Chit Chat and All That...

[Stacken77]

They specialise in fanless/passively cooled PCs. Is this what you have? Or do yours have fans? Also, if they do have fans, do you find that they remain inactive most of the time?

My workstation is not passively cooled and features only Noctua-fans, since they're one of the leading manufacturers of quality low-noise fans. I have two case fans that spin up at a certain temperature, controlled by the motherboard. While below the temperature, my computer is almost silent, probably below 10 dB since the CPU-fan(also Noctua) is very very quiet.

Getting a passively cooled setup sounds really nice for the ears. One thing to keep in mind is that this usually involves a trade-off in performance since powerful components usually needs to be actively cooled, either by fan or liquid. But the company you're referring to most likely has more experience in constructing such setups, so I think you could give it a shot.

So maybe best to wait a while for getting this PC then? Wait until the demand has deflated, and the prices have come down somewhat.

I think that can be a good idea. Graphics cards are still being produced, albeit very slowly. You could out of curiosity contact the company and ask about pricing and the current situation to see if it has had any impact. Most likely, it has.

 

[Damocles]

My workstation is not passively cooled and features only Noctua-fans, since they're one of the leading manufacturers of quality low-noise fans. I have two case fans that spin up at a certain temperature, controlled by the motherboard. While below the temperature, my computer is almost silent, probably below 10 dB since the CPU-fan(also Noctua) is very very quiet.

Getting a passively cooled setup sounds really nice for the ears. One thing to keep in mind is that this usually involves a trade-off in performance since powerful components usually needs to be actively cooled, either by fan or liquid. But the company you're referring to most likely has more experience in constructing such setups, so I think you could give it a shot.

I think that can be a good idea. Graphics cards are still being produced, albeit very slowly. You could out of curiosity contact the company and ask about pricing and the current situation to see if it has had any impact. Most likely, it has.

Thanks for all this information Stacken.

Just one more question.

So I really only use a computer for: shopping, reading articles, watching videos and not engaging in tom foolery on tinnitus forums. (I own a Nintendo Switch Lite, so use that for all my gaming when I want a distraction from a spike for example).

Taking that into account, I doubt I'd need much processing power from my PC, but then, I've never used Digital Art software before. Thus I'm wondering, do you know or think, using a Digital Art program would heat the PC up enough that passive cooling would be a bad idea, or that a fan would be necessary?

For example, if you run Photoshop, would that cause your PC's ultra quiet fans to start up?

I've played video games on my fanless laptop a couple of times in the past, and it really does get hot enough to fry some nice, organic blacktail chicken eggs on (ˆ ڡ ˆ).

 

[Steph1710]

Rob guy next to you isn't that tall a

Rob is 6ft 4. So pretty damn tall.

 

[Stacken77]

So I really only use a computer for: shopping, reading articles, watching videos and not engaging in tom foolery on tinnitus forums. (I own a Nintendo Switch Lite, so use that for all my gaming when I want a distraction from a spike for example).

Taking that into account, I doubt I'd need much processing power from my PC, but then, I've never used Digital Art software before. Thus I'm wondering, do you know or think, using a Digital Art program would heat the PC up enough that passive cooling would be a bad idea, or that a fan would be necessary?

If you don't intend to use the computer for gaming and only for the mentioned activities, then a passively cooled unit may do fine. Programs like Photoshop do use hardware acceleration to render images in real-time which do require some degree of graphical processing power. If a passively cooled graphics card can handle it, I don't know for sure, but I'd say that it would most likely work fine. And would there be any bottleneck, it would be pretty easy to add a fan after the fact. I think you can pursue a fully passively cooled setup for the intents and purposes.

if you run Photoshop, would that cause your PC's ultra quiet fans to start up?

No.

 

[aura]

Hey, @Exit!

Suck in that pasty white belly because I'm on my way to Norway!

 

[Exit]

Rob is 6ft 4. So pretty damn tall.

I'll be damned... that's basketball playing tall

What a funny couple

You are really stretching those 154cm aren't you ?

 

[Exit]

Hey, @Exit!

