Silent case without door

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:05 am

I want to choose case for my new PC.
Configuration:
1. CPU - Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Brisbane).
2. Cooler - Aerocool The Dminator.
3. MB - Abit KN9S.
4. 2x1024Gb DDR2-667MHz RAM.
5. HDD - Hitachi 320Gb HDT725032VLA360.
6. Video - Palit X1950GT 512MB
7. Sea Sonic SS-500.

Now I think to buy Chieftec SH-01. Can you propose something more silent (which should cost not more than that Chieftec). I can buy Chenbro PC611, GMC, Thermaltake, we don't have Antec.
Is it important for silent case to have 1mm thickness of panels?
Waiting for your ideas, thanks.

KillerCroc · Post by **KillerCroc** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 6:02 am

I'm puzzled when you say "we dont have Antec" - are their products not available to you for some reason? It seems to me that the P150 would be a good choice as it d/n have a door and is a fairly quiet case?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:46 am

As far as metal thickness is concerned.....1mm steel makes for a very sturdy case, not usually prone to vibration. But if the case is aluminum, I'd go for 2mm panels. Aluminum can be as sturdy as steel, and also not prone to vibrate, but it needs to be 2x as thick as steel. Ever see a Lanboy case? It's aluminum, and less than 1mm.....flimsy and prone to vibrate. The same case in steel is not too bad.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:34 am

Here are all Antec cases which can be bought in Ukraine:
http://mnogo.com.ua/s/?query=antec
I don't like such design. I saw P150, it's nice but I just can't buy it.

Can you just tell me, can I buy something better than SH-01 for similar price?

KillerCroc · Post by **KillerCroc** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:04 am

I'm sorry, I didn't realize your choices are that limited - can I assume that the larger e-tailers like NewEgg don't ship to your location? Or is it also cost-prohibitive?

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:19 am

It will cost too much to ship it to Ukraine. Maybe in future Antec will decide to work on our market (about half of year ago we didn't have Sea Sonic PUs, but now I can buy it). I'm sure that cases which are available now in our country are unofficial. Also I couldn't find P150 in Russia.
So, I have to choose from what I have at the moment, and that's why I don't want to pay too much for non-perfect cases.

jaldridge6 · Post by **jaldridge6** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:18 pm

the p180 doesnt really produce too much noise from vibration. a lack of metal TO vibrate on the sidepanels is testament to that logic. really, i think the only noise one would hear is due to rotation. You can use a program like nero drive speed to set the dvd drive to 1x for playback and such.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:28 pm

jaldridge6
I wrote before - Antec cases are not available in my country now. Also, P180 has door.
So, I just want to know: is Chieftec SH-01 the best choice in it's price bracket?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:53 am

SH-01 is not bad case. It might be just bit hard to make silent case due its internal configuration, its not impossible, it just requires bit more effort. But tis doable.

Its not as good choice for silent case as P150 / Solo but its not worst either. Chieftech's case are usually pretty sturdy and with some foaming and dampening you can make it very quiet case.

For primary is that you get good silent fans for it 1 or 2 92mm and 1 silent 120mm fan and think good way to suspense your HDD's with good elastic material. That will do miracles.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:13 am

thejamppa
Thanks for the answer. In future I hope to change to something from Antec, I like P150 desing very much (it is so simple

).
The last question: what do you think about Chenbro PC611? It has only

0.8mm steel, but it uses standart fans configuration (1 front + 1 rear). What would you buy: SH-01 or PC611?

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:49 am

Grossmeister wrote:Configuration:
1. CPU - Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Brisbane).
2. Cooler - Aerocool The Dminator.
3. MB - Abit KN9S.
4. 2x1024Gb DDR2-667MHz RAM.
5. HDD - Hitachi 320Gb HDT725032VLA360.
6. Video - Palit X1950GT 512MB
7. Sea Sonic SS-500.

I know you asked for case... But have you already bought the above? Reason for asking is that I do have a Hitachi disk (details in sig), and it's not easy to quiet down. It vibrate a lot, and also have quite a lot idle noise. If possible, I think you should consider another HDD. If not possible, a Scythe Quiet Drive can help a lot.

How do you plan to cool the X1950GT? I think I saw some threads mentioning the X1950GT aint easy to cool passively. I had a Palit once, it was a screamer. I havent heard the Palit X1950GT though.

I dont know the Chieftect, but yes, they use to be sturdy.

