Taming HD Low Frequency Vibration

[ydrol]

Hi , I've got my PC pretty quiet. I have Coolermaster Centurian 534 case, a Spinpoint F1 1TB and a Maxtor 200G. Both drives give off some vibration around the 50Hz range (by ear). The Cage in the coolermaster seems to amplify this perfectly I've put the HD cage on rubber washers and also tried to dampen the quick release system but the noise is really getting to me now. Dont get me wrong, the system is quiet, but I'd really like to kill that 50Hz noise. (Id prefer quiet fan noise to low frequency drone).

The drives are fairly quiet themselves, very little seek noise, and if I hold them in my hand obviously there is no vibration noise. Once the go in the case, it's a different story... Constant droning. And because they are a slightly different frequency to one another , it fades in and out every couple of seconds. Grrr...

Any good tips to dampen the HD Cage?

[CaptainCrash]

You'd really need to decouple the hard drives - not just from the case, but from each other (as you suspect, the cyclic droning is caused by harmonic interaction between the two drives running at very slightly different speeds).

IIRC the CM 534 is made from fairly thin and flimsy steel which will resonate quite easily, and this won't help matters - if it were me, I'd swap the case for an Antec Solo, which is better built, better designed and gives you a choice between rubber-grommetted drive trays and (even better) drive suspension which isolates each drive completely.

If you don't want to shell out for a new case, you could check out the SilentPCReview forums for drive quieting techniques - this thread is a good place to start.

[DDY]

I use clothing elastic to suspend HDDs, it's the best 'cheap' way of preventing HDD resonance.

It only takes 10 minutes (bar the trip to Woolworths) and it does the job perfectly every time.

Here are two machines that had the treatment.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/DDY/DSC06106.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/DDY/DSC05775.jpg

[TheReaFireblade]

Yup. Whilst rubber grommets cut out some noise, 'suspending' hard drive(s) isolates them completely from the chassis, and vastly improves noise reduction

I have a pair of drives in one of my rigs suspended using Stretch Magic, but any decent/thick elastic would no doubt do the job equally well

[GoNz0]

gheto mods FTW

[amjedm]

Check out this thread for more ideas on how to suspend hard disks

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=19147

[k4p84]

I have suspended mine before, works a treat.

Though be careful when you move the case around as it's not the most secure of HDD retention.

If all else fails get a SSD, no noise, no money in your pocket either though !!

Ed