August 28, 2003
Dual CPU Goodness & Badness

From the "I hate Noise" Dept.

Goodness: So my dual cpu computer is up and running. I feel the love.

It seems stable. I ran Prime95 (prime number search) for 9 hours yesterday, stressing both my CPUs to 100%. No problems. Left MemTest86 running on my comp when I left this morning...i takes about 5 1/2 hours to test it.

Badness: My only real big concern is that I underestimated the amount of noise that the CPU Fans would generate.

When I first started the system, I noticed that the fans seem to hit the "mechanical resonance" of my cases. My case started vibrating like mad. You could hear it downstairs because it was shaking the floor rafters. Horrible.

I've managed to quiet it down a bit, I reseated my CPUs, tightened my motherboard to the case, and it is now bearable. I still can't stop the vibration though. That's just disturbing. What is even crazier is that I'm even considering watercooling to reduce the noise.

Inevitably, I think that my motherboard mounts could be tighter too (I hand tightened them too). So when I have time, I'll take my computer apart and tighten the mounts with some pliers.

Great, just great.

I still need to get a video card and sound card.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by taitoh at August 28, 2003 11:04 AM
Comments

"I hate noise" also.

Compared to a desktop computer, the AlphaSmart Dana appears to be overpriced, underpowered, colorless, etc.

There are only 2 things it can do that desktop machines cannot do, and no other laptop I've ever seen can do:

1. It's completely silent (if you change the "sound" settings to "off"). No humming fan, no spinning CD drive, not even a spinning hard drive.

2. It has 25 hours of untethered "on time" between recharges.

A few PDAs can do those 2 things, but the Dana is the only one that

3. It has a full-size keyboard that I can peck on while standing up.

Tell me if you find any other computing devices with all 3 characteristics.

Posted by: David Cary on September 15, 2003 08:20 PM

"I hate noise" also.

Right now I have 6 foot extender cables between the mouse, keyboard, and CRT on my desk, to the constantly humming tower computer that's just about as far away as I can stretch the cable.

I'm thinking about putting the quietest computer I have at the end of thse cables (perhaps *underclock* it so much it automatically turns off the fan ?), and then put all my other computers in a different room (closet ?).

VNC (and ethernet) let me use those other computers as if they were still on my desk.

Is there a website about making computer quiet ?

Posted by: David Cary on September 15, 2003 08:52 PM

Hi David,

I've been working on making my computer more quiet.

My worst mistake was my cpu fan choices, great cooling (my CPUs sit at 35 C
idle, 39 C on heavy load), but very loud @ 38 dba each.

And people said that the Vantec Aeroflows were quiet.

As for links to quiet computing, I have found these sites very useful:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/
http://www.quietpc.com/

Three things I'm exploring right now:

1) Adding a potentiometer (Fan speed controller) to regulate the RPMs of the
CPU fans

1a) Replacing my CPU fans with more quiet models.

2) Building a case to house my tower to deaden the noise. I'm looking at
materials for insulation. I'm thinking of a wooden case that suspends my
tower using bungie cords (to deaden the vibration) as well lining it with
some sort to sound insulator (I've read that high quality carpet
undermatting is good.

3) Exploring watercooling the cpus (2 waterblock heatsinks, tubing a
radiator and a large, low noise (low RPM) fan).

In hindsight, while my workstation is a solid performer, I could have saved
the money I spent and used it towards a purchase of a dual G5 Powermac.

Thanks for the lead about the AlphaSmart. Reminds me of the psion mini
notebooks. Very intriguing.

As for the conductive paint: My dual CPU workstation uses modified Athlon
XP CPUs. These cpus are not certified to run in SMP mode (dual). However,
you can unlock the CPU by painting the "L5" bridge--making for a very
affordable dual cpu solution (A certified MP cpu costs about twice the
amount of an equivalent XP cpu).

Right now, I've placed a heavy duvet over my tower. I'm fortunate that this
is a home system.

Cheers,

Tai

Posted by: Tai Toh on September 17, 2003 12:05 AM
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