The Chenbro looks nice, and a 12cm exhaust fan is very good for quiet cooling. Also, the fan grills are nice and open. The front cover seems very restricted, but that can be worked around quite easily. 92 mm fan for HDD cooling is good - if even needed. The option of removing the HDD bay, makes it very easy to suspend the HDD in elastic.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:19 am

Thomas
I didn't buy anything yet.
I know that Seagate hdds are very noisy. I considered Hitachi HDT725032VLA360 and Samsung 321KJ and decided that Hitachi is better, because it has 2 and Samsung has 3 disks. Also I spoke with people on the most reliable russian computer forum and I was told that 321KJ and HDT725032VLA360 are the quitest 320Gb drives.

About Palit X1950GT as I know it has very quite cooler, but if not I can change it to Accelero X1. Now I'm waiting for test of 2600XT and then I will choose what to buy.

And the main question - still can't choose between SH-01 and PC611

.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:29 am

Grossmeister wrote:It will cost too much to ship it to Ukraine. Maybe in future Antec will decide to work on our market (about half of year ago we didn't have Sea Sonic PUs, but now I can buy it). I'm sure that cases which are available now in our country are unofficial. Also I couldn't find P150 in Russia.

Would it cost too much to ship from eastern EU countries? I found most of the Antec range at a Polish e-tailer, but needless to say my Polish is non-existent so the finer details of shipping costs escape me.

Oh well, at least I now know that "Obudowy" is Polish for "enclosures"...

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:42 am

Grossmeister wrote:And the main question - still can't choose between SH-01 and PC611 .

Okay. Can you provide a link for the Chieftech? Is it this one: http://www.bgslevi.cz/clanek.php?kod=DBK2081 ?

EDIT: Better pics here: http://prohardver.hu/p.php?mod=21&id=842

If so, I personally would prefer the black Chieftech for looks.

On the other hand, it seems to be hard removing the HDD trays, which makes it harder to make a DIY suspension of the HDD. Also, those air intakes for VGA and CPU, at my experience, they dont do any good for cooling, but they'll make it more noisy. I think several others here on SPCR found the same... Often, it's easier to get good cooling and low noise with a straight through airflow from front to rear.

So from a quiet point of view, I would personally go for the Chenbro. It's nice to have both, but if the choise is between looks and quietness, I go for quietness.

Mattz0r · Post by **Mattz0r** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:25 am

nick705 wrote: Would it cost too much to ship from eastern EU countries? I found most of the Antec range at a Polish e-tailer, but needless to say my Polish is non-existent so the finer details of shipping costs escape me.

Oh well, at least I now know that "Obudowy" is Polish for "enclosures"...

Seeing as Poland happens to be the motherland for me, I took a quick look at the site. I don't think it would make any sense buying well... anything there, at all. Just looking at a price comparison, the 701Zl that it's going for is about 270CAD, while the same case goes for 140CAD here =/ I didn't even go as far as to see the shipping charges for Ukraine, but I'd expect them to be insanely elevated as well. Just my 2 cents.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:31 am

Thomas
Here is SH-01 wich is avialble:
http://www.chieftec.com/sh-01b-sl-b.html
Do you think that 92mm front fan will be enough?

nick705
At least I found P150 in Russia for ... $340

.
So, again, now I have to choose between Chenbro PC611 and Chieftec SH-01.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:35 am

In silent perspective, Chenbro Pc611 is better choice because HDD tray seems removable, so suspension easily done there. Chieftec is much better looking though.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:51 pm

92 mm fan is more than enough for HDD - with carefull building, and thoughts for the details like cabling, it's probably not even needed with a fan for the HDD.

My personal choises between the two: For silence, Chenbro. For looks, Chieftec.

It's easier to make it quiet if things fit together... Are there any CPU cooler avaible, which blow towards the rear exhaust fan? The fewer times airflow have to change direction, the better it'll cool, AND the more quiet... If you can get a good straight airflow, it'll help your HDD too... And your upcoming graphics card is quite powerfull = hot too... It will also help your PSU stay cooler, thus preventing the PSU fan from spinning up too much... By the way, you dont need more than a SeaSonic 380. If avaible, it would save you some money, and also help it staying in the most efficient area, which again leads to less heat/noise... Thing is, a PSU is quite in-efficient, if it's under light load. With your current stuff, you'll be in the 200-250 watt range under full load.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:21 am

Ok, you say that Chenbro is better (as I understood 1mm steel is not much better than 0.8mm for vibration reduction), but it costs less than Chieftec. Which case will be better if I will decide to add 2 hdds in the future (for RAID)?
One more question: I think that in SH-01 will be better to use Dominator (it will take air from side whore), and for PC611 better to use some tower cooler, for example Scythe Ninja, am I right?

