Evercase ECE-4252 - Any Recommendations?

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:20 pm

I got my ECE-4252B (direct from Evercase UK) today, with the extra drive cage, CPU duct (in case I decide to use it - it easily comes off) and grommets. The general construction of the case is very good, and I'm pleased that the silver trim is more of a grey rather than the tacky chrome-effect it looks like in photos on their site).

Can anyone recommend any basic steps for building a quiet PC in this case? I've got a pack of Nexus DampTek around somewhere - does this make any difference to this case?

Thanks in advance.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:56 pm

Chris, since this question has been asked many times why don't you check out this link for a start.

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... ht=#151174

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:45 pm

Thanks for the link, but I can't see anything referring to the ECE-4252 on that page.

Maybe I didn't phrase the question right. I've already got all of my components (motherboard, CPU, hard disk etc.) but want to know whether anything needs doing to this case in particular - I noticed that the side panels make more noise than those on my plastic/steel Nexus iStyle case.

DGK · Post by **DGK** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:57 pm

The only thing I did to my 4252 was add dampening material to the side panel to cover up the holes. I also found that having a second fan in the front was not needed since there is very good airflow over the hd's just by having a rear fan. Other than that I can't think of anything else I did that would be any different from any other case.

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 12:47 am

Thanks for the reply. I don't know whether to use the CPU duct yet, on one hand it will give fresh air to the CPU, northbridge and PSU, but then again it will disrupt the airflow from front -> back so I may just remove it and cover up the holes.

Does anyone have problems with 120mm fan PSUs fighting against a 120mm exhaust?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:11 am

Hello Chris:

The intake flow is very good and it can "keep up" with a 120mm PSF and a 120mm exhaust. Though, I would try things with the snorkel (side tube) -- this will deliver cool air straight to the CPU area, and you can likely keep the CPU fan running at a minimum speed. You can try covering the side holes with foam and/or tape.

If you have two hard drives in one cage, mount them so the circuit boards "face" each other -- this allows an air space between the two drives. Otherwise, they sit very tightly together. You said you got the second cage, so you will be able to avoid this with just two drives -- but if you add a third or fourth drive...

Also, give the metal "fingers" a try -- they are essentially unequal length leaf springs, so with some HD's, this can work fine to dampen some noise.

elasticdog · Post by **elasticdog** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:42 pm

I also recently bought this case and have done a few things to it. First I cut out the back fan grill, which is recommended for most any case. I also, however, made a few other modifications as to allow hiding of extra wires behind the right panel of the case. On top of that I used grommets for mounting my harddrive in the lower cage, and don't plan on using the CPU duct simply because it does not align with my socket properly and the temps I've seen so far indicate that it's not needed.

I just finished installing everything today, and have taken some pictures, but am going to do some testing/benchmarking over the next week or so and then do a writeup. I have yet to cover up the side holes, and might get a melamine panel from McMaster-Carr to dampen that entire side, but we'll see how badly it needs it.

If you're interested, I've thrown together a temporary gallery of the pictures I've taken so far. If you have any questions about the stuff I did, just let me know.

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 5:37 am

Thanks for the replies, I'll get to work on this tonight. I noticed that my case has plastic feet - what's the best replacement for these: rubber feet, grey packing foam, or a layer of DampTek stuck underneath (I have some off-cuts from another case I lined)?

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:46 am

Right, I've got all of the stuff in, except for the 120mm Nexus exhaust fan and Nexus Damp Tek since the couriers tried to deliver it to the wrong address.

Compared to my Nexus iStyle case it has some negatives and some positives:
+ Temperatures seem lower
+ Hard drives aren't causing the case to resonate as with the iStyle
- Hard drives have considerably more seek noise; there is a definate rumbling which is also been transmitted to my desk
- Hard drives have a lot of whine which wasn't audible before

I guess the grommets can suppress those small vibrations that caused the resonating of the iStyle but aren't able to stop the seek vibrations. I guess I could enable AAM on the drives but I don't really want to lose performance. Are the plastic feet causing this?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 7:05 pm

Hi Chris:

Maybe you could try out the metal "fingers" and see how they work? What HD's do you have?

Chris.Day · Post by **Chris.Day** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 11:03 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:What HD's do you have?

Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB
Hitachi 7K250 200GB

The WD appears to be the noisiest and was bought before I got interested in quiet computing. I've also got the 250GB version of the 7K250 but that's louder than both of the other two drives at idle, so it's in an external enclosure which I turn on/off when I need it.

Evercase ECE-4252 - Any Recommendations?

Evercase ECE-4252 - Any Recommendations?

follow this link