Dampening and heat

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 8:33 am

I've been reading all the articles about the different types of sound dampening materials people have been using in their systems and have a question about heat. I'm thinking of putting some carpet underpadding in my system to make it quieter but I'm concerned that the underpadding with soak up the heat from the system and make the ambient temps in the case higher.

What are people's experience with the dampening and the amount of heat generated afterwards?

Gooserider · Post by **Gooserider** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:40 pm

What are people's experience with the dampening and the amount of heat generated afterwards?

Mileage varies...

The under padding will NOT 'soak up' heat from the components. It acts as an insulator, just like a hot mitt does when you are taking something out of the oven. The mitt doesn't soak up much heat, it simply blocks the transfer of heat from the pan to your hand.

Any kind of sound insulation WILL prevent or greatly reduce heat dissipation through the metal case bits. In most cases this isn't a major route of heat dissipation, so it shouldn't make a big difference. However, if you have uncomfortably hot places on your case when the system is running, it might be a problem for you.

It seems that the biggest impact area is on the airflow through the case, which varies a great deal. This includes more than just intake and exhaust holes. It includes the air path through the case, how much friction there is in the air passages, etc. One question is whether there is a 'clear passage' for air to go through the case w/o having to do much actual cooling, and how that passage is changed.

If the net airflow is restricted, then you will probably have a slight temp increase. If airflow is about the same, it probably won't make much difference. I have even seen cases reported where it appears the airflow may have been forced to more efficiently go past the HSF and other components and the temperatures go DOWN!

In short, it's hard to tell w/o trying it. However the carpet underpad is cheap, so the experiment isn't that bad. Try fitting it using double sided tape or equivalent first. This will give you a pretty good idea of the effect on both heat and noise, then glue it in permanently if you like the results.

Gooserider

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 5:39 am

Thanks for the reply. I got a piece of underpadding from a local carpet place and cut out of a piece of it the size of the side panel and taped it on. I booted up my machine and let it sit idle for about half an hour. I was very surprised to see that the idle temps were about 10C lower than what it was before the underpadding. I'm going to have to test it out more tonight becuase I was very surprised to see the lower temp.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 8:51 am

Well if your temps are really lower, it's not because of the padding. Maybe the ambient temp is lower.

Padding may lower the sound level, but I can't see any cooling effects at all......

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 12:08 pm

The ambient temps were the same. I'm not sure if this makes a difference though. I had the machine sitting sideways before I put in the padding and after I put it upright.

energy · Post by **energy** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 12:50 pm

Most cases will ventilate best when sitting as designed (usually upright). I cannot imagine the padding reducing temperatures by ten degrees...

Zhentar · Post by **Zhentar** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 1:06 pm

if it reduces temps its thanks to improved airflow distribution. For side panels holes, blocking them can potentially affect temps either way.

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 8:39 pm

Well, after running my machine on idle for a while and putting it under load, the temps are clearly lower. On idle the cpu hovers around 35-36C and under load, it maxed out at 49C. Maybe it is because I put the computer upright, but I didn't think it would've made that much of a difference.

Post by **Rusty075** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 5:31 am

When you had your case on it's side, which way was facing up? Was the motherboard on the bottom, or on the top?

If the mobo was on the "top" it may have been trapping hot air next to itself.

Even with the mobo on the bottom you were fighting against the natural convective flow, rather than with it.

Now that the machine is upright, with the PSU exhaust up at the top, you're working with convection, instead of against it.

exrcoupe · Post by **exrcoupe** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:26 am

I had one of the panels off so obviously the motherboard was on the bottom.