The three C's...Cool, Cheap, and er...Cuiet?

deadfolk

deadfolk

deadfolk

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Joined
28 Jan 2005
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237
Location
Ireland
Hi All,

Trying to lever the cost of a new case into my new build, and looking for suggestions.

My priorities are:
Not too expensive!! (Prefer < £120)
Planning to overclock, so cooling/airflow must be good.
As quiet as possible (Yes, I know this conflicts with the previous point)
Must have clearance for big CPU coolers (Megahalems / Thermolab Baram)
Preferably able to take two 5870 gfx cards. (Eventually - I can dream)

Am I living in cuckoo land, or is my dream case out there? If I can't do it for the price, I might just wait, but it seems a shame to build into the old case and shuffle everything about later.

Thanks for any input.
 
Yeah - been monitoring the Fractal thread. Looks like I'm a couple of days too late, but I'll keep an eye on it.

I'm liking the look of the Silverstone RV02, but that SM Sniper looks good, too. Investigating...
 
I bought the CoolerMaster Sniper because on how wide the case was and the amount of room inside... very impressed.
 
deadfolk said:
Yeah - been monitoring the Fractal thread. Looks like I'm a couple of days too late, but I'll keep an eye on it.

I'm liking the look of the Silverstone RV02, but that SM Sniper looks good, too. Investigating...
Click to expand...

I'm very happy with my RV02, though I'm not sure if 5870s fit.
 
If you can swap to matx (lots of which have dual graphics card support), then the antec mini-p180 will fit the bill nicely. It'll hold two long cards happily with a 120mm fan feeding them cold air. It's as quiet as a case can be. The larger antec P18* range will be basically the same, I've just not used one personally. The fractal cases look like antec P series clones to me so are probably good.

Good thread title :)
 
I'm very happy with my RV02, though I'm not sure if 5870s fit.
Click to expand...

I read that even a 5870X2 will fit if you remove the grille from the middle fan.
I've just seen a post which suggests that you can't remove the HD rack with the motherboard in place. Did you find this to be the case (no pun intended)?
 
deadfolk said:
I read that even a 5870X2 will fit if you remove the grille from the middle fan.
I've just seen a post which suggests that you can't remove the HD rack with the motherboard in place. Did you find this to be the case (no pun intended)?
Click to expand...

Not sure, I haven't tried to since installing everything.

Will let you know when I install my new drive this week.
 
I'm leaning towards playing it a little safer with the HAF932. Should be plenty big enough, and looks pretty easy to get stuff in/out.

I'll probably make the decision tonight after a little more research.
 
deadfolk said:
safer with the HAF932. Should be plenty big enough, and looks pretty easy to get stuff in/out.
Click to expand...
Then you can forget that quiet part, it's as soundproof as bucket without bottom is waterproof.
You can have <800rpm fan in CPU cooler but graphics card's cooler will have lot higher speed under any kind load.
 
I'm not so worried about noise under load. If it's under load, chances are I'm playing a game and won't hear it.

It's more while just surfing, checking mail, etc.

It's got to be better than what I have now - there's something rattling in there driving me mental!

I'm leaning towards the HAF932, as despite one post I found in a forum somewhere (which might have been from the manufacturer), I'm not convinced about getting a 5870 in the RV02. I've seen a couple of video reviews now, and the video cards seem pretty tight in there.
 
deadfolk said:
I'm not so worried about noise under load.
Click to expand...
Point where HD5870's (typical for very high end card) cooler becomes quiet inside noise containing case is close to its minimum speed and in "open air" fan speed would have to be clearly lower for similar noise level so I wouldn't consider it as quiet in such situation.


there's something rattling in there driving me mental!
Click to expand...
Either acoustically bad HDD with as bad mounting or then some bad fan. (+possibly something loose in case)
Plastics wrap around HDD trays aren't exactly the best mounting method either.
 
I'd suggest an Antec P183. Great case as far as being quiet is concerned and not a bad cooler either. Only comes with a couple of fans as standard but buy some decent ones for the optional locations and you've got a belter of a case there :)
 
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