Sound-dampening foam

[agfkfhahddhdn]

I'm looking for some sound-dampening foam for my HTPC case. So far this is the only one I've found: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999222

Are there other brands out there? It seems like there has to be but it's been surprisingly hard to search for. Also, is it possible to find this stuff from a generic supplier? I have to imagine you can buy it in larger quantities for cheaper from someone who isn't a PC-specific retailer.

E: I suppose it's also worth asking if sound-dampening foam even makes a difference.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm looking for some sound-dampening foam for my HTPC case. So far this is the only one I've found: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999222

Are there other brands out there? It seems like there has to be but it's been surprisingly hard to search for. Also, is it possible to find this stuff from a generic supplier? I have to imagine you can buy it in larger quantities for cheaper from someone who isn't a PC-specific retailer.

E: I suppose it's also worth asking if sound-dampening foam even makes a difference.

Spire acoustic "pads" are the old established brand:

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556014...mctr=(not provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=250998095

You get a lot in a single $8 box -- I'd wager enough for two PCs in terms of the thoughtless application of the stuff to cover the entire interior case-panels or chassis.

I don't recommend that for the usual tower desktop. I really don't recommend a comprehensive application like that: removal of the stuff is a true B**** and Pain-In-The-A**. The adhesive is wonderfully effective, and that's the reason for my judgment about it.

There are ways to use it such that the adhesive is mostly used to bind layers of cut pieces together. In this way, you can attempt to kill the noise at its source, instead of applying it throughout the case interior.

I've given examples of this with a thread I started a year ago pertaining to the Gentle Typhoon AP-30 fan, ducting for heatpipe-tower coolers, etc.:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2370973&highlight=117+cfm

 

[mgttr]

I'd recommend you look at AcoustiPack. You can get single sheets or kits with sheets of varying thickness for use in different locations in your case. Here's some sites you can get it at:

http://www.acousticpc.com/
http://www.quietpcusa.com/
http://www.endpcnoise.com/

I've used it on several cases. It helps, but won't work miracles on noisy components. I'd put your money into buying quiet components in the first place, and add the insulation foam if you have more money to burn and want your system to be as quiet as possible.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'd recommend you look at AcoustiPack. You can get single sheets or kits with sheets of varying thickness for use in different locations in your case. Here's some sites you can get it at:

http://www.acousticpc.com/
http://www.quietpcusa.com/
http://www.endpcnoise.com/

I've used it on several cases. It helps, but won't work miracles on noisy components. I'd put your money into buying quiet components in the first place, and add the insulation foam if you have more money to burn and want your system to be as quiet as possible.

I'd tried it back in '04 with the most obvious application of the stuff in 1-ply thickness all over interior case panels. Using several layers on something like a duct-box or around a 120mm fan, the "effectiveness" is more pronounced.

In my AP-30 application, there was still a problem of heatpipe-cooler fins picking up the noise and amplifying it. There's little that can be done with heatpipe-fins, other than putting a wad of acoustic material near (but not "on") a rotating fan-hub. So you "might hear 'something'," but that's the most obvious reason for it. It worked for me!

Before somebody uses acoustic-deadening material in any of these respects, they should use rubber fan mounts or anything that isolates the fan-shroud from coming into contact with case metal. You could fashion "shock-absorber" rubber washers to work with machine-screws, but the latter can not come in contact with the fan or case-metal in any way. That will prove a bit "tricky." I suppose you could wrap a machine screw in self-adhesive rubber hose-bandage, making it just possible to push the screw through the fan-shroud mounting point. But for a handful of the commercial rubber mounts -- that's a bit tedious and unnecessary.

 

[.vodka]

Exactly. First quiet down your system in every way you can, then add the foam. Let me tell you my experience with these sound dampening foams.


I have a CM 690II Adv, and decided I wanted more silence. Left only the back 120mm exhaust and the 140mm front intake as the only openings in the case, sealed every other fan opening off, and added run of the mill foam shaped something like this from a local shop, nothing too fancy on almost every surface inside. An ATX case like that has room to spare for stuff like thick foam, for an HTPC with less volume you'd need a more specialized product.

Sticking one ear up one of the fan openings was disturbing. The silence itself was disturbing. The components thankfully won't mind the silence or go crazy...

I turned it on... and there it was. Silence. Silent enough to sit by the case at 3 AM and not notice it was on. Just beautiful. An overclocked 2500k (4.5 GHz, cooled by a TRUE spirit 140 power, so that's silent by itself) and a 6850 (920/1180, 6870 clocks) running silently. The heat came out nicely out of the 120mm at the back when gaming.


When I upgraded from that 6850 to my actual 290 Tri-X, I needed to add another exhaust on the top near the existing 120mm to keep temperatures comfortable, but the silence is still there. It is worth it as the final step, but you need to have a silent system to begin with for it to make the most effect and turn your rig into a tomb.


edit: what I linked was some generic foam now that I read bonzaiduck's post. I used sound dampening foam, but what you'd get for a recording room, for example, not the kinds sold for computer case treatment in the links above which aren't available where I live. This is what it looks like, and with the 290 installed. The side panel and the top are covered with the foam, too. Don't mind the mess, later I took the PSU out and redid the cabling for the 290's extra PCIe power cable, neatly.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

All that stuff has potential application, like the material .Vodka links to his post.

