Need Ultra Quiet Case + Fans

[larry89]

Any case suggestions for an ultra quiet computer for playing games and stuff? I can still hear the fans spinning in my case when I play games like doom3 or half life 2 and it really bugs me.

Also going with the case that you suggest please suggest some quiet fans. I am sick of my super loud ass computer.


As best as a cooling job it can possibly have and doesnt matter if it has an acrylic window or not.

 

[wisdomtooth]

A case does not a quiet computer make. You have to hunt down every individual noise maker and squash it. Prime suspects:

PSU. CPU HSF. GPU HSF. NB HSF. Case Fans. HDs. Optical drives.

Your current case can probably run quiet, as soon as you replace the offending items.

HTH.

 

[Zucarita9000]

Originally posted by: larry89
Any case suggestions for an ultra quiet computer for playing games and stuff? I can still hear the fans spinning in my case when I play games like doom3 or half life 2 and it really bugs me.

Also going with the case that you suggest please suggest some quiet fans. I am sick of my super loud ass computer.


As best as a cooling job it can possibly have and doesnt matter if it has an acrylic window or not.

Get an Antec 3000B case, a PSU with a single 120mm fan. Try to find some Yate Loon D12SL-12 120mm fans for the case and a Zalman 7000B heatsink for the CPU.

Also, install a new heatsink for the GPU, something from Zalman or from Artic Cooling.

If you can't find Yate Loon fans, get a Nexus.

 

[cyberknight]

I vouch for the Antec SLK3000B. It comes with a a TriCool rear exhaust fan which spins at about 900RPM on lowest setting, which is plenty quiet.

For a PSU, you can go big time and get the fanless Antec Phantom or go with something a little more reasonable like the Seasonic S12-430W.

Nexus makes awesome case fans, I'll recommend that for your front fan. And a quiet CPU Heatsink... Either a Zalman one or an XP-90 or XP-120 with a Nexus fan will do the job.

for the GPU, something from Zalman or Arctic Cooling should do fine. You can also go with a fanless heatpipe heatsinks as well. I hear ThermalTake makes a pretty good one.

Make sure you grab a Seagate Hard Drive too. beware of the NCQ drives though, they apprantly make more noise. (trade off for performance though, I'm sure they are still pretty quiet)

 

[Tiamat]

Antec 3000B
2x Nexus 120 (exhaust and intake)
Seasonic S12 430
Thermalright XP120 with Nexus 120 or
Thermalright XP90 with Panaflo L1A 92mm @ 9V or less.

Air conditioner filter to cover side vent holes.

Your loudest components after all this will be:
1. Northbridge fan. Not much you can do if it is close to your GPU. On my ABIT nforce2 board, its by the cpu so, i use the Zalman NB47J

2. X800XL. I dont know how loud this is, but im sure it isnt quiet. Check out Zalmans new gpu cooler, or artic silencer offerings.

3. HDDs. This may be costly. You will have to seek out quiet seagates/samsung hdds. Perhaps some of the new WD are quiet as well.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Antec 3000B
2x Nexus 120 (exhaust and intake)
Seasonic S12 430
Thermalright XP120 with Nexus 120 or
Thermalright XP90 with Panaflo L1A 92mm @ 9V or less.

Air conditioner filter to cover side vent holes.

Your loudest components after all this will be:
1. Northbridge fan. Not much you can do if it is close to your GPU. On my ABIT nforce2 board, its by the cpu so, i use the Zalman NB47J

2. X800XL. I dont know how loud this is, but im sure it isnt quiet. Check out Zalmans new gpu cooler, or artic silencer offerings.

3. HDDs. This may be costly. You will have to seek out quiet seagates/samsung hdds. Perhaps some of the new WD are quiet as well.

This is very good advice. I would like to add however that Antec is only one of many ways to go. There are plenty of other quality cases that will fill the role just as well, Lian-li, In-Win, Compucase ect. For fans themselves look at Panaflo and Yate Loon, I wouldn't waste my money on Nexus (re-badged Yate Loon).

 

[ribbon13]

Not the quietest, but far from loud. I like the aluminum look they add to my radiators.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Antec 3000B
2x Nexus 120 (exhaust and intake)
Seasonic S12 430
Thermalright XP120 with Nexus 120 or
Thermalright XP90 with Panaflo L1A 92mm @ 9V or less.

Air conditioner filter to cover side vent holes.

Your loudest components after all this will be:
1. Northbridge fan. Not much you can do if it is close to your GPU. On my ABIT nforce2 board, its by the cpu so, i use the Zalman NB47J

2. X800XL. I dont know how loud this is, but im sure it isnt quiet. Check out Zalmans new gpu cooler, or artic silencer offerings.

