SPCR

So many cases have come out in the last year or two with tempered glass side panels. Even Fractal has jumped on the bandwagon.

Just wondering, given the evolution of quieter individual components over the past decade, have we reached the stage yet where tempered glass panels can be used without affecting noise levels too much?

Or is it still much better to have solid side panels with acoustic foam.

A few years ago, Fractal Design took the R4 to a serious acoustic lab for testing. I vaguely remember there wasn't a perceptible difference between the windowed and solid door models. (there's a thread about this somewhere...) Does this mean every modern case with windows will be the same as their solid door brethren? Still comes down to the quality of the case design.

Yeah, I guess it depends on how the window panel is designed and attached. Also, whether it's a full glass panel or just a half window. And I think Be Quiet has a TG side panel on their 900 case that has foam/rubber around the edge.

Compared to acrylic or a regular panel, tempered glass won't make your build any quieter or have any more airflow.

However, if aesthetics is the priority, tempered glass looks much better than acrylic and is much more scratch resistant.

Any glass would resist noise better than acrylic, because it is more massive.

Tempered vs. Regular glass doesn't affect noise transmission I don't think.

Laminated glass would be the best, not just because it's probably more massive but I also believe the transition in the plastic interlayer attenuates transmission.

I doubt any non-foam solution can match a foam-coated solution. Unless you get something truly massive. (I dunno, 1/2" think laminated?)

The most important part will be, of course, sealing the gaps. Most of the noise transmission would happen in the gap where the case meets the window material if is not sealed.

Steve Burke from Gamers Nexus says tempered glass helps reduce noise from long wavelength low frequency sounds (e.g. hums from fans, etc), whereas acoustic foam helps reduces noise from shorter wavelength high frequency sounds (e.g. coil whine, high pitch fan noise, etc).

It's true foam does not absorb low frequencies; however it is typically attached to metal panels which block the low frequency.

Perhaps the more massive glass panels would block better than thin metal (tempered vs. non-tempered isn't really an issue). But the tradeoff is not having the absorptive foam over that area.

As for the original question, it looks predicated on the assumption that low-sound components are chosen initially. In such a case I'd say "sure, why not?" My computer is fully passive so I could make 5 sides glass if i felt the urge. But a fully passive computer has other tradeoffs which most people don't want.

Foam does absorb lower frequencies, it just doesn't have enough depth to do so. You would need inches to absorb <100 Hz.

gordinho wrote:Foam does absorb lower frequencies, it just doesn't have enough depth to do so. You would need inches to absorb <100 Hz.

According to this random chart, you need 3.5 *FEET* of foam to absorb ("trap") 100hz sound.

1" of foam will trap sounds ~3400+hz.

https://www.jdbsound.com/art/frequency% ... 202013.pdf

grant2 wrote:According to this random chart, you need 3.5 *FEET* of foam to absorb ("trap") 100hz sound.

Wait for the new Mega-ATX form factor.