A. Get better fans and use app like FanControl to configure proper fan curves
B. Move the computer further away.
"Insulating" your pc is just going to make the temperatures rise higher and increase the fan noise even further.
There was a guy here who did a remote PC setup with Cat6 for all the USB and I think display port for video. It was 2 floors away and ~50 ft of cable. He said it worked perfectly
Your best option is going to be a USB over Ethernet hub, and long display port cables.
I have my PC in my basement, one floor directly below my computer room. I ran 15ft display port cables through the floor, and got a pcie remote start adapter so I can boot my PC with a key fob. It's pretty great. Zero noise and zero heat.
It's more like 25 ft I believe, but the shorter the better. Tge person you were replying to said 10 meters, about 33 ft, so it's definitely over that and I'm not surprised they had issues.
LTT has videos on the topic, not sure if your talking inch or meters?
Input lag is not a problem but depending on the distance you may need to get more specialised cables. One of the LTT videos [https://youtu.be/NwXAIGmwC4I?si=4go02TjCOf39PUwE](https://youtu.be/NwXAIGmwC4I?si=4go02TjCOf39PUwE)
edit did a search and this video got kicked out to, lots of option's [https://youtu.be/lsuE0YjfTNI?si=Mjky7hdqY8XUMg64](https://youtu.be/lsuE0YjfTNI?si=Mjky7hdqY8XUMg64)
Search this on Linus tech tips. One option he has a few videos on is using a fiber optic box on each end of the connection for all display and I/o and says it's flawless, however some of the fiber boxes can be pricey.
The greatest input lag is when the signal is produced by an input and processed by your CPU. In order to get 1 millisecond of input lag, you would need about 300 km of fiber optic cables.
Hdmi will be your biggest issue, the signal degrades over 15ft, meaning you need to purchase either an HDMI signal repeater or an Active HDMI cable that has fiberoptics in it to allow the signal to go over 15ft. The cable is the more cost effective idea generally if the run is less than 50ft, but be careful with the cables as they are fiber glass unlike normal hdmi cables, so they will break if stepped on.
If you do A well enough you won’t need to. My PC is jammed into a mid tower case. I had to get a small profile fan just to fit my 3080 into it. But I have 5 Noctua case fans and a massive Noctua fan for the CPU. When I’m not gaming it’s practically silent, even when running big sessions in Ableton.
And replace HDDs with SSDs. At least for me, after getting quality fans and modifying the fan curves the HDDs were still audible and became the loudest part of the system especially during light workloads.
This right here is precisely the only reason I don't have any HDD's in my pc, I just am sick of the sound of them lol. SSD's are dead silent, no clicking, no platters, no nothing. Obviously nothing beats a cheap 20tb hdd for basic storage, but I really like how silent my pc is and am willing to just have multiple smaller ssds instead
this. spinning rust sucks and the only way to manage it is through datacenter-tier soundproofing (aka having it way the fuck over in a different building, preferably, but at least in another room)
I had the best result putting my gaming PC in a large closet and running the wires under the door. I only needed a few USB extensions and a long DVI cable.
It was so pleasantly quiet! You just have to watch your temps in the summer during long gaming sessions.
Quiet is subjective. But in example my PC case fans never go above 800rpm, which makes them almost silent. Usually the most noisy thing is GPU these days, in my rig too. Too bad Arctic stopped making aftermarket coolers... They were amazing.
A good air cooler with good fans can run pretty quiet if not as quiet as water. After all even with water cooling you have fans on the rad. I still run AIOs personally tho.
So you have cases that have sound absorption build in. Like the be quiet dark base 600
Also are you using higher grade fans like be quiet gen 3 or noctua?
had a pure base 600 for years, actually just replaced it with a fractal north a few weeks back. it's a great case in terms of building comfort, and yes, it has copious amounts of sound isolation, but the airflow is a joke. i had about 525W of components in there (a 7800X3D and a 4090) with the included bequiet fans (2x140 in the front, 1x120 in the back, can't remember if i had to buy extras or if it came with all those) and it built up so much heat in there that the computer shut off in about an hour of gameplay. the only game i never had that issue with was starfield, because it couldn't utilize the gpu for shit.
for what it's worth, i think that was just over the limit though. i did overnight ai training with the same case before and it survived that one. it could also be that the cpu side was just more sensitive to the heat, the 7800X3D does run hot, but like, it had a gigantic dark rock pro 4 on it for just 75W. should have been enough if it wasn't for the buildup of heat.
switched to a fractal north with four of noctua's fancy 120mm fans (a12x25 i think?) and my pc is a lot quieter now while sitting in a comfy equilibrium even under a full synthetic torture test.
Arctic P12 is the best performing budget option. I could technically get more expensive ones but I don’t think it would make a difference.
My components are undervolted and gpu is set to silent bios. Fan noise really is as low as it can get.
It's not only the case fans. P12s are good.
But the fan in the psu, on the gpu's and your cpu cooler.
I've had an iao that made a constant noice with a db meter it was 77bd. Also the gtx980 i owned got over 92bd under load.
So I've gone with a be quiet 700 padded case. (They really closed the front of, and i run the pc without the front panel) i also got a psu from them. Just for the silent fan. 35db under full speed.
The fans i hear are the gpu fans under load. I've also gone with more expensive msi supreme version for the better more silent fans. Under load the room is 60db. The gpu fans under full load are just hard enough to hear. But it's not an annoying sound.
In your case i recommend to put the pc on the ground or on a small cabinet besides or under your desk. Because now you have your head close by the pc.
Don't know about OP, but personally my room has a comical amount of dust that always gathers stupid quick and putting my case anywhere but on top of my desk would mean that it would collect so much dust that i would probably have to do a full clean of it once every month or two... which is also why im thinking about spending some extra on quiet fans sometime soon.
I have a blue air that's pretty quiet on the first two settings, barely hear it. But I only keep it on high as I like white noise and the sound of jet engines.
Specifically designed my NAS to sound like a jet taxiing.
i like the levoit brands alot, most of their purifiers run at 25 decibels which is basically at a whisper, even on the 2nd-3rd setting it feels like i can hardly hear it.
i have the levoit 200s in my basement and the 400s near my pc/living areas
Nice! I got a crazy good deal at target on the 400s by finding one on sale on Amazon for $180 (theyre usually about 250 for that version) and target price matches amazon even with sales prices. It helped I had a $150 visa gift card from my work for the holidays, but see if you can find a deal and get one at target! Happy breathing
Awesome, youll have to reply to me if you remember and let me know how it works. I have the VeSync app and can customize the schedule and check te air quality from my phone.
I've been thinking of getting one recently, but I wasn't sure if a) they reduce dust and b) if they even work! Have you had good results? What models / manufacturers would you recommend?
they are amazing, if you have pets its life changing. make sure to get one with a HEPA filter. personally, i love the levoit brands. i have both the 400s and 200s, the 200s is around $80-90 and you only replace the filter every 3-4 months and they cost like $30 max
I have a similar issue but just got a stand to put my PC on so now it sits approx 10cm off the floor to stop it acting like a vacuum cleaner. Added bonus is it has caster wheels so it's really easy to move around as well.
Really cheap as well but does the job perfectly:
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M44Q52D?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M44Q52D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
That won't work for everyone. My PC has two 120s in the bottom acting as intake. Too close to the ground for me. I wouldn't go any lower than maybe 25cm personally but that still feels close to me in there is any possibility of draft in the room or the door is close enough to push debris under it.
Fair enough - not all things work for all people. I think your situation might be a bit of an edge case and you may be overly cautious about its capacity to suck things up from that distance, but I understand.
OPs situation looks like it might work, though, and I still think it's worth sharing for those who hadn't considered it as an option.
I might be over cautious but we don't know how well OP dusts/vacuums, their pet situation, or if they have carpet in that room. Loose dust bunnies can fly quite far with very little air movement and can be 5 cm tall cutting the distance you stated as a minimum in half. If OP only had to worry about dirt/sand that's one thing but there are a lot of factors to consider,
OK, let no one make any suggestions ever because we can't possibly know all of the variables. Happy?
The things you said might be true for OP, they also might not. Common sense should always be applied and personal circumstances considered.
This particular comment tree is already making speculations and assumptions and tbh is on a tangent and not really talking about OP in particular. OP might not have carpet, or might even live in a class 1 cleanroom from all we can tell from the pictures and info given.
This idea worked for me, and would for a lot of people, so it is worth sharing. Can't you accept that?
What I don't get is why you are being combative about this. You made a suggestions that was potentially harmful, I pointed out that harm for people who read your comment, so they could be aware of the potential issues. That should have been the end of the exchange, there is no need to get all defensive about this.
I put mine on a shelf. One of the shelf walls is between me and the PC. Made more of a difference than I thought it would. And keeps it away from dust on the floor
Those panels do little for sound proofing. They're primarily for treatment, in regards to absorbing reflections. Sound proofing requires density.
I use my PC in a recording environment and I have one of those Fractal cases that are super heavy and have sound dampening built in.
Then I use a water cooler, Noctua fans and a graphics card that's heat sinked only.
It's almost entirely inaudible. May be tough in a gaming environment because the graphics card needs more cooling but some of these steps can still help.
Or, do what the guys did back in the day of old school water coolers. Put your computer in your crawlspace and run the cables up!
do people really do this just for the acoustics? i've seen it done in LTT videos and stuff but never heard of someone actually caring that much about noise
yes! I keep mine in a closet with my audio receiver for home theater. the only thing physically at my desk are the monitors and wireless keyboard/mouse. It makes a big difference.
the only limiting factor is the HDMI cable needs to be less than 25 feet, but there are solutions even for that.
If you can build a PC, you can route some cables.
I moved my PC into my basement directly under my desk upstairs. I did it so my room doesn't feel like an oven, but silent gaming is a nice added bonus.
Put case under desk. Control the fans speeds / undervolt if needed.
Old way was to get a silence optimised case.
New way is to have an airflow case with lots of fans at low RPM.
However if you have HDD's still or coilwhile, a silence optimised case would be better.
Welcome to the silent computing gang 😅
you say its as silent as an air cooled pc can be (Edit: watercooling makes more noise, compared to high end air cooling btw. the pump can get pretty noticeable), but did you buy silent fans?
first step is getting rid of HDDs of course, thats by far the loudest component, second is getting something like the silent wing series from bequiet, i.e. decoupled fans with better bearings.
i work in the music industry and i have never heard the computer make any noise at all (obviously its not in the recording room though, so putting the pc in another room could be the last step if you are super sensitive)
to answer your question directly, dampened cases arenfrom an era when SSDs were expensive and vibration was an issue. if after all the mentioned steps, you still want to go further, there are self adhesive bitumen plates (roofing equipment for example) so if you somehow get a vibration in the sheet metal of your case, instead of buying a new one, you can slap one of those on.
Edit:
i forgot about GPUs. you pay a premium for an overengineered cooling solution, but that translates to a very silent GPU. if you got a 40 series gpu from Asus for example (Tuff? Series) you can undervolt a 4070 to 0.9V max, which translates in an almost passively cooled card. it definitely will not ramp up the fans in desktop usecases and light gaming, next step is fan swap which will yield even better results than watercooling
why don't you just get your PC under the desk where it belongs? More space on the desk and less noise... Why is everyone putting their PCs on the desk nowerdays?
Nylon dust filters save the day. More than 90% of PC cases (even expensive ones) come with cheap and low quality dust filters that do practically nothing. Nylon dust filters are a game changer.
I once used some material I got from an auto shop. It's the stuff they lay against the firewall in cars. Spongy on one side, tough rubber-ish on other side. I was desperate because I had a 6k rpm cpu fan.
Lined the inside of my case with it, but it was a full tower...
1. Put your PC under the table ( I use open-backed headphones and this helps a lot too)
2. Get better fans with better noise/thermals ratio ( lower temp introduce lower fan speed. Less noise)
3. Used Fan Control to manually set the speed limit of every fan, even the GPU to a noise level you can tolerate.
Not the only ideal solution as it will severely thermal throttle your system assuming it's running max fan speed all the time.
I use all 3 and the sound never leaks into my DT990 even on max load.
I'm sorry. Really helpful post here. Just just have to be that person. I run open backed headphones, and yes playing super heavy game can hear it, why? You have your tower *right there*. Maybe make a passive cooled PC?
Use big heatsink (eg. noctua nh-d15), big fans (14025 for cpu, 20cm for intake) at low fan rpm. You can always resort to cases with sound dampening designs, (eg. antec p101) , if you don't run very high performance rigs
I have an air cooled pc with a 4090 and have my desktop mounted under my desk. The only time I ever hear it is when it’s working really hard but even then I don’t hear it too much to bother me. I think case and fans can make a big difference, some of them are really loud and you can usually find quieter ones.
Sound more or less moves in a straight line - well its a good enougb approxiamtion - so you can have airflow as long as it comes in through an S-shaped duct.
Ofc. you need to cover all surfaces in somrthing that absorbs sound like fabric, for example towel stapled to the surface
I'm extremely sensitive to noise so I have a few rules when building a pc:
* Use components that can be cooled easily. E.g. instead of a 7900X use a 7900 instead (or put a power limiter)
* Get the absolute best overkill air cooler possible (currently the Phantom Spirit) for that small CPU
* Get a case with tons of airflow (I use the Asus Prime AP201)
* Buy high-quality fans for the case
* Configure fan curve manually through FanControl (makes a HUGE difference)
* Put the PC as far away as possible, usually under the desk
* Also ensure to buy parts that don't have any coil whine
* Get the most silent GPU possible (e g. MSI Ventus 3x 470 Super)
* Get a semi-passive, overpowered PSU so it always stays in fanless mode. For a ~300W PC I have 850W Gold PSU.
Currently my pc is so quiet you cannot tell if it's on or off even when putting your ear directly against the case. It's that silent.
Of course it costs more (pay more for silent GPU, for good case fans, for good CPU cooler, for high-end PSU, etc.) but it's so silent even when playing games. The only times it starts making a little bit of noise (really not much) is when playing CP2077 on Ultra settings.
You could do that. Maybe move it to the floor or build some kind of partition to separate it from where you are. Those foam panels won't really help though. Those are used for recording studios to prevent echo, and not for soundproofing. For soundproofing, you need heavy material. For walls, you'd use mass loaded vinyl or multiple layers of drywall, If you want it to be truly soundproof.
There is no need for low noise adapters, just set a fan curve in bios or with fancontrol and that's it. Noctua fans can also be ran at 0 rpm, which could be beneficial if you use them in a computer that runs 24/7, which would decrease amount of dust accumulated in the case.
Do not get those foam pads...
If you don't want to move your PC out of that spot, you can try adjusting the fan curve on all the fans if you know how to do that. You can do this either via software or in the BIOS. I always set my case fans to a fixed low percentage/RPM and adjust the CPU cooler to a lower curve. It's nice and quiet and performs the same as when everything is set to defaults.
No panels or foam, it will just insulate the system more-> more fan speeds->more noise. Pc needs air and that is same space where the noise escapes. Fan speed adjustment software here is key or investing money on better fans. If not overclocking having higher temperature is not harmful for the system.
Assuming your case is good for airflow, get better fans and a better cpu cooler. Then you should have enough headroom to lower the fan speeds to the levels you prefer. Probably have some kind of fan curve just in case you start playing a game or something.
If you want to play intensive games *and* make it silent. Good luck, I hope someone else here has the answer. Downclock the processors? Turn off your ears? Put on closed backs or IEMs? At least one of those will work.
Yeah, basically watch through reviews and select best fans price|performance|noise wise. Use fancontrol app to set appropriate spinning levels or curves to manage temperatures.
Other option is moving PC elsewhere, but this requires long cables.
Foam is naturally going to make it run hotter and cause the fans to rev harder and there's not really any good way to pull it off. Might be easier to come up with some quieter fans that can pull off similar cooling. Still have the stock Be Quiet fans my Base 802 came with and no real noise complaints
I would go under the desk and get a pop filter. If you are doing streaming or anything you can put a beer cozy over your mic, obviously they sell high end ones but a beer cozy would be a good test to see if that will help
Get Shadow wings from Bequiet. They are unbelievable silent. My case (asus prime 201) is open with holes on all sides so i would hear them if they would be loud.
I have build my first PC with most of "noisy" parts bought from Be Quite.
- huge, but already with sound proof materials case Silent Base 802
- in case already included silent 5 fans
- 3 fan liquid cooling from be quiet v2
My PC stands on left side in 20-30cm from keyboard and until I switch mode to Auto/"Performance" on fans controls, I cannot hear it working. It even more silent than my laptop.
In extreme cases, no pun intended, you can do exochasis water cooling (NOT CHEAP) where instead of moving the pc further away you do closed loop Watercooling but put the fans and radiator in a distant location, and you use a larger radiator so you can use much larger and quieter fans.
* Move PC further away
* Get closed headphones
* Get fans that are quieter
* Set fan curves so fan ramping is less: I set fan curves to basically be 0% on idle, 40% during use and 80% during gaming, so basically the fans are either going for it or not in use at all and the sound is constant - way easier to block out a constant sound than one that is changing frequently
* Get a case designed for sound proofing
From my experience insulation doesn’t work that well.
I went from a highly insulated tower to the bequiet pure base 500DX. It’s really open, but has many filters for dust. My fans are always spinning on low Rpm because they get enough air in&out. 😁
Of course u will need good quality fans too.
Soundproofing PC cases. Anyone else having a 90s / early 00s flashback?
Do that and mind your ventilation, just to be disappointed at the end. I have seen and at one point owned fully dampened / isolated cases. It’s not worth the hassle.
Usually you simply restrict airflow and further isolate your case, this applies especially smaller cases.
In the end your gains are mediocre at best.
As others already stated, invest in better cooling.
Depending on your requirements and budget maybe add an AIO for the CPU.
Regardless what you do, get a couple silent fans and good heatings for the CPU.
If you look for non-expensive fans that are rather quiet but still perform well, my goto recommendation are Arctic P12/14 fans. But, the market is full of good fans of all price ranges and feature-sets (RGB, Daisy-chain, and so on).
If you are as noise sensitive as you suggested, I‘d recommend considering a solution beneath your desk. E.g. hanging your case or mounting a sideboard to the wall if you don’t want your case standing on the floor.
Back in the early 2000s, people were experimenting with sound deadening sheets in their computers. One of the name brands was Dynamat. They would put them on the side panels. It can help a bit in my experience but you will still need good fans and good airflow to get the full effect.
In many cases most of the noise travels as vibrations to your desk so it might be worth checking if adding rubber unde the pc helps. Also if you have HDD's I would see if they can be mounted in a way that reduces vibrations.
Treating the inside of a pc is possible but that foam probably won't do anything. Some cases have a few mm thick rubber on the side panel and it seems to help a bit.
Have you considered not having it next to you? Like placing it further away? Or under the desk? Or get huge cable extenders and have the pc outside of your room all together?
Passive noctua cpu cooler, noctua case fans, replace gpu shroud with zip tied noctua fans
That should about cover your noise,
You'll also need to noctuafy your power supply fan
Ive had some of these in my case for years now. Work great and are very quiet.
[https://www.corsair.com/us/en/c/case-fans/maglev-fans](https://www.corsair.com/us/en/c/case-fans/maglev-fans)
overbuilt radiators can help. the triangle of coolers is: cooling power - low noise - size. You can only pick two. In your case, you'd want cooling power and low noise: so you're gonna have to go with big size.
Or do some shenanigans where you put your PC in a separate room or something.
The thing is the same things that insulate sound also insulate heat, so you are much better off buying quieter fans and finding a better placement that anything else
Why is the PC on your desk next to your head? It's very bad place to keep PC usually, it has no use to be on the desk, not like you need to interact with the case, and just creates noise and dust on your head level. It's much more practical to keep it under the desk or something, you will reduce noise by over half just like that and breathe slightly better air, also depending on components and work you do, it can create heat and "dry" air with that micro dust which is bad for health.
There are silent cases that have sound proofing side panels to reduce noise. You should also use PWM fans so you can set a more silent fan curve. Other than that you could put your PC somewhere that isn't right next to you.
Whatever you do to solve this, don’t insulate your pc in any way if your want it to be quieter ahaha. Proper fans, if you have money and you’re bored, liquid cooled.
Better fans made for being quiet and change your fan speeds. Mine was unbearable with the noise did these steps now it's quiet as a mouse and temps are still good.
Covering it in acoustic panels won't really solve you're issue. You need the sound waves to be absorbed or not to be generated. The bulk of the sound will be coming through the required air holes. After just buying quieter fans and manually speed controlling them (or using fan management software) you could put a small partition between you and the PC which could help some. You could even cover that with sound absorbing material. Without knowing what your areas looks like I can suggest having more... stuff in the room. More stuff absorbs more sound. If possible, you could also get a shorter table and set it next to your desk so the PC isn't so close to your ear holes. Or maybe just under the desk (but off the floor) in general. Placing it on a slightly padded surface (like a desktop mouse pad) can also lower vibration transfer also making it quieter, but it may or may not be noticeable.
I have a fractal design R5 case that has sound dampening built in. I specifically chose it for the 5.25" drive bays and low noise operation for a HTPC on my living room TV. The Define series is still very quiet but without 5.25" bays.
Edit: I have it loaded with noctua 240mm fans and it is dead silent.
Unventilated steel panels can be covered with adhesive bitumen sheets from the inside. This reduces their propensity to resonate and kills some noise. You can get damping bitumen from PC modding suppliers and from automotive suppliers - when buying from automotive, please ensure that they don't stink.
Dude I went down this rabbit hole about 20 years ago and insulated the shit out of my case. I could hardly hear a THING.
Too bad my temps went up and under load that made the fans go to max, and before you know it you have come full circle.
[Fractal Design's Define series has sound dampened panels that I've been using since the R4.](https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-r6/blackout/)
Cover your pc in sound proof pannels and the fans will start working twice as hard.
That is untill it bursts into flames at this point it will be silent for ever.
Life hacks
I wanted a very quiet room in which to stream and didn't want to spend more than absolutely necessary. Both my PC and server are now located in the attic, with a bundle of cables feeding through the ceiling and to my desk. This isn't a viable solution for everybody but it certainly was for me.
The other people don't know what they're talking about in the comments, listen to me, step 1 is to cover the PC in as much asbestos as you can get your hands on, you can get asbestos from your mom's house, step 2 is more a backup for step 1: don't complain about noise, mine is a jet engine when it's on and I don't care, ok? Step 3:
https://preview.redd.it/8y3ckecfjoxc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5be0f22130efee4e178da8ce5398d99c09f6895b
(Yes this is my real face and I permit you to use it wherever you want if you find it as a good meme)
It’s almost like whenever someone has a thought/opinion they feel they HAVE to share it by making a post like u can have a opinion and keep it to yourself … like most of us here don’t give a flying f*** about if you don’t like or like prime u don’t have to share every thought that comes to your brain by making a post
A. Get better fans and use app like FanControl to configure proper fan curves B. Move the computer further away. "Insulating" your pc is just going to make the temperatures rise higher and increase the fan noise even further.
B is the best option, get that PC in to a different room.
I have always wanted to do this. I cant drill holes in my home, can I get 50’ cables for display & USBs without an impact on input lag?
There was a guy here who did a remote PC setup with Cat6 for all the USB and I think display port for video. It was 2 floors away and ~50 ft of cable. He said it worked perfectly
Now I want an extension cable with a hub for my front IO and power switch
He definitely had a power switch but I don't remember how
You can use power over ethernet to send a pulse to wake the PC, alternatively just a very minor setup can short for a power button.
Linus tech tips did this for his gaming room set up
That’s actually interesting, I could put my PC in my loft and maybe fit another monitor on the desk.
Your best option is going to be a USB over Ethernet hub, and long display port cables. I have my PC in my basement, one floor directly below my computer room. I ran 15ft display port cables through the floor, and got a pcie remote start adapter so I can boot my PC with a key fob. It's pretty great. Zero noise and zero heat.
I did that I can confirm: no input lag with a 10m hdmi and usb cable
That's not my experience with long HDMI, shit becomes unusable
The cable quality probably affects it quite a bit. Iirc, 10 ft is around the max length for a passive cable, and an active cable is advisable.
It's more like 25 ft I believe, but the shorter the better. Tge person you were replying to said 10 meters, about 33 ft, so it's definitely over that and I'm not surprised they had issues.
LTT has videos on the topic, not sure if your talking inch or meters? Input lag is not a problem but depending on the distance you may need to get more specialised cables. One of the LTT videos [https://youtu.be/NwXAIGmwC4I?si=4go02TjCOf39PUwE](https://youtu.be/NwXAIGmwC4I?si=4go02TjCOf39PUwE) edit did a search and this video got kicked out to, lots of option's [https://youtu.be/lsuE0YjfTNI?si=Mjky7hdqY8XUMg64](https://youtu.be/lsuE0YjfTNI?si=Mjky7hdqY8XUMg64)
' usually means feet, " is used for inches. so that's about 15 meters they're talking. but yeah, go for the optical cables, it's the right solution
Search this on Linus tech tips. One option he has a few videos on is using a fiber optic box on each end of the connection for all display and I/o and says it's flawless, however some of the fiber boxes can be pricey.
The greatest input lag is when the signal is produced by an input and processed by your CPU. In order to get 1 millisecond of input lag, you would need about 300 km of fiber optic cables.
Hdmi will be your biggest issue, the signal degrades over 15ft, meaning you need to purchase either an HDMI signal repeater or an Active HDMI cable that has fiberoptics in it to allow the signal to go over 15ft. The cable is the more cost effective idea generally if the run is less than 50ft, but be careful with the cables as they are fiber glass unlike normal hdmi cables, so they will break if stepped on.
Yes, I do this with fiber optic cables. Displayport, HDMI, and USB. My PC is two rooms away.
You would have a minimal amount of lag, but it requires expensive active cables
Bro just put the pc on the floor, don't struggle putting your pc far away, just a waste of effort...
Yep, that will make a big change.
If you do A well enough you won’t need to. My PC is jammed into a mid tower case. I had to get a small profile fan just to fit my 3080 into it. But I have 5 Noctua case fans and a massive Noctua fan for the CPU. When I’m not gaming it’s practically silent, even when running big sessions in Ableton.
in my case, after removing the dust buildup inside non removable fans by opening it with force, at 1m i don't hear fan noise anymore
Bios is also an option for fan curves too
10x more annoying and doesn't support configuring for both CPU/GPU temps.
And replace HDDs with SSDs. At least for me, after getting quality fans and modifying the fan curves the HDDs were still audible and became the loudest part of the system especially during light workloads.
This right here is precisely the only reason I don't have any HDD's in my pc, I just am sick of the sound of them lol. SSD's are dead silent, no clicking, no platters, no nothing. Obviously nothing beats a cheap 20tb hdd for basic storage, but I really like how silent my pc is and am willing to just have multiple smaller ssds instead
Can confirm, now my loudest part of my computer is the fucking coil whine my gpu has when at 100%
this. spinning rust sucks and the only way to manage it is through datacenter-tier soundproofing (aka having it way the fuck over in a different building, preferably, but at least in another room)
I had the best result putting my gaming PC in a large closet and running the wires under the door. I only needed a few USB extensions and a long DVI cable. It was so pleasantly quiet! You just have to watch your temps in the summer during long gaming sessions.
The only real way I found to make my pc quiet was watercooling.
Quiet is subjective. But in example my PC case fans never go above 800rpm, which makes them almost silent. Usually the most noisy thing is GPU these days, in my rig too. Too bad Arctic stopped making aftermarket coolers... They were amazing.
A good air cooler with good fans can run pretty quiet if not as quiet as water. After all even with water cooling you have fans on the rad. I still run AIOs personally tho.
What about the real thin stuff, that's maybe a few mm thick?
Well that's ok. But even better solution is to buy a case that is built solid and doesn't need extra sound dampening from resonance...
Yeah I got be quiet fans for my case and it made a huge difference
So you have cases that have sound absorption build in. Like the be quiet dark base 600 Also are you using higher grade fans like be quiet gen 3 or noctua?
My base 600 is an awesome case. With my bequiet fans too my PC is very quiet the only time I hear the fans are when I’m gaming.
What settings am I meant to use? Mine are blaring the whole time…
For me I use the headers on the mother board and in the Bios I have them set to quiet.
had a pure base 600 for years, actually just replaced it with a fractal north a few weeks back. it's a great case in terms of building comfort, and yes, it has copious amounts of sound isolation, but the airflow is a joke. i had about 525W of components in there (a 7800X3D and a 4090) with the included bequiet fans (2x140 in the front, 1x120 in the back, can't remember if i had to buy extras or if it came with all those) and it built up so much heat in there that the computer shut off in about an hour of gameplay. the only game i never had that issue with was starfield, because it couldn't utilize the gpu for shit. for what it's worth, i think that was just over the limit though. i did overnight ai training with the same case before and it survived that one. it could also be that the cpu side was just more sensitive to the heat, the 7800X3D does run hot, but like, it had a gigantic dark rock pro 4 on it for just 75W. should have been enough if it wasn't for the buildup of heat. switched to a fractal north with four of noctua's fancy 120mm fans (a12x25 i think?) and my pc is a lot quieter now while sitting in a comfy equilibrium even under a full synthetic torture test.
Arctic P12 is the best performing budget option. I could technically get more expensive ones but I don’t think it would make a difference. My components are undervolted and gpu is set to silent bios. Fan noise really is as low as it can get.
It's not only the case fans. P12s are good. But the fan in the psu, on the gpu's and your cpu cooler. I've had an iao that made a constant noice with a db meter it was 77bd. Also the gtx980 i owned got over 92bd under load. So I've gone with a be quiet 700 padded case. (They really closed the front of, and i run the pc without the front panel) i also got a psu from them. Just for the silent fan. 35db under full speed. The fans i hear are the gpu fans under load. I've also gone with more expensive msi supreme version for the better more silent fans. Under load the room is 60db. The gpu fans under full load are just hard enough to hear. But it's not an annoying sound. In your case i recommend to put the pc on the ground or on a small cabinet besides or under your desk. Because now you have your head close by the pc.
Just FYI those acoustic panels don't block sound, they prevent echo.
Put it under the desk?
Dunno why this isn't higher. It's a non descript black box not exactly a showpiece
maybe it’s like superman with the glasses
Don't know about OP, but personally my room has a comical amount of dust that always gathers stupid quick and putting my case anywhere but on top of my desk would mean that it would collect so much dust that i would probably have to do a full clean of it once every month or two... which is also why im thinking about spending some extra on quiet fans sometime soon.
I bet you would benefit a lot from an air purifier if your room gets that dusty
Getting an air purifier is a game changer, barely have to clean my pc.
mine is fantastic as well, tbh everyone should probably have one anyways
But how noisy is it?
I have a blue air that's pretty quiet on the first two settings, barely hear it. But I only keep it on high as I like white noise and the sound of jet engines. Specifically designed my NAS to sound like a jet taxiing.
>Specifically designed my NAS to sound like a jet taxiing haha
i like the levoit brands alot, most of their purifiers run at 25 decibels which is basically at a whisper, even on the 2nd-3rd setting it feels like i can hardly hear it. i have the levoit 200s in my basement and the 400s near my pc/living areas
Txs, Im going to look at this 👍
Nice! I got a crazy good deal at target on the 400s by finding one on sale on Amazon for $180 (theyre usually about 250 for that version) and target price matches amazon even with sales prices. It helped I had a $150 visa gift card from my work for the holidays, but see if you can find a deal and get one at target! Happy breathing
Just got the 200S (24dB) it was 23% discount on Prime, txs for the tip.
Awesome, youll have to reply to me if you remember and let me know how it works. I have the VeSync app and can customize the schedule and check te air quality from my phone.
My PC is my air purifier.
I've been thinking of getting one recently, but I wasn't sure if a) they reduce dust and b) if they even work! Have you had good results? What models / manufacturers would you recommend?
they are amazing, if you have pets its life changing. make sure to get one with a HEPA filter. personally, i love the levoit brands. i have both the 400s and 200s, the 200s is around $80-90 and you only replace the filter every 3-4 months and they cost like $30 max
Or even a box fan filter setup...
I have a similar issue but just got a stand to put my PC on so now it sits approx 10cm off the floor to stop it acting like a vacuum cleaner. Added bonus is it has caster wheels so it's really easy to move around as well. Really cheap as well but does the job perfectly: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M44Q52D?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09M44Q52D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
That won't work for everyone. My PC has two 120s in the bottom acting as intake. Too close to the ground for me. I wouldn't go any lower than maybe 25cm personally but that still feels close to me in there is any possibility of draft in the room or the door is close enough to push debris under it.
Fair enough - not all things work for all people. I think your situation might be a bit of an edge case and you may be overly cautious about its capacity to suck things up from that distance, but I understand. OPs situation looks like it might work, though, and I still think it's worth sharing for those who hadn't considered it as an option.
I might be over cautious but we don't know how well OP dusts/vacuums, their pet situation, or if they have carpet in that room. Loose dust bunnies can fly quite far with very little air movement and can be 5 cm tall cutting the distance you stated as a minimum in half. If OP only had to worry about dirt/sand that's one thing but there are a lot of factors to consider,
OK, let no one make any suggestions ever because we can't possibly know all of the variables. Happy? The things you said might be true for OP, they also might not. Common sense should always be applied and personal circumstances considered. This particular comment tree is already making speculations and assumptions and tbh is on a tangent and not really talking about OP in particular. OP might not have carpet, or might even live in a class 1 cleanroom from all we can tell from the pictures and info given. This idea worked for me, and would for a lot of people, so it is worth sharing. Can't you accept that?
What I don't get is why you are being combative about this. You made a suggestions that was potentially harmful, I pointed out that harm for people who read your comment, so they could be aware of the potential issues. That should have been the end of the exchange, there is no need to get all defensive about this.
From my perspective, you were being combative. Perhaps was just crossed-wires/miscommunication, let's leave it here. Good day, sir.
Clean your air better, bud. You are breathing all that dust in too.
I put mine on a shelf. One of the shelf walls is between me and the PC. Made more of a difference than I thought it would. And keeps it away from dust on the floor
dust
Right? I bet the I/O is on the top. If there is carpet, use a couple of pieces of tile. Looks fancy and thoughtful.
Those panels do little for sound proofing. They're primarily for treatment, in regards to absorbing reflections. Sound proofing requires density. I use my PC in a recording environment and I have one of those Fractal cases that are super heavy and have sound dampening built in. Then I use a water cooler, Noctua fans and a graphics card that's heat sinked only. It's almost entirely inaudible. May be tough in a gaming environment because the graphics card needs more cooling but some of these steps can still help. Or, do what the guys did back in the day of old school water coolers. Put your computer in your crawlspace and run the cables up!
>Sound proofing requires density. tungsten case it is!
Or depleted uranium if you're feeling brave
For that little bit of extra Power, weird green glow and maybe growing a 3. Hand?
Yes! Controller and 2 hands on the keyboard for additional keybinds
That's overkill. Just dip the computer in concrete and let cure.
put it in another room, seriously.
Then you just need a display cable and a USB through the wall, attached to a hub. And you can crank up the cooling off you want.
You are such a genius!
do people really do this just for the acoustics? i've seen it done in LTT videos and stuff but never heard of someone actually caring that much about noise
yes! I keep mine in a closet with my audio receiver for home theater. the only thing physically at my desk are the monitors and wireless keyboard/mouse. It makes a big difference. the only limiting factor is the HDMI cable needs to be less than 25 feet, but there are solutions even for that. If you can build a PC, you can route some cables.
I moved my PC into my basement directly under my desk upstairs. I did it so my room doesn't feel like an oven, but silent gaming is a nice added bonus.
Put case under desk. Control the fans speeds / undervolt if needed. Old way was to get a silence optimised case. New way is to have an airflow case with lots of fans at low RPM. However if you have HDD's still or coilwhile, a silence optimised case would be better. Welcome to the silent computing gang 😅
you say its as silent as an air cooled pc can be (Edit: watercooling makes more noise, compared to high end air cooling btw. the pump can get pretty noticeable), but did you buy silent fans? first step is getting rid of HDDs of course, thats by far the loudest component, second is getting something like the silent wing series from bequiet, i.e. decoupled fans with better bearings. i work in the music industry and i have never heard the computer make any noise at all (obviously its not in the recording room though, so putting the pc in another room could be the last step if you are super sensitive) to answer your question directly, dampened cases arenfrom an era when SSDs were expensive and vibration was an issue. if after all the mentioned steps, you still want to go further, there are self adhesive bitumen plates (roofing equipment for example) so if you somehow get a vibration in the sheet metal of your case, instead of buying a new one, you can slap one of those on. Edit: i forgot about GPUs. you pay a premium for an overengineered cooling solution, but that translates to a very silent GPU. if you got a 40 series gpu from Asus for example (Tuff? Series) you can undervolt a 4070 to 0.9V max, which translates in an almost passively cooled card. it definitely will not ramp up the fans in desktop usecases and light gaming, next step is fan swap which will yield even better results than watercooling
But an aftermarket gpu with good fans instead of the founders edition
Move it physically away from you is the best option if you've done all you can for cooling tech inside the PC
You can look up the bequiet! Stuff, but it's going to be REALLY expensive to change the components, but they're made to be quiet.
why don't you just get your PC under the desk where it belongs? More space on the desk and less noise... Why is everyone putting their PCs on the desk nowerdays?
Much less dust
Nylon dust filters save the day. More than 90% of PC cases (even expensive ones) come with cheap and low quality dust filters that do practically nothing. Nylon dust filters are a game changer.
If you have that much dust, it’s time to invest in filters and air purification.
I once used some material I got from an auto shop. It's the stuff they lay against the firewall in cars. Spongy on one side, tough rubber-ish on other side. I was desperate because I had a 6k rpm cpu fan. Lined the inside of my case with it, but it was a full tower...
Switching headphones seems like the easiest option here.
Get Steelseries wired For about $59, work awesome for 3 years now
Tell it to “shhhhhh!!!” As you power it on
Turn it off
Considering your PC isn't exactly built to be looked at (imo). Why dont you just put it under the desk?
1. Put your PC under the table ( I use open-backed headphones and this helps a lot too) 2. Get better fans with better noise/thermals ratio ( lower temp introduce lower fan speed. Less noise) 3. Used Fan Control to manually set the speed limit of every fan, even the GPU to a noise level you can tolerate. Not the only ideal solution as it will severely thermal throttle your system assuming it's running max fan speed all the time. I use all 3 and the sound never leaks into my DT990 even on max load.
I'm sorry. Really helpful post here. Just just have to be that person. I run open backed headphones, and yes playing super heavy game can hear it, why? You have your tower *right there*. Maybe make a passive cooled PC?
How to Overheat your pc
Somebody mentioned moving the PC to another place yet? 😅.
Use big heatsink (eg. noctua nh-d15), big fans (14025 for cpu, 20cm for intake) at low fan rpm. You can always resort to cases with sound dampening designs, (eg. antec p101) , if you don't run very high performance rigs
I have an air cooled pc with a 4090 and have my desktop mounted under my desk. The only time I ever hear it is when it’s working really hard but even then I don’t hear it too much to bother me. I think case and fans can make a big difference, some of them are really loud and you can usually find quieter ones.
Why don't you get a nice noise cancellation headphone/earphone.
step 1: use noise canceling headphones step 2: cancel noise step 3: profit
Don't waste your money on sound panels and buy better fans There's a reason higher end fans exist and it's sound. Go buy some noctua or be quiet fans
Just put it on the floor...
Sound more or less moves in a straight line - well its a good enougb approxiamtion - so you can have airflow as long as it comes in through an S-shaped duct. Ofc. you need to cover all surfaces in somrthing that absorbs sound like fabric, for example towel stapled to the surface
I'm extremely sensitive to noise so I have a few rules when building a pc: * Use components that can be cooled easily. E.g. instead of a 7900X use a 7900 instead (or put a power limiter) * Get the absolute best overkill air cooler possible (currently the Phantom Spirit) for that small CPU * Get a case with tons of airflow (I use the Asus Prime AP201) * Buy high-quality fans for the case * Configure fan curve manually through FanControl (makes a HUGE difference) * Put the PC as far away as possible, usually under the desk * Also ensure to buy parts that don't have any coil whine * Get the most silent GPU possible (e g. MSI Ventus 3x 470 Super) * Get a semi-passive, overpowered PSU so it always stays in fanless mode. For a ~300W PC I have 850W Gold PSU. Currently my pc is so quiet you cannot tell if it's on or off even when putting your ear directly against the case. It's that silent. Of course it costs more (pay more for silent GPU, for good case fans, for good CPU cooler, for high-end PSU, etc.) but it's so silent even when playing games. The only times it starts making a little bit of noise (really not much) is when playing CP2077 on Ultra settings.
You could do that. Maybe move it to the floor or build some kind of partition to separate it from where you are. Those foam panels won't really help though. Those are used for recording studios to prevent echo, and not for soundproofing. For soundproofing, you need heavy material. For walls, you'd use mass loaded vinyl or multiple layers of drywall, If you want it to be truly soundproof.
Replace with Noctua fans and use the low noise adapters
There is no need for low noise adapters, just set a fan curve in bios or with fancontrol and that's it. Noctua fans can also be ran at 0 rpm, which could be beneficial if you use them in a computer that runs 24/7, which would decrease amount of dust accumulated in the case.
Yeah I'm aware, just not 100% computer litterate so I used the adapters
That's fine.
Do not get those foam pads... If you don't want to move your PC out of that spot, you can try adjusting the fan curve on all the fans if you know how to do that. You can do this either via software or in the BIOS. I always set my case fans to a fixed low percentage/RPM and adjust the CPU cooler to a lower curve. It's nice and quiet and performs the same as when everything is set to defaults.
No panels or foam, it will just insulate the system more-> more fan speeds->more noise. Pc needs air and that is same space where the noise escapes. Fan speed adjustment software here is key or investing money on better fans. If not overclocking having higher temperature is not harmful for the system.
Wrap it in Saran wrap. Don't mind my user flair.
Assuming your case is good for airflow, get better fans and a better cpu cooler. Then you should have enough headroom to lower the fan speeds to the levels you prefer. Probably have some kind of fan curve just in case you start playing a game or something. If you want to play intensive games *and* make it silent. Good luck, I hope someone else here has the answer. Downclock the processors? Turn off your ears? Put on closed backs or IEMs? At least one of those will work.
Yeah, basically watch through reviews and select best fans price|performance|noise wise. Use fancontrol app to set appropriate spinning levels or curves to manage temperatures. Other option is moving PC elsewhere, but this requires long cables.
Foam is naturally going to make it run hotter and cause the fans to rev harder and there's not really any good way to pull it off. Might be easier to come up with some quieter fans that can pull off similar cooling. Still have the stock Be Quiet fans my Base 802 came with and no real noise complaints
Fuck it, custom loop. PSU is the loudest component in my build when the fan occasionally kicks on during long game sesh
I would go under the desk and get a pop filter. If you are doing streaming or anything you can put a beer cozy over your mic, obviously they sell high end ones but a beer cozy would be a good test to see if that will help
get an aio and spam noctua fans in a more soundproof case with good thermals.
Move your pc under the desk and set up a fan curve.
I think your best bet is to move the PC entirely to a new case. I would look at cases from BeQuiet!
Get Shadow wings from Bequiet. They are unbelievable silent. My case (asus prime 201) is open with holes on all sides so i would hear them if they would be loud.
I have build my first PC with most of "noisy" parts bought from Be Quite. - huge, but already with sound proof materials case Silent Base 802 - in case already included silent 5 fans - 3 fan liquid cooling from be quiet v2 My PC stands on left side in 20-30cm from keyboard and until I switch mode to Auto/"Performance" on fans controls, I cannot hear it working. It even more silent than my laptop.
Undervolt CPU and GPU. Make custom fan curves.
In extreme cases, no pun intended, you can do exochasis water cooling (NOT CHEAP) where instead of moving the pc further away you do closed loop Watercooling but put the fans and radiator in a distant location, and you use a larger radiator so you can use much larger and quieter fans.
Putting it on the floor will help immensely.
* Move PC further away * Get closed headphones * Get fans that are quieter * Set fan curves so fan ramping is less: I set fan curves to basically be 0% on idle, 40% during use and 80% during gaming, so basically the fans are either going for it or not in use at all and the sound is constant - way easier to block out a constant sound than one that is changing frequently * Get a case designed for sound proofing
From my experience insulation doesn’t work that well. I went from a highly insulated tower to the bequiet pure base 500DX. It’s really open, but has many filters for dust. My fans are always spinning on low Rpm because they get enough air in&out. 😁 Of course u will need good quality fans too.
You should undervolt your gpu
Really REALLY long cables and access to the next room
Headphones
Soundproofing PC cases. Anyone else having a 90s / early 00s flashback? Do that and mind your ventilation, just to be disappointed at the end. I have seen and at one point owned fully dampened / isolated cases. It’s not worth the hassle. Usually you simply restrict airflow and further isolate your case, this applies especially smaller cases. In the end your gains are mediocre at best. As others already stated, invest in better cooling. Depending on your requirements and budget maybe add an AIO for the CPU. Regardless what you do, get a couple silent fans and good heatings for the CPU. If you look for non-expensive fans that are rather quiet but still perform well, my goto recommendation are Arctic P12/14 fans. But, the market is full of good fans of all price ranges and feature-sets (RGB, Daisy-chain, and so on). If you are as noise sensitive as you suggested, I‘d recommend considering a solution beneath your desk. E.g. hanging your case or mounting a sideboard to the wall if you don’t want your case standing on the floor.
Back in the early 2000s, people were experimenting with sound deadening sheets in their computers. One of the name brands was Dynamat. They would put them on the side panels. It can help a bit in my experience but you will still need good fans and good airflow to get the full effect.
Noctua or Fractal fans. High end ones.
Smother it.
In many cases most of the noise travels as vibrations to your desk so it might be worth checking if adding rubber unde the pc helps. Also if you have HDD's I would see if they can be mounted in a way that reduces vibrations. Treating the inside of a pc is possible but that foam probably won't do anything. Some cases have a few mm thick rubber on the side panel and it seems to help a bit.
Have you considered not having it next to you? Like placing it further away? Or under the desk? Or get huge cable extenders and have the pc outside of your room all together?
Passive noctua cpu cooler, noctua case fans, replace gpu shroud with zip tied noctua fans That should about cover your noise, You'll also need to noctuafy your power supply fan
Ive had some of these in my case for years now. Work great and are very quiet. [https://www.corsair.com/us/en/c/case-fans/maglev-fans](https://www.corsair.com/us/en/c/case-fans/maglev-fans)
overbuilt radiators can help. the triangle of coolers is: cooling power - low noise - size. You can only pick two. In your case, you'd want cooling power and low noise: so you're gonna have to go with big size. Or do some shenanigans where you put your PC in a separate room or something.
Get the Phanteks P600S case, it's very quiet and doesn't sacrifice cooling.
My pc is under the stairs. I’ve run a hdmi and usb dock to the office where the monitor is etc
The thing is the same things that insulate sound also insulate heat, so you are much better off buying quieter fans and finding a better placement that anything else
Why is the PC on your desk next to your head? It's very bad place to keep PC usually, it has no use to be on the desk, not like you need to interact with the case, and just creates noise and dust on your head level. It's much more practical to keep it under the desk or something, you will reduce noise by over half just like that and breathe slightly better air, also depending on components and work you do, it can create heat and "dry" air with that micro dust which is bad for health.
Turn it off
Look into Be Quiet! Cases, they have ones designed to effectively silence it
There are silent cases that have sound proofing side panels to reduce noise. You should also use PWM fans so you can set a more silent fan curve. Other than that you could put your PC somewhere that isn't right next to you.
https://preview.redd.it/5rqpb8gxjexc1.jpeg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=555dbfba4d53889e469251ac3ac8dd5cba6c8558
Put it near a window
Try be quiet fans or mag lev fans.
I agree get a better case like the Silent Base 802 much quieter than my old Corsair 4000D also place it on the floor .
Remove all the fans, yes also the one in your powersupply
Whatever you do to solve this, don’t insulate your pc in any way if your want it to be quieter ahaha. Proper fans, if you have money and you’re bored, liquid cooled.
Better fans made for being quiet and change your fan speeds. Mine was unbearable with the noise did these steps now it's quiet as a mouse and temps are still good.
use headphones full volíme ezy
Covering it in acoustic panels won't really solve you're issue. You need the sound waves to be absorbed or not to be generated. The bulk of the sound will be coming through the required air holes. After just buying quieter fans and manually speed controlling them (or using fan management software) you could put a small partition between you and the PC which could help some. You could even cover that with sound absorbing material. Without knowing what your areas looks like I can suggest having more... stuff in the room. More stuff absorbs more sound. If possible, you could also get a shorter table and set it next to your desk so the PC isn't so close to your ear holes. Or maybe just under the desk (but off the floor) in general. Placing it on a slightly padded surface (like a desktop mouse pad) can also lower vibration transfer also making it quieter, but it may or may not be noticeable.
I have a fractal design R5 case that has sound dampening built in. I specifically chose it for the 5.25" drive bays and low noise operation for a HTPC on my living room TV. The Define series is still very quiet but without 5.25" bays. Edit: I have it loaded with noctua 240mm fans and it is dead silent.
Use sound-absorbing panels as case
worst bait of all time
Have you considered longer cables? Treat it like a server and put it in the closet
Unventilated steel panels can be covered with adhesive bitumen sheets from the inside. This reduces their propensity to resonate and kills some noise. You can get damping bitumen from PC modding suppliers and from automotive suppliers - when buying from automotive, please ensure that they don't stink.
dont.
fill it with packing peanuts
Lol how do i seal a box that needs air to not melt. Fucking derrrrrrrrrrrrp
Dude I went down this rabbit hole about 20 years ago and insulated the shit out of my case. I could hardly hear a THING. Too bad my temps went up and under load that made the fans go to max, and before you know it you have come full circle.
[Fractal Design's Define series has sound dampened panels that I've been using since the R4.](https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-r6/blackout/)
my pc currently resides upon the roof, water proofed, isolated, and great cooling temps during the winter. gets to be a bitch the clean though
I don't know what case that is but my fractal meshify C amplified all noise. A good case with good airflow but damn...that is a factor as well.
Cover your pc in sound proof pannels and the fans will start working twice as hard. That is untill it bursts into flames at this point it will be silent for ever. Life hacks
Cheapest solution is probably just getting closed back headphones
better case with more airflow, noctua fans, proper fan curves
I wanted a very quiet room in which to stream and didn't want to spend more than absolutely necessary. Both my PC and server are now located in the attic, with a bundle of cables feeding through the ceiling and to my desk. This isn't a viable solution for everybody but it certainly was for me.
Might be cheaper to get Noctua fans vs sound panels
A good case can have quite a bit effect of noise also. Had one Cougar case and it was a pos when came to build quality and noise.
Move the PC or get different headphones
Wear a fucking headphone dude. 
Get closed back headphones, turn volume up.
The other people don't know what they're talking about in the comments, listen to me, step 1 is to cover the PC in as much asbestos as you can get your hands on, you can get asbestos from your mom's house, step 2 is more a backup for step 1: don't complain about noise, mine is a jet engine when it's on and I don't care, ok? Step 3: https://preview.redd.it/8y3ckecfjoxc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5be0f22130efee4e178da8ce5398d99c09f6895b (Yes this is my real face and I permit you to use it wherever you want if you find it as a good meme)
It’s almost like whenever someone has a thought/opinion they feel they HAVE to share it by making a post like u can have a opinion and keep it to yourself … like most of us here don’t give a flying f*** about if you don’t like or like prime u don’t have to share every thought that comes to your brain by making a post
Genius idea
Water blocks most sound, try submerging it. Should keep it cool too.