What is the best looking quiet case?????

mbaunsoe · Post by **mbaunsoe** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 2:12 pm

My rig currently consists of: Antec 1200, Intel Core i7 920,6GB Corsair 1600mhz Dominators, XFX GTX 285, 2 x 1 TB Samsung HDD, GIGABYTE EX-58-Extreme, Corsair HX1000 and a TRUE 120 Black.

The Antec 1200 is way to noisy for my liking and I am therefore looking for something quiter but also smaller (perhaps Midi Tower). But I still want it to look good (The Antec Solo and P1XX are both what I would call dull looking)

Kreed · Post by **Kreed** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:35 pm

Looks are somewhat subjective. I personally like these:

- Silverstone Fortress FT02
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... =FT02&area

- Lancool K7
http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product/pro ... s_index=62

mbaunsoe · Post by **mbaunsoe** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:56 am

I was thinking more Thermaltake elements g style but is that case quiet?

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:53 am

WELCOME to SPCR!

mbaunsoe wrote: Thermaltake

Wash your mouth out! Thats a bad word around these parts!
Nothing thermaltake makes is ever quiet. If they could figure out how to make a flash drive noisy, they would.

Cases aren't what makes a computer quiet, its really how/what you put inside the case that makes it silent. eliminate the noise/vibrations of the components and even a metal lunch box could be a "silent case". (with some floor tiles ect. added of course.)

hows this case look to you?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:04 pm

How about something like the Lancool Dark Armor K62?

With a bit of damping material, blocking off a few unnecessary fan holes and swapping in some quieter fans and suspending your HDDs, something like the CoolerMaster Centurion 590 could work.

Any case that has a mesh front panel is going to allow noise to leak out, so you are not going to get a near-silent system using your current parts.

Any case with fans larger than 140mm can be hard to quieten, as you have to rely on being able to undervolt the large stock fans to achieve a quiet case (as opposed to replacing loud stock fans with quieter fans of the same size).

Also, before you give up on your 1200, have you tried undervolting the stock fans? You would have to feed 7V to the molex connectors for these fans instead of the usual 12V using this method. You could also swap some of the 120mm fans for quieter fans from the Recommended List. A bulk pack of 5x Nexus fans is currently only $45. Add some of the various fan speed reducing products listed here, buy a fan controller or use software like Speedfan to control your fans and you might find your system is a little quieter.

Try eliminating other sources of noise too. What fan have you got mounted on your TRUE? What PSU are you using? Perhaps even suspend your HDDs rather than using the included mounting cages. You probably don't need all the stock fans installed either, so dump a couple and see if your temps are not too affected.

Also, try using RivaTuner to control the fan speed on your GTX 285.

Hope some of the above is useful!

Kreed · Post by **Kreed** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 6:18 pm

A case with the exterior of the Lancool K7 and the interior of the Lancool K62 would be nice. I am just not a big fan of those "gaming" cases with mesh front panels.

Another quiet case to consider is the Coolermaster Sileo, which was reviewed by SPCR. However, if you're looking for something that looks similar to the Antec 1200, then yeah, the Lancool Dark Armor K62 comes pretty close.

whispercat · Post by **whispercat** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:09 am

There is also the Cooler Master CM 690, though don't know how quiet it is.

But the white version is gorgeous:
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6794 ... _id=679457

mbaunsoe · Post by **mbaunsoe** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:21 am

My TRUE has 2 Cooler Master Silent Blue LED fans mounted on it and my PSU is the Corsair HX1000. I have already mounted a fan controller in order to control the noise but it is still to noisy for my liking. I'm going to change the case either way because it is too big in general so noise is not the only reason I'm changing.

I just don't want my PC to look like any other office PC, which is why I've found it hard to find a case that looks fancy (lights) but still manages to stay quiet. Should I perhaps change my TRUE fans to a quieter set of fans, and if so what brand?

I like the look of NXZT cases but I've read some worrying reviews, how do you feel about them? What if I bought the Thermaltake Elements G and then put all the fans on low and fitted some sound dampening foam?

Parappaman · Post by **Parappaman** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:51 am

xan_user wrote:Nothing thermaltake makes is ever quiet. If they could figure out how to make a flash drive noisy, they would.

This is making its way right in my signature.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:00 pm

mbaunsoe wrote:My TRUE has 2 Cooler Master Silent Blue LED fans mounted on it and my PSU is the Corsair HX1000. I have already mounted a fan controller in order to control the noise but it is still to noisy for my liking. I'm going to change the case either way because it is too big in general so noise is not the only reason I'm changing.

I just don't want my PC to look like any other office PC, which is why I've found it hard to find a case that looks fancy (lights) but still manages to stay quiet. Should I perhaps change my TRUE fans to a quieter set of fans, and if so what brand?

I like the look of NXZT cases but I've read some worrying reviews, how do you feel about them? What if I bought the Thermaltake Elements G and then put all the fans on low and fitted some sound dampening foam?

If you are controlling the speed of your CPU cooler's Coolermaster fans, they should be somewhat quiet at low voltage, although it appears they are 2,000 rpm fans.

For quiet blue LED fans for your TRUE, I suggest the Nexus Real Silent Blue LED 120mm fan.

I don't know much about NZXT cases, but it looks like all the lighting just comes from LED fans, so just buy a case that looks good to you and add your own LED fans and/or separate LEDs, like the pre-wired 4 pin molex connector LEDs here.

FWIW, Thermaltake has a really bad reputation for claiming their products are silent, so you really shouldn't consider buying their products thinking you can just turn down the speed of some of their case fans. Fan speed isn't the only thing that affects fan noise - bearing quality is also important.

Have you considered something like the Antec 300? Add a bulk pack of 5 x Nexus Blue LED fans for $45, which is enough fans for the 2 x front intakes, rear exhaust and push/pull on the CPU cooler.

If you really wanted to, you could also swap the top 140mm fan for the CoolerMaster Silent 140mm Blue LED Fan which only rotates at 1,000rpm. Soft mount all the case fans with the rubber mounts that come with the Nexus fans, drop the speed of these fans using your fan controller (use Y-splitters so that you can control all your fans if necessary) and at least your system fans will be pretty quiet then.

Put damping foam along the side panels and everywhere else, suspend your HDDs and use RivaTuner to control the speed of your GPU's fan.