I have an old HP Pavilion XE736. I would like to set it up as a Linux-based hardware firewall. That I can do.

The problem, it runs so loud compared to my other computers that it's annoying and ends up being a bother, so I skip it.

What are steps I can take to make this (or if that's too specific, any) old computer run significantly more quietly?

D.

well first you need to diagnose the source of the sound, is it the heat sync (fan over processor), other fans, the hard drive? Once you know the source it's much easier.
With fans, just replace with silent versions.
With a noisy hdd, odds are it's going to fail anyway so good idea to replace it.

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</Dream In Code>
-William. § (marvin_gohan)

What are the specifications of your old PC? On older machines, fans can sometimes simply be replaced by good quality heatsinks hence eliminating all fan noise.

As William said, check where the noise is coming from and replace noisy fans with "quiet" fans - These are often temperature controlled so that all the time it's relatively cool inside your case, the fans will run at an idle speed thus greatly reducing noise. A noisy hard drive generally isn't a good sign, but it is possible to buy hard drive enclosures which will reduce noise to some extent.

It is also worth tightening up any screws in your case as excess vibration can cause these to rattle generating further noise.

Hi,

The fan I have in my new tower computer is a good-sized V10 made in China w/ a small, 3-wire power jack that connects directly onto the motherboard. This is an Eagle computer.

Specs: INTEL PENTIUM D 3.4GHz DUAL CORE 2GB DDR & 250GB HD

Where can I get a really quiet running version of this fan so I can replace it? The fans are what make it run load. There's this one and the one over the chip.

Also, is there any kind of sound shielding or other outside add-on I can use to block the sound from getting to me? The tower is on the floor below my desk and to the right of me.

After dealing with a very quiet running IBM Thinkpad R40 laptop, I can't move to this new computer I bought without quieting it down quite a bit.

Hello, use caution if your thinking about using sound-proofing, the tower of your PC is designed to dissipate the heat which is one of the great challenges of electronics. You can put it in a box but your still going to need to the design the ventilation in order to let the heat escape.

Although you could always go full on and design yourself some kind of cooling system to go with it!!

Regards

Martin