Shortly Im going to be building a machine thatll be on 24/7 for server type duties. Previous servers Ive built or purchased for myself or companies have been real servers...i.e in server cases with good cooling and thats been fine as theyve always had a room to themselves with all the switches etc for the network.
However, this machine is going to be in a room where noise is going to be an issue. Ive done some research and found various silent and whisper quiet solutions...but Ive no experince building quiet PCs and can only really go from the adverts.
Have any of you guys got recomendations for fans/hdds/psus/cases that really are quiet? Space for the case isnt a massive issue...but smaller would be preferable as long as it dosent cost too much extra.
Thanks in advance!
Zalman.
You cannot go wrong with Zalman (imo). If youve got the money, I believe they even product a case !
Also, you wont go far wrong with a little look around here:
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/home
There is also the option of going for an Intel notebook CPU, there should be several motherboards available for them. Its more expensive but a magazine writer got one to run using a big passive heatsink. Just about the quietest option, unless you fancy having a listen to a Mac mini to see how quiet one of those are.
Well, you can get totally silent if youre prepared to pay. I fanless PSU is available and fanless graphics cards are in plentiful supply (and if its a server then something like the Ã,£30 9250 I got from Tek is plenty). Samsung are meant to be quiet for HDD and if you mount them on rubber grommets then vibration wont travel to the case. Notebook CPU and, even if you dont want to run the risk of passive, then a Zalman heatsink with giant, slow RPM fan should see you right.
Quote from: Seriousunless you fancy having a listen to a Mac mini to see how quiet one of those are.
absolutely no noise and no heat - superb bits of kit, but i dont know if itd do as a server, that said mine is on 24/7 sometimes and it doesnt seem to flinch...
Would it do as a proper server? Lack of redundancy in PSU, NIC, HDD, system BIOS etc all spring to mind as potential blockers?
Quote from: BXGTi16VWould it do as a proper server? Lack of redundancy in PSU, NIC, HDD, system BIOS etc all spring to mind as potential blockers?
Its not a real server where obv such things would be essential...its going in someones house to do media center and simple file sharing and RIS deployments...which is why theyd like it as quiet as possible.
if its networked how about a compact flash thingine on one of the ide/sata ports (a gig?) to get it up and going then everything else over the network ? cuts out a bit of heat and noise for you :)
for a CPU id go with the slowest speed of the newest chip you can get.. nice big passive heatsink, good expensive PSU and use onbord gfx and bobs your uncle :)
Attached is a list of the components Im thinking of using...everything that makes noise has been recommended by QuietPC.com for being quiet.
Comments welcome!