Recommendations for a quiet/sound-dampening case?

[DubbaEwwTeeEff]

I've been browsing around the internet for awhile now, and I can't seem to find any cases that suit my needs properly. So, I have a question for you all: is there a case that has these features, or something close to it, preferably at $150 or less?


I'm looking for a case that's sturdy and quiet - I have this jet engine of a hard drive that I'm hoping to silence by cutting down on case vibrations. I don't want a power supply with it; I already have a very nice Antec supply and I'm hoping to save a little by getting the case alone. I need at least 3 drive bays of each type. The case needs to be ATX form factor. I don't want a door on the front or back of my case; I'd just end up leaving it open all the time anyway. Aluminum would be nice for its light weight, but I could survive without; same goes for a case window. If at all possible, toolless features would be nice as well. Size isn't too big of a factor, but for the most part the bigger the better; I like having room to work.

EDIT: Forgot to mention - I don't overclock, so overheating isn't a problem; since I built the machine I've relied on only the fans for my processor, video card, and power supply, and I've never had any difficulties. So it's not a big deal if a case has 80mm fans instead of 120mm or something like that.

What would you guys recommend to me? And how much should I expect to pay?


As a side note, has anyone here tried Dynamat? I was thinking of adding it to the case I buy, because with this hard drive I think I'm gonna need every advantage I can get.

 

[imported_waldo]

Go for the P160 by Antec...quiet, plent of room, no door, no power supply, ATX form factor, Alumminum, and I am pretty sure it is toolless, and you can get it shipped for about 130 or so!

 

[Nessism]

Click over to silentpcreview.com and check around the forums for info. It's the best site I've found for no nonsense case information. One thing I've learned is that aluminum is not the best material for a quiet case since it tends to vibrate and buzz. Another thing, large slow moving fans are the best for low noise. Most people looking for quiet use 120mm fans and turn down the voltage to quiet them down; reduce the flow until you reach your best balance of noise to heat.

As far a cases go, some of the cheap one are the best place to start. Directron sells the Compucase 6A19/D8000 which has a great reputation for quiet. Uses 120mm fans front and back and a reasonable bezel design.

Also check Coolcases and look around. They sell modified cases as well as stock models that have lots of cooling potentional for reasonable prices. Chembro makes several models that use 120mm fans.

Good luck.

Ed

 

[DubbaEwwTeeEff]

Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

Now, is there anything specific I can do to reduce hard drive noise? Other than not choosing aluminum, as Nessism suggested, what can I do to specifically drop that? Will switching from my cheap no-name $50 case to one of these recommendations drop that hard drive noise significantly? Is there something else I can do to help it in addition?

The hard drive is what I'm worried most about; case fans I could even disconnect completely, as I've never had overheating problems without them, and that stupid hard drive is at least half the noise in my case when it's just standing idle.

I was looking into some Dynamat for this problem; I'm not sure how effective it would be.

 

[Tiamat]

Dansdata ran a test and Dynamat etc do absolutely nothing.

Look at the Antec 3000B at Newegg. This is a somewhat new case that is optimized for you to make it quiet. It purposely doesnt come with a PSU so you can buy your quiet ones like the Seasonic Super Tornado. As for harddrives, Buy seagate or samsung and elastically suspend them with bungee cord. This suspension has allowed even my really thin aluminum Super Lanboy not to resonate. IF you dont want to spend money on a PSU and am willing to settle for something that is not as quiet, you can get the Antec 3700BQE.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/jonomega/HDD_sm.jpg

Also, if the case comes with grommets for the screws on the hdd, they help a little bit. - much better than nothing.

If your HDD whines, makes high pitched constant noise, then there is absolutely no way you will quiet it down other than retiring it and buying a seagate or samsung.

 

[Nessism]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Dansdata ran a test and Dynamat etc do absolutely nothing.