Suck in that pasty white belly because I'm on my way to Norway!

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Nice photo <3

I'm guessing you didn't see Dr. Exit up in the tree behind you!

 

[Ed209]

Absolutely @Stacken77. I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm thinking to get a PC built for me by this company in England: Quiet PC | Custom Built PC Specialist | Buy a PC

They specialise in fanless/passively cooled PCs. Is this what you have? Or do yours have fans? Also, if they do have fans, do you find that they remain inactive most of the time?

Okay, I didn't know about this. So maybe best to wait a while for getting this PC then? Wait until the demand has deflated, and the prices have come down somewhat.

I wouldn't worry too much about fan noise if you buy a system with a soundproofed case and quiet fans. DAW systems are usually made to be this way so you could look into maybe buying one of those.

You can also put the tower under your desk and then you'll hardly hear a thing.

I bought a system recently which, unfortunately, had to go back (long story), but I maxed it out performance-wise regularly. Even with a well ventilated case (which means louder noise as you can't have both), the fans never became loud enough to bother me. It was always more of a gentle hum after I configured the fan curve (the GPU temps were kept at around 64 degrees whilst mining, for example, and that was under a very heavy load).

If you want to spend more you could go with a liquid cooled system, but this would be overkill, in my opinion. A regular system with a quiet case should be fine. Although, it'd probably be worth getting one with an AIO to cool the processor.

 

[aura]

Nice photo <3

I'm guessing you didn't see Dr. Exit up in the tree behind you!

Not really.

Lately I prefer looking at the ground when walking.

I really don't miss my walker.

 

[Exit]

Not really.

Lately I prefer looking at the ground when walking.

I really don't miss my walker.

Sounds smart

Good to see you in shoes

Wonder where my invalid wife with a big quiet house might bee-eeeeee...

Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite

 

[Elmer B Fuddled]

Hey, @Exit!

Suck in that pasty white belly because I'm on my way to Norway!

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Be careful. Those Norwegians are a complicated lot.

 

[Exit]

Be careful. Those Norwegians are a complicated lot.

Just a desperate horny bastard with too much spare time I'm afraid

How are you doing @Elmer B Fuddled?

 

[Juan]

I bought a system recently which, unfortunately, had to go back (long story), but I maxed it out performance-wise regularly

I'm curious about what would be the standard for a good desktop computer these days... in terms of components.

 

[Deamon22]

Need some help from my UK friends. I will probably visit London for a few days this winter. Anyone here has some recommendation what to see and maybe some good restaurants? =)

I have been to Wales a few years back and also went to Thorpe Park, so I will probably mostly be in the city this time.

@Ed209, @Steph1710 and everyone else, any ideas are appreciated =)

 

[Ed209]

I'm curious about what would be the standard for a good desktop computer these days... in terms of components.

Depends what you want it to do. I'd personally go with a 5900x AMD processor, 16-32GB RAM (like Corsair Vengeance or similar), AIO cooler with a 240-360mm rad, a 3080 GPU, a Seagate Firecuda or Corsair mp600 SSD for fast transfer speeds, Corsair RM 850 power supply, and a ROG Strix B550-f or similar mobo (and use good thermal paste).

That's to suit my needs, though. For what Damocles was talking about, this would be overkill.

 

[Ed209]

Need some help from my UK friends. I will probably visit London for a few days this winter. Anyone here has some recommendation what to see and maybe some good restaurants? =)

I have been to Wales a few years back and also went to Thorpe Park, so I will probably mostly be in the city this time.

@Ed209, @Steph1710 and everyone else, any ideas are appreciated =)

I've been to London loads of times, but I'm probably not best placed to give advice when it comes to restaurants and stuff. When visiting for pleasure, I've been to all the main touristy places many times, and I've been to the surrounding areas, so I'll happily help if you need to know anything about those sorts of things. However, a good number of my visits have been for medical reasons on Harley Street. I also used to attend the Master Investor show down there every year (we used to get free invitational tickets).

@Jazzer is probably the best person to ask for more intimate details of London and the surrounding areas.

