Ever since I got my first iMac (rev B) and heard (or didn't hear) how quiet that little bugger was, I can no longer stand computer noise of any kind. For those of you who don't have an iMac of any type, you don't know what you're missing. THEY DON'T MAKE ANY NOISE. It's amazing. I'm typing this on my purple rev B after installing the latest 80 gig seagate barracuda (rated the quietest drive available) and I have my head right up next to the thing. It might as well be an empty cardboard box. OK, I'm hyping it a teeny bit, but it's really really really really quiet.
Anyway, because of this new obsessiveness with quiet computers I've been toying with the idea of turning off the main fan on my DP tower. As far as I can tell, there are two fans in the thing. One giant fan that shoots out the back and then a little fan that pulls from the CPU. I "tested" this concept with an old Power Tower Pro. The thing had three fans in it and I ripped em all out. Six months later it still works perfectly though the two SCSI drives in it scream with noise in and of themselves.
Where was I? Oh yeah, would I be insane to turn that main fan off as long as I only have one drive there? I used to have four drives in it, but I removed three and put them in external firewire enclosures since I don't use them every day...again, the whole noise thing.
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Update:
I just popped the tower case while running to see where the really annoying noises were coming from and it turns out it's the little CPU fan. At least on this machine it's really whiny more so than white noisy. I suppose I could start by replacing it with a quieter fan.
How stupid is this idea? ... I have my tower positioned behind my desk in such a way so that the public can't really see it. What if I permanently leave the case open slightly, like 2-3 inches but turn all the fans off. Would that allow enough heat to escape on its own or does it need to be "sucked" from the machine at a more dramatic rate?
Help me end computer noise forever!!!
For the record, I bought the Applecare plan, so if I fry my CPU, this conversation never happened.
Anyway, because of this new obsessiveness with quiet computers I've been toying with the idea of turning off the main fan on my DP tower. As far as I can tell, there are two fans in the thing. One giant fan that shoots out the back and then a little fan that pulls from the CPU. I "tested" this concept with an old Power Tower Pro. The thing had three fans in it and I ripped em all out. Six months later it still works perfectly though the two SCSI drives in it scream with noise in and of themselves.
Where was I? Oh yeah, would I be insane to turn that main fan off as long as I only have one drive there? I used to have four drives in it, but I removed three and put them in external firewire enclosures since I don't use them every day...again, the whole noise thing.
------------
Update:
I just popped the tower case while running to see where the really annoying noises were coming from and it turns out it's the little CPU fan. At least on this machine it's really whiny more so than white noisy. I suppose I could start by replacing it with a quieter fan.
How stupid is this idea? ... I have my tower positioned behind my desk in such a way so that the public can't really see it. What if I permanently leave the case open slightly, like 2-3 inches but turn all the fans off. Would that allow enough heat to escape on its own or does it need to be "sucked" from the machine at a more dramatic rate?
Help me end computer noise forever!!!
For the record, I bought the Applecare plan, so if I fry my CPU, this conversation never happened.