Can a Windows PC be silent?

[Qstick333]

I have a 6 year old Dell that still does everything I want - mainly due to upgrading the SSD and maxing out the RAM, but I would like to upgrade to something new and modern. I'm not great at technology, but would like to be mildly current.

The noise of my Dell drives me bonkers. It doesn't interfere with recording, since the bulk of what I do is guitar and I have cabs mic'd in a separate room. The noise drives me crazy. I *think* it is the CPU fan. I've removed the HDD and I don't think the case has fans in it.

My wife and kids all have M series IMacs and they are silent. It's beautiful. I would prefer to not go to an Apple computer for a multitude of reasons, but will if necessary.

Can I get a silent PC that still has adequate performance?

[BWC]

There are fanless PC builds, and quiet fans, so yes, it's possible. Is your Dell a desktop? laptop?

[Qstick333]

There are fanless PC builds, and quiet fans, so yes, it's possible. Is your Dell a desktop? laptop?

The Dell is a desktop. It was very middle of the road when I purchased it years ago.

[BWC]

In that case, if fan noise is the only issue, I'd just replace the offending fan. I usually aim to get ten years (or more) out of a PC. Wealthier folks than I might disagree, but I think six years old (and with the upgrades you mentioned) is "mildly current".

[g18llo]

Can I get a silent PC that still has adequate performance?

I thought this was a wind-up; there have been silent PC's for decades, literally. It's nothing new and companies like QuietPC have been building and supplying the parts since the millennium.

[BWC]

I thought this was a wind-up...

...or just the best excuse the OP could come up with for buying a new PC.

[ef37a]

My first laptop, an HP g6 i3 W7 is remarkably quiet and so long as it is a couple of mtrs away from the mic (Sontronics LDC) it cannot be heard even on quiet passages of a gut strung guitar.
I then bought an HP W7 tower and that to was pretty good for noise, sat on a foam and 2" chipboard isolator is was quiet enough for all but the most demanding recording.

By coincidence I was noise testing a Behrry C2* yesterday. Having set the gain on my M4 for an average just over -20dBFS I placed the mic about 1.5m away from me and the Lenovo laptop I am using. Noise in Samplitude dropped to -66dBFS...would not suit the likes of Hugh and Co but pretty good? I listened to the 'silent' part on cans and could just detect a faint hiss but also a whirring/rumbly noise. So, in answer to the question? No, if it has a fan in it no such thing as a "silent" PC!

BTW the two HPs both had spinning HDDs this Lenovo is SSD.

*One of the pair he has in France has gone very noisy.

Dave.

[N i g e l]

my PC is mid life now & was put together with BEQUIET fans, PSU & heatsink, also a passive graphics card [no fan] & SSDs.
Nothing too exotic but its well below the general room noise floor.

If I wanted it anechoically silent, Id probably just put it in a cabinet rather than spend on super exotic cooling.

[ef37a]

Qstick, you say "the Dell drives me bonkers but not when recording"?

When then? If the noise intrudes when monitoring playback then I would say there is something wrong with the machine? Maybe the internals have filled up with dust and the fans are working their nuts off?

If you just need silent playback you could bounce your tracks to an SD card, slot that into a Zoom or similar and feed that to monitors.

But, if you are seeking to get permission to convince the distaff side that you need a new PC then you have total carte blanch from yours truly!

Dave.

[MarkOne]

Quiet PC

[Nazard]

The noise drives me crazy. I *think* it is the CPU fan. I've removed the HDD and I don't think the case has fans in it.

Very likely to be the source of most noise, especially as it will vary under load. Replacing the entire CPU cooler, rather than just the fan with something thermally more efficient would be one approach. Also, check the fan profiles in your BIOS.

Silent is certainly possible, but I would aim for very quiet instead and head over to SCAN for one of their prebuilt pro-audio PCs:

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/music-and-p ... ystems/all

[Luke W]

Silent is certainly possible, but I would aim for very quiet instead and head over to SCAN for one of their prebuilt pro-audio PCs:

My Scan 3XS system is very quiet. It's sat in a rack next to my feet I can't hear it.

[tea for two]

There's fanless mini pc AMD Ryzen and Intel.
Depending on how demanding your requirements, possibly worth considering.

ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX pc they can be rather quiet yet not silent.

::

Nearly 2decades earlier on ere wind foruume there was the PaQ Powerful and Quiet ATX case designed engineered by Peter used to post frequently on ere wind foruume.
PaQ case was reviewed favourably by SoS magazine, purrchased by various forumees.

[Vox Gnus]

Could you relocate the desktop unit to an adjacent room? Then run a pass-through in the wall and buy a few longer cables (maybe just for monitor and audio interface, if kb/mouse are wireless).

