| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Looking for a quiet PC Thread poster: Luca Tutino
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Laurent KRAULAND (X) 
France
Local time: 11:35
French to German
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| If you prefer :) | Dec 5, 2010 |
Luca Tutino wrote: Laurent KRAULAND wrote:
personally I prefer multi-platform TEnT. I never heard about it - what is it?
Cross-platform (*) Translation Environment Tools, the "trendy" way of now calling CAT tools.
(*) like Swordfish, Heartsome, Wordfast Pro
[Modifié le 2010-12-05 05:41 GMT]
| | | | Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 02:35
English to German
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In memoriam | My guy: HP G71-340US Core 2 Duo T6600, 17.3 | Dec 5, 2010 |
This machine is so silent, I have to put my ear close to the keyboard to hear some faint humming. I am thrilled!
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Vitals wrote:
All Toshibas (ones I know and used) were terrible noise-makers.
I've got a Toshiba, and I can confirm it is not particularly silent. Not that bad on the whole but sometimes it is quite noisy. Next time I will go for HP or Vaio).
Ewa
| | | | Luca Tutino
Italy
Member (2002)
English to Italian
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TOPIC STARTER
FarkasAndras wrote:
First of all, in most cases, increased noise from a laptop means dust in the computer. Go at it with the vacuum cleaner, or even take it apart to dust it out and it should shut up.
Compressed air helped for a while. Now it does not make difference anymore. I have opened all compartments, but I did not dare to take apart the whole thing yet... I might though, as soon as I do not have a close deadline.
- A non-slim chassis; thin bodies don't allow good enough airflow
- Components that generate as little heat as possible. Integrated graphics card (no need for a discrete card for translation anyway)
I took care of these when I chose my current HP but did not suffice.
a modern core i 3/5/7 CPU - and if you are willing to sacrifice some of the performance, pick a ULV version.
Centrino due was the latest technology at the time, and yet...
Maybe an SSD insted of a platter drive; SSDs make no noise of their own and generate less heat.
HD noise is not really bothering me
but there's no reason to think that the vaio somebody on a different continent bought two years ago has the same sort of fan as the completely different vaio model you may buy now.
I agree!
Of course this could get you thrown out of the store pretty easily...
This is the real problem - there is really no way to test the noise in a shop.
I hope opening the case will help - even if it might just shorten the agony...
Thank you!
Luca
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Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:35
Russian to English
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In memoriam | Number of USB ports shouldn't be a problem | Dec 5, 2010 |
You can get a USB hub with four outlets for about five euros, and one with 12 outlets for about 15 euros.
| | | | | Comments from another anti-noise freak | Dec 5, 2010 |
Dear Luca,
I had my last desktop built specially with supersilent fans for the power supply and graphic card as well as special harddisk mounts that dampen noise. In fact, the computer was so silent that I often tried to switch it on when it was already running! It is now 18 months old and still very quiet. I can't hear the harddisks at all
Components:
- Scythe Shuriken (supersilent)
- 550 Watt LC6550GP Silent Giant Green, 14cm
2x Xilence interner vi... See more Dear Luca,
I had my last desktop built specially with supersilent fans for the power supply and graphic card as well as special harddisk mounts that dampen noise. In fact, the computer was so silent that I often tried to switch it on when it was already running! It is now 18 months old and still very quiet. I can't hear the harddisks at all
Components:
- Scythe Shuriken (supersilent)
- 550 Watt LC6550GP Silent Giant Green, 14cm
2x Xilence interner vibration-free harddisk frames (EUR 29.00 each)
The extra price (about 80 Euros) was worth it.
I have a Zalman NC-2000 cooler for my laptop (HP 17" Envy, i7 quad core) that can be quite noisy when Trados Studio is running. The cooler keeps the noise of the fan to acceptable levels and the handrests don't heat up either. It also rests comfortably on my lap if need be.
Happy hunting!
Jill ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 11:35
Member (2007)
English to Italian
| Excuse me but... | Dec 5, 2010 |
FarkasAndras wrote: Luca Tutino wrote: Gianni Pastore wrote:
It's simpler than you think. I have built mine last year and I spent around 400 € shopping for the various parts around on the net. Since it's not for gaming, you don't need the latest CPU or Motherboard; I have chosen:
M/B: ASUS P5QL-E
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 8300 2.5 Ghz
VideoCard: NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
You can even choose to go water-cooling to have the noise virtually (and practically) reduced to zero!
Ciao Gianni, Yes, this looks like what I was looking for. I guess I could start with a configuration similar to yours and then improve its cooling if necessary. I am using notebooks for such a long time though, so I have to figure out how to start about this.... Thank you! Well, if you want it to be quiet, you should definitely steer clear of Core 2 Quads and discrete graphics cards. Get a middling core i5 and just use the integrated graphics it already has. Trust me, it has more than enough muscle and it'll be a lot quieter (it generates half the heat of a core 2 quad+discrete card, or less). Of course if you go with watercooling (which is probably a bit finicky to set up, expensive and a bit radical as a noise reduction solution), you can use any components, it'll be quiet.
...what does CPUs and graphic cards have to do with noise? They are noiseless, don't produce any noise because they have no moving parts. Noises inside a PC are generated only by CPU fan, case fans, power supply fan and HD spinning.
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 11:35
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER | They are quite important, in fact | Dec 5, 2010 |
Gianni Pastore wrote:
...what does CPUs and graphic cards have to do with noise? They are noiseless, don't produce any noise because they have no moving parts. Noises inside a PC are generated only by CPU fan, case fans, power supply fan and HD spinning.
Most separate graphic cards are equipped with a fan. Some of them are quite noisy... The better the card, the more heat it needs to dissipate, so the fan has to be more powerful. That is why a midrange card might be quieter (or even have passive cooling).
The same goes for the CPU - the faster it is, the more heat it produces (with small exceptions). So the cooling requirements are higher (which means more noise).
Have you had a look at Atom based PCs? Those with Ion graphics chipset are quite efficient - I use one as HTPC, so the noise was also a factor. It has no CPU or graphics card fans, only power supply one. It is audible, but barely.
Of course, you can find fanless solutions as well...
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Jan Kolbaba
Czech Republic
Local time: 11:35
Member (2006)
English to Czech
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"problem" i am solving right now. I use three independent monitors connected via a Matrox module http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/#close to my five-years-old laptop Asus and its fans are pretty loud. I noticed this fact after installing and using the new version of Trados 2009. It's deadly annoying to listen to this noise (created by changing speeds of fans)... See more "problem" i am solving right now. I use three independent monitors connected via a Matrox module http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/#close to my five-years-old laptop Asus and its fans are pretty loud. I noticed this fact after installing and using the new version of Trados 2009. It's deadly annoying to listen to this noise (created by changing speeds of fans) especially in the evening. So I decided to purchase a new desktop Dell (http://www.itechnews.net/2010/01/11/dell-studio-xps-8100-core-i7i5-desktop-pc/ ). Its graphic card ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB is supposed to support up to three monitors (one of them via HDMI connection) so I hope it'll fulfil all my requirements. The requirement number ONE is the quietness. I will get it within a few days - hopefully, so I will let you know
Cheers Jan
[Edited at 2010-12-05 18:37 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-12-05 18:43 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Luca Tutino wrote:
Compressed air helped for a while. Now it does not make difference anymore. I have opened all compartments, but I did not dare to take apart the whole thing yet... I might though, as soon as I do not have a close deadline.
I also tried compressed air when my laptop was acting up... it did exactly nothing. Then I broke out the vacuum cleaner, took off the head and stuck the end of the tube to all the openings (vent holes, all over the keyboard etc.) and lo and behold, the fan noise went away almost completely. I knocked a keycap off in the process (oops), but it worked.
Of course if you can muster the courage to open the case, that's even better.
