Modding

For those that want to try something a bit different to quieten there PC, there are some simple and cost effective ways to have quite an impact on your system's noise levels.

Foam coat panels

While many companies sell acoustic foam for you to stick to the inside of your case panels, it is often quite expensive, and though effective, most will not bother as it's simply doesn't seem worth it when pressing that "add to cart" button. However, you can achieve a similar effect for much less. The cheap and nasty foam mouse mats that can be bought from many online retailers for around the £0.20 mark can be utilised as excellent sound proofing material. You'll need 4-8 of them, but getting 10 is a good way to make sure you have enough. You'll also need some spray on adhesive, a ruler or other straight edged product, a craft knife and a heavy item such as a phone book.

The following is a step by step guide on how to acheive the desired effect:

• Remove both panels from your case.
  
• Using the ruler and craft knife, square off the corners of the mats to make them fit more effectively.
  
• Place the mats on to the case panels to see how many are required. The mats may need to be cut into smaller pieces to cover the whole panel, do so if necessary.
  
• Following all safety directions, spray either the mats themselves, or the case panels. The former is less messy but less effective as it's hard to cover the whole mat, while the latter is more effective, but looks worse as there is usually excess glue.
  
• Place your chosen heavy item on top of the mats or press down with gentle force and hold for a few minutes to make sure the mats have stuck correctly
  
• You can then use any extra bits of mats you have left to double up layers if your case allows it.
  

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Difficulty Level	2/5
Parts Needed	Cheap mouse mats, craft knife, ruler, spray on adhesive
Time	20 minutes
Cost	£10
Effectiveness	4/5

Foam on Optical Drive

The majority of noise coming from optical drives is because of vibrations as the CD/DVD spins up to its full speed. While you can slow down the drive itself, that's more of a work around than anything else. This technique is far from perfect, but it can help alleviate any strong vibrations from the drive.

All you need do, is get hold of a large piece of packing foam, and wedge it between the top of your case and your optical drive. While it's not very elegant, it's out of site and can help reduce some of those irritating rumbles and whirs.

Difficulty Level	1/5
Parts Needed	Packing foam
Time	2 minutes
Cost	None
Effectiveness	1/5

Remove Fan Grills

The "whooshing" noise caused by fans can be attributed mainly to air turbulence. This can be reduced by creating a PC that is as wind-tunnel-like as possible (read: cable management). Another way to reduce this is to remove fan grills. This is usually only best to do at the back of the case as the grills are there to protect your fingers from straying into the fan blades, and that's much easier to do with front or top mounted fans.

Some cases will have removable fan grills, but for those that don't, a pair of wire or bolt cutters will be all you need to remove the grill. However, I'd recommend that you invest in some electric tape to wrap around the sharp edges to make sure you don't cut yourself if you find yourself blindly fumbling at the back of the case.

Difficulty Level	2/5
Parts Needed	Wire/bolt cutters, electric tape
Time	5 minutes
Cost	£5
Effectiveness	1/5