Just lowered the noise level A LOT!

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I have the Antec Sonata case and the airflow isn't the best, but it still enough to keep my computer at safe temperatures. Anyway, I put some filter foam I found at Ace's Hardware near the air conditioning filter section. This is the cheapest but for a computer I didn't need much.

My first intention was to block off where the holes that spell out "Antec" on the sides so that the air comes in from the from of the case and passes over the hard drive to cool it off a little. By doing this, air in the lower parts of the case underneath the AGP card seem to have a better airflow as well because earlier the cool air passed over it and since the hardware is underneath, it really didn't get cooled.

I bought that foam for about $1.50 after tax. I decided that since there was more than what I needed, to go ahead and put it on the entire removable side door and just over the logo on the other side since I didn't want to remove the motherboard and everything. Now my system is very quiet. I can hardly hear the fans. In fact, at first you don 't even hear the fans but after a second or two your ears 'adjust' and you can hear it.

I'm waiting some more time for the paint on the CDRW bezel to dry off since I decided to paint it black to match my case. *sigh* I hate waiting...

 

[lchyi]

Nice nice. If you're temps are meeting your needs and you reduced your noise, I think you got a winner.

 

[0roo0roo]

the foams so thick it affects airflow that much? wow

then again those holes at the top are pretty small.

doesn't the sonata have two mounts for 120mm?

 

[optimistic]

Did you use vinyl paint to spray paint your drive benzel? How many coats, and how much time between coats?

 

[chiggachu]

I think the whole vinyl thing is a point of preference...depends what you want the paint to match with. I used 3.00 flat black spray paint from Lowes and painted both my pioneer slot loading DVD and my lite on burner. both turned out amazingly well and dried within hours. this matched my black chieftec perfectly. yay for cheap paint!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: optimistic
Did you use vinyl paint to spray paint your drive benzel? How many coats, and how much time between coats?

I used Krylon paint, the store didn't carry Vinyl paint. I did 3 coats and 15 to 20 minutes between each coat.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: chiggachu
I think the whole vinyl thing is a point of preference...depends what you want the paint to match with. I used 3.00 flat black spray paint from Lowes and painted both my pioneer slot loading DVD and my lite on burner. both turned out amazingly well and dried within hours. this matched my black chieftec perfectly. yay for cheap paint!

I think the price is very close. I used Krylon paint and it dried in under 30 minutes. Obviously, not completely, but an amount where I could put it on my drive.