3. HDDs. This may be costly. You will have to seek out quiet seagates/samsung hdds. Perhaps some of the new WD are quiet as well.

This is very good advice. I would like to add however that Antec is only one of many ways to go. There are plenty of other quality cases that will fill the role just as well, Lian-li, In-Win, Compucase ect. For fans themselves look at Panaflo and Yate Loon, I wouldn't waste my money on Nexus (re-badged Yate Loon).

I usually recommend the yateloon D12SL, however it seems impossible to find in the US ever since silentpcreview bought the 2 stores out of stock repeatedly :laugh:

I believe some of the other good cases are pretty low in price as well. Evercase, compucase. Evercase can be found on newegg.

 

[stackingreasyBBs]

The medium speed Yate Loon is still available, albeit without RPM sensing. Undervolted, it's pretty silent, and can push something like 70 cfm at full blast (but not quietly). D12SM-12

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Antec 3000B
2x Nexus 120 (exhaust and intake)
Seasonic S12 430
Thermalright XP120 with Nexus 120 or
Thermalright XP90 with Panaflo L1A 92mm @ 9V or less.

Air conditioner filter to cover side vent holes.

Your loudest components after all this will be:
1. Northbridge fan. Not much you can do if it is close to your GPU. On my ABIT nforce2 board, its by the cpu so, i use the Zalman NB47J

2. X800XL. I dont know how loud this is, but im sure it isnt quiet. Check out Zalmans new gpu cooler, or artic silencer offerings.

3. HDDs. This may be costly. You will have to seek out quiet seagates/samsung hdds. Perhaps some of the new WD are quiet as well.

This is very good advice. I would like to add however that Antec is only one of many ways to go. There are plenty of other quality cases that will fill the role just as well, Lian-li, In-Win, Compucase ect. For fans themselves look at Panaflo and Yate Loon, I wouldn't waste my money on Nexus (re-badged Yate Loon).

I usually recommend the yateloon D12SL, however it seems impossible to find in the US ever since silentpcreview bought the 2 stores out of stock repeatedly :laugh:

I believe some of the other good cases are pretty low in price as well. Evercase, compucase. Evercase can be found on newegg.

I wasn't aware they were all gone , hopefully they'll show up again soon.

As an alternative I've had pretty good experience with 120mm LIA's at 5-6volts. They have some slight motor noise compared to the 80 and 92mm versions but it's largely un-noticeable in most systems.

 

[Zepper]

The Antek SLK3000-B/SLK3700-AMB and the Compucase 6A19 are all basically the same design and among the best re. noise and cooling regardless of price - see more info on coolcases.com and silentpcreview.com . But they can be a bit cramped esp. for long add-on cards.
. The Evercase 42x2 series is equally good, but you often have to buy the HD vibe damper cushions separately - check with your reseller to see if yours includes them. You can buy the dampers direct from Evercase if your case doesn't come with them, but only over the phone, by mail or fax. These are also reviewed several times (4252 and 4292 both as part of systems and separately) on silentpcreview.com . The 42x2 chassis is at the core of the Asus Vento, if that makes any diff. to you...
. And if you want Aluminum, the Kingwin 424 series (also sold under the Beantech name by SVC.com et al.) is a good starting point. The only one I know of for under $100. that's made of 2mm Al. Thick Al is good for noise as Al is inherently noisier than steel. And Al is easy to cut if you need larger fans ...
. I think it wouldn't be too hard to tweak the Silverstone Berserker for silent running too. See my review on TechIMO . Its cooling potential is already quite high OOB. My Duron 1600 runs at 35C and the system is at 31C (RT about 71F) with a random 80mm exhaust and a random 120mm intake and another random 80mm as cross flow on the HDs. Eventually I'll get some silicone isolators for the fans and move the HDs into an isolated cage in the bottom bay. And this case definitely is ROOMY! It is available from newegg and a few others. Silverstone says it is still a current product but usually only sold to system integrators now. No sign of it on their web site any more... The mini Berserker is gone forever.
. The overall quietness and cooling will depend on using quality components like Panasonic wave bearing or YS Maglev fans as well as a rheostat based fan controller (pcm fan controllers can actually add noise depending on the fan), and isolating noise sources from the chassis. Even though the case options I suggested are among the best OOB, they can still benefit from intelligent tweaking.

.bh.

 

[Nnyan]

A bit on the boring side if you like splashy cases but the Lite-On FS020 is very well made all its fan mounts are 120mm.