Cooltek was the prior name of Fractal Design so that kit is old. I have the Be Quiet kit and I'm not all satisfied, it does stay on real nicely but it's too thick for behind motherboard tray and it's shape isn't the best for breaking waves of high-pitched noise, speaker foam is better in my opinion....

Thanks. Great review as always. I never stop to be amazed by how quiet Fractal Design fans measure, I hear mine so clearly.

Seems the case is a bit overpriced but so are most other mini-ATX cases as well.

Where is the SSD located? You could soft mount your WD Black for improvement in acoustics, won't make it silent but a bit more quiet.

Also you should definitively spend some time with cable management, Solo can look so much better it you make use of the cable hiding area behind the 5.25 bays.

If it is a choice between those cases you can bet there is no 1000$ budget which by the way is a ridiculous amount to spend on a computer. Everyone doesn't make several thousand of dollars per month so you can't expect everyone to have a great budget when it comes to buying computer parts. 25$ savin...

Hey i have 2 samsung spinpoint f1 320gb and i have the same problem as you have, the sound is so irritating. I have connected my harddrive directly to an external powersource outside of the computer and they still makes that noise. I know this thread is old but i just want to know if you managed to...

I run all fans at 600 RPM, Nexus Real Silent and a Scythe Slipstream M, more pleasant then 800 but cooling suffers a little. No problem with my CPU though, never exceeded 40 degrees after a hour of Prime95 at 7V so I think I'm safe.

Why limit yourself to A or B when there are clearly better options C and D. Sonata Plus 550 (NEO HE) if you must have a bundled PSU, Solo if not. IMO That's already been suggested but Sonata Plus 550 is much more expensive than either of these cases, if money is an issue then you can't solve it by ...

If you are going for cooling-performance and are unwilling to cut in a Accelero S1, HR03 is the way to go. It performs poorly without a fan but excellent with a slow running fan and this makes it really easy for you to decide how much noise you are willing to endure by choosing a proper fan. The L2 ...

It might be worth waiting for the Sonata Proto that has just been announced by Antec. Unlike the III 500 it does not have a PSU but presumably will be priced accordingly. The Sonata Proto "....(is) based on the worldwide best-selling Sonata III 500... (and) combines improved noise reduction and pow...

10.5" isn't a normal video card - it is an oversized nvidia-style screaming and sizzling powerhog, which indicates an enthusiast-grade gaming gear. As such, it won't be mounted in a Solo, because gamers are lured by more flashy and airy cases. That being said, new ATI cards are powerful, yet fit in...

To me this case is the perfect mid-power mid-size case. It could be made better, a process that's happening now , afaik. Unless they change it to accommodate normal video cards (10.5") they shouldn't even bother. I certainly hope so to, why else would they bother to change the design? Maybe a botto...

I want a review of several fans, PWM from Scythe and Arctic Cooling as well non PWM fans from BE Quiet, Scythe GT and Thermalright.

I would go with Sileo if that was the case, no antec fans are quiet.

Great update! I've been awaiting this for long. I kind of agree with users criticizing Solo for being the only mid-tower to get the remark although I do not agree with comments suggesting the solo has restrictive cooling, it probably has the most efficient single-fan cooling of all cases built. It c...

Buy a silencing box and suspend it in the lower chamber, that's what I did. My LP was so quiet I didn't hear the difference though so I just suspended it in the 5.25 cage.

Suspending a silencing box is tricky but well worth it, an alternative option is to lay it on a thick layer of foam.

clean build but the psu looks strange, never seen a psu blowing in hot air in the case, can't be that good.

If you buy the new F3 Eco drives you make sure you get the latest revision with 500 platters and benefits of the F2 eco, while WD GP with 500 GB platters may be a little more quiet during load, both are quiet and reliable.

Let's hope for 8 more years of silent computing at least

You'd probably not notice much increased heat with just exhaust fan, there are lots of people cooling the X4 9900, which is a lot hotter despite the same TDP, with just cpu fan and one exhaust fan. The most benefit the cooling setup provides is probably the graphics card but the VRM gets nastily hot...

Actually, this cooler in most reviews performs the same or better than those more $$$ coolers, what experience do you have with temps from those compared to the 212+ direct touch cooler( www.frostytech.com , www.Hardwarecanucks.com)? I ask only because im a facts kinda guy. any factual/experience a...

Push-Pull is perhaps beneficent with a highend cooler like Mugen 2 or Thermalright Ultra Extreme but on this cooler I doubt it makes a difference.

How is the HDD mounted?

You should definitively cut out fangrills in the back to open up airflow and hinder obstructive noise from occurring.

Very clean and nice build! Finally someone who takes advantage of Threehundred's cable management possibilities.

It doesn't look very quiet though but cooling must be great.

There are few reviews of Solo and a performance gpu, even fewer with both 92 mm fans in use. Would Solo really perform so bad with a highend gpu? After all, it has really good airflow with so few fans. I've done two Solo builds with 92mm fans. Works as expected. The problem with the Solo is that it...

Really, I don't understand the judgments on the "value" of the case...especially if one were to test it according to its specifications... We simply did not have have kinds of problems you experienced with yours... or did not consider specific issues as important as you do. We recommend it because ...

Stacker is probably your best bet with many drives. Just suspend then with elastic chord and use quiet fans. Cosmos 1000 is probably ok to but the standard mounting of HDDs are bad, size allows many drives though.

So this may be a total beginner question, but I am wondering a Pico or Winmate PSU would be powerful enough for my HTPC. Here are the specs. Athlon 4850e (45w I guess) Amd 780G motherboard (Foxconn) Radeon 5450 Passive cooler 2 HDD's (160GB and 500GB) - Could probably consolidate down to 1 HDD if n...

Great mod.

Chieftec has a lot of high quality cases, although not quiet at stock, they can be made by sealing of side-ventilation. The Biggest problem for you will be HDD noise which is a weak spot of all chieftec cases. I suggest opening up front and mounting drives suspended behind a quiet fan. http://www.si...

Surprising that the fans measured so quiet. I have two of those bought retail and they are nowhere quiet at 12V, in fact they are louder than my Zalman 7000-Cu @ 5V. At 5V they are pretty much silent though. The HDD trays might fit a lot of drives but they do interrupt airflow, the case would have a...

I have a 1,5 TB LP and while it's slower than my 3200AAKS it's definitely the most quiet drive I have. Seems to have som issues with power saving function because it has been really slow a couple of times, halting the system but seldom. Very cool though. The WD is probably more quiet but the LP isn'...