Vibration..grrrr!

Youstolemyname · 6 Sep 2009 at 10:46

I have just built a new desk and despite my case standing on its case feet on a shelf within the desk it seems to use the desk like a massive tuning fork!

There is now a repetitive hum that cycles in volume as the vibrations ping through the case and putting the case on the floor is not an option. I have put it on magazines to try and dull the sound but it didn't work.

Can anyone recommend any kind of anti-vibration matting or another solution to stop my room sounding like some sort of generator room in Star Trek!

Pikey · 6 Sep 2009 at 11:01

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-003-AF&groupid=701&catid=1428&subcat=1431

JonJ678 · 6 Sep 2009 at 11:03

Most important is working out what in the case is vibrating, whats the hardware? Hard drives, pumps and fans are the main offenders. Case fans are dealt with remarkably effectively by these. Hard drives are more difficult, most solutions feature putting them in the optical bays. Either suspended on elastic or with some sort of grommet. You can also force them to spin down when idle, this is particularly effective if the OS is on an ssd or usb stick. I've not worked out anything effective for pumps yet.

Antivibration matting doesn't exist as such. The approach is to make the case very heavy, makes it harder for the contents to shake it around. You can stop panels resonating quite effectively by sticking something dense to the inside of the case, but this problem is more difficult. You can put a lot of mass in the bottom of the case, iron weights and the like, which will help. However isolating the vibrating things from the case is probably the place to start.

Note that the soft feet recommended above will work very badly if you make the case very heavy

Youstolemyname · 6 Sep 2009 at 11:04

thanks for that- will look into them and any other options people suggest

Only thing I can think that could cause this level of vibration is the heatsink and fan. It's a big heavy one but the fan inside is large so should be spinning slowly...

rodo · 6 Sep 2009 at 11:32

Youstolemyname said:
thanks for that- will look into them and any other options people suggest

Only thing I can think that could cause this level of vibration is the heatsink and fan. It's a big heavy one but the fan inside is large so should be spinning slowly...

Could try something like speedfan to lower fan rpm and see if vibration stops

EsaT · 6 Sep 2009 at 13:22

Youstolemyname said:
Only thing I can think that could cause this level of vibration is the heatsink and fan. It's a big heavy one but the fan inside is large so should be spinning slowly...

Heatsink fans are mechanically far from case so they're the last ones to check.
It's things in direct contact with case which are the worst vibration sources.

Crystal ball is malfunctioning so what case and fans you even have there?