Has anyone here discussed taking the approach of using room treatments to abate computer noise in addition to case damping? No matter what you _want_ to do within a case, you're severely limited by both space considerations and by the need for adequate component cooling and ventilation. Ideally, you'd probably just fill the whole case with something like rock wool, but obviously you can't do that.
I'm talking about the benefits of things like acoustic foam or other absorptive materials treating the wall behind the computer. Or elsewhere in the room, to absorb high frequencies that escape the chassis. Or placing barriers between the computer and the user to deflect high frequencies from directly reaching the user's ear.
Treat the room instead of (or in addition to) the case?
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Tibors
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The setup in the SPCR article Doug's Quiet Wooden Case PC has a sound absorbtion panel behind the case. There are more posts on the forums where people talk about this.
Placing a barrier between the user and the PC is often impractical. It limits access to the optical drive and the power/reset buttons. But if you do it will have some effect.
But both methods fall in the same category that dampening the case itself falls. It only has a usefull effect on already fairly quiet system. I.e. you won't be able to quiet a loud system with it.
Placing a barrier between the user and the PC is often impractical. It limits access to the optical drive and the power/reset buttons. But if you do it will have some effect.
But both methods fall in the same category that dampening the case itself falls. It only has a usefull effect on already fairly quiet system. I.e. you won't be able to quiet a loud system with it.
This is pretty much the same approach used by the various hard drive enclosures floating round the forums. I know higher frequencies are supposed to be more directional, but that also means that they reflect off hard/flat surfaces a lot like light because they travel in a very focussed beam; in an average to small room, placing, for example, a granite block between the PC and the user will probably cause the sound to reflect off and back to the user from the walls. Of course you could cover the walls of your PC room with sound-absorbing foam. It's a bit of an overkill solution though.placing barriers between the computer and the user to deflect high frequencies from directly reaching the user's ear.
Re: Treat the room instead of (or in addition to) the case?
Slightly OT, but I have had thoughts about building a PC into the wall between studs and in the drywall, with airflow coming from the duct-work. I really haven't given it any serious consideration, but wouldn't it be cool to plug your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and external optical drive into the wall?JJ wrote:Has anyone here discussed taking the approach of using room treatments to abate computer noise in addition to case damping?
this was a very popular thing at my University to bring in cold air from out side.TomZ wrote:I've thought about having some fan far away from the computer, connected to a long duct, and then connected to the PC. It would then cool the PC by sucking air through it.
But I decided it would be too complicated.
CA_Steve wrote:Deadening the room
Wow, that's a monster of an article - thanks for linking it. I'll probably save the whole page to my computer or something and digest it slowly....I have two machines that are fairly quiet. If they are side by side, the older one, a Dell will drown out the newer computer.
However, the Dell is in a room that is carpeted and the newer machine is in a room with a floor that is ceramic tile over a concrete slab on grade. This floor is harder than the sidewalk. In the carpeted room, the Dell seems quieter than the new machine in the room with the hard floor. There are some other factors. The Dell is not near a corner and the room where the Dell is has sheet rock walls. The newer machine is in a corner and that room has paneled walls.
It actually helped to put the newer machine on a small piece of carpet.
So, if you have a choice, you might want to relocate your computer, rather than redo the room it is in.
However, the Dell is in a room that is carpeted and the newer machine is in a room with a floor that is ceramic tile over a concrete slab on grade. This floor is harder than the sidewalk. In the carpeted room, the Dell seems quieter than the new machine in the room with the hard floor. There are some other factors. The Dell is not near a corner and the room where the Dell is has sheet rock walls. The newer machine is in a corner and that room has paneled walls.
It actually helped to put the newer machine on a small piece of carpet.
So, if you have a choice, you might want to relocate your computer, rather than redo the room it is in.