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Summary
There’s no sound in the house that’s as obnoxious as the loud hum of a desktop computer. If your PC roars like an airplane that’s about to take off when you launch an app or game, maybe it’s time to consider building a silent PC. Here’s why it’s worth the effort.
A Professional Setup for Work
Whether you’re working from home or in an office, a noiseless PC facilitates a quiet, professional environment. This is especially important if you work in person with clients; just because you’re used to your loud office PC, it doesn’t mean that your clients won’t take notice and get distracted from what really matters. This gets further amplified in the summer because your PC fans have to work extra hard to prevent overheating.
Loud noise can be distracting when you’re trying to concentrate, even if you don’t consciously notice it. In fact, the louder the background noise, the bigger the impact on your ability to concentrate. So it follows that you should strive to make your PC as quiet as you can.
I’ve noticed that a loud PC can be especially distracting during online calls. My old PC fans were quite loud, and since I have open-back headphones, all the noise would seep through and affect my call quality. I had to turn up my volume, leading to me talking louder than necessary, which didn’t make the best impression on the other call participants! My current PC case has a high/low/off switch for the fans. I keep them on low for a virtually silent work environment, only increasing the speed for gaming.
You Can Leave the PC On Overnight
If your PC is in the bedroom, and you leave it running overnight to download a game, transfer large files, upload backups, or render a video, you’ll notice how loud your PC actually is. While some fan sounds can make for hypnotizingwhite noisethat helps you fall asleep, it can still be disruptive if your family members prefer a quiet room or if your fans ramp up and down rather than keeping a constant speed.
Plus, if you leave the PC on to finish a demanding task, such as video rendering, the fans will be significantly louder than what most would consider a comfortable level of background noise. It’s even worse if you still usetraditional hard drivesto store data, as they’re notorious for the loud buzzing sounds they make when the disk spins.
Better Audio Experience
You could argue thatnoise-cancelling headphonesare all you need to block out a loud PC. While that’s true, your other household members can still hear the fans fighting for their lives. Plus, I personallyprefer speakers for music and gaming, and I only reaching out for my headset if I need to hop on a business call or Discord.
If you also use speakers most of the time, you’ll appreciate a quiet PC that ensures a noise-free audio experience. Your recording audio will also get better, as microphones can pick up the noise coming from your computer. This is especially important if you do voiceovers or record music.
Perfect for a Home Theater
While cheap TV streaming devices and smart TVs do exist, for those who want the best experience possible, the only real solution is amini PC. Alternatively, you could plug in a long HDMI cable into your desktop PC and call it a day. The reason behind this is that high-bitrate video and audio require more processing power than a cheap streaming device can handle, leading to dropped frames, buffering, and choppy audio. Mycheap Android TV boxcan’t even handle 4K YouTube, so I’ve started using my PC for media.
Movies and TV shows are filled with quiet moments and whispering that can be easily drowned out by a loud PC, so the best solution is to use a quiet orfanless PC. You can use yourphone for remote access, and if you want a physical remote, theFLIRC USBis a great DIY option.
If you still don’t recognize the benefits of a silent PC, I urge you to give it a shot. You don’t have to build a silent PC with expensive fans from the get-go;Noctua has in-line adaptersthat’ll reduce fan noise for just a few bucks. If you end up liking it as much as I do, you can then build aquiet PC with optimized airflow.
