Dirt Cheap Quiet Case

papa_otter · Post by **papa_otter** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:57 pm

Hey all, been searching but havent come up with anything so far, hoping you can help.
I parted together a couple old PCs to set up a linux media center pc and would like to quiet it down. Doesnt have to be silent but quieter than a fan factory would be nice. But am on a - budget so price is the biggest factor.

specs:
K62 500
128mb ram
20g hd

Been looking at newegg and the only thing I can come up with is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129152
Anyone know of a decent case for less?

z3r0 · Post by **z3r0** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:53 pm

Try to get a Coolermaster Centurion 532 or 534 if you can find one on sale, I used a older Centurion 5 for a year and a half and it was not a bad case.
Just buy a couple 120mm Yate-Loon fans 5v mod them and it should be quiet enough.

*Edited (twice) due my typing and grammar abilities were somewhat lacking yesterday afternoon.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:06 pm

Hello,

There is always the very good Evercase 4252. It is $14 less that the Antec you linked to, and it has very good air flow in the front. Of course, you may need an exhaust fan (or maybe not?) -- if so, you can get the very quiet GlobalWin NCB, which brings it pretty close in price, but I think it is a better case.

Too bad you just missed the $40 MIR on the Antec Solo from Fry's -- free shipping = $40 (after MIR)...

It would have made it easy to quiet the old HD, too.

firebane · Post by **firebane** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:31 pm

Coolermaster CAC-T05
Antec SLK1650B

both good cases with plenty of room.

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:40 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote: but I think it is a better case.

How good is the airflow over the HDD cage in the Evercase? I guess the air flow in through the slots in the sides of the bezel but would this be quieter than the SLK3000B?

Also, the HDD cage of the SLK3000B is much larger and allows for very easy suspension (the Evercase looks like it has room for lots of disks but you'd have to make up your own extended cage if you want more than 2).

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:24 am

The SLK3000B is a great case. But it needs to have suspension for its HDDs and dampening of the case panels to fully realize its potential. Bungie cords, self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles and a little bit of upholstery foam here and there are all you need.

Mike81 · Post by **Mike81** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:57 am

NSk4400
http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView. ... roduct=327

I prefer the NSk3300 but only fits an mATX board.

Mike

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:51 pm

Mike81 wrote:NSk4400
http://www.awd-it.com/scripts/prodView. ... roduct=327

I prefer the NSk3300 but only fits an mATX board.

Mike

I have the NSK4400, and I love it. The only thing I would say for the true quietners, I found the front panel to create alot of resonance noise. I haven't bothered myself as it's still quiet enough, but I had the idea that by adding some foam or polystyrene behind the panel to wedge it tight would eliminate this resonance and noise altogether, for example, touching the front panel with a moderate firmness makes the case sound much quieter, and removes a deeper hum so that only the fans can be heard, which is very quiet.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:08 pm

Hello,

kaange wrote:
NeilBlanchard wrote: but I think it is a better case.
How good is the airflow over the HDD cage in the Evercase? I guess the air flow in through the slots in the sides of the bezel but would this be quieter than the SLK3000B?

It is very good, indeed -- this is the first case to do this, and the P180/150/Solo are borrowing this feature. I would say it works better than the SLK3000B, but there is no real difference in the noise. The sideways cage of the 3000B is the biggest challenge of using that case -- getting IDE cable to reach is awkward, and the air flow through the frame is less than ideal.

kaange wrote:Also, the HDD cage of the SLK3000B is much larger and allows for very easy suspension (the Evercase looks like it has room for lots of disks but you'd have to make up your own extended cage if you want more than 2).

You can buy a second cage that sits up from the bottom (for about $9 + shipping). You're right -- the Evercase is more compact, though it has just as many bays, and there is no hole through the mobo panel to let you pass wires through. The Antec is also a little more sturdy, and heavier, too.

I hate the Antec's door, and it's largest opening in the bezel (on the bottom) is behind the filter...which largely negates the filter's purpose. (I have used some duct tape to block it, forcing the air through the filter!)

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:45 pm

papa_otter wrote:specs:
K62 500

On a sidenote, if you want a quiet system, you'll probably have to creatively attach a bigger fan to that thing, unless it's a mobile part or you're going to undervolt/underclock it.

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:27 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote: It is very good, indeed -- this is the first case to do this, and the P180/150/Solo are borrowing this feature. I would say it works better than the SLK3000B, but there is no real difference in the noise. The sideways cage of the 3000B is the biggest challenge of using that case -- getting IDE cable to reach is awkward, and the air flow through the frame is less than ideal.

Hi Neil,

I think you have the 3000B confused with the 3700AMB.
The 3000B has a removable cage that faces forward while the AMB has the sidways cage like the Sonatas. This is the feature that prevents me from considering a Sonata (even with the improved PSU of the model 3).
With the my 3000B, by borrowing a couple of ideas from different threads here, I was easily able to suspend the drive cage by
a) unbolting and removing drive cage from case
b) placing bed of soft foam on the cage mount base
c) placing the cage sideways on foam bed

The info about the Evercase is very interesting - I'd never heard of that and had assumed Antec came up with that layout (along with the CoolerMaster 532 - another otherwise great case burdened with a sideways cage).

Being able to buy the extended cage is good as all that lower space allows for plenty of hard drives. I wish that case was available down here.

NeilBlanchard wrote: I hate the Antec's door, and it's largest opening in the bezel (on the bottom) is behind the filter...which largely negates the filter's purpose. (I have used some duct tape to block it, forcing the air through the filter!)

Yep, I did the same thing with my 3000B when I saw the slot at the bezel base. I'm tempted to take a dremel to the slots on the front to widen them a touch to compensate but my HDD temps are fine for now.

Yeah, the door kinda sucks but it does hide my beige optical drives

Greg

Shhh,Peaceful · Post by **Shhh,Peaceful** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:39 pm

Check out Antec's B-stock site. They have that same case for $23.xx. I bought my P150 from B-stock and I can't find a single blemish on it.

http://www.antec.com/us/pro_b_stock.php

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:27 am

kaange wrote:The 3000B has a removable cage that faces forward while the AMB has the sidways cage like the Sonatas.

This is incorrect. The 3700AMB and 3000B have the same cage setup, while the 3700BQE uses the rotated setup.

sea2stars · Post by **sea2stars** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:55 am

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811147058

I just transfered an old, and friggin loud, dual MP Alienware workstation into this case and I'm very happy with it. Dual MP 2000, 4 HDs, DVD+RW, Quadro4 900XGL. It has some foibles, but it works out well with the two 12cm Noctuas I tossed into it; and it's only $30 right now. HDs are at 35C and the CPUs idle around 55C; pretty good for this system.

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:54 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:This is incorrect. The 3700AMB and 3000B have the same cage setup, while the 3700BQE uses the rotated setup.

Oops, you're right. I meant that Neil must have the SLK3000B mixed up with the SLK3700BQE (not the AMB as previously stated).

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:29 am

Antec NSK6000 (or NSK6500 c/w v/good psu)

Jeantech Phong II

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:13 am

Hello,

kaange wrote:
HammerSandwich wrote:This is incorrect. The 3700AMB and 3000B have the same cage setup, while the 3700BQE uses the rotated setup.
Oops, you're right. I meant that Neil must have the SLK3000B mixed up with the SLK3700BQE (not the AMB as previously stated).

Yes, I was confused on the model numbers -- the 3000B was the favorite case right after the BQE -- it had the better HD cage (but it lost the solid left side cover). My above comments apply to the BQE.

That Rosewill case looks interesting, though overall, I think that the Evercase 4252 is still my budget favorite. The Rosewill exhaust grill looks a bit constrictive, and the step in it would make it harder to modify. The front intake on the Evercase is less restrictive, as well, and the sideways HD cage in the Rosewill, while it might be nominally better than the Sonata/BQE/et al, this is still it's Achilles Heel, IMO.

Dirt Cheap Quiet Case

Dirt Cheap Quiet Case

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