 

[Steph1710]

Need some help from my UK friends. I will probably visit London for a few days this winter. Anyone here has some recommendation what to see and maybe some good restaurants? =)

I have been to Wales a few years back and also went to Thorpe Park, so I will probably mostly be in the city this time.

@Ed209, @Steph1710 and everyone else, any ideas are appreciated =)

Before I had seen you had tagged me, I was hoping you would mention me.

I am studying atm, and then I'm off to Norwich City to watch a show, but I'll message back later.

Also, are you going by yourself? Or are you taking company? And what are you in to? You like history? Art? Buildings? Spooky attractions? Just sightseeing? Ahh there's so much on offer! I love London.

X

 

[Damocles]

I will probably visit London for a few days this winter. Anyone here has some recommendation what to see and maybe some good restaurants?

What to see:

• The London Eye
• The Tower of London
• The Natural History Museum
• The Science Museum
• The London Aquarium
• Harrods
• Nelson's Column/Trafalgar Square
• Kew Gardens
• Hampton Court
• The London Planetarium
• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens
• St James's Park
• The Royal Opera House (you can do tours of the amazing building in the daytime, without watching a show)

Restaurants:

• The Ivy (Covent Garden or Chelsea)
• Caffè Concerto (Knightsbridge or Chelsea)
• Café Rouge (Knightsbridge, outside Harrods)
• Ben's Fish and Chips (Covent Garden)
• Benihana (Piccadilly Circus)
• The Japan Centre (Leicester Square)
• Five Guys (any, but Covent Garden recommended) (Noisy though, so not for sitting in)
• The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen (Hyde Park)
• The Serpentine Lido Cafe (Hyde Park)
• St James's Cafe (St James's Park)

Would have added the Hard Rock Cafe by Green Park, but that's going to be off limits to about 90% of the Tinnitus Talk community.

I'll add more if I can think of any.

 

[Ed209]

What to see:

• The London Eye
• The Tower of London
• The Natural History Museum
• The Science Museum
• The London Aquarium
• Harrods
• Nelson's Column/Trafalgar Square
• Kew Gardens
• Hampton Court
• The London Planetarium
• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens
• St James's Park
• The Royal Opera House (you can do tours of the amazing building in the daytime, without watching a show)

Restaurants:

• The Ivy (Covent Garden or Chelsea)
• Caffè Concerto (Knightsbridge or Chelsea)
• Café Rouge (Knightsbridge, outside Harrods)
• Ben's Fish and Chips (Covent Garden)
• Benihana (Piccadilly Circus)
• The Japan Centre (Leicester Square)
• Five Guys (any, but Covent Garden recommended) (Noisy though, so not for sitting in)
• The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen (Hyde Park)
• The Serpentine Lido Cafe (Hyde Park)
• St James's Cafe (St James's Park)

Would have added the Hard Rock Cafe by Green Park, but that's going to be off limits to about 90% of the Tinnitus Talk community.

I'll add more if I can think of any.

This makes my post look like a bag of shit For some reason I thought you were going to query certain places, but when I reread what you put it was clear you wanted straight-up recommendations.

I'd add the West End to that list if it's back up and running, but take your earplugs if you do. Damocles list is all the places I was thinking of. You can add predictable things like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Denmark street if you're into music (although I've heard it ain't what it used to be anymore).

If you can make time to get down to the south coast I'd recommend it. There's loads of beautiful places down there.

 

[Deamon22]

I've been to London loads of times, but I'm probably not best placed to give advice when it comes to restaurants and stuff. When visiting for pleasure, I've been to all the main touristy places many times, and I've been to the surrounding areas, so I'll happily help if you need to know anything about those sorts of things. However, a good number of my visits have been for medical reasons on Harley Street. I also used to attend the Master Investor show down there every year (we used to get free invitational tickets).

@Jazzer is probably the best person to ask for more intimate details of London and the surrounding areas.

Thanks Ed, I am just collecting ideas and then check them out online, to see what we can fit in and what is interesting =)

Before I had seen you had tagged me, I was hoping you would mention me.

