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Quiet case recomendations?

A

alizee

Senior member
I've been looking for a new case, and the biggest issue I'm looking at is noise level. I'd like it to be quiet, but also pretty spacious, a full tower would be nice. I'd also like plenty of cooling, I know it's contradictory.

A couple friends of mine are using Thermaltake cases. One is a Lanfire, and it's pretty nice; light and small, but really noisy. The other is a Xaser III. I remember it being pretty quiet, but really heavy. I thought they were both pretty nice, though.
It seems the XaserV is the next gen XaserIII, and I don't mind the heaviness aspect. It seems like it has plenty of cooling, too. Any opinions?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133131

Also, I have a Thermalright XP-120. I had a couple issues with some case/mobo combinations where it would either be directly next to the PSU or so big I had to leave the PSU out of the case, so some input there would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not stuck on the XaserV, are there any other recomendations? The antec p180 looked ok, but it didn't seem like it had many intake fans. Also, my budget is about $70-90US, so this is kind of limiting.

Thanks for everything.
 
I don' think that that case is meant for "quiet" computing (and knowing Thermaltake, it's probably just the opposite). You're on the right track with that P180, and I know it's kinda hard to tell, but it does have room for 2 120mm intakes, along with dual 120mm exhausts. Many people here will be glad to give you advice on it and will tell you that theirs are extremely quiet. If you don't have much money, I'd say to to svc.com or performance-pcs.com and check out the Lian Li PC-7B, since it's a good aluminum midtower and has room for 2 120mm fans (three if you pay performance-pcs 20 bucks extra to install a 120mm blowhole). This too is a little over your budget, but I would highly recommend saving up about 40 extra bucks to get either it or the P180. Hope that helps.
 
I have a P-180, and the thing is almost dead silent. Loaded with high end components, it barley eeks out any noise, loaded with 2 hdds, and the fans are quite strong, on low, i can feel some cool air. on high, a little louder, but dayumn is there some serious suction! Also, one of the differences is the side panel, knock on your case now. Sounds a wee bit hollow, no? Try rapping on the p-180 and you'd be hard pressed to find anything louder than a soft thud. If you look around, It can be had for a few extra dollars above your budget.
 
Look again at the Antec P180.
Get an extra 120mm Antec TriCool 120 DBB fan (Part#761345-75121-6).
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=75121
There is an empty mount for it already there in front of the upper chamber
HDD bay.
I'd suggest you mount all HDDs in the lower chamber, leave the upper HDD bay empty
to increase air-flow.
I would not use the VGA duct and duct tape over the remaining holed surface to prevent
warm air from the back of the case re-entering.
With 4 120mm fans that can be set to Low, Medium or High you shouldn't have trouble
getting enough air-flow.

Happy trailz,


 
Newegg has the P180 for $99 after MIR, which is a STEAL . . . XaserV? Please, 80mm fans vs. 120mm fans? Guess which one is quieter . . . The P180 may not have a clear side panel but there's a reason: silence . . . without that thick side panel, it wouldn't be nearly as quiet as it is . . . the only downside is the weight (nearly 30 lbs) but for what it offers I would say you should jump all over it . . .
 
Thanks for the responses, it seems everybody on here is in love with the P180, and it looks like a great case. I started a new topic about which power supply I should match it up with here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1738954&enterthread=y

If anybody has recomendations they will be thoroughly appreciated.

Just saw the post about the Aspire X-Cruiser. That looks like a good case, neh? and he said it was prety quit, and it's a little more in my pricerange. It has a side window, and while that's kind of low on my list of prioraties, it's still there. any comments?
 
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