i wrote this page a few years ago, and the original information is pretty redundant these days, but i'm going to leave it here for now, along with a small update.
if you want a quiet computer in 2008, it's much easier than a few years back. there are now lots of quiet components available if you choose carefully. dell and other manufacturers sell reasonably quiet desktops. there are lots of quiet laptops around. you can even buy fully built fanless 'silent' computers. however, if you want to build your own computer, or make your current computer quieter, i have a few suggestions based on the most effective solution that i have found - to remove or isolate any vibrating components from your computer case:
work out which parts are making the most noise, and treat appropriately:
it's getting a bit old, but at least it's quiet...
i wanted to keep my linux box up 24/7, but it was two feet from my bed and too noisy to sleep through.
the most effective way to make your computer quieter is to physically isolate vibrating components from your computer's case.
after that, or if isolation isn't possible, it helps to use components designed to be quieter. but that costs more for less effect.
by buying a pc power and cooling psu from america. it wasn't much quieter than my original. by buying a new cpu fan. same problem. and by buying a papst temperature-controlled-variable-speed psu fan, which also made little difference.
then i bought some rubber couplings from maplin and mounted the psu fan outside of the case. this made a huge difference, and was nice and cheap.
it's pretty obvious really, the pc power and cooling and papst fans were almost silent when i held them in my hand, but not when screwed to the case. the case is a metal chamber that vibrates and probably also amplifies the vibrations.
i have noticed that people like dell and hp and apple make much quieter desktop computers than cheaper brands. some of the dells and apples i have seen inside of have the cpu fan mounted to the side of the case using plastic couplings, rather than directly onto the heatsink. i'm sure this helps cut down noise.
if you aren't familiar with how computers work, how electricity works and how tools work, don't do this stuff!
2008 update! don't do this stuff at all! there are better methods these days, and i don't think the cpu fan mod will work on modern systems.
if you know what you're doing, all the modifications should be easy to work out, so i'm not going bother to explain them in much detail.
if there's anything you aren't sure about, don't try it. i won't be held responsible if you hurt yourself or break your computer.
you'll need rubber couplings to mount the fan on, and maybe a finger guard to put on the fan. as mentioned above, i got mine from maplin.
open the case, take out and open the psu then unscrew the fan.
you may well need to cut the wires to the fan in order to reposition it outside. you may also need to extend the wires.
put the psu back together with the fan outside, place it back in position inside the case and work out whether or not you'll need to cut metal away from the case in order to fit the rubber couplings.
cut your case to bits as necessary, then reassemble it all.
because the fan is now suspended a centimetre or so from the case, there is a gap between the fan and the case that allows air to pass. this makes your fan less effective, so it needs to be covered up. an elastic band would probably be the best solution if you could find one of suitable size, but failing that a couple of pieces of electrical tape stuck together to make a loop does the job. don't leave the sticky part of the tape in the airflow or it might catch dust :-)
i expect air flow would be improved if i hacked away the metal on the psu case that used to be the finger guard, but i haven't bothered.
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i saw this somewhere else. your psu provides you with connections for 12v, 5v and 0v. your fan is normally connected from 12v to 0v. if you connect it from 12v to 5v, then you reduce the fans voltage to 7v which for lots of fans is enough to run, and enough to keep the cpu cool, but slower, and therefore quieter.
laptops are nice and quiet. laptops use 2.5 inch hard disks. maybe it's because they run slower, or maybe more attention is paid to making them quiet.
this one isn't cheap, but after i'd done the other bits, my hard drive seemed irritatingly loud. it was an old 5.25 inch piece of rubbish, though. most newer hard disks seem quite quiet, so maybe a 2.5 inch one is going too far, particularly if you care about performance and storage space versus cost.
you will need some rails to adapt it into the existing space for a 3.5 inch hdd. i imagine plastic or rubber would be best, but i could only get metal. also an adapter for the ide cable and power connector. i got the bits i needed from cpc for not much money.
i'll put other things i know of or have tried here as i remember them.
nice cpu fans: there's a company in the uk called quiet pc that sells lovely quiet cpu fans. my dad has one. it's great. better than the rewiring thing i have done.
big heatsinks: the same company sells huge copper heatsinks with no fans i think.
graphics cards: if your graphics card has a fan on the processor, you may be able to disconnect it. it seems that a lot of these are just to give the impression of a powerful chip, and aren't needed. check for information on your particular card first.
carpeted box: someone somewhere suggested making a carpet lined box to put on the back of your psu, so that the airflow hits the carpet, to deaden the noise. when i tried this it helped a bit, by cutting down the airflow noise, but as the major noise from my pc came from the case vibrating, the contribution was not that great.
apple i-cube's: they've stopped selling them now, and they weren't very expandable internally, but they didn't have any fans. very nice.