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How to properly mount Case Fans to keep them silent
- Thread starter kewl
- Start date
I would have to say that most of the noise from case fans is not created from mounting them, but having them mounted too closely to a cage or mesh case opening. Try pulling the fan out and see how loud it is in the open unmounted, now do the same and hold a pencil about 1/4" away from the front or back of the fan, noise is created. This is why Heatsink and Fan combo are so noisy, the majority of the noise is most likely created by the heatsink. I always remove and grills or mesh openings behind and in front of the fan, the noise created is just the fan. I use diagonal cutters to remove mesh style open in the case, and remove the chrome wire grills from my power supplys as well.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
- Location
- Home of America's Team. Dallas Texas
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have any ?s lemmie know
You can find grommets at HomeDespot or Ace's hardware or any electrical supply stores or general hardware stores. The best way to mount fans is with grommets, as you said. An laternate way to mount them is to make some grommets with silicon sealer, quick simple and Very effective. Just take a dab, make a hole with a toothpick and a little petroleum jelly and let it dry overnight. Next morning, trim to fit and you are done.
The best site I have seef for cooling and quiteing computers is http://www.7volts.com . He has by far the best info on calming computer noise. The best way is to use oversized fans and cut the voltages to 5 or 7V. Cheers!
The best site I have seef for cooling and quiteing computers is http://www.7volts.com . He has by far the best info on calming computer noise. The best way is to use oversized fans and cut the voltages to 5 or 7V. Cheers!
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
Having just finished making my case as quiet as possible, I have some suggestions to share with you.
Before you even start, it's probably best if you get quieter fans. There is no real need to purchase "high output" fans that are extremely noisy. Unless your case is the size of the Empire State Building, you shouldn't need 170 cfm blowing in the front. Instead go with a "Quiet" 120 mm fan. Despite their name, "Quiet" 120 mms, are still audible, although not really noisy. For exhaust get standard or, if possible, "Quiet" 92 mm fans. AVOID HIGH OUTPUT FANS LIKE THE PLAGUE, unless you REALLY don't care about the noise (and since you are asking I assume that you do).
First of all, as listed above, cut out the holes/gratings in front of the fans. For all of your exhaust fans, use nothing but a metal grill to cover them. Although the metal grill might cut down on some air flow, the effect is minimal (unlike the pressed metal grates of the case which seem to be comprised of more metal than air holes) and they do not generate excess noise.
For your intake fan, you probably want to use a mesh filter to stop dust and other stuff from being sucked into your case. The thing you need to realize about mesh filters is this: When placed on the INTAKE side of a fan, they do not generate much noise or cut down significantly on airflow. On the other hand, if you put a mesh filter on the Exhaust side of a fan it SEVERELY limits airflow and is LOUD AS HELL! I believe this has to do with the way fans work. The intake side 'passively' draws a lot of slow moving air in from all over, meanwhile the exhaust side blasts it straight out with a lot of speed and turbulence.
As for mounting the fans, you can follow the grommet approach listed above. If you can't find grommets, then you can try using rubber electrical tape and wrapping the screws in that. Probably you can even use cloth or duct tape if necessary.
Another thing I tried was cutting a rubber buffer out of a rubber doormat that I purchased at Home Depot for about $5 and placing it between the fan and the case. The rubber is intended to absorb any shocks or vibrations from the fan, so they do not vibrate the case making noise. I'm not sure how much difference it actually makes, but I'm sure it's worth a shot.
Finally, I placed rubber doormats, cut to size, against all possible areas inside my case. This dampens the internal noise ALOT. My computer is much quieter now with the case on than with it off. Unfortunately, I could not place any rubber matting against the front of my case, or I chose not to, due to the extreme difficulty of cutting it to the exact shape so that it did not interfere with any of the drive holes or the attachment holes of the front of my case. Originally I was planning on placing even more rubber mats on the outside of my case, but I was already so happy with the results of just mounting it internally that I decided not to bother.
Before you even start, it's probably best if you get quieter fans. There is no real need to purchase "high output" fans that are extremely noisy. Unless your case is the size of the Empire State Building, you shouldn't need 170 cfm blowing in the front. Instead go with a "Quiet" 120 mm fan. Despite their name, "Quiet" 120 mms, are still audible, although not really noisy. For exhaust get standard or, if possible, "Quiet" 92 mm fans. AVOID HIGH OUTPUT FANS LIKE THE PLAGUE, unless you REALLY don't care about the noise (and since you are asking I assume that you do).
First of all, as listed above, cut out the holes/gratings in front of the fans. For all of your exhaust fans, use nothing but a metal grill to cover them. Although the metal grill might cut down on some air flow, the effect is minimal (unlike the pressed metal grates of the case which seem to be comprised of more metal than air holes) and they do not generate excess noise.
For your intake fan, you probably want to use a mesh filter to stop dust and other stuff from being sucked into your case. The thing you need to realize about mesh filters is this: When placed on the INTAKE side of a fan, they do not generate much noise or cut down significantly on airflow. On the other hand, if you put a mesh filter on the Exhaust side of a fan it SEVERELY limits airflow and is LOUD AS HELL! I believe this has to do with the way fans work. The intake side 'passively' draws a lot of slow moving air in from all over, meanwhile the exhaust side blasts it straight out with a lot of speed and turbulence.
As for mounting the fans, you can follow the grommet approach listed above. If you can't find grommets, then you can try using rubber electrical tape and wrapping the screws in that. Probably you can even use cloth or duct tape if necessary.
Another thing I tried was cutting a rubber buffer out of a rubber doormat that I purchased at Home Depot for about $5 and placing it between the fan and the case. The rubber is intended to absorb any shocks or vibrations from the fan, so they do not vibrate the case making noise. I'm not sure how much difference it actually makes, but I'm sure it's worth a shot.
Finally, I placed rubber doormats, cut to size, against all possible areas inside my case. This dampens the internal noise ALOT. My computer is much quieter now with the case on than with it off. Unfortunately, I could not place any rubber matting against the front of my case, or I chose not to, due to the extreme difficulty of cutting it to the exact shape so that it did not interfere with any of the drive holes or the attachment holes of the front of my case. Originally I was planning on placing even more rubber mats on the outside of my case, but I was already so happy with the results of just mounting it internally that I decided not to bother.
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2000
- Location
- Kent, UK
I can tell why you didn't want to put the rubber mats on the oustide. You'd have to get a rubber Gimpmask, and a few whips and chains to complete the look!
S&M Style Case Moddin' -Like it!
Can imagine the advert...
}>Take it to LAN and/or S&M Parties.
}> Fits with either Environment.
}> Buy two S&M KASE KITS and gets free Nipple clamps
S&M Style Case Moddin' -Like it!
Can imagine the advert...
}>Take it to LAN and/or S&M Parties.
}> Fits with either Environment.
}> Buy two S&M KASE KITS and gets free Nipple clamps
