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Sound Damping materials... effective?

D

Dolla

Junior Member
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has ever used stuff like Pax Mate and Dynamat and stuff like that.
Is it effective? Does it actually get rid of most noise?
I've read a few reviews and the people seem to get mixed results. Just want to know what other people think...

-$-

My quest for a quiet computer continues...
 
i added a layer of dynamat to the inside of one of my cases a while ago. i found that with nice (expensive) quiet fans it was great, but if you have any normal fans or a large amount of fans the noise seemed louder. i now have a lian li and whisper power supply, and panaflos and its much quieter than the case with the dynamat.

so yes, in short ymmv
 
Sound dampening materials are not magic bullets. They'll dampen the purring of Panaflo fans, quiet harddrives and power supplies, but will do little for screaming 50cfm fans. It is always better to eliminate sound at the source. It's like using a pillow over your head; you may muffle the ambient noise of an air conditioner in the next room, but not the sharp sounds of a dripping faucet.

Besides, for the cost of Dynamat, you can get yourself a new HSF, some Artic Silver and a nice quiet Panaflo to sit on top of it. If you are still interested in soundproofing materials, a quick search on this forum will find some good, easy do it yourself jobs that will do very nicely. Hey, I bought some foam for $3, and it works reasonably well. Maybe not as well as Akasa, but hey, I paid $3!
 
there's also vibration noise and if you look at what I did to my system ravines.tripod.com/case/
I put some foam on the side and on the bottom. I did try this with and without and I was surprised at how much vibration noise it cut out.
 
I bought a can of spray on rubber liner, like the stuff in truck beds, and covered the inside of my case. It helped a some with quieting things like the hard drives and CPU fan, but the fans that are mounted to a hole in the case can still be heard.
 
The best material I have found is called PowerSnooze. Dumb name but it works. Stay away from anything like dynamat or other car audio stuff. Those materials don't do crap, they smell bad, and they are a pain to remove once you realize they don't work.
 
ChrisADuffy,
PowerSooze can be shipped to the United States but it is probably too expensive for you. You should try dynamat. 😀
 

I've installed a PowerSnooze kit on my rig because I was tired of listening to my CPU fan.

It's not as quiet as I wished it to be, but I only begin to hear the CPU fan when the case temperature rises above 30º C.

I've got the following fans installed on my rig:

2x Thermaltake DC Smart Fan with temperature control 80x80
1x Generic 60x60 CPU fan
1x Spire 5000 RMP 60x60 CPU Fan
1x Two fan HD cooler
 
Majin Wade, I applied that extra box over the power supply & exhaust fans in my case & it does drastically reduce fan noise. It only raised my cpu temp by 2 degrees celsius....so I took it off 😛.
 
There's a cheap alternative to Dynamat. It's called Peel & Seal. Roofing supply stores sell it. It's self-stick, aluminum faced. Just like Dynamat. 6" x 25' cost about $8. If you carefully line the complete inside of your computer you'll hear a difference. It adds weight which definately reduces and absorbs noises. Cheap fix.
 
Dynamat will only stop a very specific range of sounds close to the natural frequencies of the case otherwise it actually makes it slightly worse, in other words it is hit or miss (quick test, press against the surface you plan un attatching the dynamat to i.e change the natural frequency and see if its any quieter). Just buy quiet parts, I used an enermax whisper power supply, A taisol low profile heatsink, 3 PC power and cooling 80mm case fans (trust me these are good) and a slot fan. My PC may very well be the quietest PC with that many fans in it. As for sound proof materials, they won't stop noise due to a resonating case or noise from intakes etc.
 
Got a little more advice for you guys who are having a problem with resonating. Basically resonation is at its worst when the natural is close to that of the rotating components. A quick fix, change the natural frequency which is a function of the mass and stiffness; stiffness is hard to change so instead change the mass i.e locate the point where most resonation occurs and add some weight to it (maybe a huge wad of playdough) and voila resonation should be reduced 🙂
 
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