Can one get quiet with a cheap case?

wascally wabbit · Post by **wascally wabbit** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:47 pm

I have a limited budget for a case ( < $100 Canadian [preferably closer to $50 than $100] -- and I cannot buy from newegg, have to use NCIX ), and around $50-$100 (again, $100 at the absolute maximum) to spend on fans, other cooling stuff, and a PSU.
However, I'd still like to go for something quiet and cool, and especially something that will keep 3 hard drives cool.

Am I going to have any luck, or should I starve for a week and go for something in the $100-$150 range?

EDIT: Ack, meant to post this in Cases and Damping

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:10 pm

Hmmm, My Antec SLK3000B cost me around 50â‚¬'s with postal feeds. And its very quiet, even I modded it and dampened it. So yeah, you can get quiet case cheap, but you must then put some effort to silence your cheap case most likely.

Antec SLK3000B is good starting case, but it seems its discontinued and its new model is NSK6500. Unfortunately NSK-6500 comes with PSU and therefore it goes over your budget.

If you still manage to get SLK3000B somehwere, get it. Its cheap and easily made silent case.

cloneman · Post by **cloneman** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:16 pm

Many projects on the site have done pretty well with very little money spent. The difference is, lots of time spent on DIY (doing it yourself). As long as the case is robost (e.g. not the 30$ cases that include a psu

) I think anything is possible.

I'd say the most important aspect of a case is (aside from sturdyness and general build quality) is the presence of a 120mm exhaust. If the grills are restrictive you can always cut them out. It depends on how much DIY you are willing to do.

As for concrete suggestions... I don't have any.

mike961734 · Post by **mike961734** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:40 pm

http://www.jab-tech.com/120mm-Fans-c-81.html

^good deals on fans and shipping to canada (i think but am not positive).

as for 100 dollar maxium case from ncix it might be hard to find most quiet cases may be around 100-130 best i could find was a nsk 4400 but with 3 hdd it might get a little toasty and cramped., id recomend an antec solo or p150 if you can afford it, but maybe a cheaper case with some home brew drive suspension and a 120 front intake may suit you better.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:00 pm

Get NCIX to pricematch their sister company, DirectCanada. They will pricematch any retailer in Canada (best to do it online, ymmv in-store).

Antec 3000B - $51.39
Sparkle 400W PSU - $35.10 (good quality, fairly quiet if you're on a budget, fan-mod if you dare)
Yate Loon D12SL-12 120mm Case Fan - $2.99 (4-pin connector makes it easy to do a 7V mod)

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:07 pm

Talk to Felger Carbon and BlueFront, they're always taking cheap no-name crap and turning into silent gold...

Felger Carbon is hot on the Xclio cases because they come with huge fans that can easily be modified. Some of those cases are only a little more expensive than Nexus 120mm fans!!!

But I'll also say I have the SLK3000B and while it won't win any beauty contests (though it does look better than those older Antec cases that everyone in their mother had and every company copied) it is a very good platform on which to build a silent PC.

frostedflakes · Post by **frostedflakes** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:12 pm

In my opinion you can't do much better than Antec when it comes to quiet and reasonably priced cases. Would definitely recommend checking them out.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:22 pm

Wanted to suggest Antec P150 as it comes with one case fan and quality PSU, but then checked the price on ncix and they sell it for $170. Ouch, you Canadians have it tough...

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:28 pm

Build a case of wood

Or ask friends/family, companys throws away computers once in a while. I just got myself a micro-ATX for free a day agoe

kogi · Post by **kogi** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:41 pm

Love this case. A bit of duct tape to tape up the holes and something to block the front holes.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... OLERMASTER

Not bad
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=ANTEC

Jumper · Post by **Jumper** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:59 pm

SLK3000B + Rotate & Suspend HDD Cage + Mass Load Side Panels w/Self-Stick Flooring Tiles + Quiet Fans + Quiet PSU

Done!

Rotating & suspending the HDD is $5 worth of elastic max.

I got 30 self-stick flooring tiles for $10 at the Family Dollar here - you might get individual tiles as 'samples' at a home depot if you don't mention computers at all.

The stock TriCool on Low isn't too bad, or get some Yate Loons.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:00 pm

kogi wrote:Love this case. A bit of duct tape to tape up the holes and something to block the front holes.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... OLERMASTER

Okay, now pricematch with directcanada's $50 and you've got yourself a nice cheap case...

Or an SLK3000B for $51...

johno · Post by **johno** » Sun May 20, 2007 10:23 pm

How about the Antec NSK4400? It comes with the SU-380 power supply, which seems quite good and efficient. The pictures in the SPCR review on the SU380 suggest it is made by Seasonic. The NSK4400 comes with a 12mm fan and rubber mounting for the HDDs.

I think the challenge for the budget is more the power supply than the case itself, so it is a matter of finding the ones with good power supplies included.