quiet case

nevyn

nevyn

nevyn

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Joined
14 Nov 2003
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367
I built a system a few years ago using an Antec P180 case

this was brilliant for quiet running but had a few niggles

can anyone recommend a current case that may have improved on the P180 while retaining the silent running capability
 
You're not getting much in the way of suggestions so far so I'll try and start the ball rolling.

The Antec P183 Super is often quoted as the obvious candidate, although I have reservations.

Another is possibly the Antec Sonata III. I think it's modest in size and its been around a while.
Supposedly NZXT do some decent quiet cases although OCUK only stock the Full Tower versions - the giveaway is in the names they give to them.

I'm looking for a quiet case myself and am tempted towards the P183 although I'll probably go for the Lian-Li B25FB.
I'm not suggesting the Lian is necessarily quiet, although my current Lian is extremely quiet, but I like them and I have a feeling no matter what I buy it could well be louder than preferred, so I could end buying some replacement fans and/or use a fan controller.

Obviously what you put in it has a major effect and whilst a quiet case seems like a good place to start, it may not be the major factor unless you give a lot of thought and priority to quiet components.
The other issue is that some of the quieter components ie GPU's aren't necessarily the most capable or best value for money.
So dependent upon how important noise is to you, it may end up compromising you elsewhere ie performance and cost, in order to keep the noise down.

If I come across anything more promising in the next few hours or days before I buy I'll take the liberty of posting.

Not sure if that helps at all so consider it a bump.
 
Thanks for your help

The case I had before was the P180 and it was indeed quiet after I ad replaced all the fans with ambers

I was not impressed with the flap/door on the front and I found the sides were difficult to close properly althought the plastic material had good acoustic properties it never fitted the metal case properly. so I am reluctant to buy a P183 since it is basically the same case updated a little.

I like the soud of a lian-li case they ooz class and build quality, peraps a few sheets of sound deadening and amber fans plus other quiet components is all that is needed for a good result

I really would like a case without a door on the front as I resent having to open/close it every time I want access to an optical drive or a button

let me know if you come up with any other ideas
 
Amber fans are not great in my experience, there are many better makes out there.

I was very impressed with the Silverstone RV02, excellent for the money and the inverted design and very large fans allows it to cool high end hardware very well. Pretty quiet as well due to the size of the main fans.
 
The Lancool K62 with a window is extremely quiet with a fan controller compared to my Coolermaster 335 that I used to have. I can have the fans on the lowest setting and the CPU doesn't get above 35 degreees celcius with a full load.
 
I've seen a few recommendations for the Lancool K62.

Fans - there are quite a few which are well regarded as being quiet although you could wait and see how loud the case/fans are and be pleasantly surprised or change later if need be.
Personally I'm inclined towards Noctua NF-S12B FLX Ultra Quiet 120mm Flexible Cooling Fan
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-006-NC&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4
They aren't particularly cheap.

Also the Fractal Design range ie 120mm Silent Cooling Fan
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-001-FD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4
Quite a bit cheaper.

There are quite a few others but different users have at times strong views on which are the best or better value:
Scythe, Yate Loon, Xilence, Sharkoon.

You may have spotted this current thread
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18189590
 
nevyn said:
I really would like a case without a door on the front as I resent having to open/close it every time I want access to an optical drive or a button
Click to expand...
It's either door or PC-B25F like front cover or noise will leak out.
Door is better as it muffles also noises of optical drives... too bad that current models just don't allow changing opening direction of door. (like original PC-A71)

peraps a few sheets of sound deadening and amber fans
Click to expand...
Light foams don't work.
Increasing acoustic opacity needs mass/additional rigidity (just like in P180's panels) and that means bitumen mat or layer of something similarly dense and heavy material.

And translucent/transparent fans are often acoustically lousy because such plastics are often very resonant.


stormbreaker said:
I can have the fans on the lowest setting and the CPU doesn't get above 35 degreees celcius with a full load.
Click to expand...
Stock cooler won't keep that hot CPU that cool without awful noise or it would have to break quite a few laws of physics.
 
I've just built a system inside one of the new R3's and I must say it is whisper quiet.

I've got the two standard fans that come with it one sucking through the front, and the rear blowing out, and a Antec Kuhler Box High Performance CPU Cooler and you can hardly hear that its on.

Using the fan controller that comes with the R3 I've turned the fans right down and the box is still really cool. The air coming off the cooler is just warm and the heatsink cold. This is not running much yet but the CPU temp is 34 degrees.

Its got a 2TB F4 and an old 200Gb and they can't be heard through the box at all.

Basically I'd highly recommend the R3
 
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