SPCR

Hi,
For my first ever build I am thinking to go with either the Antec 300 or Fractal Design Define R3. This is due to price and aesthetics and that from vendors and online reviews they seem to be good entry level cases that still deliver.

My question is, have I bought into a marketing hype?

I see a few people using the Antec 300 here on the forum, but they always seem heavily modded and I can surely say that I will not be switching things around inside the case, nor would I want to have to add more fans from the beginning.

As I said in another thread, I am not aiming for absolute silence but rather silent enough for enjoying Chopin at a low volume in a room in the evening when the "sounds of the house" have died down. Or maybe another way of expressing it would be, a computer that I can sit reading three meters away from without noticing the sound. If it makes sounds when I am gaming is less relevent.

I ask because there is an apparent risk to go overkill (and waste a limited supply of money) just out of inexperience and not really knowing what the parts deliver. Even the estimate 20dB doesn't feel very tangible to me.

Thanks!

One of the reasons why the Antec 300 is so heavily modded is because of the hard drive cage; the HD vibrations are transmittet directly to the entire case.
For your use, three meters away, you're probably not going to hear it, but just keep it in mind. Otherwise it's a great case, my relative has the 200 and the feeling is really good.

I can't really speak from personal experience since I haven't personally used either case, but from all I've read and seen, I'd rather go with the Define R3. It is noticeably more expensive than the 300, though. But to me it seems more stylish, and has probably better noise insulation. The 300 definitely isn't bad for the price, regardless.

Also worth noting is that one has a "front door" while the other does not, so if you prefer either having or not having a door, it's something to consider.

For cooling, both have pretty good options.

Fractal Design Define R3 all the way. In boxing terms - they are not even in same weight class .

guermantes wrote:I see a few people using the Antec 300 here on the forum, but they always seem heavily modded and I can surely say that I will not be switching things around inside the case, nor would I want to have to add more fans from the beginning.

Its a tough decision, I know. The R3 seems to be the better choice, but at nearly double the price it really depends if your budget allows for it. Its grommets will reduce HD based vibrations more than hard mounting it in a 300, though its rotated hard drive cage kinda blocks front air intake on the graphics card.

As the owner of a modded 300, I have to ask, how much are you able to mod? A 300 may suffice for a build like yours (5850 GPU, i7?), though you could line the side panels with some dampening materials (peel & stick tiles, $1 each), soft mount and undervolt the top 140mm fan ($1?) (or replace altogether ($10?)), and suspend the hard drive in a 5.25" bay (or rest on foam)($1). That would make things much quieter.

Since the price difference in Sweden is not that hefty, I think I will probably go with the Fractal if it is better than then Antec.

As regards modding, if it is peel and stick I should be able to manage it but if I need to make holes in the case in order to fasten screws or suspend something in the case's ceiling, then I wouldn't know where to start.

And indeed, your guess at my build was a good one (5850 and i7 with 8Gb RAM).

As a side question, considering the impeded airflow towards the graphics card in the Fractal that was mentioned, could I install a fan to cool it if need be? I guess yes, but how would I do it, where do I put it. Does it go on the card (standardized mounting already available on card?) What would I generally attach the fan to?

Thanks!

guermantes wrote:And indeed, your guess at my build was a good one (5850 and i7 with 8Gb RAM).

I didn't guess.

guermantes wrote:As a side question, considering the impeded airflow towards the graphics card in the Fractal that was mentioned, could I install a fan to cool it if need be? I guess yes, but how would I do it, where do I put it. Does it go on the card (standardized mounting already available on card?) What would I generally attach the fan to?

Thats the problem with the case, the hard drive bays are blocking free flowing intake air from the front fans. A mid-mount fan in front of the graphics card mounted on the HD trays would be ideal for graphics card cooling, however it wouldn't have an air path to suck air from the front because the hard drive wall is blocking it. And a 5850 (not to mention 2 in CF?) could definitely use the intake air. If you used an after market cooler on the graphics card, then you could consider mountng a 120mm fan on the card itself.

Guermantes, if you're gonna be keeping the stock cooler on the 5850, the R3's bottom intake *should* suffice, even without a fan.

If only my 5870's stocker didn't have a ticking fan and was quieter, I would've been more than happy to keep it on. Duct the bottom intake to the cooler's intake sections, and you're golden.

Would it be possible to use one of these? Well, I guess I can, but would it make sense?


BTW, What's a ticking fan?

It wouldn't make much sense to use that, as the stock cooler has a blower that forces air from the bottom/ front of the case, directly out the back of the card *outside*.

Very efficient, but not the quiestest.

That PCI cooler could very well rob your card of air, as it would simply just blow air around *away* from the card (you want air going towards it, rather).

By "ticking", I was referring to the sound my card would make that's akin to tapping a desk lightly with your nails, repeatedly. Very annoying.