Look at the Antec 3000B at Newegg. This is a somewhat new case that is optimized for you to make it quiet. It purposely doesnt come with a PSU so you can buy your quiet ones like the Seasonic Super Tornado. As for harddrives, Buy seagate or samsung and elastically suspend them with bungee cord. This suspension has allowed even my really thin aluminum Super Lanboy not to resonate. IF you dont want to spend money on a PSU and am willing to settle for something that is not as quiet, you can get the Antec 3700BQE.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/jonomega/HDD_sm.jpg

Also, if the case comes with grommets for the screws on the hdd, they help a little bit. - much better than nothing.

If your HDD whines, makes high pitched constant noise, then there is absolutely no way you will quiet it down other than retiring it and buying a seagate or samsung.

Agree:beer:

Rubber grommets holding the hard drive really do work to knock out seek noise chatter. They won't help whine nose though.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

The best way to quiet hdd noise is really to just get another quieter hard drive. seagates are the way to go, or samsung if you're in a pinch. WD's tend to whine as they get older, and Maxtor's tend to chatter while seeking after a few months.

 

[DubbaEwwTeeEff]

Wonderful... sounds like I'll be needing a new hard drive then.

And, holy crap... I just checked Antec's site for that 3000B, and it's dirt cheap right now. $77.28 with shipping included.

Also, I couldn't find it on Newegg's site...

So Seagate and Samsung are the best ways to go for quiet drives? Any recommendations for the 160-gigabyte range, preferably as cheap as possible now that I'm buying a hard drive AND case?

 

[akira34]

Between my Seagate and Western Digital drives, the Seagates have louder access noise. Are you referring to sound when it comes to PATA or SATA drives? Since SATA drives are the newer technology, you can't use the information from PATA drives as blanket statements on them.

As for the bungee jumping of hard drives, I wouldn't do that if you EVER plan on moving your computer. Most of us move our systems around at least a little from time to time, which means the drives are going to move even more. You'll be hating yourself if you bungee suspend your drive, only to have it bang into your case (internally) or the mobo and damage hardware (either the drive or what it knocked against). THAT can be a very expensive replacement, all for possibly reducing a minor amount of chatter that could have been eliminated with a better case (costing not much more, compared to either the drive or part you kill).

Personally, you won't find any drives held in with bungee cords inside systems I build. Cases are designed to hold drives in a stable fashion. The better quality cases do that and even factor in noise considerations into the design. Some of the cheap cases try to fool people into thinking they are better by including 20 cents worth of rubber gromets in the case (for hard drives), but then use cheap/thin sheet metal for their construction.

 

[Nessism]

Originally posted by: DubbaEwwTeeEff
Wonderful... sounds like I'll be needing a new hard drive then.

And, holy crap... I just checked Antec's site for that 3000B, and it's dirt cheap right now. $77.28 with shipping included.

Also, I couldn't find it on Newegg's site...

So Seagate and Samsung are the best ways to go for quiet drives? Any recommendations for the 160-gigabyte range, preferably as cheap as possible now that I'm buying a hard drive AND case?

One thing I forgot to mention, the Compucase 6A19 from Directron for $36 + shipping is almost the exact same case internally as the Antec SLK3700/3000. The only real difference is the Antec has a different plastic front bezel and a higher price.

 

[DubbaEwwTeeEff]

Originally posted by: akira34
Between my Seagate and Western Digital drives, the Seagates have louder access noise. Are you referring to sound when it comes to PATA or SATA drives? Since SATA drives are the newer technology, you can't use the information from PATA drives as blanket statements on them.

Well, the current drive is a PATA by Western Digital, and it is the *loudest* thing in my case by far. It's making that constant whine noise described by lobadobadingdong and Tiamat (the access noise isn't a problem), though I can't remember if it was always like that or a recent development. I haven't owned it for very long - maybe a year or so. I think I'm gonna replace it with a SATA - it's possible to have PATA and SATA connected to the same mobo, as long as you have the connections... right? Sorry, I'm not very familiar with the tech, as all I've used until now is PATA.