I have four Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 hard drives in my Fractal Design Define R4 case which are mounted in its hard drive rack using the sort of elastic material described in Mike Chen's original hard drive suspension piece. This has eliminated the vibrational problems I had before, however now I'm seeking to eliminate the spinning noise that these drives emit.

The recommendations in the sticky appear to primarily deal with the sorts of vibrational issues I've already managed to overcome. I see SPCR has reviewed a number of hard drive enclosures in the past, however both of my CD drive bays in my case are already occupied; and in any case, I have four hard drives I need to deal with.

Utilizing the R4's built in hard drive rack, my hard drives are already a millimeter or so from touching the side, so I don't really think I can put anything around them is an option. I've investigated whether these drives support AAM, but it appears that they don't. I'm wondering whether there are any particular methods I might be able to utilize for better silencing these drives, given my particular scenario? I've been considering purchasing some sound dampening foam material to put in the R4 to further dampen the sounds of some of the fans (which are already running at their lowest at 500rpm) however I'm not sure how effective this would be with the hard drives, given that they're basically at the very front of the case

There are only 3 real choices for reducing "airborne" noise such as a fan or a spinning platter - in no particular order, and "dumbed down" (so the message gets across even if I am not 100% technically correct).

(1) Have the source of noise further away.

(2) Deflect the noise.

(3) Dampen (absorb) the noise.

1, is obvious.

2, is essentially what the sides of a case does, the noise bounces around until it finds a way out, but in doing so causes other things (e.g. case sides) to make noise themselves, which is why an aluminium side panel sounds worse than a steel side panel - aluminium is more resonant than steel. Also this is why cases that dont have direct exposure to the inside are quieter than ones covered in fan holes (P180 series for example), the noise essentially bounces around until it looses its energy without much of it escaping.

3, Foam materials, or bitumen sheets or similar, or even the side panels of some Antec cases (P180 series, Solo etc) have double/triple layered sides to absorb the sound.

Sadly it sounds as though you dont have the space to add foam or other layering's to deflect or absorb the sound, so your only choices are to swap case (expensive and a pain in the arse), or to move the PC or perhaps to put something in-front of it as a direct block between the PC and your ears, a sheet of board would do a great job to just test with if you have a spare bit around the house.


Andy