sound dampening

I just ordered some sound dampening stuff for my new comp. My question is does do any of you guys use anything to dampen sound and if so, how have your results been? Was it worth the $12 i just spent? Thanks guys.

What and where did you buy?

I got the Akasa Pax Mate from svcompucycle.com

check this link...pretty interesting.

http://www.thetechzone.com/display.php?i=218&p=1

cool, thanks for the link rusty, told me about everything I need to know I think. Won't make a huge difference but it should be noticable(hopefully)

not a problem dude. would you be able to report back when you finish the install? i just loaded my full tower with another 4 tornados plus the one i had on the cpu and i am now looking for some sort of sound dampening solution. i have a friend that owns a stereo shop so i am going to see if he can donate some dynamat. i would be interested in seeing how you faired though.
thanks!!

I'll make sure to report my findings but it's gonna be like 2 weeks before I can probably

Hellz YEAH I use sound dampener/absorber/barrier!

I use a sound barrier attached to the inside of the case. On top of this I use a sound absorber. When I have space, I sandwich another barrier between yet another absorber layer. The barrier is about 2mm thick and the absorber is 1" (24mm).

This definately serves as a thermal insulator, but the system isn't sealed. If your cooling your case by transfer through the case and not by tunneled air, I'd like to see it.

When you decrease the volume of the case, you increase the velocity of the air moving through it, this is a good thing. I place the insulation somewhat strategically, thereby routing the ariflow to some extent.

I now have a Chieftech case that's well insulated. It has 4 HDs, but they can hardly be heard. It also has 2 60mm fans on the HS and a Crystal Orb with 100Ohms resistance.

The PS is the biggest problem in my Lian-Li. Also, the front fans that route directly from the face of the case makes sound insulation difficult (still working on this). Enermax "whisper" power supplies simply aren't. As I have said before, if that's their whisper, I'd hate to be around when they fart.

My PC Power & Cooling Silencer 275 in the Chieftech has been great. I even accidentally had it running for like 2 days with the fans disconnected... It sure seemed hot for being off, but it still didn't skip a beat. I wish that I would have purchased one of their bigger silencers for my P4 system.

i aint goin nowhere. see ya then!!

I just used some of that pink egg crate foam.... Did the bottom and left side and it did take the scream out of it... still have a whir and can hear air moveing.... Will get some more foam from work as parts come in wraped with it and do the other side and top..

psyshack

I can tell you a few things about it.
first off, I used Compusa brand, which looked and felt just like the other brands I had seen around here.
after like 3 months of looking and wondering, I broke down and spent 20 dollars. I got home, imagining the silence...

spent about an hour putting it on every concievable part inside the computer...
turn it on, and....

Nothing.
it sounded exactly the same as before.
Note, I did cover extire side panels, and the entire top and bottom and used the extra for the side areas like besides the CD roms and such, for some added dampening.

it all did nothing...
I ended up tearing it out of my computer, cause it had the side effect of making my computer hotter, eventually I just sold the case, cause it had sticky gunk all over.

hopefully, yours is better.
either way, don't use the Compusa stuff.
once it's used, you can't return it, thats what people overlook.

does it resemble the pax mate or the dynamat?

I use Pax Mate in several cases. I think it does make some difference, although it is not necessarily a drastic difference and it depends on where you noise sources are. I your noise source is your PSU fan or side intake fan, the sound insulation makes no noticable difference. If you have deltas inside your case, and no window, or side intake fan, then it would definitely help.

I'm really picky about noise, so I have done everything I can to quiet my computer. In addition to the Pax Mate, I also have some small pieces of acoustic foam jammed in my case, where I can fit them. I also use Panaflo L1A case fans all around and I have dual SLK-800's with Panaflo L1A fans on them. This combo cools tremendously. My full load temps are: 86F on CPU1, 104F on CPU2, and 73F case temp. These are dual XP1600's averclocked to 1800 MHz, folding proteins 24/7. This is with 3 intake fans and two exhaust fans. The system is fairly quiet, since the L1A's are only 21 dBA each. The only noise I hear is a low frequency rushing air sound. I had one of those new Vactec Nexus four fan controllers in my case, but it was faulty and a realy peice of junk. It would shut off all my fans, sometime. I have ordered a new fan speed controller and will have it hooked up by next weekend, hopefully.

apparently mouse pads work

i heard about the mouse pad thing. what about temps though? i wonder if i took apart some mouse pads and placed them in the case if temps would rise. i am all for deadening the sound of 4 tornados but i am not up for temps rising. i would rather the noise.

Gunk like Pax Mate and Dynamat are junk for computers. They are designed to handle direct, physical vibration, NOT sound waves and vibration. For actual, good sound dampening, you need real acoustic foam such as that found at foamorder.com. Real acoustic foam like that will make a DRASTIC difference as it is the same stuff that recording studios like Fox, HBO, Universal Studios, and Columbia Tristar use in their recording rooms/shooting sets.

Pax Mate isn't made specifically for physical vibration. Dynamat is. Pax Mate is made to absorb high frequencies sound, although it's ability to do so is minimized due to it's thickness.

http://www.foamorder.com/products.cgi?cart=h2W0z0n95M591M68M76n2B3b7V&item=acoustic

This is the stuff you need for good sound blocking.

GoldenTiger said:

Gunk like Pax Mate and Dynamat are junk for computers. They are designed to handle direct, physical vibration, NOT sound waves and vibration. For actual, good sound dampening, you need real acoustic foam such as that found at foamorder.com. Real acoustic foam like that will make a DRASTIC difference as it is the same stuff that recording studios like Fox, HBO, Universal Studios, and Columbia Tristar use in their recording rooms/shooting sets.

Click to expand...

so the stuff they line the studio walls with correct?

yeah, that's the stuff. there is a place called vibro-acoustic down the street from me. i should walk in there tomorrow and see what they do or sell.
what about heat guys? with dynamat or the acoustic foam?