If you're feeling particularly brave, you could look into replacing the thermal paste on the cpu. Apparently, insufficient or old thermal paste can cause overheating and fan noise. I never messed around with stuff like that, though.
Of course an atom pc will be very quiet, but it will also be very underpowered... I wouldn't recommend it as a main machine.
If you end up getting a desktop, a core i5 with integrated graphics and a "silent" fan is probably your best option. The only trouble is that you may not be able to hook up 2 monitors to the integrated gpu, so you may need to get a discrete card after all.
[Edited at 2010-12-05 20:58 GMT]
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Gianni Pastore wrote:
...what does CPUs and graphic cards have to do with noise?
Everything.
Gianni Pastore wrote:
They are noiseless, don't produce any noise because they have no moving parts. Noises inside a PC are generated only by CPU fan, case fans, power supply fan and HD spinning.
Yep. And the decisive factor when it comes to noise is how fast the case fan and possibly the video card fan is running... which depends on one thing only: how hot the main internal components are (CPU and graphics cards, mostly). CPU that generates little heat = cool CPU = low fan rpm = no fan noise.
| | | | Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 11:35
Member (2007)
English to Italian
FarkasAndras wrote: Gianni Pastore wrote:
...what does CPUs and graphic cards have to do with noise? Everything. Gianni Pastore wrote:
They are noiseless, don't produce any noise because they have no moving parts. Noises inside a PC are generated only by CPU fan, case fans, power supply fan and HD spinning. Yep. And the decisive factor when it comes to noise is how fast the case fan and possibly the video card fan is running... which depends on one thing only: how hot the main internal components are (CPU and graphics cards, mostly). CPU that generates little heat = cool CPU = low fan rpm = no fan noise.
We're talking PC mainly used for office applications here, not overclocked PC for extreme gaming. My CPU hardly gets loaded up to 15%, even with three or four office application simultaneously running, including Trados. I have actually managed to run my PC without case fans for a couple of months, and never crashed due to excessive heat. I added two fans "just for the sake of it", but I believe that a good heatsink + silent CPU fan + passive graphic card would do the job just as fine.
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Gianni Pastore
Italy
Local time: 11:35
Member (2007)
English to Italian
Jabberwock wrote:
Most separate graphic cards are equipped with a fan. Some of them are quite noisy... The better the card, the more heat it needs to dissipate, so the fan has to be more powerful. That is why a midrange card might be quieter (or even have passive cooling).
In fact I mentioned my graphic, who has passive cooling. You definetely don't need a top notch graphic card to run office apps. That would be overkilling an already dead bear, wouldn't it?
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:35
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| Clean the fan? Raise the laptop? | Dec 6, 2010 |
Luca Tutino wrote:
Right now the only problem with my present notebook is the noise, otherwise I might easily keep using this one. The fan NOISE became disturbing about 4 months after I bought it, and by now I have my ears ringing day and night.
A good clean may solve it. Google for your laptop's name and maintenance guide, maintenance manual, service manual and service guide, and download something from HP's official site. These guides contain step by step steps to disassemble your entire laptop and reassemble it again.
When my laptop's screen broke, I was able to follow the instructions to detach it and see what's wrong with it (a broken hinge, that I was able to fix with metal super glue), and now my laptop's good for another year or two.
You may need to buy a special screw driver.
Alternatively, are you sure that you can't reduce the noise by raising the laptop a bit (so that more air gets to it)?
| | | | | Again, you are not the OP | Dec 6, 2010 |
Gianni Pastore wrote:
We're talking PC mainly used for office applications here,
Maybe. Maybe not.
Gianni Pastore wrote:
My CPU hardly gets loaded up to 15%, even with three or four office application simultaneously running, including Trados.
Well, that's your pc and your usage scenario. I don't see how that's relevant. I for one manage to run my CPU at 50% (one core at full clip) with some regularity, and the OP may be in a similar situation. I doesn't even matter, he is having noise issues. He wouldn't be having them if his CPU puttered along at 5% load all the time, so why not discuss ways and means of cutting down on the noise?
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