What the heck dB? [need help silencing my pc]

[KR_king]

Lately I'm really getting crazy from the sound my pc makes.

 

I tried some dB readings (yes from my phone...) and it gave me a reading of +-40dB.

And when it's of it gives me one of +-33dB. 

So does this mean that if I want it to be silent I need to buy fans that are under 33dB?
I don't really get decibel at all, all I know is that it goes exponential.

 

Or maybe just a re positioning of my fans helps?

The gtx285 is loud but when the fan speed is set to 30% it's practically silent.
The 8500GT below that is passive, so no noise.
The gs700 has a faulty fan so it makes a annoying tick but that will be replaced soon.

And the hdd that you see is of so that makes no noise at all.

 

I'm willing to spend about €50 that about $70.

 

I know the pictures are obsolete but I like pictures in posts.   

[Guest]

PSU probably

[ForeseenVisionz]

get gentle typhoons i hear (get it) they are quite.

corsair fans good performs but at the cost of noise.

[ZetZet]

Sound stacks, so even many 20db fans will stack up to higher sound levels.

[KR_king]

 

PSU probably

It's more the combination of all the fans in the system I think.

 

get gentle typhoons i hear (get it) they are quite.

corsair fans good performs but at the cost of noise.

The only gentle typhoons that are available here are the 500 and 800rpm models, are those any good, rmp seems a bit to low?

[Paralectic]

Stock cooler and PSU fan for sure.

[TheSLSAMG]

Most likely that stock cooler and GPU fan, also the PSU.

 

Basically, it's going to cost more to fix it. (unless you do PSU fan replacement yourself)

[Ertman]

Is it producing 33db when off or that's just the ambient noise in the room?

[Rorgash]

those phone dbs in my experience are stupidly bad and useless for pinpointing what is causing the noise

 

I get about the same on my phone and im using noctua fans all set to silent and i still get 36-40 db on idle

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Get rid of the stock Corsair fans, they are absolutely terrible. You should also get an aftermarket CPU cooler.

[KR_king]

Most likely that stock cooler and GPU fan, also the PSU.

 

Basically, it's going to cost more to fix it. (unless you do PSU fan replacement yourself)

My problem falls under the warranty so it's not going to cost me anything, I just can afford downtime atm.

 

Is it producing 33db when off or that's just the ambient noise in the room?

That's the ambient noise in the room.

 

those phone dbs in my experience are stupidly bad and useless for pinpointing what is causing the noise

 

I get about the same on my phone and im using noctua fans all set to silent and i still get 36-40 db on idle

I know but it's the best I have. 

 

Get rid of the stock Corsair fans, they are absolutely terrible. You should also get an aftermarket CPU cooler.

What do you guys think about the Noiseblocker BlackSilentPRO PL-1?

[DJfern94]

Hi there, I am an audio engineering student from the UK.

 

It is very true that the reading will be taking into account the ambient room noise within both your results, (33dB). So let's do some simple maths, the reading with your system turned on is 39dB, minus that from your ambient room noise 33 and you get 6dB.

As you can tell from this graph http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm 6dB is almost half the sound someone breathing makes. While I do agree you may see a slight improvement in sound pressure level changing to "silent" fans, I seriously doubt you will ever be able to get down to 33dB when your pc is turned on without some serious acoustic treatment and silence optimised fans.

 

This of course is just my input, but I do believe with the information you have provided, that your system is only creating 6dB of sound output.

 

I hope this helps, and please question me if anything doesn't make sense, I am aiming to become a teacher in this field and would greatly consider any improvements I could make to my style.

 

Thanks   

[KR_king]

Hi there, I am an audio engineering student from the UK.

 

It is very true that the reading will be taking into account the ambient room noise within both your results, (33dB). So let's do some simple maths, the reading with your system turned on is 39dB, minus that from your ambient room noise 33 and you get 6dB.

As you can tell from this graph http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm 6dB is almost half the sound someone breathing makes. While I do agree you may see a slight improvement in sound pressure level changing to "silent" fans, I seriously doubt you will ever be able to get down to 33dB when your pc is turned on without some serious acoustic treatment and silence optimised fans.

 

This of course is just my input, but I do believe with the information you have provided, that your system is only creating 6dB of sound output.

 

I hope this helps, and please question me if anything doesn't make sense, I am aiming to become a teacher in this field and would greatly consider any improvements I could make to my style.