A machine room is pretty common in commercial studios, but it's great in homes as well. I know of several home studios (and home theatres) that are configured in this way.

[Qstick333]

Qstick, you say "the Dell drives me bonkers but not when recording"?

When then? If the noise intrudes when monitoring playback then I would say there is something wrong with the machine? Maybe the internals have filled up with dust and the fans are working their nuts off?

If you just need silent playback you could bounce your tracks to an SD card, slot that into a Zoom or similar and feed that to monitors.

But, if you are seeking to get permission to convince the distaff side that you need a new PC then you have total carte blanch from yours truly!

Dave.

With the kids home for summer, it is my general use computer. I am doing some work from home, youtube, etc... all around computing. Even sitting here typing, I hear the whir in the background and it has just become a nuisance.

[Qstick333]

The noise drives me crazy. I *think* it is the CPU fan. I've removed the HDD and I don't think the case has fans in it.

Very likely to be the source of most noise, especially as it will vary under load. Replacing the entire CPU cooler, rather than just the fan with something thermally more efficient would be one approach. Also, check the fan profiles in your BIOS.

Silent is certainly possible, but I would aim for very quiet instead and head over to SCAN for one of their prebuilt pro-audio PCs:

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/music-and-p ... ystems/all

Can the CPU cooler be changed A. by a novice at this type of thing and B. on a prebuilt Dell? I'm happy to take a crack at it, but I've never done anything beyond RAM, SSD upgrades.

[Wonks]

The noise drives me crazy. I *think* it is the CPU fan. I've removed the HDD and I don't think the case has fans in it.

Very likely to be the source of most noise, especially as it will vary under load. Replacing the entire CPU cooler, rather than just the fan with something thermally more efficient would be one approach. Also, check the fan profiles in your BIOS.

Silent is certainly possible, but I would aim for very quiet instead and head over to SCAN for one of their prebuilt pro-audio PCs:

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/music-and-p ... ystems/all

My almost-new Scan music PC is normally quiet, for listening purposes, but makes enough noise to be picked up by mics in the room. And occasionally a fan ramps up when the processing load increases. I could have picked (and probably should) the quiet fan option (and may well change it myself).

In comparison, my brand-new Scan general purpose/games PC is very noisy, even with all six fans at minimum speed.

So if quiet as possible is a requirement, then let the PC assembler (be it Scan or someone else) know, to make sure you do get the best possible fan and case selection.

[ef37a]

I am no PC guru Q but I have dabbled! Desktops usually have at least 3 fans in them. One on the CPU, one front one back. Open the case (this can be a trick!) and put on a garden or bike glove and stop the blades on the bigger fans in turn. You should soon see which is making the noise. You can then order up a quieter replacement. NB the PC might shut down a few seconds after stalling a fan. Might bleep at you as well. Almost sure to shut down if you stop the CPU fan but they are usually so wee they are quiet IIRC? Yes, you should be able to change the CPU fan but if you need to remove the heatsink you will need alcohol to clean off the old white crap and a tube of new stuff.
I would say if a fan is that noisy its bearings are knackered.

Dave.

[Luke W]

In comparison, my brand-new Scan general purpose/games PC is very noisy, even with all six fans at minimum speed.

So if quiet as possible is a requirement, then let the PC assembler (be it Scan or someone else) know, to make sure you do get the best possible fan and case selection.

This can make a huge difference.

I've (fairly) recently built myself a gaming PC and it's made me realise just how quiet my studio machine is. It sounds like a plane taking off once the GPU gets going.

[OneWorld]

I have a 6 year old Dell that still does everything I want - mainly due to upgrading the SSD and maxing out the RAM, but I would like to upgrade to something new and modern. I'm not great at technology, but would like to be mildly current.

The noise of my Dell drives me bonkers. It doesn't interfere with recording, since the bulk of what I do is guitar and I have cabs mic'd in a separate room. The noise drives me crazy. I *think* it is the CPU fan. I've removed the HDD and I don't think the case has fans in it.

My wife and kids all have M series IMacs and they are silent. It's beautiful. I would prefer to not go to an Apple computer for a multitude of reasons, but will if necessary.

Can I get a silent PC that still has adequate performance?

I bought one of those Dell MINI PCs, and it's a quiet as a mouse, well in fact silent. Has an i9 top of the range INtel CPU, 64 gig of RAM, and the superfast 1TB NVMe boot drive. It boots into WIn10 in about 4 secods, it's amazing. But I haven't shipped everything across from my trusty old music computer yet. It needs some thought. It only has 4 USB ports + 1 USB C port. and I have a melange of hardware synths, dongles, MIDI controllers, that I have summoned up the courage to abandon my old soldier of an i7 PC. I know that some USB connected devices have to be connected to that same slot all the time, so if and when setting up a USB device on the new MINI PC I have to make sure I make the right choice and stick to it. I am using a USB hub and changing from a firewire audio interface to a USB one - a TASCAM it is brill!