Take for instance the packaging of gfx cards and motherboards. Often, there's a construction of packing material made of a gray vinyl foam.

Still, by comparison (which I did . . ) the Spire, Acoustipack or Silverstone stuff does a better job at deadening noise. You can use the materials in combination.

If for instance you wanted to put Spire (etc.) "all over" a case side-panel, you could first cut a piece of foam-art-board as backing, coat it with the acoustic rubber, and then use Velcro or 4 dabs of Pit-Crew Adhesive to secure the art-board to the case metal. You then avoid the problem of scraping off the adhesive rubber acoustic pad from the case-metal at some point in the future.

 

[agfkfhahddhdn]

I've used it on several cases. It helps, but won't work miracles on noisy components. I'd put your money into buying quiet components in the first place, and add the insulation foam if you have more money to burn and want your system to be as quiet as possible.

Oh absolutely. But my HTPC is mostly scavenged parts, and I'm not looking to invest much money in it, since most of what its used for doesn't require anything more powerful than what I currently have. So buying quieter components is kind of out of the question, at least at present (I'm sure I will rebuild at some point in the future). Of course I could buy quieter fans, but they're older parts too (Wolfdale CPU), so it seemed silly to spend money on a heatsink that likely wouldn't be compatible with any newer parts I might buy. I'm mostly just worried that the video card I was recently given, combined with the PSU I had to buy to support it, will end up making it significantly louder than it currently is. In that case I would use the foam as a last resort. But I probably won't end up buying it until I rebuild it from the ground up with noise reduction as my primary goal.

Thank you all, super super helpful info.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

. . . .
I've used it on several cases. It helps, but won't work miracles on noisy components. I'd put your money into buying quiet components in the first place, and add the insulation foam if you have more money to burn and want your system to be as quiet as possible. . .

I'm not in total disagreement with any of that, but it opens up a range in which you can compromise rated dBA for rated CFM at anything in a range bounded by rated RPM.

I'm interested in how you chose to apply your foam-rubber pads in your noise-mitigation explorations. I don't think a lot of people who buy a package of that stuff think much of actually "constructing" something with it; it seems cut and ready expressly for side-panel-sized adhesions.

 

[mgttr]

I'm interested in how you chose to apply your foam-rubber pads in your noise-mitigation explorations. I don't think a lot of people who buy a package of that stuff think much of actually "constructing" something with it; it seems cut and ready expressly for side-panel-sized adhesions.

The kit certainly has large panels that lend themselves to side panel usage. I used an entire sheet of the thinner material for the side panel behind the motherboard. I used about 2/3 of the sheet of thicker material on the side panel facing the motherboard, figuring the worst noise would be from the CPU and GPU fans. On the remainder of that panel I used the thinner material so it wouldn't interfere with the drive bays which are close to the side panel on my case.

My case had two 120mm fan openings on top which I closed off with blankoff plates I got from Puget Systems (I'm only using the single rear fan opening). I put AcoustiPack on the bottom of the blankoff plates. I put more of the material on the remainder of the inside of the top panel and on the inside of the bottom panel. I put more AcoustiPack throughout the drive bay structure anywhere I could fit it, to soak up noise from the hard drives. I even put it on the inside surface of the 5.25" blankoff panels on the front of the case.

It's easy to cut with scissors and easy to apply, so you can just let your imagination run wild and stick it anywhere it will fit in your case.

 

[agfkfhahddhdn]

While I have you guys here, another question: what would you use as a filter mesh to cover open vent holes in case panels? I've seen on Amazon where you can buy sheets of nylon mesh in pretty much any hole size/color imaginable, but that amount of choice is overwhelming, plus it seemed a little pricey. I will probably head over to the Home Depot at some point today and just poke around.

 

[ICXRa]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...s+-+Case+/+Rackmount-_-Silverstone-_-11999222

FWIW, the first link is showing the Silverstone product for $55

 

[BonzaiDuck]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...one-_-11999222

FWIW, the first link is showing the Silverstone product for $55

I know I got at least 21"x . . ." -worth in the $8 Spire box. If it was more, it was a modest difference.

I almost wonder if Silverstone is just selling the brand-name. I say this because that sort of foam-rubber material, similar thickness and adhesion, is going to deaden sound the same way. Take for instance foam-art-board, or the vinyl-foam packing material that came with your graphics card or PSU. Especially the art-board has a hard paper surface to reflect sound; the foam would deaden sound but transmit or reflect more of it. The packing material might be a little better. The rubber is superior.

Maybe the Silverstone is thicker? A possibility. Spire actually shipped thinner rubber stock last year than they shipped in 2007 or 2008 (I'd run out of the leftovers.)