Blocking off side vents

gcwebbyuk · Post by **gcwebbyuk** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:27 am

My CM690-II case has two 140mm side vents.

I have no fans mounted there, and they are obvious escape routes for sound.

I currently have them blocked off with some bitumen style sound deadening material (mounted on the outside of the case) as a temporary measure and have noticed pretty much no change in temperature, so I think I will completely block them off.

Are there any smart looking 140mm fan bay blanking plates available, or are they all bright and garish? AM looking for something black to match the rest of the case.

Fat Bunny · Post by **Fat Bunny** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:38 am

I Have a similar situation with the SLK3000B or whatever it's called. The down side of the roof felt material in this situation is that sticky side traps dust cat hair etc.

Have never seen a purpose designed blanking plate, the only things I have seen are filters which would not have much of a sound deadening effect.

Have also used furnace filter material on one of these side vents so it acts as a passive intake.

Here I would probably get some black corrugated plastic sheeting (aka coreplast) from the art supply store and make a blanking plate and attach it with self taping fan screws. The coreplast might need some of the roofing felt stuff as a backing to cut out any resonance though.

BTW there are a couple of tools out there that mimic cool'n'quiet and allow BIOS level overclocking. In fact I believe PhenomMSTweaker will allow you to take CPU V lower than CnQ during light loads.

Cheers

gcwebbyuk · Post by **gcwebbyuk** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:49 am

I was thinking up a plan to try when I work on my case next (have some new S-Flex E's on their way).

What I intend to do is cut a piece of wood or plastic that is large enough to cover both vents. Drill small holes in where the fan screw holes would be. Use stick on type draft excluder around the wood/plastic so an air tight seal is made between edges and the case, and then screw it to the case.

Will make sure the wood/plastic is black so that it can't be seen from the side.

Will take some pics when I try it out - thats if it works...

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:48 am

I've used cardboards + ducttape to block vents before, its not exactly pretty, but it works...

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:24 pm

As for my SLK3000B, I've always used a spare 120mm fan (or fan frame) to pin some headliner fabric in place on top of my side panel. I use that stuff instead of eggcrate foam as it works just as well for muting high frequency noises and it just looks better.

Pierre · Post by **Pierre** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 2:11 am

Maybe something like fractal-design's "moduvent" would be the best solution...
http://www.fractal-design.com/img_prod/ ... epanel.jpg

However, I'm wondering whether simply covering the whole with some good dampening material bearing a hard bitumen sheet (like the Cooltec 395/universal kit) will do the trick
http://www.pc-cooling.de/Low-Noise+PC/S ... CT+K2.html

bozar · Post by **bozar** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:51 am

I've used bitumen on my Chieftec case. Works like wonders!

Towermax · Post by **Towermax** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:09 pm

I has an older case with a hole in the side covered with a decorative fanguard. Like you, I didn't want or need the hole.

I covered the inside of the side panel with self-stick vinyl tile from Home Depot--that blocked the hole and added some nice damping mass.

Then I replaced the fanguard on the outside of the panel and ran the screws through the guard and panel into the vinyl tile. Looks just fine.

Jay_S · Post by **Jay_S** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:23 pm

My CM Centurion 590 case is full of 120mm fan openings: two in the side panel and 2 more in the top. The sides are interchangeable, so I just swapped them. But for the top I just cut a large piece of black foam core and duct taped it on. Looks pretty stealth from the outside. If I were using this as my primary PC, I'd layer over this all with bitumen / dynamat / vinyl tile.

gcwebbyuk · Post by **gcwebbyuk** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:35 pm

I think what I will do now is cut some of the foam that came in my motherboard box (dark grey) and duct tape this over the vents from the inside. I will then stick some Akasa Paxmate over the back of it, and actually cover the rest of the panel with it.

Unfortunately I can only easily get hold of Akasa Paxmate or Vibe Car speaker anti vibration stuff, which is what I am currently using.

I know paxmate has mixed reviews, but it seems a better option, as the Vibe stuff is small squares designed to fit around a 6.5" speaker.