03 September 2010
1/1
manufacturer:
- akasa
supplier:
- n/a
price:
- £12-18
review by:
- -h-
related www:
- forum thread
- akasa
pros:
cheap price, simple to install, does its job
cons:
can lead to higher temperatures, no guarantees on how it will perform, may not work in all cases
modtown rating:
- 3 out of 5
do you agree with our rating? why not drop by the forums and leave your comments...
Modern PC systems can produce a lot of noise because of the number of fans required to keep the system cool. One way to have a quiet system is to use water-cooling but that is an expensive option.
There are many different products out there to reduce PC noise. Today I am looking Akasa's PAX mate absorption matting. The idea behind this product is to reduce noise that is emitted from your PC case via fans etc. This is achieved by lining the inside of the case with the material in an effect to stop sound leaking out of the case.
The product comes shipped in a lovely bright yellow box bearing the Akasa logo. Opening the box we are presented with four pieces of the matting - two large and two small. This should be sufficient for covering most PC cases. Instructions on how to install the product and printed of the reverse of the box.
Installation is pretty straight foreword simply measure the inside of your case, cut the matting to the appropriate size using a knife or scissors and then peal off the stick backing paper and stick to the inside of the case. For the purpose of this review I used a generic midi tower case.
A word of warning once you have stuck the
matting inside it will be very difficult to remove. So take some time to prepare
otherwise you may find you cannot close your system. Be careful not cover any
exhaust holes your case may have (this is especially important as we will see
later on).
Once the matting has been installed it's time to fire up the system and test for
noise. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to a db sensor so we will have to rely
on my hearing. Now this test system was particularly noisy however after
installing the matting the sound emitted from the case did reduce significantly.
Results will vary depending how much of the cases surface are you cover.
A side effect to using a product like this is while the matting traps sound it
also traps hot air inside your system. To see what impact the effect this
product would have on my systems temperatures I took readings both before and
after installation.
(Before)
(After)
As you can see there was a slight increase in
both the temperature of the chassis and the CPU. But nothing too drastic to get
worried about. Now there is no way this matting alone is going to produce a
silent system but it could be basis for an extremely quiet one if used with a
silent fan, water cooling or other noise reducing products.
Over all this is a good product for those who want a reduction in PC noise with
out paying the expense of water-cooling or those of us on a budget. However
there is no guarantee in the performance of the product and it may not be
suitable for all cases i.e. cases which have windows etc.
modtown rating: 3 out of 5
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