Looking for an affordable case for building a quiet PC

[HeroOfPellinor]

Ideally, it would have:

- Room on the interior of all sides for a layer of sound dampening material
- 2 80mm intake fans or one 92mm+
- Drive bays without friction grips so rubber grommets could be used effectivly (ideally the grommets would be installed already)
- Inexpensive relative to the Sonata

 

[JBT]

try the cases/cooling forum

 

[AtTheGates]

Antec SLK2600AMB @ $60
Antec SLK3700-BQE @ $72

Both come with one 120 fan in back and room for another as intake. Both are roomy and have grommets installed.

Edit: AMB only supports 80 mm fans and does not have grommets. My mistake.

 

[Todd33]

Antec SLK-3700 line is cheap and quiet, check the reviews.

 

[johnjkr1]

They make a cheaper version of the sonata that doesnt come with the fancy power supply, just a regular one.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Todd33
Antec SLK-3700 line is cheap and quiet, check the reviews.

Looks good, but I'm paying for a PSU with that case that doesn't have a manual voltage regulator. Plus, wouldn't drives look distractingly ugly against those metalic hues? Or do they sell them with bronze faceplates?

 

[Zebo]

Hop I have a new case for sale in FS forums. Is new in box has new fortron silent PS... $50 and I paid over $100 but too late for rma...

 

[AtTheGates]

I'm ordering a 3700 today with white drives. I really don't care if they don't match because they will be hidden behind the door most of the time. Broze face plates could be hard to find. So if you concerned about matching then get the BQE. Its black so it should be easy to find matching drives. What do you mean by manual voltage regulator?

 

[DaveSimmons]

My SLK3700AMB is actually grey not bronze. Beige drives look fine with the door closed (which you'd do since you want quiet).

> - Room on the interior of all sides for a layer of sound dampening material

What I've read in the www.SilentPCReview.com forums seemed to say that the material doesn't help much or at all.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Todd33
Antec SLK-3700 line is cheap and quiet, check the reviews.

Looks good, but I'm paying for a PSU with that case that doesn't have a manual voltage regulator. Plus, wouldn't drives look distractingly ugly against those metalic hues? Or do they sell them with bronze faceplates?

Then look at the beige "OEM" version of the SLK3700 called the 6A19. $39 w/o PSU from Directron. It's the exact same case as the 3700 but with a different front bezel that has no door, and it's beige.

This, like the Antec 3700 series, is a great case and I'd highly recommend it. It's the basis for a large percentage of the quiet systems being built by members of the SilentPCReview forums.

A nearly identical version (with foam included) is being sold by AcoustiProducts, a company that sells quiet computer hardware.