A noisy computer

Hi, I have noticed that whenever I play SL, my computer becomes more noisy is there a way (downgrade graphics quality etc) for me to make it become less noisy?
here are my specs:
graphics card: nvidia 8800 gts
cpu: intel 6600 @ 2.4 ghz (windows xp)
ram: 3gb

Thanks.

Well i would assume its your fans making the noise, and there are some programs out there to help control them..depending on brands... system tools by nvidia for your GC, and intel,, chipset im not to sure, im not a intel fan boy,lol but here is a simple fan program http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php im sure someone knows something better.. or u could possibly buy a fan contoller system for your pc.. but i would rather have a noisy system for a cooler system and better quality too..ever thought of possibly going with water cooling?

Buy some quieter fans...........don't disable them or slow them down. The noise you are probably hearing is the fans speeding up to keep your computer cooler. They do that for a reason.

There's also the possibility that you could be having a fan on the verge or failing.......I would look into that myself.

I guess it is the fan, but not the fan that cools the whole computer, its the fan that is sitting on the cpu. can i improve\change that one too?
Btw, can dust be the problem as well?

Well dust buildup in your comp can mess things up, its allways good to clean it out once a month esp the fans. they get lots of buildup in them, well might be good to watch your temps for your cpu then just in case it is your fan and use a fan controller prog to and watch and see if the rpms are getting worse..allways good thought to go with a aftermarket fan/heatsink.. me myself have never had anyluck with stock heatsinks and fans.. seem to overheat somewhat.

I recently cleaned the dust out of my pc, not for any particular reason, just thought it was a while since I did it. When I turned it back on I thought I'd broken it because it was so quiet. I never realised it was getting really noisy, but the difference from a good clean out was amazing.

Exactly like Wulf said

Yes on both counts.

aye with my dusty old pc the cpu fan was screaming loud, a can of air and a paintbrush later you cant hear it at all

people would be amazed if they just took there comp once a month and cleaned it out on howmuch better it keeps it running and quite too.. its like good hygiene foryour computer,lool

it really is, these things are dust magnets, sucking in cubic feet of air per second

we keep our place pretty darn clean, and dust frequently with swiffers, even then after a month or 2 you can see caked up fuzzy bunnys around the air inlets of our computers

compressed air helps alot (do it outside) i regularly unscrew the fans off the heatsinks and hit them with a long bristle paint brush just cause the dust gets compacted and heated to a plastic state where air alone wont do it

now of course you dont want to do this around the electronics of the computer becuase of static

but for example on my old computer's cpu, just using compressed air dropped the noise by half and the temp by 10 degreees

removing the fan and hitting it with a paint brush made the thing nearly silent, and dropped the temp by another 15 degrees, just like new except it didnt cost me 20 bucks for a new heatsink

HAHA..brings back memories there.. i made the mistake of doing it with my face close to the case and poof face full of dust bunnies and all over th etable..yay me.. but that was long ago..

Be careful with compressed air. A sustained blast from that can cause condensation. Generally a bad thing in a computer.

If clearing the dust doesn't fix the problem, you can replace the heat sink and fan on your CPU with a quieter one. This will start you on the slippery slope of replacing noisy components in your machine. Welcome to the world of silent computing An excellent site to check out:

http://www.silentpcreview.com

Replacing the CPU heatsink can be a chore. Here's what they look like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110574+1370826092&name=Fan%26Heatsinks

Generally, the smaller the fan the noisier it is. There are also differences in fan quality, but size makes a huge difference. This is why a ceiling fan is quieter than a desk fan. Larger fan, lower RPM equals less noise.

Your video card also has a small fan, and for many systems with a powerful video card it is the noisiest component. Are you sure your problem is the CPU and not the graphics card? For an 8800, the solution gets a little bit exotic since it's a hot card. You basically have to attach a large heat sink, make room for it, and find someplace to mount a large fan to blow on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016

Your power supply also has at least one fan that speeds up if your system gets hot, and your case has one or more. If your case has small fans (less than 12 cm) consider replacing it with a case that has a single 12 cm fan for exhaust. Then consider replacing that fan with a quieter model

Another solution is to undervolt your CPU. You may or may not be able to do this with your computer, and you can make your system unstable (or un-bootable) doing this, so read up on it first. The idea is to reduce your CPU heat output so its fan doesn't have to spin as fast. Most recent Intel CPUs can be undervolted, and the power and heat savings is significant.

This is an option, and something I used to do with my laptop.

It does lower CPU temps noticeably, however, you need to be careful. You won't damage the CPU, but as you said, it'll make for an unstable system. Generally you can't lower it by more than .1 or .2 volts without encountering stability issues.