Sound Dampening - how is it done?

succubiss · Post by **succubiss** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 4:21 am

My coworker was talking about his overclocked system, he has something like 6 fans (other than the PS fan and CPU fan), and he says it sounds like a plane taking off.

Is there any way you can "soundproof" the inside of a case without adversely affecting temp/airflow? maybe insulator of some kind?

RubberDuckie · Post by **RubberDuckie** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 9:37 am

Ive herard and seen some people that have used carpet padding. They take the padding that is used under the carpet and line the case with it. I have seen (and heard) it work in other instances. Not sure what it would do for your case temp. but if you install it in an ordly manner, it should work just fine.

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 10:34 am

I have read of people using dynomat (car insolaion) to line their case. I have never done it I just got used to the sound. You can get it at most auto supply stores

succubiss · Post by **succubiss** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 3:40 pm

Great thanks guys., i'll have him try the carpet first, that i have plenty of

i've also seen a couple setups with foam blocks glued to the insides of the case.

RubberDuckie · Post by **RubberDuckie** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 4:24 pm

The best looking choice would be dynomat (car insolation).
But once you go price that, you will really enjoy the carpet padding. That stuff is expensive but it does look good and doesnt take up much room.

I personally cant sleep with my computer turned off. I need the hummmm of all them fans

Solstice · Post by **Solstice** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 4:44 pm

Don't use carpet unless it's flame resistant. Otherwise you're just asking for a PC inferno.

succubiss · Post by **succubiss** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 5:11 pm

what do you guys think about these products:

http://www.quietpc.com/products.html

i know pc power and cooling has great power supplies that are really quiet too (silencer 300W)

pHaestus · Post by **pHaestus** » Tue Dec 12, 2000 9:38 pm

I think that the products at quietpc are kinda overpriced and not all that well made personally. If you want a HDD cooler that will quiet the drive search for a Coolermaster 4002. As for the PSes I cannot comment. If you want a quiet PS you might want to try doing this: http://blacktree.homepage.com/basement/pstweak.html

As for making an overclocked PC quiet, sound dampening material only works if the noise is coming from vibrations. It will do nothing for the noise of all those fans moving air. Alternatively to adding dynamat you can try mounting the fans with rubber grommets to isolate them from the metal case. A how to on this is at http://www.7volts.com . You may also want to reduce the voltage of the fans to 5 or 7 volts. Most fans are basically silent at 7 V, but they move less air than at 12 V. If you need the CFM only when gaming you might want to build a fanbus with switches to adjust voltage on the fans. Try to cancel out the loss of airflow by lowering voltage rounding cables and routing everything neatly so it doesn't disrupt airflow.

Another thing to consider is buying good quiet fans. I personally like Panaflo L1As; they are almost silent at 12 V and move enough air for my uses. One or two quiet 120 mm fans are better than a bunch of 80 mm fans. Try taking out one or 2 fans and see if temps really change that much.

Also consider just getting a good quality case. My Antec SX1030 cools better than the hax0red up overclocker case I had before with fewer quieter fans.