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560

Publish the "noise" specs on every PC

560 points posted to Dell Web Site, Desktops and Laptops by stk 05/02/07

I want to buy a quiet PC, but Dell doesn't quote noise specs anywhere on the website.

For example, the XPS 210 says: "Runs cool, quiet, and is energy efficient"
but the tech specs on the noise are nowhere to be found (not even on the "tech specs" page for that PC).

If you really make quiet PCs, then why hide the noise specs? Why not make it a standard part of the tech specs page for each machine?

hjwasson
05/02/07		 This is an industry wide issue, not just Dell's problem. It would be nice to have a published value, but without standards every vendor could make different claims by adjusting their testing method. Before this could become reality, there'd have to be a ratified standard that every vendor uses. However, Sean is correct - Dell BTX design cases are very quite. I recently had to do a side-by-side comparison of an OptiPlex 745 vs an Antec Overture media center system. The Overture was very nice, and very quite - but the Optiplex was quieter.
stk
05/03/07		 You don't need industry standards for Dell to do this based on a consistent standard that they apply to their entire product line.
sean_p_tweedy
05/03/07		 From experience ive noticed that as the fan becomes clogged with dust the noise increases a little bit but not much. Just dust the bad boy off with a can of compressed air every so often. As far as testing, it wouldnt be difficult to get some king of tool that measures decibels that could be used to measure the sound. The concern there is that there would have to be standard testing equipment and standard testing lab and standard testing methods(scientific process u know)
hjwasson
05/03/07		 stk, I understand your point. As long as Dell was consistent with their testing methodology and calibration, then you could at least compare the sound footprint between different Dell machines.

The testing method should be openly published, and any other manufacturer could then follow suit if they wished. My concern is that without a ratified standard in place, other companies could fudge their numbers to gain sales (not that they couldn't anyway - but standards do seem to keep companies more honest).
lordcobol
05/04/07		 This might be difficult on build-to-order machines, because different size HDs might sound different, a high-end graphics card or processor might make the fan work harder, etc, etc.
hjwasson
05/04/07		 Good point, lordcobol. The sound output values would only be good for baseline models.
sean_p_tweedy
05/06/07		 Also you can change the hdd settings in the bios to allow the hard drive to run quieter which lowers your performance or noisier for better performance.
magno
05/09/07		 Maybe you already know this and I'm banging in open doors, but here is the link to Dell's data sheets with noise level specifications for their products, including XPS 210: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/environment/en/prod_datas...
hjwasson
05/09/07		 Nice find, magno! That's very good information. I think that stk would like to have those specs published with the rest of the specifications you can see when you are shopping for a new computer - or at least a hyperlink to the page you found. It's good to know that Dell has the data, so it wouldn't be hard to implement stk's request.
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