I am studying atm, and then I'm off to Norwich City to watch a show, but I'll message back later.

Also, are you going by yourself? Or are you taking company? And what are you in to? You like history? Art? Buildings? Spooky attractions? Just sightseeing? Ahh there's so much on offer! I love London.

X

I am with company =) I more or less like everything, but Art, Buildings, History and so on is all great. I need to visit the Harry Potter Studios Thanks, looking forward to your message

What to see:

• The London Eye
• The Tower of London
• The Natural History Museum
• The Science Museum
• The London Aquarium
• Harrods
• Nelson's Column/Trafalgar Square
• Kew Gardens
• Hampton Court
• The London Planetarium
• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens
• St James's Park
• The Royal Opera House (you can do tours of the amazing building in the daytime, without watching a show)

Restaurants:

• The Ivy (Covent Garden or Chelsea)
• Caffè Concerto (Knightsbridge or Chelsea)
• Café Rouge (Knightsbridge, outside Harrods)
• Ben's Fish and Chips (Covent Garden)
• Benihana (Piccadilly Circus)
• The Japan Centre (Leicester Square)
• Five Guys (any, but Covent Garden recommended) (Noisy though, so not for sitting in)
• The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen (Hyde Park)
• The Serpentine Lido Cafe (Hyde Park)
• St James's Cafe (St James's Park)

Would have added the Hard Rock Cafe by Green Park, but that's going to be off limits to about 90% of the Tinnitus Talk community.

I'll add more if I can think of any.

Wow, what an awesome list. Thanks man, will check the stuff out and add it to the travel list. Damn, I am soooo much looking forward to some fish and chips <3

 

[Deamon22]

This makes my post look like a bag of shit For some reason I thought you were going to query certain places, but when I reread what you put it was clear you wanted straight-up recommendations.

I'd add the West End to that list if it's back up and running, but take your earplugs if you do. Damocles list is all the places I was thinking of. You can add predictable things like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Denmark street if you're into music (although I've heard it ain't what it used to be anymore).

If you can make time to get down to the south coast I'd recommend it. There's loads of beautiful places down there.

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Looks great, I'll see if we can make it to the south coast. I don't think we'll have a car, so moving around outside the city could be a bit difficult, but there is still time

No worries, I always have my trusted foam earplugs in

 

[Damocles]

I wouldn't worry too much about fan noise if you buy a system with a soundproofed case and quiet fans

Even with a well ventilated case (which means louder noise as you can't have both), the fans never became loud enough to bother me.

This is my concern, as I bought a DELL PC (with HDD not SSD) about 7 years ago. Obviously HDD was cheaper, and I hadn't remembered the noise bothering me in the past.

When I started using it, the noise was unbelievable -both fan and operational- even inside a PC cupboard.

So I fitted the case with soundproofing foam, which improved the operational noise from the drive, but forced the fans into overdrive because of the internal heat build-up.

So, I'm wary of any kind of soundproofing now, due to this experience, because like you say, the better the soundproofing the worse the ventilation.

I remember @Michael Leigh frequently mentioning his running of a cable to his PC in a separate room from his monitor and keyboard.

Like yeah, we should all have a spare room for our damn computers. I'd never care about any of this stuff if I could just do that, and I would have saved a fortune in failed experiments with not so silent, fanless laptops.

 

[Juan]

Depends what you want it to do. I'd personally go with a 5900x AMD processor, 16-32GB RAM (like Corsair Vengeance or similar), AIO cooler with a 240-360mm rad, a 3080 GPU, a Seagate Firecuda or Corsair mp600 SSD for fast transfer speeds, Corsair RM 850 power supply, and a ROG Strix B550-f or similar mobo (and use good thermal paste).

Just internet, but I would like to learn to draw on the computer, so I am thinking Photoshop and drawing programs. Mid-term objective I guess... It will take time to learn drawing on a screen.

 

[Ed209]

This is my concern, as I bought a DELL PC (with HDD not SSD) about 7 years ago. Obviously HDD was cheaper, and I hadn't remembered the noise bothering me in the past.