About PSU wattage - I'm overclocker also so need to have more powerful PSU, and also I can buy only 350, 500 or 600 watts SeaSonic.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:26 am

Speaking personally... I dont overclock, so I would definately choose a 350 wat SeaSonic.

That aside. How much will your wattage increase due to overclocking? 10%? 20%? The CPU you've choosed, how many watt is it specified for?

How would you describe your quietness goal? To me it sounds like it's something like this: As much power as possible for a given budget, but still reasonably quiet.

I have tried CAG (airintake for CPU through side panel) twice. Both times, it didnt improve cooling significantly (maybe a few degrees celsius), but in both cases, it definately added more noise.

However, that overclock thing, I dont have experience with it. But it might mean that your mobo VRM's wotk harder, and thus need the cooling from the Aerocool.

HDD? Are your prepared for some DIY suspension, or will you use the case as is?

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:07 am

Thomas
Are your prepared for some DIY suspension, or will you use the case as is?
Depends on what to do. I have good "hands.dll"

but I don't want to destroy case, because if I will find a way to buy P150, I will need to sell this case to somebody.

About PSU. Here are reviews of different SeaSonic PSUs:
Seasonic S12 Energy Plus: Efficient Power for Connoisseurs
Power 91.4 150.0 198.4 250.2 298.6
Noise 20 20 20 21 25
Seasonic S12-430: Beyond the Super Tornado
Power 90 150 200 250 300
Noise 18 19 22 26 31
Seasonic S12-330 PSU, new sleeved version
Power 89.7 151.7 199.2 249.1 299.7
Noise 21 22 30 35 37

More powerful PSU will produce less noise under load.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:52 am

If you want a quiet / near silent PC, you'll have to dig into the articles and the forums here on SPCR.

SPCR have a different approch to PSU, than the reviews you link to. You may believe what you want, personally, I stick with SPCR way of doing things. That's the only reliable source I've found, when it comes to PC noise pollution.

There's a ton of HDD quietning / suspending examples here also.

Cases:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article75-page1.html

HDD:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article29-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article160-page1.html
viewtopic.php?t=8240

PSU:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:49 am

Thomas
I need time to read all of this.
Now I want to conclude all what was written before about Chieftec vs Chenbro:
1. By default they are the same, or Chieftec is a bit better.
2. It is easier to create silent PC if I will buy Chenbro.
Did I miss something?

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:44 am

What do you think about this solution for hdd (I red about it in topic about Chieftec cases, it's made by one guy for LBX 02-SL-SL-SL):
http://images.people.overclockers.ru/120372.jpg
http://images.people.overclockers.ru/120373.jpg
?

DyJohnnY · Post by **DyJohnnY** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:44 pm

I'm less that 24 hours from owning this:

chieftec giga GX-01B-OP [no PSU]

It's big - 59x20x51 cm

more details here:
http://carcase.3e.ro/chieftec-gx-01b-40 ... .php?tab=3

it's probably among the only cases in the current chieftec lineup to not have the darn punctured holes on the side for colling the hdd's

I don't like those things, noise will get out through there, u put a fan for specific cooling, noise 100%.
I'm also a bit turned off by the single big rack for putting 10 hdd's or smthn, personally i will only use 1, the rest of the space i can use for other purposes and the 2 compartments for hdd's of the GX give me the option of removing one of the bay's in 2 seconds.

what i don't like, is the lack of the 120mm fan support in the front, it's only 92mm, like on the SH, but i think i can stick a 120mm one in there or just leave a 92mm @5v.

I'll try to post a report, silencing oriented once i get all the things i need, setup in this case.

btw in romania the GX costs 100 USD with vat. unfortunately i might have bought the only one left in the country[ hard to come by] and for a month or so, nothing new will come from what i understood.

Grossmeister · Post by **Grossmeister** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:13 pm

I have one more question about Chenbro PC611 and Chieftec SH-01 cases.
In Chieftec case air from hdds doesn't come to VGA and CPU, this means that it also doesn't come into PSU. PSU regulates it's fan speed depending on temperature. Can hot air from hdd cause higher PSU fan rotation speed?