CM-690 Dominator Case - Quiet?

[Prophet]

Looking for a case with decent space and quiet operation.

Will replace an Antec Fusion HTPC case so it needs to be as quiet as possible.

Any other suggestions would be great if the 690 is a little noisey.

 

[Columbo]

The case itself is not noisy but the supplied fans aren't too clever. I swapped mine out for some of the Scythe S-FLEX 800RPM fans and things improved 200%.

 

[Prophet]

Could you compare it to something?

Xbox360 etc?

 

[PermaBanned]

The S-Flex 800RPM fans are less than 9dB. The quietest whisper is 15dB. Normal conversation is 60dB. Just swap the case fans for some of those and you won't hear a thing.

 

[Prophet]

Wow they are quiet!!

I'll have a look at them

 

[Columbo]

You do sacrifice the amount of air shifted though. The balance was that you can fit six of em in the CM690 and I had 5 of them extracting air and one pulling in air onto the hard drives.

These are the ones I bought. 2 packs of em to be exact.

I also ended up having to change my CPU cooler and GPU cooler because they were too loud over the case noise.

 

[Prophet]

Which CPU/Cooler do you have?

I'll probably be using an AMD X3 of some description.

 

[Columbo]

I changed to a Noctua mate. The Noctua NH-U12P.

I've got a S775 rig though.

 

[Prophet]

I'll finialise the spec I'm after and report back.

Are there any downsides you've found to the case?

 

[Geckovich]

The cm690 is a great case, massively overlooked and, IMO, remains a solid rival to the antec 900.

About 10 mins before reading this thread I got my old one out of the attic with the intention of planning a mod/rebuild to keep me busy. If it turns out nicely I'll be sure to post it on here.

 

[morkfromork]

There great cases. Only thing i don't like about mine is the way the front panel comes off. Other than that can not fauult it one bit.