Help me buy a full-tower case!!

[FollowTheMusic]

Hi,

(In exchange for any help and for reading this long post, I promise to post a review of whatever I end up with--thanks).

I am looking for a full-tower quiet case. I have done a lot of searching and it appears that the ideal case just does not exist. So I am looking for anybody with any first-hand experience with some of these cases to help me pick the best compromise. There is a lot less info on quiet full-towers than quiet mid-towers, so any info at all is helpful. However, I would value opinions based on first-hand experience far more than inferences based on the specs alone.

Also, if you know anywhere in Chicagoland where I could actually see some of these higher-end cases in action, that would be extraordinarily helpful.

A few things about what I'm looking for:

--I have 4 external 5.25" devices but need room for future expansion. 6 bays is my minimum.
--I watercool, so adequate airflow is easier to achieve. Also, having a big case makes watercooling much easier to install/maintain.
--I'll use voltage control and temp. monitoring on all/most of the fans, and replace stock fans with quieter ones
--Even with the pre-foamed Lian-Lis, I'll probably add AcoustiPak foam.
--I already have a PSU (Seasonic S12 600, definitely overkill but very quiet and well-built).
--I know I won't get total silence, but I'm willing to work hard to get close (substantial case mods/upgrading if necessary)
--Price is not an issue, with the obvious exception of the $1100 Zalman Bankruptor, I mean Totally Noiseless.

Here's my current ranking. I'm really leaning toward the Lian-Li PC-73SL but I keep having second thoughts.

1. Lian-Li PC-73SL

Pros: --Spacious interior
--designed for quiet (really? or is that just marketing)
--front door is good
--looks beautiful!

Cons: --Why 80mm fans on a "quiet" case?!? (is this really a problem with quiet, voltage-controlled fans?)
--aluminum? (again, this is noisier in general, but is that a problem with this specific case?)

2. Lian-Li PC-V2100 plus

Pros: --120mm fans

Cons: --never done the "PSU on the bottom" thing; don't know if it really works. My PSU manual was pretty clear that it should be at the top.

I'm really looking for first-hand opinions on the Lian-Li's. Is their soundproofing any good? Will I need to replace the stock foam with AcoustiPak? It's aluminum, but aren't they like the Aluminum Masters? What difference does that make in practice?

Other choices:

3. CM Stacker

Pros: --Big!
--Some 120mm fans

Cons: --Also some 80mm fans. If I got this I'd replace the top exhaust with a 120mm.
--I've read the crossflow fan is loud; don't know if it's even necessary
--All those vents; is this really even a quiet case?

4. Thermaltake Tai-Chi
--Don't know much about this, any opinions?
--I know I said price was irrelevant, but I lied This is pretty up there.

5. Silverstone???

6. Antec P180
--This is not a full-tower case! Sorry, not big enough.

7. Dark Horse?

Again, thank you for any help. Quiet full-tower seems like a need that just doesn't have an ideal solution, but hopefully this discussion will help others as well.

[frankgehry]

You should read about the advantages of a steel case over aluminum when low noise is a concern. Maybe you can shorten your list somewhat.

[McBanjo]

Cons: --never done the "PSU on the bottom" thing; don't know if it really works. My PSU manual was pretty clear that it should be at the top.

The only reason for the PSU to be at the top is so it can blow out the hot air.
Having it at the bottom and a fan at the top should prevent it from ramping up in noise and possibly lower the system temps.
ATX-format says the PSU should be at the top, that's the only reason the manual says it should be at the top

[vertigo]

What type of system will you run in such a big case? Why do you watercool?

[FollowTheMusic]

Hi,

Frankgehry: Yes, I agree that aluminum is generally worse than steel. But Lian-Li's supposed to be high-end and designed to be quiet. None of the steel cases seem especially designed for low noise. So it's not clear to me that aluminum is a problem for these specific cases. But it might be, that's why I'm asking.

McBanjo: yeah, I figured a bottom PSU is OK, but I've never actually built such a system and I tend to be skeptical without firsthand knowledge.

Vertigo: I do video and audio editing, plus some pretty heavy number-crunching for some acoustic simulation research. I'm running a dual opteron with three HDs, 3 optical drives + a reservoir. I'll replace the reservoir with a fillport but add a fan controller, so still 4 external bays. Virtually certain I'll add more eventually and move HDs into 5.25" bays for cooling/quiet. Plus I flat-out like having a roomy case to work in.

Thanks for the comments so far and any future help.

