Nexus DampTek Noise Absorption Material

Being a little bit bigger accessory than the rest, I decided to give the Nexus DampTek it's own page in this article.

DampTek is Nexus' approach to taking PC silencing yet another step further by making a product barely any other manufacturers have done before. The DampTek itself is a highly complex sheet of multi-layered foam; each layer designed to play a crucial role in absorbing and isolating unwanted noise.

Included:
(3) DampTek Sheets

Specs:
- Package contains: 3 sheets of DampTek® noise absorption material
- Dimensions: size per sheet: 40 x 50 cm / 15.7 x 19.7 inch
- Thickness: Thickness ca. 7.5 mm (1.5 mm barrier layer and 6 mm foam layer)
- Weight: 3000 grams

Features:
The DampTek system has two primary layers: the foam layer, and behind that is the barrier layer (which has the self-adhesive backing to stick it onto your case panels).

The foam is a layer of 6mm open cell styled foam. This layer is fabricated on the bases of melamine synthetics so not only can it withstand high temperatures with ease, but it's also completely flame resistant. If you don't believe that, check out the video Nexus has on their website of a test they conducted to prove that!

Next comes the Barrier layer, this layer is a lot thinner, only 1.5mm. The barrier layer, although very dense and heavy, is still highly flexible. I'll quote Nexus' description of this layer because it explains it best: "The DampTek® barrier layer is a flexible, sound-insulating synthetic sheet made from thermoplastic, un-vulcanized rubbers (EVA-copolymers) and mineral fillers. Its high relative mass makes the DampTek® barrier layer an excellent isolator of the noise in the PC. The barrier has a self-adhesive backing."

Installation:
Installation is fairly quick and easy for the DampTek foam. It's very easy to cut, so all you have to do is cut it down to the size of each case panel you'll be applying it onto. I'm going to say that if you have a windowed case, you will not get the full effect from this foam by leaving that panel uncovered. Since all your components and fans are on that side of the case, it's the sheet that goes on that panel in any most computer cases that will be doing the majority of the work absorbing noise. If you have a window there that can't be covered, you'll essentially lose a large part of the effectiveness of the DampTek barrier.

Testing:
The test system is as follows:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket 939) @ stock speeds
Motherboard: Biostar NF4UL-A9
Memory: 512mb Dual Channel OCZ DDR400
HDD: Western Digital 160gb SATA II (WD1600JS), Seagate 250gb SATA II
Video: Asus EN7600GS Silent
Sound: Mark Of The Unicorn 8PRE Firewire Audio Interface
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
Fans: One Silverstone 120mm on low speed as intake, one Noctua 120mm as exhaust, one Nexus 120mm on the CPU and a low-speed 140mm Thermaltake PSU fan

When the DampTek was installed I found that it did a great job at eliminating some of that unwanted noise and hum from my computer. Although it won't completely absorb everything and every frequency, it does do a great job of cancelling a lot of the higher pitched frequencies which tend to hold noises such as the "whine" of fans and hard drives spinning. When I ran a disk defrag the noise generated was greatly reduced when the DampTek was in place as opposed to running a defrag without it.