New case

zia

zia

zia

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Joined
29 Jan 2007
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726
Time has come for new case my Akasa Mirage has served me well but the recent rattling and resonace has done my head in.
1..Looking for case that has out of the box very good cooling
2..near silent as possible,or one that require only minor work to make it so
3..must have cpu heat sink cut out
4..come with anti-vibration hd cage or similar
5..at least be able to take minimum of 4 hd's
6..and have one external 3.5 bay for my caddy.

so far not many case's meet the this requirment
looking at this one
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=311&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61
or this
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/31/cooler-master-atcs-840-classic-review/1

any other i should consider?

Thank's zia
 
2: Antec P18x/P193 is only case I would consider as design quiet out of box because of vibration resisting multilayer panels and lack of direct noise escape paths. (although fans are very average)
Others need at least mass damping (dense bitumen or vinyl mat) which is still quite much just "lipstick on rusted through sheet" with hard HDD mounting and cases with direct noise escape paths are unable to muffle any sound of components no matter what you do. (well, you can pull the plug...)

3: Latest CMs have that, also lately assembled full tower Lian Lis probably have that considering motherboard tray is common component between all of them except V2x10 and X2000 and that hole has appeared to latest models.

4: Acoustically best is mechanically insecure elastic suspension, rubber grommets are somewhere between that and hard mounting. Wrap around plastic caddies/trays are barely better than hard mounting.
zia said:
so far not many case's meet the this requirment
looking at this one
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=311&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61
or this
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/31/cooler-master-atcs-840-classic-review/1
Click to expand...
ATCS isn't very noise leaking (except top) but HDD mounting is plastic wrap around tray so only very quiet seeking drives would stay quiet without heavy mass damping.

That Lian Li's bling bling model is again guilty to direct noise escape path with possibly resonating clear bling bling plastic fans behind it. And instead of rubber grommets attached to HDD those come one part too late and drive is put onto metal tray already giving chances for amplifying of vibration noises. Also that side panel foam is plain bogus, it's way too light to dampen any vibrations and way too thin to really affect airborne noise.

So is case with door possibility or out of question?
Is adding say bitumen mat to big panels acceptable or too much work?
 
My old Akasa Eclipse developed rattles, thought it was just because i stuck a fan on the side panel.

I've recently just switched from a CM Stacker 832 to the CM ATCS 840 and what i have found is that the Stacker was louder fan/air/general noise wise as it has large areas of mesh letting sound out. The ATCS's included fans are much less audible and general noise is also much less audible because its drive bays/front panel/side pals aren't mesh, it was the first and most pleasnt thing i noticed :D.

The only negative i have found with it over the Stacker is that the HDD mounts are resonating more of the Raptors' noise. Whereas the 4in1 modules i used in the Stacker didn't, you only heard the drives actual noise. Something i can live with though as it's only a very slight resonance :).
 
My current mirage has front door,so am not too fussed if case has a door.
i had looked at the p193 but they seem somewhat cramped for space, for working in and having dual gpus in p193 i've heard that second gpu tend's to heat up a bit?.

That Lian Li's bling bling model is again guilty to direct noise escape path
Click to expand...
so you wouldn't recommend the lian li?

zia
 
zia said:
i had looked at the p193 but they seem somewhat cramped for space, for working in

so you wouldn't recommend the lian li?
Click to expand...
Yeah, chambered design is bad for working space... although P193 is Antec's biggest case.

B70 isn't that quiet because of those particular faults which can't be corrected, open front leaks out noise of intake fans and also airborne noise of HDDs.
Good old (and cheap) A71 design is good starting point for mass damping. Its "fashion" update A71F (when even it comes available in month, two, more) apparently has thicker than normal sidepanels but that useless light and thin bogus foam prevents installing mass damping without extra work and tool-less PCI attaching prevents possibility of additional PCI cooling kit.

As your case has door just put disc to optical drive and have drive keep reading it, then first close door and then open it. That demostrates well how blocking direct noise escape with even light plastic door affects to noise.

Sweeney said:
The only negative i have found with it over the Stacker is that the HDD mounts are resonating more of the Raptors' noise.
Click to expand...
Little loose there and plastic trays can become noisier than hard mounting... and mass damping can't help to rattling of them.
 
zia said:
Ok found another case that fits my requirement's minus 3.5 external bay but i can live with that.
what you guys think? anyone got one?

http://hothardware.com/News/Lian-Li-launches-new-PCB10-MidTower-Chassis/

zia
Click to expand...

its similar to the PC A71A that i'm getting, that door will help keep the noise of the front fans/HDD down... definitely

but i'm not a fan of black cases..... they scratch so easily, plus show dust/ greasy finger prints.

i have a Thermaltake Armor and i hate its styling now, it looks so tacky, so you might be better off with a case that looks plain and classy, rather than blingy. ............because it'll still look good in 4 years time.
 