[MikeC]

Aluminum is worse for acoustics & vibration. In a nutshell, it has about 1/3 the density of steel. That's the gist of the problem -- because of the lower density it is much more flimsy and prone to vibration, which usually = louder noise. There is not one aluminum case I've run across that is a true exception.

But if you can float-mount everything that vibrates or makes noise (fans, HDDs, PSU) then there'd be very little vibration to begin with, so the difference would be irrelevant. Not easy to do, however.

All depends on what your priorities are.

You're right that there is no "noise optimized" full tower case, so what you really have to do is study the Recommended Case article (to check what's really important for acoustics in a case), read a few reviews here, then pick a steel case as a starting point for mods.

My personal choice would be one of those big squat cube-like cases (like this: http://www.chenbro.com.tw/usa/product/p ... php?pid=74 ).

[ronrem]

I do recall looking with case-lust at a big Silverstone at Fry's not long ago.
Aluminum,or for that matter,a side window,can be a minor minus you can mostly offset by isolation of moving parts,damping,etc. I suspect that if I glued a skin of indoor/outdoor carpet to the outter walls,sides of an Alu case,it would be slightly less sound escaping that from most steel cases.

The Tai Chi case looked pretty sweet,though expensive. They use heavy finned castings for the walls,so you won't get resonance there. I suppose those walls do somewhat help heat transfer but I never saw a test on that. Too bad there is not some heatpipe kit to efficiently transfer CPU heat to those walls...now that would be sweet. CM's Stacker also looked nice and I recall seeing a big Antec before.

Basically,a BIG case gives room to employ a lot of noise suppression tricks. HDD suspension,Very few fans,No fans where what sound they do make easily gets to your ears. With a front door,or not,you can block off noise escaping from the front. Any case can be modded to have a bottom inlet,you may need to make feet to give a bit of clearance,or a semi enclosed base open only to the rear. You even CAN do a sandwich of foam and plywood or particleboard glued to the outer walls

[TD22057]

I have the Lian Li PC-V1100 which is the little brother of the 2100 and I like it a lot even though it is aluminum. As far as I can tell, I don't have any resonance issues. Overall my system is running very quiet. I originally picked this case for a water cooling setup but dumped that as too complicated. I think you can make the aluminum Lian work just fine though I did make a few mods:

- Removed the lower drive cages.
- Lined the lower area with rubber/foam mat to absorb noise and block the additional inlet holes.
- Lined the PSU mounts with rubber.
- Cut out the restrictive grill below the PSU intake.
- Cut an additional hole between the lower and upper areas for better air flow.
- Suspended my HD in the lower front chamber behind the intake fan.
- Replaced the intake fan w/ a Nexus 120mm at 7V.
- CPU fan is a Nexus 120mm at 7V on a Thermalright XP-120 cooler.
- I only turn the rear exhast fan on when gaming.
- Using a VGA silencer which exhausts to the rear of the case.

[ronrem]

There is a review at modthebox.com of the I-Star Nitro AX full tower,which is about $110 at Newegg...and is the sweetest big hunk of case,with nothing cheesy,a great front door setup,rubbered drive mounts,removable tray...and built to last. The review was quite positive,and reviews at newegg could hardly be better. Basically it has ALL the good stuff of an Antec,but is bigger,tougher.

I don't consider any case on the market a finished project,except a few of the super high priced items. This looks elegant and well done in its details,without being one of those that look like they came with a Star Wars Happy Meal.
This case has room for internal padding,has a good duct on the side,even the vents are all the less restrictive hex type holes. This is easily modded to be a better box in ALL areas than the Antec 180

I also came across an Aerocool that looked good,the one with the round LCD display on the front,not quite as big or heavy duty ,but nice ideas

[merlyn]

I recently got the CM Stacker to build a file/media server and am very impressed with it so far, it's huge compared to the stuff i normally work on. the main reason i needed it was because i'm using 320GB WD's in silentmaxx enclosures and I found that they don't fit nicely in normal cases without touching the mb. i only have two at the moment but i have space for 8 so i can go to over 2TB. the airflow characteristics are rather unusual but i haven't had time to sanitise it yet, i'm guessing a lot of the vents will need to be sealed. i'm only running a 120mm nexus at 7v as an exhaust. the chimney is nice though as it helps prevent heat pooling at the top. there is a big vent on the base to provide cool air for the psu which is currently a problem. i only have some old poor quality psu's at hand so i'm getting a bit of resonance, but there's plenty of space for isolating it. cable routing will present another challange as i'm not sure how things will go through behind the mb plate. still, i know i will be doing plenty of experimenting with it