Can't locate from where comes case vibrations - Solved!

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melkhior
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:03 pm
Location: Spain

Can't locate from where comes case vibrations - Solved!

Post by melkhior » Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:20 pm

Hi to all,

I'm having problems with case vibrations and I can't locate them. My PC is:

- Phenom II 955 + Mugen 2 with 2 Gentle Typhoons in pull/push undervolted to 7v
- Gigabyte UD5P (has no fans)
- 4 GB from G. Skill
- HD4870 + Setsugen with 1 Gentle Typhoon undervolted to 7v
- Cosmos 1000 with fans replaced to GTs also undervolted to 7v
- PSU LC8850
- 4 HDDS (1 seagate and 3 WD)

So the problem is that the case has vibrations and I can't determine which component is doing them. I tried to turn off all the fans and it continues. I also tried to use the PSU out from the case and the case keeps vibrating.

The buzz sound sounds intermittently like one second noise, one second stops, one second noise, one second stops and then to the infinity (it's very annoying). Also, if I put the ear on the table I can hear loudly.

¿What can I do? xD

Thanks in advance and forgive me for my english.

RoGuE
Posts: 540
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:11 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
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Post by RoGuE » Sat Jun 12, 2010 3:27 pm

I bet you anything I know what's causing it: your hard drives are creating a harmonic frequency that is intermittently vibrating your case's air cavity. This causes a "voooooommmm--vooooooommmm--" sound

I had this same exact problem, and it was driving me insane. People who came into my room wouldn't notice it, but I couldn't help but hear it 24/7. If you click the link in my signature, you can see how I took care of the problem: suspension.

Now, you have 4 HDDs, and that's a problem. Suspending 2 hard drives is easy, but 4 will give you some trouble. What you could do is spend a little money and consolidate to one or 2 hard drives (you didn't mention how much disk space they are).

If you can't suspend them, try dampening them in any way you can..this is easier said than done if you are mounting them with typical screws to a hard drive cage.

All that said, I can pretty much guarantee it's your hard drives.

AuraAllan
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Post by AuraAllan » Sat Jun 12, 2010 9:45 pm

I have to agree with RoGuE on this one.
It's your harddrives.
You might want to take a look at the HDD Elastic Suspension... Show your pics! thread.

melkhior
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:03 pm
Location: Spain

Post by melkhior » Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:52 pm

Thanks to both, it comes from HDDs (I tried to turn on the computer with no HDDs and it didn't make the noise).

I only have 1 free 5" bay and the HDDs cage is small to do a elastic suspension...

I need to find a solution to vibrations without using elastic suspension. What I learned from this is that CM Cosmos is not as good as people thinks :(

frostedflakes
Posts: 1608
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: United States

Post by frostedflakes » Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:03 am

You can use silicone grommets to reduce the amount of vibration transferred to the case from the hard disks. It helps, but isn't nearly as good as elastic suspension, so I don't know if it'll get rid of your problem. Suspension was the only thing that kept my old 7200RPM Samsung 1TB drive from transferring vibrations to the case, silicone grommets didn't do the trick. My new 5400RPM 1TB (it also has 2 platters, vs 3 for the old drive, which helps as well) produces much less vibration and would probably be OK mounted with grommets. I went ahead and just suspended it as well, though.

Deucal
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Location: Iceland

Post by Deucal » Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:11 am

You can try to rest your HDDs on padded foam.

melkhior
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:03 pm
Location: Spain

Post by melkhior » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:55 pm

Well, I tried with some kind of soft foam and it didn't work.

At least, suspension worked for me. It was a bit difficult because of space to do, but now I can stand near to the computer without music :o

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Thanks to all of you :D

RoGuE
Posts: 540
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:11 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
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Post by RoGuE » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:09 pm

there ya go...nice suspension job! its hard with that many hard drives..

if i ever build a server with multiple hard drives..its going in the closet ;)

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