a bit of googling I quickly hit upon this faq [erols.com] on Active Noise Control.
Seems to me that this technology would be ideally suited to solve the problem of noisy computers.
I'd love to see Creative, for example, releasing some new hardware/drivers to help out in this area!
In the meantime, maybe I'll get myself a pair of these [nct-active.com].