Case dampening material for very high frequencies

amdsilencer · Post by **amdsilencer** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:26 pm

Hello everyone. I recently found this site/forum and it looks like there is lots of great information and people here. I am beginning a search for some sound dampening material and looking for some advice.

My motherboard has that horrible coil whine and my tower is right up at ear level so its really unbearable. I'm trying to see if there is any good case dampening material that would work well against these very high frequencies. Would some fit on the right side of a standard ATX case behind the motherboard tray?

Thanks all

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:16 pm

You should read this thread.
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... t=melamine

amdsilencer · Post by **amdsilencer** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:52 pm

Mr_Smartepants,

Thank you very much for the reply. I'm not too crazy about that stuff in the post you linked. I'll keep looking around.

Are high frequencies not something easily silenced?

Tiamat · Post by **Tiamat** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:12 pm

the problem is that the high pitch will leak through your fan ports. There is no way to solve this unless you make an extensive system of mufflers.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:35 pm

IMHO....High pitched sounds are heard better if they are directed right at you, such as through a front intake opening. The easiest way to mute such sounds, is to have no intake openings at the front of the computer.

Having all intake and exhaust openings at the bottom or the rear of the case, makes for a quieter setup, and particularly lessens high-pitched noises. All it takes are a few case mods....

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:48 am

If it's coil noise you're bothered about, some hot glue or better still that yellowish goop you find poured inside power supplies should take care of coil whine. Or you could fit a small piece of foam through the coil

What's the problem with melamine? It's great stuff and you can use it also as a cleaning sponge too

And it's also a good material to stick inside your coil. It's supposed to be fireresistant. If you're bothered about the fiberglass, I got a plain & pure sheet from a soundproofing company. It was slightly more expensive though.

amdsilencer · Post by **amdsilencer** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:54 am

Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't like the fiberglass with the melamine. I'll look around for some alternatives. I'm not too concerned about the cost, anything is better than this whine.

I have had some luck placing a towel on the side of the case and it helped with the whine. So I figured it might be easier/safer trying to block the sound than trying to glue it. I may end up having to do that anything

I've read up on the topic here but do you have any advice? I know I'm looking for RTV silicon without some type of acid?

scotty6435 · Post by **scotty6435** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 11:36 am

I think it's without ascorbic acid or am I going mad? Anything branded as 'acid free' will fit the bill anyway. You really want to get a type that melts at a higher temperature as well as there's nothing worse than liquid glue in your PSU

Have you localised the source of the whine. Chances are if it's very hig pitched then it's coils but if it's lower then it may be a noisy fan or fan vibrations. Dampning your fans with washers or gromits might help with the whine and if not they'll certainly help with any case vibration you may be getting.

laphroaig · Post by **laphroaig** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:59 pm

burcakb,

What company did you get the clean sheet of melamine from?

Also, what did you use as an adhesive?

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:32 pm

Location = Turkey, so unless you're in the neighbourhood, I won't be much help

, fwiw, it's a small private company working as a home office. It was hand-delivered to my door.

amdsilencer · Post by **amdsilencer** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:30 am

scotty6435 wrote:I think it's without ascorbic acid or am I going mad? Anything branded as 'acid free' will fit the bill anyway. You really want to get a type that melts at a higher temperature as well as there's nothing worse than liquid glue in your PSU

Have you localised the source of the whine. Chances are if it's very hig pitched then it's coils but if it's lower then it may be a noisy fan or fan vibrations. Dampning your fans with washers or gromits might help with the whine and if not they'll certainly help with any case vibration you may be getting.

Mine is coming from the motherboard but I understand your point! It's a very high pitched whine, most people can't hear it. It was most noticeable when playing any kind of sound. I took a big pencil eraser to the coils and I could hear the sound changing. When I stopped playing a sound and touched the coils I couldn't hear anything.

I'll look into washers for the fans. I didn't care about noise before but once you start silencing things you want to keep going

Thanks for your help!