Need case suggestions.

[Waren_AlKar]

As the title of this thread suggests, I'm looking for suggestions on a good, quiet case. This wouldn't be such a problem were it not for the fact that none I've looked at seem able to satisfy my (somewhat neurotic) need for good dust filtration. There will always be dust, I know, but I'd like to keep it to a reasonable minimum.

I've read various reviews, done searches in the forum, and couldn't find a previous thread that had this confluence of factors. My initial intention was to purchase the Antec P160. For while it wasn't the quietest case, on account of the direct noise path and aluminium construct, it also benefited from a single airflow path that could be easily filtered. With a quick fix to the design fault pointed out in the review.

So I guess my question is two-fold. One, with the right components (fans, heatsinks, and so on) is the P160 a quiet case? I'm not the most avid tinkerer out there, so excessive modding isn't my thing. Though I'd imagine installing dampening foam would go some way to helping. To an extent I realise this question has already been answered, though not as definitively as I'd like.

Secondly, what good alternatives are there? Good as in quieter than the P160, while providing a well designed dust filtration system. I'd prefer for them not to have side vents or what have you that aren't filtered, unless their easily blocked.

Also, here's what I plan to get for the rest of my system.

Antec NEOPower 480 (more for the cable management system than anything else, plus quieter solutions such as the Seasonic don't seem to be readily available in Australia)

MSI K8N Diamond (or NEO4 SLI Platinum as it's known in the US)

Geil Ultra-X 1GB PC3200 DDR RAM

Athlon64 3200 SKT 939 (the Winchester core is meant to run cooler, to my knowledge)

Gecube (otherwise known as Info-Tek/GeXcube) X800XL PCI-E with Uni-Wise (anyone had any experience with their Uni-Wise cooling solution? They (Gecube) claim it can run below 20db)

GlacialTech Silentblade 120mm fans (the black plastic, not the clear ones. And incase your wondering, quieter solutions such as Nexus are seemingly unavailable at local retailers in Australia)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 (planning to use it with a Zalman Fan Mate)

And on the question of hard disks and whatnot, I don't run many. Ideally it'll only be one once I sort out a external enclosure for my 2nd IDE hard drive, and get a new SATA drive in a month or two. Same goes for CD/DVD, planning on a single DVD Dual-Layer burner further down the road. Maybe even SATA if they (the manfacturers) actually bother to switch over from IDE.

So to sum up, how good is the P160 as a quiet solution? How much would it take/cost to make it that way? And what other quiet cases are out there with good dust filtration systems?

[Ralf Hutter]

So to sum up, how good is the P160 as a quiet solution?

Not very.

1) It's aluminum with large panels which tend to resonate worse than your average smaller aluminum case.

2) The removable aluminum motherboard tray is slightly flimsy and is another source of vibration.

How much would it take/cost to make it that way?

Way more time and money than I'd be willing to spend.

And what other quiet cases are out there with good dust filtration systems?

Search SPCR for any (and almost all) posts by "Bluefront". Seriously. He is the king of well-filtered systems. If he hasn't experimented with an idea, it's probably not worth trying.

[Wedge]

Search SPCR for any (and almost all) posts by "Bluefront". Seriously. He is the king of well-filtered systems. If he hasn't experimented with an idea, it's probably not worth trying.

Ralf beat me to that.

[Waren_AlKar]

Thanks for all the input thus far.

I went through a number of Bluefront's posts, but couldn't seem to find any recommendations for cases with good out of the box dust filtering solutions. Is it that there just aren't any out there? The SLK3000B looks like a good enough case in this regard, save for the fact that the side panel can't be replaced with something that has no side vents. (which is odd, since you can buy the ducted side panel for the 3700 on Antec's website)

And as I mentioned in my first post, I'm not the most avid tinkerer. So any case that can be fixed up with a good anti-dust solution with minimal effort would be great. heh, I'm not looking to go crazy with this. But a case that doesn't have the obvious design fault of unfiltered side intakes (such as the Sonata sitting on my test with 'Antec' spelt out in ventilation holes) would be just perfect.

[Tibors]

DIY solutions like those from Bluefront are the only ones that provide real dust filtering. I have never seen anything for sale that is comparable.

The dust filter in the front of the 3000B is reasonable, but you have to tape off the holes in the bottom of the bezel and the side panels. Taping off three holes shouldn't be that much of a problem.

[Spod]

If you get the SLK-3000B, and remove the TAC duct, you can install the AcoustiPack pre-cut kit for Antec SLK-3700BQE. This will block off the side panel holes, and includes a dust filter which you can use instead of a front fan. Then all you have to do is tape the gap at the bottom of the bezel.
As a useful side effect, it will also damp noise quite effectively!