Hi,

I just put together a new computer using the Sonata III case and it makes an awful noise when the case is fully closed. I have 2 HDDs in the case a WD6400AAKS and a WD1001FALS, with a SSD as my OS drive. The noise is very deep and hard to drown out. The noise goes away when I press the side panels of the case inward.

I've done some research and it seems the Sonata III is not considered a good performer with heat or acoustics, unfortunately I bought this case way back in 2008 and I'm just now getting around to using it. I've read that sound dampening foam one the side panels can help, but surprisingly only one of my panels is removable. I applied the foam to that side panel and it seemed to help, but the noise is still there.

Any suggestions on how to stop the noise?

try booting with the ssd only. if the noise is gone, we should look at the drives, the drive cage and the side panels.

If the noise persist, try cutting of fan by fan and so on until you find the some useful clues where the noise is comming from in the first place.

If holding the side panels in stops the noise it is most likely vibration noise.

I assume it is just the side panel door vibrating.

A couple of easy options here. Check the drive vibrations and make sure your screws aren't too tight.

OR add a thin layer of electrical tape around the edge of the side panel door so that when it closes it is slightly snugger fit, and hence doesn't vibrate.

If the noise is absent with the case open it's more than likely amplified vibration. Whereas the side panel may be amplifying the noise, the culprit lies deeper, in your active components - my money is on it being your 1 TB, 7200 RPM Black. Try booting without it and see what the difference is.

My 6400AAKS is quite benign, especially on rubber grommets.

It's a very bad idea from a silence perspective to have a 7200 RPM storage drive to begin with, but if that is what you'll be working with, I think your best option is to suspend it (may be risky) or put it in an enclosure to kill sound and vibrations. Making sure the standard rubber grommets can work by having the screws at proper tightness (not squishing the rubber) is a good start, but having witnessed many Blacks in action, I don't think the grommets will be enough.

Step 2 after the grommets and screw tightness would be modding, as suggested, to tighten up panels and add mass and rigidity to them (rule of thumb: foam kills airborne sound, mass and rigidity kill vibration), but since one of your sides most likely can't be modded, this might be a moot point and introduce unnecessary complexity to the setup and make it more cumbersome.

A better drive or an enclosed/suspended drive are the most straightforward solutions. No structural changes required, just the right parts.

Okay I did as suggested here and booted with the ssd only with the case fully closed and tightened. Surprisingly the noise did not completely go away. It was still there although far less intense. It was easy to ignore or drown out with a little white/brown noise. Pinching the sidepanels quieted the noise as before.

I will check on the tightness of the screws, very possible I overtightened. I remember being a bit dubious about the drive mounting scheme, and tightening down about as much as I could.

Although I've followed and lurked SPCR for years, I don't consider myself sensitive to computer noise in general; for the past 5 years my case has been an In Win model that certainly wasn't silent, but any noise it did make could be drowned by a noise maker if needed. It's just that this particular noise is too aggravating.

Can anyone recommend me a particular HDD suspension system? I've got two open 5.25 slots in the case.

Now that's a bummer. If disconnecting both HDDs still does not remove the noise, and it's still the panels amplifying it, this to me suggests you may need to decouple the case fans or switch to smoother-running models. This is something I haven't had to do or recommend in a long time. How about a boot sans fans?

I doubt it's the PSU, but who knows at this point.

The go-to product for me would be the Scythe Quiet Drive (SPCR review for 2.5" model). The Tiché PC HDD Vibration Killer (SPCR review) would be my second choice, and applicable here in case the active noises of the HDDs don't bother you.

PS. I know all too well how infuriating the noise you mention can be. After modding two Sonata cases (1 and 2) I switched to the layered side panels of the Performance One series, later Fractal Design, and haven't had to look back since - haven't heard complaints from the people I've helped assemble setups for either.

You can savely boot without any case fan turned on or any combination of them. Booting and testing should not take a long time, so no real danger should apply. Booting w/o the cpu cooler fan isn't to recommend.

I've got a Sonata too. Pentium G620 (stock HSF), passive GPU, Nexus case fan, Be Quiet 80+ Gold 400W PSU and a Samsung HD103UJ (3,5" 7200rpm, 3 platters). It's also making too much noise and I suspect it's the HDD too.
I'd love to go SSD-only but 512gb is a bit expensive.

I would disconnect all fans and hdd's and isolate 1 at a time then.