Large Ventilated case for passive build Antec 1100 ?

[Domi]

Looking for a well ventilated Case for my latest Passive build.
So looking for as open a case top as possible and lots of grills.

The 2 best examples of this I have seen are the HAF (hideous) and Antec Lanboy (even more Hideous).
What I really want the case to look like is a Fractal R3 or Antec 280 at least from the front ( a door with full grills behind is ideal).

The Antec 1100 is my current favourite as it could be fairly open at the front and the side perspex could be easily replaced with a black mesh giving good ventilation.
The HAF would be excellant very open on the top and with good ventillation all round but I just cannot live with its looks.

Remember this is a passive build and so fans and "airflow" are non issues it needs to be big and roomy with loads of ventilation holes and fairly simple looking.

So any suggestions ?

 

[King Damager]

Why are you going Passive?

Either way, I'd probably recommend the Silverstone RV03 to be honest.

The R3 or the 280 hardly have the best airflow around because they're designed for silence. Which they're good at. You can build a silent rig in a R3 which isn't passive.

The RV03 is also apparently quite good for quiet builds, but it's whole thermodynamic principle of rotating the motherboard so heat rises, seems to make a lot more sense for a passive build, and that comes back to it performing so well in traditional cooling anyway.

NoFan - the guys who make the amazing passive heatsink, actually do a NoFan case as well that has great ventilation, but it doesn't look great, but considering they use it for their own passive builds, it's probably one of the better bets to go with...

kd

 

[Domi]

Its a living room media centre , it is also replacing a fully passive system currently based on a Q6600, 6670 in an Antec900.

I have tried almost all the best reviewed fans the supposedly less than 10db crowd and In my considered opinion the "almost silent" is err rubbish.

In fact my main gaming rig is based in a Fractal R3 its good but nowhere near "silent".

Notably the machine will still have fans as I will try to make it as powerful a gaming rig as possible while keeping its core media functions 100% passive but they will be on a fan controller and only kick in when full 3d gaming if they have to.

I will take a long look at the RV03 thanks

 

[Domi]

An update.

I reused the Antec 900 and in all honesty its still pretty good. All the fans have been removed this makes it quite spacious.

Currently Running an I5 2400 with CR 95C full copper heatsink, Passive PSU and an Asus passive 6670 very well indeed.

The next step is to up the graphics card to a passively cooled 5850 and if that works a 7850 or even a 7870.

I do have quiet fans and a front mounted fan controller for this sytem if when gaming the temps get too high but I am still hoping I will not have to install them.