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sound dampening

D

dsa1971

Member
anybody ever try this sound dampening material. I'm not a gamer and I don't overclock so overheating is not much of an issue. just wondering if anybody has had success with this.

 
dampening is a bad way to fight noise. you'd have to somehow coat every panel with it, then sound would still leak out all the un baffled/muffled fan holes/vents. its a lost cause and waste of money
 
I've used it. It's not spectacular but it does reduce the mosquito whine of fast little fans.

I would have to side with the rest, though- better fans will be a better investment in noise reduction.

If you're looking to quiet your computer down a bit, you might want to check out 7volts, a site with a fair bit of mod-for-silence advice. I'm not affiliated, just enjoyed visiting the place.
 
Use the Zalman Fanmate 2 fan controller to adjust the noise level of the fan. As always, avoid small high-rpm fans. One medium speed Panaflo 120 mm x 38 mm case fan controlled by a Zalman Fanmate 2 is usually adequate for many systems. If you have a crappy case, then invest in a $45 Antec SLK3000B case.

Sound absorbing material is a band-aid solution because they normally cannot attenuate the noise level by more than 4dBA.
 
Quieter components are a much better way to spend your money. A 'Cuda or SP80 (SP120 to 200GB appear to be fine, but there are reports of weird noise w/ the 250GB ones) are better than trying to dampen it.

Then, a nice case that is heavy, and/or has grommet mounts...or suspend the HDD. For suspension, go with Stretch Magic. My elastic cord is already stiffening, after only a year.

Quiet CPU cooling, case cooling, PSU cooling, hard drive, and good case, will make a quiet PC. Added material is much more useful as extra mass than for any of its sound absorbing properties.
 
Falcon Northwest used to offer sound dampening for their systems. They used acoustic foam made by CoolerMaster (IIRC) which is no longer offered by CoolerMaster. According to a sales rep, Falcon bought all of CoolerMaster's remaining stock.

I am not familiar with the material the OP linked to, however, I do have a Falcon Mach V with the above-mentioned foam as well as quiet case and CPU fans and other quiet components. The stuff works! Falcon installed the foam over unused PCI slots and front panel bays using individual strips of foam. They also put a large slab of foam on the left-side case cover, though it only covers about half of the side panel. Heat is not an issue - my system runs cooler (and much quieter) with the left case cover in place than without the cover.

Dampening foam absorbs sound - it is not designed to block sound. Hence there is no reason to cover all the interior surfaces of your system. If you have a clear side panel (or case) or the panel is laser cut or has side mounted fans then using dampening material on the side panel is probably not a viable option; otherwise, you may want to give it (or another brand) a try - it doesn't cost much!

Good luck.

 
Actually, there is good reason to cover everything. If you miss a few flat areas, they can deflect the sound, and then it comes out of the holes in the case. With reasonably quiet components, such material can help, both in adding mass (it's not coincedence the P180 is so great for quietness and is also 30+lb!), and absorbing some of the sound--it can remove an extra little bit of the noise. However, it will be nowhere near the amount of noise as if you actually used quieter parts.

Falcon isn't going to start out with crappy parts, where many people end up doing so (dunno what the OP has for a case). Really, that's quite important. If you start out with a Raidmax <1mm thick case with a poorly-mounted window...nothing will help. If you start out with a Evercase 42x2, OTOH, you just need to do a little work, and keep noise in mind when upgrading.
 
Originally posted by: furballi
Use the Zalman Fanmate 2 fan controller to adjust the noise level of the fan. As always, avoid small high-rpm fans. One medium speed Panaflo 120 mm x 38 mm case fan controlled by a Zalman Fanmate 2 is usually adequate for many systems. If you have a crappy case, then invest in a $45 Antec SLK3000B case.

Sound absorbing material is a band-aid solution because they normally cannot attenuate the noise level by more than 4dBA.
Click to expand...

Just use speedfan. It's software, it's easy, it's automated (if you want it to be), and it's free =)
 
Mobos tend to use PWM, which in some fans can make it worse. Linear voltage controllers and variable voltage dividers will work properly with any fan, and not add stress.
 
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