 

Thanks   

I really appreciate your input, but isn't it that because decibel is exponential that the difference between 33-39dB is way bigger than the difference between 0-6dB?

Or am I wrong here?

 

[DJfern94]

I really appreciate your input, but isn't it that because decibel is exponential that the difference between 33-39dB is way bigger than the difference between 0-6dB?

Or am I wrong here?

 

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I am so sorry and should stop indulging in student nights out and early mornings... Let me get my facts right. Sound is measured in a logarithmic manner, meaning if you had two sound sources of equal output, for example a 40dB room and a radio giving an output of 40dB, the overall measurement your would see on your phone app would be 43dB. doubling any Sound output yields an extra 3dB, so if we took the values of example I just gave you and changed it to a 80dB room and 80dB radio, the overall output would be 83dB.

 

Still, in respect to your system, your room is 33dB and using log scales we can work out your system is running at 38dB, to give you an overall output of 39dB... So yes, my numbers were completely wrong in the first post I made and now I have woken up I have corrected myself you can see the proper dB output of your pc. While I agree that taking measurements are important, I think the most important thing would be to listen to your system with your ears, does it sound too loud to you? if yes you could just by a fan controller to ramp down the rpm your fans are spinning at, reducing noise, or maybe spend a bit of cash and buy a nice set of silence optimised fans or even a noise dampening kit for your case? 

 

But yeah, after all sound is something that is subjective to you, listen to the difference your system makes to the room and you should decide what to do

[KR_king]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I am so sorry and should stop indulging in student nights out and early mornings... Let me get my facts right. Sound is measured in a logarithmic manner, meaning if you had two sound sources of equal output, for example a 40dB room and a radio giving an output of 40dB, the overall measurement your would see on your phone app would be 43dB. doubling any Sound output yields an extra 3dB, so if we took the values of example I just gave you and changed it to a 80dB room and 80dB radio, the overall output would be 83dB.

 

Still, in respect to your system, your room is 33dB and using log scales we can work out your system is running at 38dB, to give you an overall output of 39dB... So yes, my numbers were completely wrong in the first post I made and now I have woken up I have corrected myself you can see the proper dB output of your pc. While I agree that taking measurements are important, I think the most important thing would be to listen to your system with your ears, does it sound too loud to you? if yes you could just by a fan controller to ramp down the rpm your fans are spinning at, reducing noise, or maybe spend a bit of cash and buy a nice set of silence optimised fans or even a noise dampening kit for your case? 

 

But yeah, after all sound is something that is subjective to you, listen to the difference your system makes to the room and you should decide what to do

Student nights... yeah I know that feeling 

 

I'm probably going to get me some noiseblockers and maybe put them all on 7V or something like that.

What's your opinion on soundproofing material? Does it really help or is it more a gimmick?

[LogicalDrm]

To give my input on this matter. Db measuring doesn't tell everything. Thats just way to give sound volume some numerical way of explaining and comparing. Like my S2 gives 28db while system is on idle under table and phone next to keyboard. Same phone gives 20db on kitchen table 4m away from system. But here's the thing. I can still hear my system running. Not as loud as sitting next to it but still. So db can only give guideline for finding right fans/combination. Its highly about your own hearing and what annoys you.

[Lays]

 those decibel things don't work right most of the time, the one on my ipod I can put my pillow ontop of it, and it still reads 50+ db lol

 

It doesn't matter where I am or how quiet it is, it always reads 50+  

[DJfern94]

Student nights... yeah I know that feeling 

 

I'm probably going to get me some noiseblockers and maybe put them all on 7V or something like that.

What's your opinion on soundproofing material? Does it really help or is it more a gimmick?

Soundproofing material is fantastic, my studio is fully acoustically treated to prevent not only sound leakage but reverberation which for my uses is the way to go. I am yet to see or hear sound dampening material in a pc case but I shall be purchasing a NZXT H440 as soon as the black one becomes available in the UK and I will have a better opinion then. But in theory, yes, acoustically treating your case will improve its sound leakage tenfold     

[loccilucas]

What do you guys think about the Noiseblocker BlackSilentPRO PL-1?

I just recently replaced 3 of my fans with noiseblocker blacksilent PL-2's, and they are absoutly silent, I don't know anything about the PL-1 but I can definatly recommend the PL-2.

