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Ask HN: Looking for a Quiet Windows Desktop

4 points by rman666 ↗ HN
I know this isn't a typical 'Ask HN' question, but I'm looking for recommendations for a very quiet Windows desktop. A friend lives in a small studio apartment and must have his PC near his bed. The fan on his current PC is too loud. The usual search sources (i.e., Google) yield too many useless results, so I thought I'd see if any fellow HN'ers have recommendations. This doesn't have to be the most powerful machine in the world ... it simply needs to run typical home user apps at a reasonable speed. Thanks in advance.

10 comments

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guptaneil
Does it have to be a desktop? How about a Macbook Air or some netbook with a monitor attached? Or why not just hibernate the machine he already has when sleeping?
rman666
The person is disabled, so getting to the PC just to turn it off or hibernate it is quite a hassle. Also, it needs to be able to run Windows XP or greater in order to run her software. One option I'm considering is a Mac mini running Windows via Virtual Box or VMWare or Parallels, but that seems like overkill. Seems like there should be a small quiet reasonably-fast Windows box for under $500 from someone (she already has a nice monitor, and her special keyboard and mouse). Thanks again.
whiskers
Can't you just set the automatic hibernate timer to something reasonable?

It would auto wake when the keyboard/mouse is used.

wavephorm
So get a used Mac Mini for probably $300. Any 2009 and up models are still fairly powerful machines, and are better and quieter than any desktop PC I've owned.
dirkdeman
Isn't it possible to replace the standard fan with a quiet, aftermarket fan? It sure is a lot cheaper than buying a new PC just for the sake of noise reduction. These guys specialize in quiet fans: http://www.acousticpc.com/index_quiet_computer_fans.html

Some background: they do a lot of stuff for recording studios, where having a quiet computer is also very important.

dirkdeman
On a side note: I love the Macbook Air to death, but it's hardly the most silent set I've owned. There are quite a few complaints about the noise issues of the MBA, so be sure to check that out first.
rman666
This is a fantastic resource. Thank you. A new quiet small fast PC is the preferred option (her current machine is a bit slow), but replacing the fan with a quiet fan is very much worth looking into. Thank you.
pasbesoin
While you're at it, check how much RAM it has. Some older, but not too much older, machines end up RAM constrained and can perform significantly better if RAM is maxed out (if prices for the older RAM have not become excessive).

If you're opening the machine anyway to swap the fan, might be a good opportunity to upgrade RAM.

Beware of spending more on the machine than is worthwhile, though.