I want to share my own experience with the noise levels of the Dell Precision T7400 beast as somebody else might have experienced the same situation.
I was about to toss my T7400, but instead I decided to buy some spare parts and upgrade the beast for around USD $200.
To reduce the overall noise level of the machine, here is what I did:
- removed standard hard disk drive 7200 RPM
- removed HDD fan
- removed graphics card - Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (which is noisy as hell and solved much of the problem)
- added SSD drive (Samsung 840 Series MZ-7TD250)
- added passively cooled graphics card - ATI Radeon HD 5450 (any passively cooled card will do)
- used SpeedFan to reduce fan speed (see image for speeds and temperature).
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Overall benefits of this procedure:
- reduced noise level a lot and the workstation is again usable
- startup time is less than 10 seconds compared to normal 45 seconds (using Windows 8)
If anybody has other recommendations about noise levels, please share.
I have been thinking about using passive cooling / water cooling, but I'd rather not go down this route as it is pricy / complex to do.