Have been reading the forums, and trying to figure out what to do. I have some lingering questions about what to do, and seek advice.

My computer's case is a Lian-Li PC-A10A. And, of course it is all aluminum. While it is beautiful, roomy beyond imagination, and of the highest quality, it seems to amplify any noise made inside and transform it to a low drumming sort of sound.

I would like to add some kind of material to the side panels, top and bottom panel, and possibly the bottom of the removable motherboard tray to quiet it down. Am on a bit of a budget, after spending on the Lian-Li case, water cooling, etc. to make a top notch computer, so Dynamat and the more expensive products are out of the question right now. Have read that thin plywood works well, and that the eDead products seem to work well too. Roofing tape seems very reasonable, but I suspect that it can be a bit malodorus, and would like to avoid that.

Do any of you have any tips on stiffening up/mass-loading the case? Or any opinions on using plywood (or 1/4" MDF - even heaver than plywood) vs. eDead stuff, or how to apply plywood, etc.

Thanks for all the help you have already been as I have read the forums, look forward to hearing from you.

P.S. Will also be posting about reducing the noise/vibration from my water pump, but that seems like it belongs in another forum, not cases/damping.

To clarify what advice I seek:

Which of the less expensive materials is going to be the best? It seems that once in place they all are pretty hard/impossible to remove, so I need to make the right choice the first time.

What about trying to stiffen the rather large (20" X 20") side panels with aluminum rails ("L" shaped or box-section) epoxied to them? Or plywood/MDF stiffeners? Would this be effective at stopping the panels from resonating/vibrating without adding lots of extra weight (as full coverage with ply/MDF would)?

What about stiffeners of ply or MDF then putting eDead over that?

Try the roofers tape if aesthetics are a concern. I bought some for my car and when it heats up to 130F in the summer I don't smell a thing.

If aesthetics are not a concern, use self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles. They are plenty good enough for mass loading. Also you can then cover up the vinyl floor tiles with roofers tape if it's not enough and you want the look.

I use vinyl floor tiles and automotive headliner foam. It gives me the best of both worlds: lots of mass-loading and a soft barrier to prevent high-frequency reflections.

Thanks for the reply.

I'll look into the roofer's tape then. There is also some self-sealing barrier stuff that we just applied to the valleys on a friend's roof we re-shingled in February. It is thick, has a clear plastic layer on the top, and peel off paper on the bottom which is very sticky. The black stuff itself is very, and I mean VERY, sticky, very soft and rubbery/taffey like. If Tony has any left laying around, I might go give it the sniff test and consider using it. As soft and heavy as it is it might make a good possibility for both mass-loading and damping.

Do you use just sort of "ordinary" vinyl tiles? Both Lowe's and Home Depot have a much thicker and heavier industrial tile by Armstrong that is nearly a quarter inch thick and much heavier than the self-adhesive ones. Wondering if it would work well. I have some vinyl tile adhesive in the garage that I could apply it with, or use polyurethane construction adhesive (very stiff when set).

Most of the self adhesive stuff at Lowe's & Home Depot is not heavy enough. I have a store called Menard's (it's another chain) that stocks real cheap tiles that are much heavier than those, but they are self-adhesive.

Quarter of an inch is pretty thick, you'd have to use the tile adhesive to adhere it and I don't know how well that'd come off. But that's a sacrifice I'm willing to watch you make

The stuff you use for valleys is usually what we call "roofers tape". It's usually just a thick layer of sticky asphalt with an aluminum backing. It'll work well.

You could also try Elemental Designs eDead.
It's really easy to work with: cut to shape with scissors, peel the backing off, lay into place, rub your hands around on it so it's all adhered.

you could try something like this stuff:

http://www.quietpcusa.com/Acousti-Produ ... P29C4.aspx

ive used it before. The foam is on a fairly thick rubber mat which is "glued" with self adhesive tape. It will definately stop the panels from vibrating as much as they are now, and will be a lot less weight than particle board.

There are several versions of eDead, and the cheapest one (the original) is essentially the same thing as Peel & Seal, or roofers' tape, only much more expensive.

Acoustipack works, so will egg-crate foam if the panels already mass-loaded enough to suppress vibrations.

I too, would advise against particle board, too heavy and will reflect sound inside like crazy.

Thanks for the replies. The point about MDF or particle board reflecting the sound was one I had completely overlooked. Good that you pointed it out as I was leaning in that direction.

The only eDead stuff that the company has available now, as of about 4 or 5 days ago, is the newest stuff, . . . WAIT . . went to check the Elemental Designs site for the name of the newest stuff, and Lo and Behold, they have the two original and less expensive versions back in stock now. Which one do you guys think is best? I'm kind of leaning toward the UE, the newest stuff, because it is so thick. Shouldn't it work better due to the extra mass?

