Sound "proofing" my case... with unused carpet?

[baser5nature]

I just want to know what anyone thinks about me using a couple pieces of 1/4 inch thick dense carpet for lining my case to try and decrease noise levels...???

I'ts leftover pieces from new carpet put in my house last year... i'd be sure to vacuum it really well to make sure there aren't a lot of particles and stuff in it... but as far as i can see right now... i can't come up with any reasons for not using it... I've got a total of 8 fans in my case so airflow is fine in terms of keeping temps down... i've also got a nice piece of furnace air filter that let's tons of air through while trapping the smallest pieces of lint and dust... so i'm not concerned about dust getting trapped in the carpet either...

let me know what you think...

 

[Iceman]

not a good idea

first of all it is the fan making the noise, and you have to have fresh air outlets, there is no way to make the noise less other then buying a new quiter fan or using water cooling

 

[baser5nature]

my thoughts "somewhat"...

if insulated the sound would only escape through the intake grill in the front of my case, and the exhaust grills on the back... it's more the sound of the air moving through the case than the fan itself making all the noise... and it is the cpu fan that's the noisiest... p4 intel cooling solution... (which works great but is quite noisy)

but if carpet is just a generally bad idea... i understand...

 

[albybum]

It would dampen the sound from the fans quite a bit, but I think it would be a better investment of time and energy to get some quality padding.

http://www.dynamat.com/computer_kits.htm

This is just one example. I think the carpet could cause more problems than it would be worth. The carpet fibers would degrade over time and eventually find their way into vital system components. The carpet would add more "fuzz" to collect on your fans. Not to mention carpet can cause static concerns.

I just do not think it would be a viable solution. I would always be paranoid as to what would be happening in my case.

 

[LeeJend]

I have actually done this, though I used 1/8 inch cork instead of carpet.

It helps some. The problems listed in the other replies are true. You can't cut off the air flow or the system will fry so all I did was tape the cork to the insides of the side covers. It cut down a lot of the noise from my CPU cooler. Now you mostly hear the air rushing in the front of the case and some fan noise from the power supply fan. Most of the heat is being moved out of the case by the fan airflow so I only saw about a 1 deg C case temp rise. The CPU stayed the same temp.

Why cork? A dishwasher installer told me about it. It is a great sound deadening material.

REMEMBER DO NOT CHOKE OFf THE AIRFLOW!

 

[Yharn]

i saw a website where a guy used that spay on truck bed liner stuff to do it. He took everything out of his case and taped off all major vents and stuff so he wouldn't clog anything. According to the site it worked quite well and didn't raise temps. I always wondered if that would actually work, but never had time or money to try it.

 

[jumpy]

Originally posted by albybum
It would dampen the sound from the fans quite a bit, but I think it would be a better investment of time and energy to get some quality padding.

http://www.dynamat.com/computer_kits.htm

Take a look at a review of dynamat here . Doesnt seem to do much for noise from that review.

I say go for the carpet idea, green shagpile carpet would be the coolest case mod ever.

 

[baser5nature]

I like the shag idea!!!!... I could always do that to the outside of the case... i'll get my mom to make a slip cover...

 

[Friend of Bill]

Don't forget the bean-bag chairs and glitter lamps with that shag carpet.

 

[Zedric]

If it's a "furry" carpet it's a really bad idea. They are known for their ability to make static electricity. And you don't want that even near your computer, let alone inside it!

Something I know people have successfully used as a cheap alternative to "real" computer damping mats is to use damping mats for cars. 10mm will do.
Like these: http://www.biltema.se/Archive/Product_images/36/Huge/36-9214_h.jpg

 

[Ace123]

Thats a bad idea no offence. First of all theres a reason why we dont walk barefoor on carpet while working on our computers. Second NEW carpet would be the worst to put in there. Have you ever vacuumed new carpet to see how much of the threading you can get up? Ok a larg amount would become embedded into you fans... motherboard... everything. you could us wadded up newspaper and do a better job. If you want to sound proof it dont start with a carpet knife and some shag please

 

[ZipTriX]

Originally posted by Ace123
Thats a bad idea no offence. First of all theres a reason why we dont walk barefoor on carpet while working on our computers. Second NEW carpet would be the worst to put in there. Have you ever vacuumed new carpet to see how much of the threading you can get up? Ok a larg amount would become embedded into you fans... motherboard... everything. you could us wadded up newspaper and do a better job. If you want to sound proof it dont start with a carpet knife and some shag please

Walking around barefoot on carpet? I think you mean with socks on, since static electricity builds in passing of electrons. Since flesh gives up the electrons, you can not build the static upon yourself. Wearing socks, the carpet would give the electrons, thus building the static energy upon yourself.

 

[baser5nature]

ok... carpet's definitely out...!!!!

But... i did end up using this rubber mat stuff. My brother drives a "big rig" and when they stack cardboard boxes and other things they use these rubber mats in between to prevent sliding around of stuff... they are about 2 feet by 5 feet pieces... I think they are made from recycled tires maybe... but if you know someone who can get this for you i think it's fairly decent to use...

I guess it hasn't made a big difference in noise level... but i can notice the difference... i think the real culprit in my case (no pun intended... hehe...) is an older 2gig harddrive that i use for my pagefile... it's kind of got that high pitched barely audible noise going on... i'll be replacing it soon enough... since the hard drives are mounted right behind the grill in the front of my case, i can't really do much about it... as far as temps go NO CHANGE... so if there are no positive results... there are at least no negative results other than the added weight to the case...

thanks for all the input...

 

[Zedric]

It probably dampens vibrations but I don't think it reduces "normal noice". You'll need some fluffy material for that.

 

[ZipTriX]

Have you tried using rubber washers between computer parts and the case? For example, between the fans and case, hard drives and case and such.

 

[oDin]

i just did this last weekend. instead of carpet i used the foam carpet underlay stuff. works really well. after a 90 minute gamming session my case temp was only up 3 degrees to 25C....also what i have done is for every mounting point, where the motherboard connects to the tray is seperated by a rubber washer. in between the fans and the case is a homemade rubber insert. also, the mounting points between pci cards and video card and case have rubber washers between them. there is also a another homemade rubber insert in between the psu and the case....note: the motherboard tray and pci card slots required some minor modding for the washers to fit.

it works really well. all i can hear is a slight humm from the cpu fan, but thats cuz its buggered, and a woosh from the air flow. also my case sits on rubber mat.