[KamiKatze]

You can silence your PC, but it won't be cheap.

 

I'd say the broken fan on the PSU is the most annoying noise. Changing the whole PSU is over the top imo, but changing the fan is possible. Be aware that opening the PSU in order to do so will void your warranty and is potentially dangerous, because a PSU handles high votlages. Here's a guide on that, by our forum member MG2R: 

The Noctua fan that's being used in this video is actually a great choice, since you won't see it anyways.

 

For tha case fans, I'd say they are okay. I would cheap out and leave them in. But you can of course change them for scythe gentle typhoons, noiseblocker eloops or bequiet silent wings or something like that. I'd also put both fans in the very front, and not one on the drive cage.

 

The CPU cooler is a joke. Intel stock coolers are quiet for the most part, but somethin like a bequiet shadow rock 2 or dark rock 2 would be an appropriate replacement to not only allow quieter operation, but also to give some better temps and further overclocks with your 2600 @ 4.17 GHz.

 

For the GPU: Yeah... the stock cooler is okay-loud at idle, but can get noisy when gaming. But That old of a card isn't worth any further money input. So I'd maybe de-dust it, that's it.

 

 

Edit: also  be aware, that what ever you change to your System, the loudest part that remains will dominate the noise output. So if you do all these steps mentioned above, but leave the GPU where it is, it will probably be good at idle but when gaming, the GPU will still be loud. If you upgrade your GPU in the future I'd recommend a MSI TwinFrozr card or a Gainward phantom, since they're both very silent.

[3VIL_G3NIUS]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I am so sorry and should stop indulging in student nights out and early mornings... Let me get my facts right. Sound is measured in a logarithmic manner, meaning if you had two sound sources of equal output, for example a 40dB room and a radio giving an output of 40dB, the overall measurement your would see on your phone app would be 43dB. doubling any Sound output yields an extra 3dB, so if we took the values of example I just gave you and changed it to a 80dB room and 80dB radio, the overall output would be 83dB.

 

Still, in respect to your system, your room is 33dB and using log scales we can work out your system is running at 38dB, to give you an overall output of 39dB... So yes, my numbers were completely wrong in the first post I made and now I have woken up I have corrected myself you can see the proper dB output of your pc. While I agree that taking measurements are important, I think the most important thing would be to listen to your system with your ears, does it sound too loud to you? if yes you could just by a fan controller to ramp down the rpm your fans are spinning at, reducing noise, or maybe spend a bit of cash and buy a nice set of silence optimised fans or even a noise dampening kit for your case? 

 

But yeah, after all sound is something that is subjective to you, listen to the difference your system makes to the room and you should decide what to do

To add to this, the 3db more isn't twice as loud, it's twice the acoustical power, you need about 10db more for it to actually sound twice as loud. A 3db difference isn't much too the ear unless you are comparing side by side.

[Sonefiler]

My problem falls under the warranty so it's not going to cost me anything, I just can afford downtime atm.

 

That's the ambient noise in the room.

 

I know but it's the best I have. 

 

What do you guys think about the Noiseblocker BlackSilentPRO PL-1?

Just get the actual Corsair fans, they're great for the price and look great as well.

[rentaspoon]

ignore the db from your phone most cant measure below 40db accurately.

Figure out which fans are noisy by stopping them physically just mind your fingers! your case is only as loud as the loudest.

Buy yourself a fan controller or some 7v fan resistor cables and slow them fans down.

[KR_king]

Sorry for the late respond guys, I'm in exams at the moment.

 

Thanks for all the input and advice.

I think I have a solution, the psu will get replaced if the shipping cost is lower than a Noctua fan, otherwise will be replacing the fan.

As for the fans I'll be getting some NB blacksilentPRO PL-2's to replace the corsair fans not the PL-1's because the PL-1's perform a bit worse at the same audible noise.

For the cpu I'll be getting a CM Hyper T4, i know everybody says I should get the 212 over those but they are silent enough for me and I don't need that much cooling since the 2600 is back to stock and will remain there for a while.

And lastly I'll  get some sound dampening, still deciding which, and just pad the whole inside of the case with it. Maybe doing a Mod Guide if somebody is interested but it will be at least 1-2 weeks before I can get started.

 

As usual the forum didn't leave my down. Thanks for all the advice!