At some point or another, just about every gamer has to deal with a noisy computer. Maybe it’s the whirring of the CPU fans as they strain to cool down the processor. Or maybe the hard drive is constantly making its presence known by whining away in the background. If you’re playing a game that requires lots of concentration, this sort of background noise can be very distracting and take you out of your gaming zone.
A noisy computer can also keep you from hearing important sounds like an incoming message or phone call. In this blog post, we will show you how to make your computer quieter so you can focus on playing games instead of trying to drown out annoying noises. Some of these solutions are short-term, like downloading software, while others will work in the long term, like a new gaming pc power supply.
Turn Off Startup Programs
If you have a noisy computer, one quick tip for quieting it down temporarily is to turn off a few unnecessary startup programs. Start by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard and pressing “R” and then typing “msconfig” and pressing “Enter” to open the System Configuration Dialog box. When the System Configuration Dialog box opens, click “Selective Startup” and uncheck the box for “Load Startup Items.” Next, click “OK” and let the System Configuration Dialog box close. Click “Start” and type “Task Manager” and press “Enter” to open the Task Manager.
Click on the “More Details” tab and click “Processes” on the sidebar. Use the “Sort by” dropdown menu to sort by name and look for any programs you don’t think you need running at startup. Click the program and click the “End Process” button to kill the program and turn off the noise it’s creating. If you find that you need one of these programs again, you can always re-open it later.
Get New Fans
If your computer’s fans are making an excessive amount of noise, one way to reduce it is to simply get new fans. While this is not a permanent solution to the problem, it will nonetheless help you get some relief from the noise in the short term. If you’re unsure which fans to get, ask your computer’s manufacturer for a recommendation. Alternatively, you can try plugging in the model number of your computer into a search engine like Google and seeing what fans show up as potential replacements.
Install a Solid State Drive
Another method of reducing noise is to install a solid state drive (or SSD) instead of a regular hard drive. A regular hard drive is mechanical and creates a lot of noise as the spinning platter inside it moves. An SSD, on the other hand, uses an electric current to move information between different parts of the drive. This makes it much quieter than a regular hard drive.
You shouldn’t expect an SSD to completely eliminate all noise, though. If you want a completely silent computer, you should get an SSD along with a noise-reduction enclosure.
Add More Storage
Another way to reduce noise is to add more storage to your computer. Extra storage means you don’t have to keep as much on your computer – and therefore, you don’t have to load as many programs and files that cause noise. You can add more storage to your computer in a few different ways. You can get an external hard drive and plug it into one of your computer’s USB ports. Or you can get a cloud-based storage solution like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.