Yes, but you can always apply more layers of the thinner stuff. Honestly, I would never spend extra money on "purpose-built" sound dampening materials unless they were competitive on a cost basis with the stuff I can buy at Home Depot.

I used roofer's tape in my car, it's the same thing as eDead original and Dynamat (original). No difference. Even the thickness is the same. I would use what I know work. Vinyl floor tiles and then if you need more use the roofers' tape (or eDead), or do like me and use black automotive headliner material. It's an thin layer of open-cell foam laminated to a soft fabric. Gives everything a nice, clean look in my opinion and prevents reflections of the higher frequencies.

But in the end, it's up to you and if you go a different route, be sure to let us know how it works.

Good point about avoiding the extra cost of purpose built stuff.

If I can't find heavy enough floor tiles, do you think a double layer of the less expensive eDead would work as well? Or maybe a layer of original eDead over a sheet of thin plywood (not MDF or particle)?

Where do you get the black auto headliner material? It would make the case look much better, and I agree that it should help contain higher freq. noise.

Besides, the headliner in my Volvo wagon is coming loose, and I'll need to apply new liner soon, so a source would be great (need grey or beige for that)

Local fabric stores should carry it. We have JoAnn's Fabrics in the States, but sometimes you can also get it at auto parts stores like AutoZone or Pep Boys.

eDead should work fine in a double layer. It will be better than nothing for sure. I'd stay away from wood.

Thanks for the info. I'm in Florida, and know about JoAnn Fabrics - I buy the 3" and 5" thick high density green foam they have to make beds for my three Great Danes. Will check it out by the weekend.

Would you know if there is a souce for cheap, thin, eggcrate or waffle foam? I'll look at JoAnn, but I think theirs is all the thick (2" or so) stuff. I may need some thinner stuff, like the stuff sold for silencing computers, but am too cheap to spend that kind of $$ on it.

The other posters have already pointed to many good materials. I agree it is a good idea to use multiple layers, one for mass loading (vinyl,mdf) and one for sound absorption (foam). I used mdf and foam on a lian li case with good results. Aluminium is a stiff material, the problem comes from it`s lack of mass and it`s reflective properties.
Also, if you could tell us which are your main sound sources we could help you more. If you temps are good you could potentially slow down some of your fans. It It has been said a lot of times that reducing the noise itself is more effective then dampening it.

Ntavlas, the main source of noise, by far, is the Swiftech MCP 350 pump (the same as the 12 watt Laing pump) for the watercooling system. I have hunted it down with an automotive stethescope and there is no doubt about it. The fans are all running at less than 12V, temps are excellent and there is very little, if any fan noise. The main noise is a whine/growl from the pump. There is no air in the system, by the way, it is just pump motor noise.

The pump is mounted to the removable motherboard tray, and is on a pad of Petra's Gel-Stuff. Here is a link to the Gel-Stuff: http://www.petrastechshop.com/pegviabbl.html

I'm thinking of building a box for the pump, fully lined with the gel-stuff, and somehow suspending that box from a flexible mount (maybe those rubber things used to mount case fans) and loosely on another pad of gel-stuff. If that is not enough, then I might also encase the pump and the box in a layer of thick eggcrate foam to quiet it down. I'm also going to mass-load and/or stiffen the back of the motherboard tray to help damp the vibrations/noise.

Mind you, this computer is, according to everyone in my family, very quiet already. But it sits near me, up off of the floor, and I have very good ears. It is not a screaming noisebox, but I would like to quiet it down as much as possible.

As a more specific product recommendation I'd say to check out a roll of 6" wide Peel-n-Seal (roofer's tape) carried by Lowe's. I used Dynamat Extreme on the rear deck of my car, and used Peel-n-Seal on some extra areas. Aside from Dynamat Extreme being really expensive and claiming to be rubber-based -vs- the Peel-n-Seal claiming to be asphalt-based, the two products were incredibly similar. The Peel-n-Seal does have an asphalt smell to it, that goes away in 24 hours when you use it. I kept the remainder of the roll in a toolbox, and it kind of had an asphalt odor in there, too. Once it was gone, that went away. People in my car club have gutted their interior and lined the entire interior of their cars with Peel-n-Seal before re-installing the interior, and the asphalt smell goes away in 24 hours. I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

I have a small case I'm using in a build for a friend, and the top panel resonantes when the DVD burner is spinning at high speed. I'm out of Peel-n-Seal, but I'd definitely use that on the underside to dampen it. I also used Peel-n-Seal on the exterior sides of a new deep stainless steel kitchen sink before installing it, and it does an excellent job of deadening loud resonances when running the faucet. Again, no odor at all, despite being an asphalt-based product.