Why no category for quiet CASES?

[NeilBlanchard]

It seems to me, that one category missing from both the Recommended section and from the forums, is Quiet Cases.

While I'm posting, here's a Cheap Trick for quieting those stamped metal grills that are all too pervasive: take a pair of needlenose pliers and bent the arcs outward away from the fan. If they get all the way to 90 degrees (without tearing -- gawd, it's cheap metal!), this gets you two things: much better air flow, and a much reduced Ashkenazy effect (when obstructions are too close to moving fan blades).

[quokked]

It seems to me, that one category missing from both the Recommended section and from the forums, is Quiet Cases.

While I'm posting, here's a Cheap Trick for quieting those stamped metal grills that are all too pervasive: take a pair of needlenose pliers and bent the arcs outward away from the fan. If they get all the way to 90 degrees (without tearing -- gawd, it's cheap metal!), this gets you two things: much better air flow, and a much reduced Ashkenazy effect (when obstructions are too close to moving fan blades).

cutting the fan grills with something like a dremel, nibbling tool or tin snips are as effective as well and with the section....
well there's no such thing as a quiet case, it's what you put into it that counts, though some cases are easier to make quiet though

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi quokked:

Having no grill at all is fine for some places, like behind a front panel, but if the fan is exposed to the room, then I'm sorry -- there has got to be a grill of some sort! You know, I've got two kids -- each with ten fingers! Actually when bending, you need to be careful/creative to keep the openings small enough to prevent this.

I think my bent sheet metal method is nearly as good as a wire frame in terms of noise and air flow, and it's a lot easier -- you can do it to a case or power supply that still has everything inside it. No need to worry about metal dust or offcuts getting into anything to short it out... Cutting and installing wire frames is more elegant, but it really has to be done before you put the computer together.

As for all cases being equally quiet before you might mod them -- this is simply not the case! (Sorry!) So many cases start out with about 80 percent more noise -- just because the "grills" are so blocked up, and they amplify vibrations. Its also ironic that some cases (like the LiteOn that I've seen in several places on this forum) have so many holes for air flow -- these holes also let out all the bloody noise!

No, I think that a (near) perfect case is a holy grail. One that starts out getting EVERYTHING right, or nearly everything even close -- is a very rare thing indeed! What case is quiet to begin with, and takes little or no mod'ing to get it close? What case has good and quiet air flow AND keeps the hard drives quiet, even w/o rubber dampers or clamshells?

The closest the I've found is an Antec Performance Series. Their grills are very good (low restriction and domed) -- they are second only to Dell's cases in this regard. The Antec power supplies are pretty good, AND they provide a voltage controlled Fan Only circuit to control the speed of the case fans. And they are 1mm good quality steel. The two older HD's (6GB Western Digital & 20GB IBM) I've got in mine are a LOT quieter than the single 40GB Western Digital that I've got in a mod'ed IBM case. The other shortcoming of the Antec's is they use all 80mm fans. I would hope to see at least 92mm, with 120mm being the ideal.

Another difficulty with cases is availabilty -- and fans, too for that matter. I wonder about the Evercase that the Stealth PC uses, and I want to know more about the ATech that Nexus is basing their system on.

[MikeC]

Case reviews are coming. Once a standard case review procedure is established, I may seek submissions from contributors willing to test and report on their case purchases.

[Ralf Hutter]

I've used a lot of cases over the years and have really fallen in love with the Antec SLK3700AMB. 120mm fans, rubber mounted drive cages, front door all reduce noise. Fan filters on front. drive rails, slide out HDD and FDD cages, easy-open side panel, front USB makes it user-friendly. What a great case. My only gripe would be the overly restrictive fan grills and the "regular" Antec PSU. I cut out the fan grill and put a quieter TruePower PSU in my case.

[RickStrobel]

Ralf -

Could you tell me more about how you cut the fan grills and which ones you cut? From the pictures you linked to it looks like there's a series of small circular holes on the back of the case where the 120 mm fan is. Did you just cut that into one large opening?

Also, did you do the same for the lower front intake?

[Ralf Hutter]

Ralf -

Could you tell me more about how you cut the fan grills and which ones you cut? From the pictures you linked to it looks like there's a series of small circular holes on the back of the case where the 120 mm fan is. Did you just cut that into one large opening?

Also, did you do the same for the lower front intake?

Yes, I just followed the perimeter of the existing holes and cut out that entire section. I used one of those $8 "nibblers" and cleaned it up afterwards with a Dremel. I only did the back side because I did not intend to use a front fan and so I wasn't worried about maximum airflow/minimum noise.