Antec 300 vs Antec 302 vs Fractal Design R3?

[birthdaymonkey]

Second update.

The little gripes aside(only thing I'm truly sad about is the broken latch...), the case has made a noticeable improvement in my system noise.

When I play around with my gpu fan at 25-60%, the noise difference isn't as pronounced as it was in the Antec. It seems that my psu got louder(but probably just subjectively louder because everything else got quieter?) and even after oiling it, it's still producing too much noise. Time for another~ upgrade

One of the case fans seems to have bad balancing, considering that it's noticeably louder than the other.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the case.

Thanks again for all the input guys.

Seasonic X-series PSUs with Sanyo Denki fans... they're pricey but an easy choice if you're after quiet operation. They have a 460 watt fanless model--and the ones with fans don't even turn them on until you put a significant load on the system.

 

[slpnshot]

Did you use to have PSU fan up in the old case, and do you have PSU fan down in the R3? that will obviously change how you perceive the sound made by the fan

I had it face down on the Antec 300 but there was no open hole for an air feed on the 300. I merely did the face down because I was paranoid a screw might come loose of the pci slots and fall into a face up psu fan.

Seasonic X-series PSUs with Sanyo Denki fans... they're pricey but an easy choice if you're after quiet operation. They have a 460 watt fanless model--and the ones with fans don't even turn them on until you put a significant load on the system.

Thanks, I'm looking at the x560 right now. 560 should be enough for a single GPU system right? I'm planning on OC-ing to 4.5~ in the future and I'm looking at the 7850 whenever the price drops. I looked around the wattage calculate websites, but Asus seems to have a ridiculous amount of headroom for their recommended wattage.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Thanks, I'm looking at the x560 right now. 560 should be enough for a single GPU system right? I'm planning on OC-ing to 4.5~ in the future and I'm looking at the 7850 whenever the price drops. I looked around the wattage calculate websites, but Asus seems to have a ridiculous amount of headroom for their recommended wattage.

You could probably crossfire 7850s on a Seasonic X-560. It is, as you say, more than adequate for any single GPU system.

 

[HunterXray]

Antec 302 is substantially quieter than the 300 because it has no front fans or even a spot to put them in. The top fan is improved and much quieter than the 300.

I don't know where you get your information regarding there being no spot to put fans in the front of the 302. It's true that the 302 doesn't have any fan cages like the 300. Maybe the 302 you have/saw didn't, but the 302 that I just received includes holes and screws for mounting 2 fans in the front.