Quiet (silent) case?

oliver2601 · 10 Mar 2021 at 11:25

Greetings Hivemind

Moving from console + laptop back to PC for gaming and various design/web work. On my 10 year old rig which is adequate for the most part though upgraded the 6950 to a RX580 and ordered a new 1TB SSD so I can run my 256GB SSD as secondary drive and drop the HDDs

I'm now looking for something much quieter than my old tired case, I'm not sure what model it is however fans are driving me crazy when I'm sat across the room. I've looked at new fans, though my case isn't dampened and usb ports are temperamental so may as well go for a case.

Requirements
- quiet and dampened
- fits RX580
- plain/stealth

Don't need
- RGB
- Window
- 3.5" drive

Bonus
- USB3
- SD slots

Something cheap would be great as I'll likely go for a new build in a year or so.

I'm currently running a P67 GD65 mobo (ATX) however don't mind going with something smaller form since the 1150 mobos are dirt cheap on marketplaces

I know overclockers do the Bitfenix case @ £50 and Kolink Tranquility @ £50, out of thosw I prefer the look of the Kolink... what's your thoughts and are there any other solid options?

TIA

MikeTimbers · 10 Mar 2021 at 12:12

All cases are silent

The Phanteks P300A has terrific cooling and allows fans to run very quietly because of how little impact to airflow the meshed front causes.

Spankme · 11 Mar 2021 at 07:39

A few years ago I built my father a 2200g pc in a fractal mini c. Rly dunno about thermals as he uses it as a web machine but it is uber quiet as it has dampening on the inside of the case panels.

My personal rig is in the be quiet 500dx paired with a dark rock pro 4. As am using m.2 with no spinnys I sometimes have to check its on its that silent.

As said above the p400A is quieter than a dead door mouse as is the 5000d and the lancool 2 mesh

bagleyboy · 11 Mar 2021 at 10:18

Can't really go wrong with a Be Quiet! case for silent operation. Something like the Silent Base 601 would serve you well I believe.

WJA96 · 11 Mar 2021 at 11:05

MikeTimbers said:
All cases are silent .

Quoted for veracity. Don’t worry about the case. Worry about the fans. In a perfect world, no fans means absolutely zero noise. No fan on the PSU. No fans on the CPU cooler. With SSDs you have no noise. Get a motherboard with no fans, a passive PSU and a passive CPU cooler and you can have whatever case you like.

Spankme · 11 Mar 2021 at 12:19

WJA96 said:
Quoted for veracity. Don’t worry about the case. Worry about the fans. In a perfect world, no fans means absolutely zero noise. No fan on the PSU. No fans on the CPU cooler. With SSDs you have no noise. Get a motherboard with no fans, a passive PSU and a passive CPU cooler and you can have whatever case you like.

And then sit there and sweat due to the passive cooling heat

WJA96 · 11 Mar 2021 at 12:53

Spankme said:
And then sit there and sweat due to the passive cooling heat

That's a common misconception. Computers don't sweat or lose heat through evaporation like people do. The fans might make YOU feel cooler because you lose heat by evaporation off the skin but the computer doesn't. It's the same with air conditioning units. The air from an air conditioner feels colder because it's dry and evaporates moisture off your skin faster. It actually helps computers very little.

The CPU generates the same heat it would with or without a fan attached to it. So long as the passive radiator can move the heat away from the CPU at a rate high enough to keep the CPU within it's thermal design parameters it's fine. A fan just allows the heat sink to be smaller and still maintain the same temperature at the CPU. And GPUs work the same.

Pretty much the only things in a modern PC that make noise are fans. Eliminate the fans, and you eliminate the noise. "Silenced" cases have been around for years. Lian Li had the PC-S80B/S and it was actually crap for cooling. The quietest system I ever had was a standard Lian Li PC-600B with a Zalman Reserator cooling the CPU and a second Reserator cooling the GPU. No fans and the two pumps were buried under several litres of coolant. I miss those simpler systems!

jonnypb · 11 Mar 2021 at 17:18

I like my purebase 500 case, I think you can get them with windows in as well. the 2 fans that come with the case are silent and there's plenty of room inside.

Spankme · 11 Mar 2021 at 21:06

jonnypb said:
I like my purebase 500 case, I think you can get them with windows in as well. the 2 fans that come with the case are silent and there's plenty of room inside.

The 500dx has a glass side panel and 3x140mm silent wings 2 fans.

Fantastic case with awesome airflow

Drumroll · 11 Mar 2021 at 21:41

Good airflow cases can be much quieter than "silent" cases, as the fans won't need to work as hard to keep temperatures under control.
Also consider 140mm fan, if possible. 500dx, P300A/400A, Lancool II.

shadowscotland · 18 Mar 2021 at 12:24

WJA96 said:
Zalman Reserator cooling... I miss those simpler systems!

Memory lane. (Scroll to the bottom to see my old Res2 wall hung)
I did have an overcomplicated life back then hahaha.
[Project] Out of Reach

WJA96 · 18 Mar 2021 at 14:24

shadowscotland said:
Memory lane. (Scroll to the bottom to see my old Res2 wall hung)
I did have an overcomplicated life back then hahaha.
[Project] Out of Reach

Do you remember when I turned my home central heating system into the worlds biggest passive cooler (it worked great in the summer - not so well in the winter!). Those were good times.

Do you still have my old S80B with the radiator in the roof?

shadowscotland · 19 Mar 2021 at 23:24

WJA96 said:
Do you still have my old S80B with the radiator in the roof?

Yes I do, was due to build a new system in it today, but guarantee next day delivery is worthless currently.
Love that case.

And yes I remember your 'central heating' loop.
Last 6 years I've been forced to use laptops due to work.
So bit of a homecoming building a gaming pc for my son.

Cooler running · 24 Mar 2021 at 14:31

I personally recommend the Silent Base 802, it comes with both a mesh and enclosed front panel option. That way if you are running a higher TDP setup, you can switch to mesh for lower fan speeds, or keep the solid panel if your components don't need much cooling.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-quiet-silent-base-802-midi-tower-case-black-ca-146-bq.html