There is almost no perciptable change when the computer is on or off.
Not so pretty but all efforts, big or small, add up:
HD surrounded by dampening material. I'm using four rubber bands instead of two to suspend the HD:
The front door covered with dampening material.
I didn't want to cover the whole surface; I feared my PSU with a weak Noctua fan would need all the cool air it could lay its fins on. The 5.25 slot covers are also covered with some of that dampening mat, same goes with the ceiling surface of the PSU chamber.
The case's back is a huge mess. But it was designed to become a mess, right! ^^
The (mobo) side panel. I had to cut some tracks on the dampening material, or else the messy thick cables would interfere severely with the panel and the bulge it produced when the panel was closed was tremendous.
I don't think the screw slot that holds the three screws are that strong at least in the long term. Those might wear out and snap, particularly the middle one.
Now the operation is so much smoother.
People often say: "measure twice, cut once".
I measured once and cut twice or thrice. Here's the main side panel. Not a pretty sight, well, actually ugly as heck, but it works. The "studio style" dampening material is made in Germany and was a pain to cut compared with Be Quiet! mats.
The ceiling surface of the case is also covered with some dampening mat.
http://tinyurl.com/qpr3j6
The final touch, the dampening mats, really did some difference IMO.
Not a huge one but definitely noticable. The Samsung HD produces a clearly audible and sharp buzz sound when it shuts off and even that noise has also become dampened after I used the mats.
I'd even venture to say that the noise quality from the case fan has changed. How that might be possible,
Perhaps I'm just imagining things!
I don't know. Maybe the sound waves from the fan only bounce towards the wall instead of bouncing both ways, inside the case.
The rear wall behind my PC is partly covered with a rug/mat and it also dampens the noise somewhat.
Thanks for looking
