Pierre, I love the fact that still not one comment was posted on the Bit-tech forums after yours.

Guermantes: I've been noticing a similar thing, as mentioned in my other thread.

Use MSI Afterburner to drop the fan down to 9% or so. Create a custom, less aggresive fan curve.

The fans spooling up between 9% and 20% will then drive you crazy.

I've found that for optimal silence (with minimal compromise), only the 120mm rear and 120mm/ 140mm rear top are necessary. Per a user-posted review, I've tried experimenting with a strictly positive pressure setup. Ran two undervolted 1200RPM Slipsteams up front which only created turbulent noise, ...

Really? I'm surprised to hear that, mkk!

I saw them posted on NCIX just a few days ago. Forum threads from various sites indicated they were in transit (read: on a boat) for awhile.

If only I hadn't splurged all my money into stuff for paintball... lol.

They've finally landed. I want.

are the vent strips in the front sides of the case behind the front air filters? it looks like an open path for dust to enter. the r3 looks much cleaner than the p183, fwiw. Put simply, in order from front to back: P18x - side/ bottom vents > doors > filter Rx - doors > side/ bottom vents > filter ...

danimal wrote:

12andy wrote: In the case of (heeh) the R3, the filter can be slid out from behind.

certainly an improvement, but what if the case is under a desk, or against a wall?

Then your point reigns supreme.

bottom vents can help muffle the fan noise, but they suck when it comes to checking the dust filters in front of the fans... you have to lift the case up off of the floor. i'll take the antec seperate compartment, with the easily accessed dust filter in front, thank you. Not entirely. In the case o...

It wouldn't make much sense to use that, as the stock cooler has a blower that forces air from the bottom/ front of the case, directly out the back of the card *outside*. Very efficient, but not the quiestest. That PCI cooler could very well rob your card of air, as it would simply just blow air aro...

Guermantes, if you're gonna be keeping the stock cooler on the 5850, the R3's bottom intake *should* suffice, even without a fan. If only my 5870's stocker didn't have a ticking fan and was quieter, I would've been more than happy to keep it on. Duct the bottom intake to the cooler's intake sections...

You lost me for a second there, lol.

Basically, surround the HD area in thick foam and make sure the area gets adequate cooling still. Got'cha.

Hi! Since transplanting my components from a P182 to a Define R3, I've noticed that HD seeks are much more audible now. Both drives are mounted near the bottom, and I've swapped the rather-stiff black Fractal grommets with the softer Antecs. Running a similar fan setup as well (undervolted 120mm Sli...

Lodestar: Yup, have tried running them outside of the case, in hand.

I got mine from NCIX, whose picture indicates the 11-bladed version. In-store (and what I received, as well) is the 7-bladed one.

Cause of concern? Are you 11-bladed?

Mounted on top of my Define R3, the Fractals do indeed exhibit a fairly annoying ticking/ brushing sound.

I purchased four of them when I got the case, and IIRC, all of them had that issue.

Personal experience: use horizontally only when mounted internally (ie. bottom intake).