When I started using it, the noise was unbelievable -both fan and operational- even inside a PC cupboard.

So I fitted the case with soundproofing foam, which improved the operational noise from the drive, but forced the fans into overdrive because of the internal heat build-up.

You won't have these problems with a DAW PC. They are designed so that fan and HDD noise doesn't get in the way when recording (or least it's very limited).

Here's an example:

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/daw-digital-audio-workstation-pcs/pages/quiet-audio-pc

All-in-one machines are another option. Especially those that have a screen that can be used to draw on.

 

[Ed209]

Just internet, but I would like to learn to draw on the computer, so I am thinking Photoshop and drawing programs. Mid-term objective I guess... It will take time to learn drawing on a screen.

I'd say some kind of all-in-one with drawing capabilities is probably best for this as I said in my previous post.

 

[Damocles]

I will probably visit London for a few days this winter. Anyone here has some recommendation what to see and maybe some good restaurants?

So, I should have added in What to see:

• The British Library
• The National Portrait Gallery
• The Tate Modern
• The Tate Britain
• The Saatchi Gallery
• Madame Tussauds (best to couple this with a visit to The London Planetarium)
• The London Dungeon (best to couple with a visit to The Tate Modern)

and in Restaurants:

• Rules (Covent Garden)
• The Shard (London Bridge)

Also I should have mentioned that a lot of the places in What to see see include really amazing Restaurants you should visit also, for example:

• Harrods
• Kew Gardens (The Botanical Restaurant for lunch or The Orangery for tea)
• Hampton Court (The Tiltyard Cafe)
• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens (The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen and Lido Cafe I already mentioned)
• St James's Park (St James's Cafe I also already mentioned)
• The Royal Opera House (has so many, balcony is my favourite)
• The National Portrait Gallery (Portrait Restaurant is one of my favourites in the whole city)

That pretty much completes all the recommendations I can think of.

 

[Steph1710]

If you can make time to get down to the south coast I'd recommend it. There's loads of beautiful places down there.

These are stunning! Whereabouts on the South Coast were you Ed?

 

[Deamon22]

So, I should have added in What to see:

• The British Library
• The National Portrait Gallery
• The Tate Modern
• The Tate Britain
• The Saatchi Gallery
• Madame Tussauds (best to couple this with a visit to The London Planetarium)
• The London Dungeon (best to couple with a visit to The Tate Modern)

and in Restaurants:

• Rules (Covent Garden)
• The Shard (London Bridge)

Also I should have mentioned that a lot of the places in What to see see include really amazing Restaurants you should visit also, for example:

• Harrods
• Kew Gardens (The Botanical Restaurant for lunch or The Orangery for tea)
• Hampton Court (The Tiltyard Cafe)
• Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens (The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen and Lido Cafe I already mentioned)
• St James's Park (St James's Cafe I also already mentioned)
• The Royal Opera House (has so many, balcony is my favourite)
• The National Portrait Gallery (Portrait Restaurant is one of my favourites in the whole city)

That pretty much completes all the recommendations I can think of.

Thanks man, thats a lot of interesting stuff. I saved it all and will check the places out =)

 

[Ed209]

These are stunning! Whereabouts on the South Coast were you Ed?

I was in Dorset, and because of the weather and scenery, it felt like we were in South America or something. The photos were taken in Abbotsbury subtropical gardens, Abbotsbury swannery, West Bay, and there's a view of Chesil beach (which was much more stunning than the lens on my iPhone could capture). It's all part of the Jurassic Coast. The subtropical gardens were stunning and it even has its own subtropical micro climate which is good enough to sustain wild parrots and lizards and stuff.

EDIT, I forgot to mention that the castle is on the Lulworth Estate.

 

[Steph1710]

I was in Dorset,

Ah yes! I went to Dorset when I was 17... gosh! That seems like only yesterday. We went to Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. It was beautiful. I recently went to Exmoor. Have you ever been? That was incredible! Again, like Dorset, it has its own microclimate - even its own little rainforest!