Quiet game case (air cooling), perhaps cheaper alternative for Silverstone Fortress 2

[samstermax]

Hello all,

I recently made a post about a good silent case for use in an air cooled gaming rig.
I kind of ended up with the FT02, it cools good enough for oevrclocking and SLI setup and is reasonable quiet, also I like the design ( can live with a windows but dont want any fan lights)

Anyway. Im sure the FT02 s worth the price but for me its kind of expensive and I realy want to look a bit further to see if there is a cheaper alternative.
I already checked the NZXT Phantom but I dont realy like the design.

I have been looking at reviews of many cases and lots of them doesnt really stand out in noise levels,... and if they do they seem to lack thermal cooling performance.
Now to be honest I dont realy know what to expect as sound/noise is measured in DB and somethimes the difference does look that big.

I do like the design of the corsair cases and many of them come with a nicer price tag then the FT02. Normally I dont like windows but teh 750D for example looks very good in my opinion. Same goes for the 500r but I think this one has led lights in the fans?

Anyway.. to come to my question.
What can I expect of a case that performs reasonable in terms of noise if I choose my internal components carefuly (SSD's, Noctua cooler, modulair PSU..) ?

My current case is a Lian Li P80 and it realy makes a lot of noise.
When going afk to watch some TV I have to turn my PC of because the sound it makes is really annoying so thats why I try to pick my new case carefully.

 

[lehtv]

Fractal Design Define R4 or Define XL R2. Even the Arc Midi series lacking sound insulation is very quiet thanks to the fan controller.

Almost any case can be quieted down by choosing the right fans and an appropriate way of controlling their speeds. But usually it makes more sense to get a whole new case than replace the fans, from an economic point of view... good fans aren't cheap.

It sounds like you already have all the internal components? It would help to know what they are.

 

[samstermax]

Fractal Design Define R4 or Define XL R2. Even the Arc Midi series lacking sound insulation is very quiet thanks to the fan controller.

Almost any case can be quieted down by choosing the right fans and an appropriate way of controlling their speeds. But usually it makes more sense to get a whole new case than replace the fans, from an economic point of view... good fans aren't cheap.

It sounds like you already have all the internal components? It would help to know what they are.

Thank you for your reply.

I build my studio DAW machine not so long ago and I picked the Fractal Design Define R4 so I am familiar with this case.
I think its a great and real quiet case but somehow I think it will not keep my stuff cool in my game PC (Thermal performance in the Anandtech review is not that great).
I am planning on overclocking and I think eventualy I will take the step to run high end cards in SLI.

For now I picked the following components for my new build:

Motherboard: Asus Maximus Hero
CPU: i7 4770K
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14
SSD Samsung Evo 250 GB
HDD WD black 3TB
RAM: 16GB od G. Skill RipJawz or Sniper
PSU: Corsair X-750
GPU: For starters I will be using my GTX 680, perhaps buy another for SLI or upgrade to better sige card.

 

[lehtv]

With just one graphics card and a D14 for a CPU cooler, I have zero doubts that the Define R4 is up to the job, even without replacing or adding fans. I'm using one myself, keeps everything very cool and almost silent, I have 3770K @4.2 and 7950 @1.1.

However it's not the best for SLI configs, I can agree on that. But neither is SLI good for keeping things quiet especially if you overclock, you have to pay serious money to achieve a properly quiet overclocked SLI setup on air cooling.

I would guess the fans in your PC-P80 case run at 1000 RPM or so, and since there are quite many of them, I'm not surprised if it's noisy. Have you considered simply installing a 5.25" fan controller in it? You should be able to halve the speed of the fans using a controller, which should more than halve the perceived noise.

BTW what model is the GTX 680?

 

[samstermax]

The PC-P80 by default comes with a fan controller behind its door.
I have it set to about 50%, turning it up will make it much worse.
I really don't care if my PC makes some noise, I just don't want it be as loud as the PC-P80.
My GTX 680 is a MSI N680GTX-PM2D2GD5.

 

[lehtv]

Are you sure it's the case making all the noise and not the graphics card? Reference coolers can be noisy.

In either case I stick by the Define R4 recommendation... its fan setup will be quieter than the P80 and it will also dampen the components installed inside.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Try SilentPCReview.com for noise comparisons.

If you like the Fortress, the Raven is the same design but with a different shell around it.

I'm very happy with the noise level of my Antec P280, but I only have a single GTX-680 not SLI.