noise reduction for my new case - help !

[neo2014]

Hi

I have just assembled my newly purchased Mercury S8 from Caselabs, however, the noise from the fans (2x Noctua NF-A14 FLX fans.) is killing the fun for me as there is a lot of noise - the noise is very similar to the sound coming from an air duct.

The question is what one can do in order to reduce the problem ?

My Noctua fans comes with three sets of cables which I think can reduce the fanspeed, however, I'm not to keen on this solution as I wish my fans to be able to blow as much air in and out of the case as needed - e.g. I don't wish to end up in a situation where the components don't get adequate cooling because I have chosen to install some speed reducing cables as this would defeat the point of having huge fans in the first place - right !

So, I'm thinking of going for a solution where I would reduce the noise from the airflow, by cladding (is this the right expression ?) the inside of the case with noise reducing materials - I need some recommendation from you.

To solve the problem of the fans going full revs all the time I have thought of getting a fan control, however, I would prefer something which I don't have tamper with e.g. more like something which just sits and is controlled by the temperature within the case.

Well, I hope what I have written make sense to those among you who have good experience when it comes to reducing noise within cases and I indeed look forward to your recommendations.

Thank you in advance

ps. my thread where I seek advise abut which fans to purchase

 

[echn111]

I don't see what the problem is. If you've got the fans going full speed, of course they'll make noise. And the obvious solution is to reduce the speed using the cables Noctura gave you. If you don't want to do that it's your own fault.

I normally use 'acoustipack' to help dampen the sound and vibrations. And I decouple any moving parts, such as the fans using silicone screws. To reduce HDD vibration sound, my HDD's are all lower rpm eco drives, and all decoupled either by rubber bands or silicone, while my O/S is a very fast SSD. Where it is a problem, I duct the fan exhaust (at around 45 degrees) outside the case to dampen and deflect the sound.

And all this ain't going to help if you've got a psychological 'thing' against reducing fan speed and decide to run them all at max speed.

If you really want, just use a fan rpm controller against temp. I used a T-Balancer BigNG with multiple temperature sensors for individually controlling each fan in different parts of the case. Probably serious overkill for what you want however as you could just do what Noctura advises and reduce fan rpm. And you may not like it because it actually reduces fan rpm, which appears to be something you're dead set against.

Air cooling is a compromise. If you really want a quiet but highly overclocked system, you can spend several hundred on full water cooling. Then again, if you insist on running your radiator fans at max speed anyway, even that's not going to help,

 

[neo2014]

@echn111

I thank you for your comments even though I did take a bit of offence in the underlying tone as I think it's very patronizing (I'm so past that now !).

However, having said that I also think you gave a few good comment on what can be done and thank you for that.

 

[dandragonrage]

You can reduce vibration in the case and you can use something like foam as a broadband noise reducer for the case but you can't put those in the actual air path for the most part. If the air moving is making the noise then you are SOL unless you want to make a baffled noise reducer for your fans in the air path, sort of like a car muffler.

BIOS control is better than the inline thingies.

 

[neo2014]

@dandragonrage

Thank you for sharing your views - it looks I'm caught between a rock and a hard place on this one...

I'm not sure I possess the technical skills needed to make a baffled noise reducer, so I'll probably have to switch the cables which came with the fans to lower the rpm (as suggested by @echn111) until I figure something else out.

 

[echn111]

The bios fan control suggestion is a good one. It's basically a free temperature based rpm control system. Meaning it'll ramp up your fans when the temperature detected by the BIOS justifies it. The new motherboards even have 'drag and drop' graphics to let you pick your temperature versus rpm curves for each fan header.

As for the baffled noise reducer, you could just make it of cardboard, put some acoustic dampening foam inside and tape it to your fan exhaust case. But that's only effective if that's really where the noise is coming from.

btw: your surprisingly moderated response shows good character.

 

[rtangwai]

Is it strictly airflow noise that you are hearing or is any vibration involved?

I looked at the case, does it use rubber antivibration grommets for the fans? If not you might want to try that if you are not absolutely certain it is strictly airflow noise.

The noise-reducing materials used in cases like the Fractal XL R2 do help but since they aren't transparent it defeats the purpose of having windows on your Mercury S8. The larger the non-cladded areas the more noise leaks out and the S8 has large windows. Without watercooling "quiet" and "showing off" are diametric opposites - my own Raven RV02 is a testament to that

 

[neo2014]

The bios fan control suggestion is a good one. It's basically a free temperature based rpm control system. Meaning it'll ramp up your fans when the temperature detected by the BIOS justifies it. The new motherboards even have 'drag and drop' graphics to let you pick your temperature versus rpm curves for each fan header.

I think that what you're describing is exactly what I'm after e.g. fans ramping up when they need to.

btw: your surprisingly moderated response shows good character.

I felt the luv in that one - and you have long been "forgiven" bro

Is it strictly airflow noise that you are hearing or is any vibration involved?

To the best of my knowledge I would say that it is only noise from the airflow - I have been able to detect any vibrations - the material in which the case is made from is .050'' (1.3mm). aluminium and I honestly don't think it even capable of vibrating !

All Aluminum Construction

I looked at the case, does it use rubber antivibration grommets for the fans? If not you might want to try that if you are not absolutely certain it is strictly airflow noise.

I did try to install the fans using the rubber grommets, however, I couldn't get the fans to sit tight, so I hade to use the screws which also came with the fans. The corners of the housing/frame of the fans is lined with rubber, so they won't make any vibrating noise.

I think it all comes down to a problem with noise from airflow and I think @echn111 has pointed me in the direction for a solution which indeed make good sense to me.

btw, just in order to clarify; my case is a bit different from the pic as I don't have any windows in my case - it's all aluminium.