-- It is easy to make a box. But to make it so it absorbs sound and still allow sufficient cooling/air flow at the same time is a bit more difficult.
I have installed those anechoic wedge foam blocks in recording studios before. It is expensive but works well. You would have to make sure the air still got through though.
The local RAID is required for uncompressed HD video editing.
I was thinking along the same lines, but check out the 3D Model Tour at
Best, Christopher
PS: Pause the video as necessary to examine the exhausts.
If the only requirement was a box, sure, the project would be trivial with not much planning needed. However, a major design objective is to significantly reduce noise while providing adequate air flow, which requires a bit more thought and planning.
Best, Christopher
You didn't specify the usage of the machine before, now I know why you need all that local.
But the box can still be located elsewhere, there are IP based remote solutions, have you researched the option? Even extending the keyboard, video and mouse cables may allow you to get it around a corner or something to cut the noise.
Building a box that will absorb sound and provide the cooling requirements for a computer like that is non-trivial.
Find an old Printer enclosure. It is a lid opening box and it has thick foam on the inside area. The issue you will come in with is air. Cooling a working computer in an box isn't easy. Not silent.
Perhaps in stead of asking for what you did - you might tell us why or for what reason.
Might be just a different computer to solve the problem. Might be exotic water cooled...
Mart> Anyone have plans or photos of an acoustic enclosure for a desktop computer? > > Best,
Most desktop computers cool by turbulent circulation of air, which generates high-frequency 'ssss' sound, in addition to a few low- frequency components from disk rotation and fan bearings.
Soundproofing, like in a studio, relies on baffling and putting high density barriers in low density mediums (lead sheet will stop a LOT of sound from air, less of conducted sound in wood). So, one approach is to use heavy panels (like, liquid nails assemblies of two or three thicknesses of sheetrock/drywall/gypsum board) and supporting the computer inside the box with soft foam pads. There has to be an air inlet and outlet, so either use a labyrinth box-with-baffles as an air channel, or close the thing comletely and put an air/water heat exchanger (ask at an auto radiator shop, they can build up a small core easily enough) and remove heat through water circulation.
Sound-deadening carpentry includes sand-filled panels (Wharfedale speakers, I think, used this) and humble MDF-glue construction (also a favorite of speaker designers).
Best, though, is to remove the disks and power-hungry parts to another room. Sound studios can keep laptops in the quiet room, and used 'em to remote-control the real mix computers elsewhere... rubber-chicklet keyboards and trackpads can be quieter than standard keyboard/mouse.
The computer I'm using was $8,200. I can see I'm pushing a string here. Thank you everyone for all the computer suggestions; I know the intent was in the right place.
Best, Christopher
"Christopher Glaeser" wrote in news:A72dnbODKMy9Q1nXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Model railroaders often complain of noise from their trains, and go through several lengths building the benchwork to minimize the noise. The track base consists of plywood and homasote, a pressed paper like material. There are no nails from the track in to the plywood, and in most cases the homasote is glued to the plywood. This helps quiet the vibration noise. (Some of us simply use thicker plywood that doesn't transmit sound like the thinner stuff.)
What about pictures and plans for a shop vac enclosure? They'd seem to have the same problems of heat and noise.
Puckdropper
IF the machine doesn't need 3d accelerated graphics or full motion video, then a thin client might be a possibility--there are several ways to set that up--a netbook or a mini-itx system does fine as a thin client and they can be made as quiet as a lamp, while you can put the main machine in another room.
If you haven't checked out
If your objective is to do a woodworking project by all means have at it, but if the objective is to have a quiet machine in a reasonable time then I think that buying one is going to be a better plan.
RE: Subject
Check out SoundDown.
Link below.
Lew
I have not read all of the posts in this thread. But, if one's objective is to have a quiet machine, then building one with a graphics cards having ambient cooling is a good start. Giga-byte makes some. I think their URL is giga-byte.com I like mine. If you want a quiet machine, you will probably need to build it yourself. The specifications of most components will list their sound level in db.
As may have been pointed out, "water cooling" may offer the quietest system--but I'm not willing to bother with that yet.
Bill
Perhaps there's other options. I'm not too far removed from your 10 terabytes with a total of more than 7 TB, but 6 TB (4x1.5 TB drives) are located in a USB connected satellite case, which is extremely small and quiet. And with that I plan on increasing transfer speed soon by replacing the USB connection with a Firewire 800 connection, which the satellite case has.
If it helps you any, I built a padded box around my portable compress to stifle the noise when I use it in my apartment. It's a simple 3/4" plywood box, four rubber wheeled casters and lined with furnace air intake filters. It reduces the noise over 50%. Air intake is sufficient by the use of an interior 120v fan and the air to it is supplied through several layers of speaker grill cloth. If it does that well on an 85 decibel compressor, it should be sufficient for a computer box.
Reviewing the entire thread it's clear that the OP doesn't want a quiet machine, he wants a cabinet to hold a noisy one.
Googling "DIY computer isolation box" will yield a good deal of useful material.
The way I interpret that video is that the air intakes are at the bottom and top but near the front. (They advertise "front to back airflow" in the text".) The exit is at the back.
For a tower enclosure I'd just do intake at the front and exit at the back, but with zigzag passages lined with sound absorber panels. If you've got carpet it may be beneficial to orient the openings facing downwards to get a bit more muffling effect. You probably want the enclosure to fit fairly snugly around the side of the tower to avoid warm exhaust mixing with the incoming cool air.
Chris
Consider that the Kell cabinets are not intended to render a machine recording-studio quiet, they are intended to reduce a racket of servers to a tolerable rack.
Thanks, this car keeps veering off the road, and I appreciate your efforts to regain control of the steering wheel. It was probably a mistake to mention the word "computer". In hind sight I should have said "acoustic enclosure for noisy doohicky" and avoided all the discussions about replacing videos cards etc.
I had not tried that particular Google phrase and that did turn up some new ideas. Thanks again.
Best, Christopher
Yeah, I watched it again and I think you are right. It's interesting that all the wiring in the back is sealed within soft foam panels. Originally I had assumed that was to reduce noise, but now I'm guessing the major reason is to ensure air flow comes from the front, as you point out.
Yes, I should probably do that for a desktop as well.
I was thinking either carpet with a non-straight patter as you suggest, or posssibly using the egg crate foam used in sound studios that directs the sound waves into the foam channels.
At first I was thinking I could rely on an air exchange at the back, but I think you're right, I should design something that puts the incoming air at the front of the equipment, perhaps using a false bottom or false side to redirect the air flow so there is no straight line path from the inside to the outside of the acoustic enclosure.
Best, Christopher
Have you considered putting the whole tower into a dorm type refrigerator modified for cable exits?
Whichever way you go, you may want to consider using an indoor/outdoor thermometer to keep an eye on actual in-the-box temps.
Best of luck, and happy building!
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