John asks, "my gaming computer is really loud, but I don't want to spend big bucks on a water cooling system because I'm just not comfortable with it. Is there a way I can soundproof my gaming computer to cut down on the noise?"

Before you take the drastic step of actually installing soundproof material in your gaming computer, consider the following:

There are alternative fans out there - a lot of them do require you to remove your motherboard for proper installation, but there are numerous alternative heatsinks and fans out there for any type of processor and video card. Many of these fans will be much quieter than the ones you currently use, so you may want to check these out before you go the soundproofing route.

Water cooling isn't as difficult as you might think - while is can be a bit tedious to set up correctly, water cooling your computer offers a far more efficient way of cooling your system than any airflow schematic you can think up.

Soundproofing is expensive - it's not as simple as putting some foam in your computer - you need special sound dampening material placed in the correct areas. The right material can be pretty expensive.

If you really, absolutely, must soundproof your computer, your best option is to take your computer apart and line the case with the sound-dampening material - but not the part of the case your components (like the motherboard, hard drive, and optical drive) sit on. Make sure you leave openings over all of the exhaust vents.

Unless you cover up the exhaust vents, the only noise you're really going to kill is vibrational noise. You could experiment with covering up various exhaust vents to determine which ones you don't need to effectively cool your system, but I really don't recommend it.

I also really do not recommend soundproofing a gaming computer, overall. There are a lot of heat issues already built into computers and by adding sound-dampening material, you're just compounding those heat issues. Really, if your computer is too loud, you either want to consider getting quieter fans, installing a water system, or keeping the computer in a closet or separate room.

Send your questions in today: lordkat@gmail.com

Be safe,
Jason