Quiet cases

[samjlee]

I was just wondering what the best and quietest cases are for the overclocker. You see I want to do some audio-video production and hate the noise of the case to distract me. I also want to know what would be a sufficient power supply...300w perhaps??? Please help me out...thanks.

 

[mcoady]

Tough to make such a box - high speed means high-heat, and that means fans. If you overclock, that means loud fans. I assume you're building an Athlon based system, in which case I'd reccomend the CoolerMaster DP5-6H51 CPU fan - stay away from the FOP32 and FOP38 fans, very loud (but good cooling!). This fan should keep your cpu reasonably cool without waking up the neighborhood.
Either a Palo Alto or Fong Kai case should be pretty quiet. Cases with plastic covers, lined with metal are the quietest (see anand's reviews of these brand cases).
As for the powersupply, there is a company that specializes in quiet hardware, and they make a quiet 300W athlon supply - http://www.quietpc.com/

Good luck!
-matt

 

[kami]

You could add some sound dampening material to the inside of your case as well. Ever see the bumpy foam covering the wall of sound and recording rooms? Buy some of that and put it as many place inside your case as you can. It will be very quiet if done correctly.

 

[samjlee]

Hey, thanks for the urls, but I was wondering if there were any sites located in the U.S. Stuff shipped from the UK is pretty expensive.






Sam

 

[CygnusX1]

Hello,

There is an egroups message group all about how to quiet down your computer. You can find it at: http://www.egroups.com/messages/Silent-PC/

Mark.

 

[Jhhnn]

As I see it, and I'm not alone, the only way to accomodate high-heat overclocked hardware and relative quiet is to start with a low restriction case. This allows for quiet low power fans to move enough air to keep things cool.

I have an Antec sx1030, the sx830 is very similar. Other cases that would appear to be likely candidates include the Fong Kai FK320, the Lite-On FS 020, Chenbro Genie Jr., and anything else that has obvious open airways. These are generally larger cases, not quite full towers. It's a tough feature to find in a smaller case, unless you are willing to do mods.

Having a temperature-controlled fan on the psu is desirable. The Antecs have it, as do the Enermax 285 and up series. The antec 300w is at the top end of ordinary units, the Enermax is definitely a cut above if you are willing to spend the extra.

For case fans, the L1A series panaflos are among the best in terms of airflow vs noise no matter the size. They also work at 7v, in the event that you find that you can cut back on airflow.

For cooling the cpu, the Alphas are still among the best compromises when fitted with a 60mm fan of about 21-23 cfm. The Taisol 733092 gives very good results for a bargain unit, but is somewhat louder.

So far as sound-deadening goes, it can help, if only a little. Better to keep it quiet in the first place.

Where to buy- 2cooltek, Teamawe, Onvia, Mwave, Computer123 has good prices on the Enermax 351.

Just one guy's opinion.