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zia said:
Ok found another case that fits my requirement's minus 3.5 external bay but i can live with that.
Click to expand...
You can get adapter for any case which has enough/free 5.25" bays.
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=53&cl_index=2&sc_index=10&ss_index=17
what you guys think? anyone got one?
http://hothardware.com/News/Lian-Li-launches-new-PCB10-MidTower-Chassis/
Click to expand...
So you're not even supposed to use three out of five 5.25" bays... Great, from mid tower down to mini tower!
Thanks to tool-less PCI gimmick can't even take PCI cooler. Also that new metal HDD caddy/tray is anything else than optimized for airflow... it just increases size of airflow obstacle compared to plain HDD, is there even without HDD, masks most of the HDD from direct airflow and already provides HDD hard contact to part which can do its part for amplifying noise.
Going to be loud: input 120mm Fan @1500RPM + Front input 140mm Fan @1500RPM
Also useless Akasa/Spire etc. crapmat is there for making installing any actually useful stuff hard.

So probably going to cost nearly same as A71 while offering half the space, less cooling and in general downgrading/unutilitarian gimmicks.
 
http://hothardware.com/News/Lian-Li-launches-new-PCB10-MidTower-Chassis/

oh......yes look at its HDD trays :eek:...that will definitely block the lower input fan.........these are even worst than the A71's inputs...its a real shock to see that!!!!!

but, you can remove this tray assembly and move the hard drive to the upper bays and put a fan underneath it, there are quite a few fan designs that'll fit....... depending on how many HDD's you want...... but i'm only having one very high capacity HDD, so i'll be ok...this will go below the BLU-RAY drive.

but, i definitely wouldn't leave that HDD tray assembly like that, especially if you're OCing
 
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So you're not even supposed to use three out of five 5.25" bays... Great, from mid tower down to mini tower!
Thanks to tool-less PCI gimmick can't even take PCI cooler. Also that new metal HDD caddy/tray is anything else than optimized for airflow... it just increases size of airflow obstacle compared to plain HDD, is there even without HDD, masks most of the HDD from direct airflow and already provides HDD hard contact to part which can do its part for amplifying noise.
Going to be loud: input 120mm Fan @1500RPM + Front input 140mm Fan @1500RPM
Also useless Akasa/Spire etc. crapmat is there for making installing any actually useful stuff hard.

So probably going to cost nearly same as A71 while offering half the space, less cooling and in general downgrading/unutilitarian gimmicks.
Click to expand...

i assume most lian li are therfore out of the equation ,Back to the drawing board, am determind to find a case that meets with esat approval :D

By the way esat what case do you use? any pic's of it?


zia
 
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zia said:
i assume most lian li are therfore out of the equation ,Back to the drawing board, am determind to find a case that meets with esat approval :D

By the way esat what case do you use? any pic's of it?


zia
Click to expand...

oh hang around, you're fitting a lot more gear than i am ............... i'm copying but upgrading exactly what i have now.....which is only one hard drive and BLU-RAY

this rules out a modded A71A for you...........because i can fit and cool a maximum of 2 HDs up above....but there's not enough room for 4...

unless you use the spare 2 fans, and mount them behind :D:D....because there's loads of room for this. ...there's a 5'' gap to the MOBO
 
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A71 would be pretty much the best starting point, lot of space and tweaking changes without disadvantageous gimmicks.
A71-kesken_s.jpg


Mal X said:
http://hothardware.com/News/Lian-Li-launches-new-PCB10-MidTower-Chassis/
oh......yes look at its HDD trays :eek:...that will definitely block the lower input fan.........these are even worst than the A71's inputs...its a real shock to see that!!!!!
Click to expand...
While surely slowing and dispersing airflow lot (especially without second fan on other side of cage) there's still 1cm of airflow space between drives and that's definitely not the worst case...
That honour belongs to Silverstone FT01. With drives in cage is essentially solid wall:
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/lemonlime/cases/silverstone_ft01/ft01_inside2.JPG
http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/cases/SilverStone_FT01/SilverStone_FT01_HDD_Caddy2.jpg
Somehow some people still don't see any problems in that case... or it being cramped. :rolleyes:
 
nice set up you've got there :cool:...mine will be like an empty case compared to yours :D

i'm getting very excited about it...i'm buying mine late next week.

your exhaust looks like a Scythe Kaze Jyuni...... hard to tell, too dark
 
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he's painted the interior black, done some white cabling and modded the fans..quite a few people like that sort of look..

i think the black interior is too dark..... just my opinion
 
EsaT said:
That honour belongs to Silverstone FT01. With drives in cage is essentially solid wall:
Click to expand...

Hey I'd never noticed that. You're right, if you have all the drive bays filled then the cooling inside will be terrible. Should be ok if you only use a few drives. But still a bit of a design flaw surely?
 
the trouble with my new case is:- noise escaping out the front ( Li A17 )
i'll have to be careful of this, and i'm most wary of the graphics card fan :cool:

yea sound proofing wont work, it'll heat up the case interior as well

but i wouldn't get too obsessed with noise, because you dont really notice it whilst playing shooters :D................it's RATTLING that you notice and this drives me crazy :mad:
 
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Mal X said:
the trouble with my new case is:- noise escaping out the front ( Li A17 )
yea sound proofing wont work, it'll heat up the case interior as well
Click to expand...
Essentially Stacker copy...
Sound proofing helps only to noise trying to escape through "walls", not to airborne noise leaking directly out through holes... Which simply can't be plain jammed full of acoustic material without destroying cooling.
Rattling/resonances/vibration are again all part of same problem caused by moving parts not being mechanically insulated from case.
 
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