Well, another silent PC mod out the window

[agathodaimon]

After spending about 45 minutes and $35.00, I had my computer fully lined with Dynamat Extreme to help reduce my tinny case's noise level.
I had really high hopes with this mod that it was actually going to decrease the noise level, but no such luck.

I turned it on, and I heard absolutely NO DIFFERENCE in sound volume at all. I'm really disappointed with this, because I've tried so many different things to quiet this jet engine down, and nothing has worked.

Maybe my case really is a piece of junk... Either that or Dynamat just doesn't work.

[thekingofpain]

How do ya like the smell of Dynamat?
It works best to dampen vibration---
Ive had marginal luck with carpet padding, and it sure is cheaper...

[agathodaimon]

the smell doesn't bother me.... actually, it doesn't smell at all

My case doesn't vibrate at all any more, and it DID get rid of some annoying high pitched whining noises from the fans and such, and it quieted my CDRW drive down some, So I guess it wasn't a complete waste. I was just hoping for an overall system noise reduction.

[eweruk]

I believe the majority of the noise is transfered from the back of the machine where the fans are located and unless those are quieted, the noise levels will not change much.

Did you notice any difference in the temps??

[sam]

be careful that dinomat will also insulate your case trapin in more heat

[sam]

if you use dinomat you dont need to cover the hole panel just a small piece 2"x2" one per panel will bee enough to stop the vibrations on your panels. place it in the center off the panel

[EndobioticChaos]

What I ended up doing to cut down noise was install a fan controller. It doesn't really "solve" the issue, but it lets me turn down the noise (and the cooling...) for normal use, and turn it up for max load. But even so, my CPU temp only went up to 46.5c with the fans turned all the way down. And that's with it OCed as well. Turning the fans all the way up dropped temps by 7c.

[agathodaimon]

nah, the temps are pretty much the same. Didn't really notice any difference.

As far as how much you need to use... hehe, well I OVER-USED just a little bit....


EDIT: and yeah, those fan controllers are cool, I got one on my heatink fan. Even has a neat little alarm on it to tell you if the fan stops working.

My other fans are all Enermax manually adjustable fans... BUT I guess noise is what I have to live with when I have 5 fans in my case...

[AuraEdge]

Two suggestions
Grommets like these. They stop vibration from the fans to the case, or at least dampen it. These work without increase in temperature, unlike most other noise reducers. If you guys decide to get these, I'd appreciate if you could find a cheaper price on them, since I'm sure theres someplace cheaper that I cant find.

Other thing is a Fan speed controller, like the ones on the bottom of this page.

You do get an increase in temperature with these the same way as you get with carpeting or sound dampening material, but it can be dialed on the fly for when you need extra cooling, and it also adds to aesthetic quality, as well as the fact that its cheaper than what you paid for the Dynamat. And dialing down fan speed will decrase temperatures - thats surefire.

Lastly for the standard case fans, find sleeve bearing fans instead of ball bearing. Sleeve may have half the life of a ballbearing, but that only means 3-5 years instead of 6-10 years. Sleeves are a quieter technology than Ball bearing at the same speed, but this doesnt make that much of a difference, so no point in swapping out all your fans, just if you got a new build going on in the future, its something to consider. I also know theres a new bearing around the corner, called rifle bearing that has the life of a little less than ball bearing, with the sound of sleeve, but coolermaster has patent pending on that one so you won't find anyone else with them.

I use no fans in my case over 1.6w input. Even with my 7 80mm's and 2 40mm's I can sleep with this puppy on across the room without a problem. I'm getting a fan speed controller soon, to keep temps down during the winter when I dont need all the fans at high speed.

[agathodaimon]

wow, those are some really neat fan controllers....
I may have to look into getting me one.

[Idigguns]

You can find grommets like that at most hardware stores and auto parts stores. Also, you could probably just use a small o-ring which would be even cheaper. You can find those at most auto parts stores as well.

[thronka]

Speaking is calming down the computer, i saw a switch deal at Quakecon that allows you to control the speed of each fan. Is there one that anyone knows of that is for two fans?

[Idigguns]

The least amount that I know of is four, but you could always just make your own.

[agathodaimon]

i bought a speed controller from Directron.com a while back, while it only can be used on one fan, you can use a y-splitter to make it run two fans.
It was only about $5 for the controller.
It's not a fancy one that mounts on the front of your case or anything, but it gets the job done for now.

[Djinnmage]

I was in the same boat as you and here's what I did: I bought an ANTEC 1080 case that has superb airflow. Then I replaced all the fans with these cheap ($5 or $6) enermax fans from Directron.com (can be found under their quiet fan category and they are noticeably quieter than the Vantec Stealth Fans), I got a quiet powersupply, and replaced the fan on my Volcano 7 with one of those enermax fans. WIth this setup I have 4 case fans running and the machine is nice and quiet, and a lot cooler than it ever was before. Remember, the most important step towards quieting it down is AIRFLOW. give the air a nice clear path through the tower.