I hate computers

[Sir Og]

I wander how quiet a PC with that many fans may be. Aren't all these fans (although super quiet) adding up in noise.

Have you personally tested/experienced if two or three of these big quiet fans make less noise that a stock CPU fan for example?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Sir Og
I wander how quiet a PC with that many fans may be. Aren't all these fans (although super quiet) adding up in noise.

Have you personally tested/experienced if two or three of these big quiet fans make less noise that a stock CPU fan for example?

It's all extremely quiet. The case is an Antec P182 to be specific.

When these fans run at the lowest rpm setting they are virtually noiseless. When you place it under a desk it's whisper quiet, even though there's a lot of fans.

You can't just replace all of these fans with a "stock" CPU fan -- though I have seen the stock fans and I think that's a noisy beast. My CPU fan is a Zalman CNPS9700

(on the right)

The airflow in the case is fantastic, and with a standard "CPU" fan you don't get nearly enough airflow to adequately cool a GeForce 8800 Ultra, quad-core core 2 @ 3GHz, etc.

[Arrian]

My new computer is pissing me off too. Every so often, it just freezes in the middle of booting up. It's happened about 5 times now. Each time, I have to turn off the power and start it up again (whereupon it works perfectly).

Something during startup is wonky. Dunno what. I'm dreading the phone call to tech support.

-Arrian

[Aeson]

How far does it make it into the boot before freezing? Do you get past the BIOS screen? To the Windows logo?

[Arrian]

Last time it made it to the Windows desktop. Windows was therefore up, right? The startup programs were coming up (the messenger icon came up, then it died). Other items that come up at start up include my primary suspect, Kodak Easyshare (I dislike that program. I don't think it plays nicely with others), Norton (Symantec) anti-virus/etc, and some I'm forgetting right now.

Other instances haven't made it quite that far before death, but I think they've all made it past BIOS.

-Arrian

[Alinestra Covelia]

My brother got sick of the crap he had to put up with in computer cooling systems etc.

So he installed a fishtank full of mineral water and put his computer there. No fans needed - the tank has a cooling system that if it ever fails, will still give him a good hour or so of warning before things get serious.

His fish aren't doing so well though.

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by Arrian
Last time it made it to the Windows desktop. Windows was therefore up, right? The startup programs were coming up (the messenger icon came up, then it died). Other items that come up at start up include my primary suspect, Kodak Easyshare (I dislike that program. I don't think it plays nicely with others), Norton (Symantec) anti-virus/etc, and some I'm forgetting right now.

Other instances haven't made it quite that far before death, but I think they've all made it past BIOS.

-Arrian

Seems like your processor fan died.

[Omni Rex Draconis]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
His fish aren't doing so well though.

But at least their scales have that smooth, supple feel!

[Aeson]

Arrian,

Does this happen just on cold boots (computer has been off for a while)?

In most cases a failed CPU fan would result in more consistent crashes unless you have drastic changes in ambient temps. Easy enough to check if the fan is spinning up, so definitely check it out.

If it crashes before windows loads sometimes, it shouldn't be a 3rd party program. Depends on the timing though.

Could be a driver issue, hard drive error, or faulty memory module. Scan your hard drive for errors, and run Memory Diagnostic Tool (you have Vista right?)

It could also be a CPU failing. Eventually crosstalk will get to any CPU. It would probably result in more randomly timed crashes though, not confined to the boot up/windows loading. They'd be more likely after it's been running a while or during CPU intensive tasks.

[Arrian]

Cold boots, yes. When it freezes, I shut it off and try again, and it always works the second time. I've never had it fail twice. However...

We've also had it freeze a few times in the midst of playing a game (Neverwinter Nights) - again, no ability to do anything but turn the power off. That would be after hours of playtime.

Sometimes it manages both startup and hours of play with no problems at all.

I can hear the fan (fans, actually, I should have 2) running.

I have XP SP2.

-Arrian

[Dinner]

The only problem I've had is Vista doesn't seem to like my ATI graphics card or at least ATI's drivers blow when it comes to Vista compatibility.

[Arrian]

****ing thing froze on me again last night. It booted just fine. I played NWN for about an hour and a half and it died. Meh.

-Arrian

[Asher]

I'd die too if I had to play NWN for an hour.

[Arrian]

Thanks Asher.

-Arrian

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Asher
I'd die too if I had to play NWN for an hour.

Don't feel bad. Most noobs don't even last an hour so you should feel good about having escaped the predatorial pwnzers for that long.