How quiet are Dell computers?

[MrToad]

It's about time to retire my trusty 5 year old overclocked homebuilt xp rig, and I'm thinking of replacing it with a Dell. I've got a Dell xp laptop that I've been happy with.
I'm considering Dell because I think they have a reputation for having VERY QUIET desktop computers, and my current computer (with the fans for overclocking) is a bit loud.
But when I visited my brother recently, he had a new Dell, and although it was very quiet most of the time, this was because the fan would turn off, but the would cycle every few minutes, and I swear the fan sounded like a small plane taking off. I'd rather have a low constant drone than an intermittent noise...
So are Dells really all that quiet, and is my brother's Dell an exception?
Does anyone here have a new Dell desktop computer that can share their experience and opinion? Thanks in advance...

[longcall911]

I just got my XPS 9000 last week. It's an i7-920 with 6 GB RAM and 1.5 TB RAID0 dual drives. I would categorize it as 'extremely quiet'. It is a full size tower (rare these days) so air flow is great and I think that lets fans get the same job done at a slightly lower speed (conjecture on my part).

Most times with it sitting on my desk the only way I know it is running is that the screen and keyboard are working. :-)

Even with disk intensive tasks like video encoding, if I'm 6 feet away I can't hear it. Then again I'm and old guy & my hearing is not what it used to be. :-)

I stopped buying Dell machines some years ago. This is the first in a while and I'm not at all sorry that I've come back to Dell.

[MrToad]

hi longcall,
Thanks for the reply, as that is what I've heard. Does your fan cycle on and off at all? It seems like thats when my brother's computer gets loud.
Also, you got an xps system (sweet!)... I was going to go with the more economical vostros system. Has anyone heard or experienced how quiet the vostros line is?

[longcall911]

Originally Posted by MrToad

Does your fan cycle on and off at all? It seems like thats when my brother's computer gets loud.

Not at all. The only time that I'm aware of a fan at all is when the machine starts.

I don't really know about fan noise for Vostro. My guess is that it won't be as quiet as a studio XPs because it's built more for an office environment. But I would think it is fairly quite because it is a quality machine. I have 2 vostro notebooks (for my business) and they seem to run quietly, for a notebook. I had a couple of Toshiba Satellites a while back that just rev ed like crazy and ran very hot.

[jaydeee]

Dell is my favorite computer brand.
We have gx755. Its very reliable.

[MrToad]

As the OP, I just thought I'd update this thread. My old XP rig died a little over a year ago, and I got a Dell 420 through Costco. It is quiet as I hoped, especially compared to my old XP beast! I also ended up getting another Dell laptop. As long as Dell keeps working, I'll keep sticking with them.
PS. I visited my brother recently and his Dell keeps making that intermittent noise. I guess he just got a bad one.