Frequently Asked Questions

In order to ascertain where the noise is coming from there is a very simple test you can carry out, just take a pencil or plastic pen lid and 'stop' momentarily each fan within the PC, including the PSU. If the noise stops/reduces you have located the offending component which would benefit from replacement with a quiet alternative.

Some motherboards have difficulty measuring low fan RPM speeds on CPU coolers. The problem can sometimes be fixed by updating the motherboard BIOS to the latest version available on the motherboard manufacturer's website. However, with some motherboards, the problem remains. Regardless, this will not affect performance. In addition, some motherboards will not boot if the CPU fan speed cannot be measured, as a safety feature. After rotating the Fan Mate speed control fully clockwise to enable booting, this feature needs to be disabled in the BIOS setup (set "CPU Fan Detect" or similar to "Disabled")

The QTechnology PSU incorporates a splitter into the 24-pin ATX connector. This makes it possible to remove four of the 24-pins making it 20-pins. If you look closely to one end of the connector you will see you can slide 4-pins off.

Yes, there should be no problem attaching any of our hard drive solutions to drive rails. Just keep an eye on the temperature of the drive for the first day or so after installation, since heat dissipation from the solution into the chassis could be slightly reduced compared with mounting the product directly using screws. The Silentmaxx HDD enclosure may take up two 5.25" drive bays because the mounting holes may not align correctly. But it will connect without any problems.

Most hard drives have breather holes which prevent pressure differences building up inside the drive. The inside of the drive enclosure will not form an airtight seal on the drive's breather and therefore will allow it to work as intended - to eliminate any possibility of pressure build-up. In summary - there is nothing to worry about!

It's possible that the power supply may be faulty, but here are some simple things to check. Firstly, a power supply will not work if you simply plug it in and flick the switch. The power supply will only turn on if you connect it to a working motherboard and associated items (processor, memory, video card, etc). It is actually the motherboard which tells the power supply when to switch on. Secondly (if applicable), check the voltage is set correctly to 115/230 volts depending on what country you are in. Thirdly, if possible it would be good to try the power supply in another PC to see if it works, or try another power supply in your PC to see if that works. You can then tell whether it is the power supply which is faulty or the actual PC itself. If all else fails, please contact us for further support, and/or return details.

Virtually all the noise generated by a PC power supply originates from the cooling fan inside it, so simply replacing the fan with an 80mm Ultra-Quiet version may seem an obvious way to go. However, if you are thinking about attempting this operation, please bear the following points in mind:

1. Your existing power supply will be designed to run with a specific amount of airflow in order to adequately cool the components inside and reducing the airflow may lead to overheating and damage to the power supply and/or PC.
2. All PC power supplies contain very high voltages and even with the power disconnected, the voltages stored in the capacitors can be easily enough to kill. It is not recommended to take the cover off any PC power supply for this reason unless you are absolutely confident of your own ability. Because of the grave dangers involved, all PC power supplies by law carry a warning label forbidding removal of the power supply case.
3. There will be no standard 4-pin connector inside the power supply to use to connect a replacement fan, and it would probably have to be soldered directly into the PCB inside the power supply, or have a specialist power connector attached. This can be a tricky operation to say the least.

Please consider the above points very carefully before proceeding with an operation to replace the fan in your existing power supply.

Yes! The fact that these power supplies are AMD-approved for use with their Athlon processor is an added bonus; the power supply can be used with PCs containing a processor from Intel or any other manufacturer. The reason that we make a point of saying that our power supplies are "AMD Approved" is that AMD have stringent specifications relating to the design of power supplies used with their Athlon processors, which means you should not use any power supply with an Athlon-based PC unless it has passed AMD's approval process.

The internal components of your PC determine what wattage power supply you need. Below is a list of common components and their watt usage. This is only a guide with all wattages estimated.

• ATX Motherboard - 30W-40W
• AMD Athlon 900MHz-1.1GHz - 50W
• AMD Athlon 1.2GHz-1.4GHz - 55-65W
• Intel Pentium III 800MHz-1.26GHz - 30W
• Intel Celeron 700MHz-900MHz - 25W
• Intel Celeron 1.0GHz-1.1GHz - 35W
• Intel Pentium 4 1.4GHz-1.7GHz - 65W
• Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz-2.0GHz - 75W
• 128MB RAM - 10W
• 256MB RAM - 20W
• IDE CD-ROM Drive - 20W
• IDE DVD-ROM Drive - 20W
• SCSI CD-RW Drive - 17W
• SCSI CD-ROM Drive - 12W
• 5400RPM IDE Hard Drive - 10W
• 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - 13W
• 7200RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 24W
• 10000RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 30W
• AGP video card - 20-30W
• PCI video card - 20W
• Floppy Drive - 5W
• Network Card - 4W
• Modem - 5W
• Sound Card - 5W
• SCSI Controller Card - 20W
• Firewire/USB Controller Card - 10W
• Case Fan - 3W
• LED Case Fan - 6W
• CPU Fan - 3W

We have also come across this website which will help you calculate the amount of wattage your PC will use.

