I am always looking for ways to make my computer quieter, cooler and consume less energy (usually they are all one in the same). On that note, here is an interesting walkthrough on how to build your own hard drive silencing enclosure.

The idea is quite simple: sandwich a hard drive between two layers of gel packs which will absorb the sound and vibrations. One thing you will want to be sure of if you try this method is to make sure there is enough ventilation to allow heat from the drive to escape.

When you think about it, fastening a hard drive via screws to a rigid metal case is pretty stressful on a hard drive as the case isn’t going to give much to absorb the vibrations of the drive. At the very least, if you can put rubber gromments around the screw connecting to the hard drive, this will help reduce the vibrations some.

If your computer is running a little bit louder than what you would like, then here are some good tips for reducing some of the noise. I really found this article interesting because the author didn’t focus on parts you would need to buy/upgrade, but instead covers several completely free and relatively painless steps you can take.

Ironically enough, I’ve found moving the computer (the first item listed) to be by far the most effective. I would be interested to hear any other ideas people have to reducing the noise on their computers. After all, it can always run a bit quieter…