But anyway, back to your point, this Dell MINI PC is silent, fast and so small I could fit it in my anorak pocket, and 4 seconds boot time, I thought such speeds were just a myth

[SafeandSound Mastering]

The 2 machines I have office and studio are totally silent. PSU fans I have never heard ever on the office machine (being an i3 would explain that, uses barely any power).

I was so impressed with the passive coolers SCAN used on my now 7 y.o machine I ensured the office machine had the same passive cooling.

Here is the current passive coolers I use, fluid filled copper pipe/vein convection cooling:



Fans can be exceptionally quiet but passive cooling is less of an option today with 8/16 or more cores and it becomes impossible to cool them passively as a CPU can draw 200 Watts of power if/when all cores are at full pelt.

I will miss moving away from passive cooling onto a fan CPU machine (BeQuiet installed on new machine to go into service whenever)

[Moroccomoose]

I had a SCAN PC and it was very good even at 10 tears old - until a cup of tea got spilled over it last year! Since then, and along with everything else, their prices have gone up significantly even for the lower tier audio PCs. In the end I couldn't justify the £1300 replacement from them.

My replacement came from Backmarket.com. A reconditioned ex-rental Dell Optiplex 3070 with intel i5 9500 with WIN 11. I maxed it out with RAM, loaded it with the SSDs and firewire card from the old computer and it all came in at less than £300.

I have to say, because it is a business PC and everything is DELL proprietary innards (Power supply and MOBO etc), it all just works. There is no matching chip sets and graphics etc or worrying about hardware drivers being incompatible. The Dell health check keeps the bios and drivers up to date, it is proving way more stable than my SCAN PC ever was (Fewer BSODs- the firewire was always a little unstable) and easily just as quiet if not quieter. (Not a swipe a SCAN, they were great, I just think midrange tower specs have caught up with what a reasonable music computer needs)

If you don't need to 'power up' in computing horsepower, then a newer PC will do the same with more computing overhead and generate less heat so the fans won't kick in as often.

Certainly a strategy I'd recommend for the hobbyist.

Stu.

[alexis]

...

I bought one of those Dell MINI PCs, and it's a quiet as a mouse, well in fact silent. Has an i9 top of the range INtel CPU, 64 gig of RAM, and the superfast 1TB NVMe boot drive. It boots into WIn10 in about 4 secods, it's amazing. But I haven't shipped everything across from my trusty old music computer yet. It needs some thought. It only has 4 USB ports + 1 USB C port. ... this Dell MINI PC is silent, fast and so small I could fit it in my anorak pocket, and 4 seconds boot time, I thought such speeds were just a myth

That is pretty much awesome OneWorld, wow!

I have a new rig penciled in for late 2024/ early 2025 (my current one is a fantastic ADK audio-optimized one from c. 2014, so sad to say good bye to it ). I remember reading about some mini PCs a few years back (in SOS? ... couldn't really Google find that review). I was wondering about LatencyMon results back then, iirc.

Thanks for mentioning that option, please update here as you see fit!

[OneWorld]

...

I bought one of those Dell MINI PCs, and it's a quiet as a mouse, well in fact silent. Has an i9 top of the range INtel CPU, 64 gig of RAM, and the superfast 1TB NVMe boot drive. It boots into WIn10 in about 4 secods, it's amazing. But I haven't shipped everything across from my trusty old music computer yet. It needs some thought. It only has 4 USB ports + 1 USB C port. ... this Dell MINI PC is silent, fast and so small I could fit it in my anorak pocket, and 4 seconds boot time, I thought such speeds were just a myth

That is pretty much awesome OneWorld, wow!

I have a new rig penciled in for late 2024/ early 2025 (my current one is a fantastic ADK audio-optimized one from c. 2014, so sad to say good bye to it ). I remember reading about some mini PCs a few years back (in SOS? ... couldn't really Google find that review). I was wondering about LatencyMon results back then, iirc.

Thanks for mentioning that option, please update here as you see fit!

2 other makes that kept cropping up were BeeLink and MinisForum. I was considering going from Intel to AMD Ryzen 9, prompted by a YouTude I watched , and then the Dell came along at a very reasonable price, I thought give it a go, and if not up to the task, I still have my trusty old soldier that keeps marching on. Will keep you posted

[The Paul meister]

My Dell Inspiron 13 5000 Series laptop with an SSD is silent. Occasionally it makes a bit of fan noise. The USB output into my audio interface has a bit of background noise coming out of my speakers, but not too bad. I use my Mac most of the time because the outputs have virtually no background noise.

Also my laptop has an HDMI output so I can connect it to a second monitor for a dual screen display.