We receive many customer enquiries about this. In fact, the 24-pin compatible power supplies we sell come with special motherboard connectors which can be converted to 20-pins with no additional conversion cables! All you need to do is look at the connector and you will see that the end four pins can be slid off, turning the connector into a 20pin compatible one! Easy when you know how!!

No, more powerful power supplies will consume around the same amount of power as lower powered power supplies in any given PC system. Your electricity bill will not be higher when using a more powerful power supply!

Generally speaking, the lowest CPU temperature will be obtained by having the fan blow air onto the heatsink. You can determine the direction of airflow through a fan without switching it on by examining its body for two arrows shown at 90 degrees to each other. One arrow indicates airflow direction, and the other arrow indicates the direction of blade rotation.

The short answer is that all P4 Zalman coolers are fine for processors up to 3.5 G Hz at the minimum Fan Mate setting (Silent Mode). When you first install the cooler, you should run the fan at full speed to ensure that everything is working properly and the PC boots successfully. Then you can turn the Fan Mate down to its minimum setting and appreciate the difference!

Re-assemble the PC and check the CPU temperature in the BIOS setup (press Del or F2 etc. when you first switch on, then look for the CPU temperature reading in "Hardware monitor" or "PC Health Status" option or similar). For an Intel processor, ensure it does not rise higher than around 65°C (actually Intel specify around 70-75°C as a maximum). For AMD processors, 20°C can be added to these figures. Some customers prefer the minimum noise level, others prefer a lower CPU temperature, so the choice is yours!

The resistor cable is designed to allow the fan to run slightly slower for even quieter operation. The benefit in lower running noise is significant. Although the airflow will be reduced slightly, this usually has minimal effect on case temperature. I would recommend using the resistor for best results. The specifications on the website assume you will use the resistor.

Hold the fan so that the round fan sticker is facing you. You are looking at the rear of the fan. When you plug the fan in, the air will be blowing towards you. If you want a fan to act as an air intake, then the fan sticker will be facing the inside of the case.

Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to help. The reason for this is because we have found out that if you replace any part of the server (even something as little as a case fan) can result in the system not running as it should or not at all. With this in mind we advise customers not to tamper with any components inside any branded servers.

Unfortunately due to space restrictions, silencing a Shuttle PC is very difficult indeed. There are only a few products we can suggest. Firstly, the FANMATE 2, which will reduce the speed of your case fan therefore reducing the noise output. Also, if your motherboard has a fan attached to the chipset you could replace that with the Zalman Silent Motherboard Heatsink (ZM-NB32K). Finally, we offer an AcoustiPack™ SFF (Small Form Factor) soundproofing kit.

Quiet PC only supply components to cut down on the acoustic noise generated by PCs, rather than fully-built PCs which have been designed to be quiet from new. If you want to buy a new PC which has been built to run quietly, we know of several companies which will be able to help. To find the names of these companies, please look at the chart of resellers on our contact page.

Maybe you care, maybe you don't! Generally most people only care about the noise generated by their PC if the room is normally quiet with the PC switched off, because then they really notice the PC noise more. Of course there are other people with specific reasons for needing or wanting peace and quiet, such as musicians, tinnitus sufferers and hi-fi enthusiasts. The strange thing about background noise is that you only notice how intrusive it is when it stops.

Probably not, because all the products on this website can be removed as easily as they are fitted. Assuming the components in your new PC are compatible, the Quiet PC products can then easily be re-fitted.

Macs run quieter than PCs as a rule, but if you need your Mac to run quieter still, you could consider adding a Scythe Silent Box Heatlane HDD Enclosure or a Silentmaxx Aluminium HD-Silencer. However, this requires that you have a 5.25" drive bay free, and this criteria is not met by most G3 and G4 Macintosh products.

The University of Turku in Finland carried out a scientific acoustic test on a PC fitted with the QTechnology Ultra-Quiet Power Supply, a passive cooler for the CPU and a SilentDrive™ hard drive enclosure. The results show that the noise level was reduced to just 26.4 dBA! Once you know that 28 dBA represents the background noise level in a typical quiet room, you realise how amazingly quiet 26.4 dBA actually is! View the University of Turku independent report

See our customer comments page here. Here's a random comment from the many we have received from our customers: