Power Mac Noise - PAX.mate
Since I have already tried out several fan mods, I decided to try noise
insulation as well. So far, I have found three major brands of
noise insulation that is designed for computers.
PAX.mate
This is the cheapest, lightest, and thinnest of the three. I also
suspect it is the least effective of the three as well. I chose it
because most reports indicated that it did not raise the case
temperature. Also, I wanted to place noise insulation in places
where there wasn't a lot of room for thick insulation.
Dynamat
This seems to be a step up from PAX.mate. It's heavier, although
still relatively thin. I decided not to test this one as I heard
someone else was planning to test this already.
Magic Fleece
This seems to be the king of noise insulation. It's quite thick
at 1/2". Most of the reports also mentioned that this stuff is
pretty much impossible to remove once applied. I had visions of a
hairy Power Mac and decided to avoid this one for now. I also
heard that it is somewhat hard to trim to the right size.
My Application
This isn't meant to be a how-to guide. I can't tell how effective
the application was, so I can't recommend it that strongly.
Subjectively, it's slightly quieter now. What I noticed most
is that it takes the "edge" off of the fan noise. It's not that
much quieter, but the noise seems softer if that makes sense.
My first application was to put it in between the left plastic cover
and the metal case. The plastic cover is secured by four screws on
the outside. You also have to release the plastic tabs holding it
in from the inside. The plastic tabs are not visible until you
remove power supply. Then, I cut a piece of PAX.mate and placed it
on the plastic cover. Luckily, it cuts very easily with a utility
knife or scissor. I didn't remove the plastic backing because I
didn't want to stick it on permanently. Here's what it looked like:
I tried briefly to do the right cover as well. That's the side
where the case opens. Unfortunately, the motherboard covers the
area where the plastic tabs hold the cover in place. I tried
briefly to remove the motherboard, but when it wasn't obvious how to do
so. I decided it wasn't worth it.
Next I applied the noise insulation to the area around the power
supply. Someone had emailed me that they had great success with
Magic Fleece this way. I used the sticky backing when I was
applying insulation to the case itself. When I was applying
insulation to the power supply, I only used the sticky backing on the
edges. I was afraid it might rip off the AcBel label on the power
supply if I ever removed the insulation. Here's a view of that:
Was it Worth It?
Yes, mostly because it was so easy to apply. From the reviews
that I saw, the PAX.mate is probably the easiest one to apply of the
three that I mentioned. The sticky backing is quite sticky, so it
does tend to get stuck in places when you are trying to position it.
It's probably sticky enough that it would be pretty hard to
remove. You can leave the plastic backing on if you don't want to
make it permanent.
It does help with noise, mostly by softening the noise a bit.
However, it certainly wasn't very dramatic of an effect.
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