Home brewed or store bought PC case silence suggestions needed

[1Avatar]

Heya guys -

I have the antec SX1040BII mid tower case which accomodates 4 x 80mm fans, I have to keep the 4 fans in there though to keep things decently cool. I've got the zalman 7000cu cooler on teh CPU, but I've got 6 hard drives in there so airflow is a priority. I would however like to start quieting things down.

I'm wondering if anyone has had personal experience with products like the Akasa Pax Mate or if anyone has done their own silencing mod with their computers and can offer tips on materials to use.

Thanks!

[ALX_eater]

http://www.xtremods.com/?pg=review_extremealterationsa1

You could look at cut'n bigger holes to use 120mm fans

[RotorHead]

Here is a little something I did, it's just some old carpet padding that I cut and attached with double sided tape. It seems to cut down on the higher freq sounds. I also cut out the stock fan grills and installed Panaflo 120mm L1A's which reduced the air turbulence noise. The fans are mounted with rubber gromets to further reduce vibrations.

Another idea was to buy a bunch of those cheap rubber mouse pads and cut them to fit the case, they are a little denser and might block the sound better.

http://members.cox.net/ebecquet/000_0123.JPGhttp://members.cox.net/ebecquet/000_0124.JPG
http://members.cox.net/ebecquet/000_0125.JPG

Older shot before I replaced the fans
http://members.cox.net/ebecquet/rearshot.jpg

Ya, I know, It's time to dust out the case. :rolleyes: :bonk:

[Mickey4Paws]

Nice job, Rotorhead :thumb:

I'm thinking of getting this Super Flower Fanmaster to turn down my fans when I don't need them at full power, hoping to make them a bit quieter:

http://www.extrememhz.com/SF_Fanmstr-p1.shtml

[Snafu]

That is an awesome job there RH :thumb:

Kinda funky colors too ;)

There is some stuff car guys use (acoustic matting) to deaden sound. It comes with one-sided sticky. I have not looked into the price but might be an option.

Flooring guys also have a underlayment for hardwood floors that might also be an option. Sadly the stuff I have is green - does not look good in a windowed case :lol:

[1Avatar]

Well I ended up picking sheets of foam padding from a friend that works at office depot - I love cheap mods - and stuffed the sides, top and bottom much like the Akasa and Acousti-pak instructions show with their kits - got the humming out of the way and temperature has stayed even at idle and rose by an extra degree or two under load such as an hour or two in World of Warcraft, I'm pretty pleased, but I might take one more step towards quiet and perhaps pick up some Vantec Stealth fans to replace the Antec LED fans that I've got in there right now.

I'll post pics when I get the chance.

Thanks for all the pointers and ideas! :thumbsup: