Which is quieter. SilverStone TJ06 or Antec P150/Solo?

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:59 pm

Cases are very expensive here so I'd be blowing my budget for either...

So which one would be quietest? Or is there any other more quiet one for a similar price? Thermaltake, Coolermaster, Lian-Li are all easy to get here. Anything that's better by them? Also, the Enermax Chakra with the big 25cm side fan looks like it would have good cooling, and it also comes with 2 extra 120mm 'enlobal' fans which are said to be VERY quiet.

Thanks.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:09 am

Solo is certainly quiet. It has been tested by countless SPCR'ers and SPCR staff and that certainly is quiet and cool case. So that would be sure choice, aslong you will use cards smaller than 8800-GTX.

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:19 pm

thejamppa wrote:Solo is certainly quiet. It has been tested by countless SPCR'ers and SPCR staff and that certainly is quiet and cool case. So that would be sure choice, aslong you will use cards smaller than 8800-GTX.

Oh ok. It's just quite expensive here... I don't need a silent case really. It's not going to be used in a living room or anything. I just get really annoyed by that humming sound. As long as it's decently quiet it should be ok...

I'm planning to use an 8800gt 512mb (although ATM I have a stock OC'd MSI 7600gt) so that should be ok.

Aard · Post by **Aard** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:37 pm

Computer Lounge have Solos for around $175 which seems to be the cheapest in NZ, I can also testify that their service is on par with Ascent (aka excellent 90% of the time).

The other option would be to parallel import from Australia which will save you about $50 but you could possibly pay that in shipping.

Have fun with your Solo if you choose it, its a great case.

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:57 pm

Aard wrote:Computer Lounge have Solos for around $175 which seems to be the cheapest in NZ, I can also testify that their service is on par with Ascent (aka excellent 90% of the time).

The other option would be to parallel import from Australia which will save you about $50 but you could possibly pay that in shipping.

Have fun with your Solo if you choose it, its a great case.

Hey another NZ'er! woot!

Thanks for that, cheapest I had found them was $190.

So the Antec Solo really is all that? Is it worth the $90 over a decent quality thermaltake, coolermaster, icute or enermax case?

Also, if I do get the Solo, what should I do to make cooling better while not sacrificing noise? I'm sure 1 120mm fan isn't enough... So should I buy 2 92mm fans or would that make it too loud?

jeffc · Post by **jeffc** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:25 pm

It depends what you have in the case. For my new/old backup computer:

http://www.jeffchan.com/pc/quieter.html

the single 120mm exhaust fan of the P150 (now the Solo model, but which lacks optical drive hiding doors) seems to work well, though I also have 2 80mm Arctic Cooling thermally controlled fans in from of the case. (They turn slowly unless temperatures get really hot and are pretty quiet.) But my old processor and video card don't make much heat.

Thing is, the Antec Performance cases have excellent designs that very cleverly reduce sound due to their physical designs. There is no direct sound path from the front of the case, yet the air intake at the front effectively has a huge surface area along the sides of the front door. Large area means slow air velocities, which means low noise. The actual front vents are smaller, but they're baffled by the separate front door, and the sound is effectively blocked.

If you're not familiar with the cases, all this will be a lot more clear after you see one.

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:15 pm

jeffc wrote:It depends what you have in the case. For my new/old backup computer:

http://www.jeffchan.com/pc/quieter.html

the single 120mm exhaust fan of the P150 (now the Solo model, but which lacks optical drive hiding doors) seems to work well, though I also have 2 80mm Arctic Cooling thermally controlled fans in from of the case. (They turn slowly unless temperatures get really hot and are pretty quiet.) But my old processor and video card don't make much heat.

Thing is, the Antec Performance cases have excellent designs that very cleverly reduce sound due to their physical designs. There is no direct sound path from the front of the case, yet the air intake at the front effectively has a huge surface area along the sides of the front door. Large area means slow air velocities, which means low noise. The actual front vents are smaller, but they're baffled by the separate front door, and the sound is effectively blocked.

If you're not familiar with the cases, all this will be a lot more clear after you see one.

Wow. So I think I'll get the Solo. It seems to be the best of the best when it comes to noise, and I'm sure it will be worth the price.

I'll run it with just the stock fan for a while and if I find it too hot I might buy one of those thermally controlled fans for the front. I don't think 80mm fits as its a 92mm slot but I dunno.

jeffc · Post by **jeffc** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 6:19 am

Heh, the 80s didn't fit the front very well. I put the screws through the grille into washers. Much better to use 92mm fans, as the case was designed for them.

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 12:07 am

jeffc wrote:Heh, the 80s didn't fit the front very well. I put the screws through the grille into washers. Much better to use 92mm fans, as the case was designed for them.

Would 90mm fans work? They seem easier to come by than 92mm fans...

I've ordered the Solo btw. I can't help thinking that 1 fan is just not enough.

Aard · Post by **Aard** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:10 am

fraseyboy wrote:
jeffc wrote:Heh, the 80s didn't fit the front very well. I put the screws through the grille into washers. Much better to use 92mm fans, as the case was designed for them.
Would 90mm fans work? They seem easier to come by than 92mm fans...

I've ordered the Solo btw. I can't help thinking that 1 fan is just not enough.

You can pick up 92mm Nexus fans again from Computer Lounge, these are some of the best you will be able to find. Although they cost $40!

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:43 am

Greetings,

fraseyboy wrote:Would 90mm fans work? They seem easier to come by than 92mm fans...

I've ordered the Solo btw. I can't help thinking that 1 fan is just not enough.

I'm pretty sure that "90mm" fans are the same thing as "92mm" fans. And unless you have three or four hot-running HD's, one front intake may not be necessary, so having "just" one is plenty.

jeffc · Post by **jeffc** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:30 am

Front fans contribute more to noise than rear fans, so its better to use back fans if possible. Hard drives probably last longest if they run between 40 and 45 Celsius. See the Google hard drive study:

http://research.google.com/archive/disk_failures.pdf

ame · Post by **ame** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:11 am

I have solo with one 92mm fan running at 950rpm and it keeps my 2 WD HDS at 32-37 range. without any fan it was 38-42. my room temps are 24-25.
One of the best design features of the Solo is its good front to back air flow.
The 92s are there to help nuge that a little more, focusing on the HDs as some intake is happening fom the back vent over the vga card and slightly reduces the 'suck effect'

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:37 am

I got my Solo.

Man its shiny! I love it.

I had a few issues trying to tidy up the cables... My PSU has quite long cables and they're quite hard to move away, even with those hooks. Also, the fact that my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum's bay uses a big thick ribbon cable does not help. Also, my power LED isn't coming on so I must have screwed something up with those little wires...

Good news is its alot quieter than my old. With the fan on high, its probably almost as loud but still not quite and its a different type of noise. On low I can hardly hear it.

ame · Post by **ame** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:16 am

just turn the power led cable 180 and it hould light up. I do the same mistake every time I build a new machine.

fraseyboy · Post by **fraseyboy** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:58 pm

Ok thanks. I'll try that.

Also, it says something in the manual about universal covers for the 5.25 inch optical drives? What's that all about? Mine didn't come with any 'universal covers'...