Cool and quiet case?

[KentState]

I currently have an older Cooler Master Cosmos 1000. The case has been very quiet, but it seems that heat is becoming a problem. Pulling the side off the case has lowered the temps on my 780Ti from 83C to 72C while gaming. Is there anything on the market < $200 that is quiet and go at air flow?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Hmmm your case is what I would consider to be a top tier item. Your temps seem to be in the range of what would be normal for the card. How many 120mm fans are you running in it?

Back to your origional question it would be good to know if you would consider a case that has side fan. Side fan definitely cools the GPU better but at the expense of noise.

Check out the Corsair Obsidians and Carbide lines. Fractal has some nice cases in the define and core lines too.

 

[JechtShot]

Fractal Arc Midi R2 or Fractal R4. It uses all 140mm fans (Up to 7 if you include the bottom one but hard to mount since the PSU wires will be in the way). I removed both hard drive cages on mine for maximum airflow from the 2 front 140mm fans. I mounted my HDD in the 5.25 bay with an adapter and my SSD behind the motherboard tray (has holes pre-drilled for two SSD mounting locations).

The build quality is superb and quite heavy. I came from a Cooler Master and is very flimsy in comparison. I also forgot to mention that it has a easy to remove dust filter on the front and bottom of the case (the front is click panel and bottom slides out).

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Don't confuse the Cosmos 1000 with the newer, larger Cosmos II. The Cosmos 1000 is a bit outdated, and has no doubt been surpassed in noise/performance by newer cases.

If you're looking for big, quiet, and good ariflow, check out the Fractal Define XL R2. I've had one for about a year now and have been quite pleased with it, although I did have to request longer motherboard spaces as the ones they were shipping with the unit at the time were too short. It's also pretty affordable for a full tower case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352029

 

[KentState]

So far I really like the Corsair Obsidian 550D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139012

and the Fractal R2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352029

or Factal R4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352020

 

[TFchris]

I been using the 750D since it first released and I love it. It may not have the air flow like the HAF's from CM, but it's still decent, and isn't a dust magnet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139024

 

[Tifosi248F1]

I'll add a +1 for the FD Arc Midi R2. Absolutely love mine. Great customer support as well. Had an issue with one of the included fans and they had a replacement out to me in no time.

 

[KentState]

I'm trying to understand the differences in Fractal cases. Is the R2 and R4 just slight variants of each other or am I missing something?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

The R means revision. There are various models on different revisions.

Define series: designed for silence, with damping material, quiet fans, and front doors:
Define R4 - mid-tower
Define XL R2 - full tower
Define Mini - mATX mini tower

Arc series: quiet but not designed specifically for silence (e.g. no damping)
Midi R2 - mid tower
Mini R2 - mATX mini tower

Core series: basic, inexpensive cases...
Core 3000
Core 1000

Older revisions (e.g. Define R3 or Midi R1) are still available at some retailers (usually at discount prices), but these have been replaced by the revisions above.

 

[Charlie98]

Fractal Arc Midi R2 or Fractal R4. It uses all 140mm fans (Up to 7 if you include the bottom one but hard to mount since the PSU wires will be in the way). I removed both hard drive cages on mine for maximum airflow from the 2 front 140mm fans. I mounted my HDD in the 5.25 bay with an adapter and my SSD behind the motherboard tray (has holes pre-drilled for two SSD mounting locations).

The build quality is superb and quite heavy. I came from a Cooler Master and is very flimsy in comparison. I also forgot to mention that it has a easy to remove dust filter on the front and bottom of the case (the front is click panel and bottom slides out).

I have very much the same experience with my Define Minis... I added a 2nd 120mm front fan and pulled the top HDD cage. My 560ti 448 is a pretty hot card but temps are very manageable with the airflow this smaller case provides.

Arc vs Define... the Define has sound damping material on the side panels which help with noise as well, and the built-in filters seriously aid in keeping the dust down on the components.

My Define Mini makes the CM HAF922 it replaced look like a hollowed out beer can.

OP... dumb question: Have you cleaned the heat sink on your GPU lately? I know my 560ti will start to cook a little unless I give it a snort of compressed air every month or so.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have very much the same experience with my Define Minis... I added a 2nd 120mm front fan and pulled the top HDD cage. My 560ti 448 is a pretty hot card but temps are very manageable with the airflow this smaller case provides.

Arc vs Define... the Define has sound damping material on the side panels which help with noise as well, and the built-in filters seriously aid in keeping the dust down on the components.

My Define Mini makes the CM HAF922 it replaced look like a hollowed out beer can.

OP... dumb question: Have you cleaned the heat sink on your GPU lately? I know my 560ti will start to cook a little unless I give it a snort of compressed air every month or so.

I think there were folks I knew who thought the HAF mid-towers looked like a hollowed beer-can when I first bought one three years ago. And-- they complained that they were ugly. . . . And -- it was built using "too much plastic." This came from someone who also had purchased the CM Stacker mid-tower with the hinged plastic fan-cage. Nothing so fancy in the HAFs.

But if you need airflow at low dBA's, the right model has three vents for those 200mm fans.

Me -- I got tired of the kruft buildup, and I think it will be reduced by thermally controlling the high-output fan I bought for the side-panel and the CM stock fan in the case front.

Then, there's the fan filter/noise-reducer inside the Fractal's front door. I got tired of cleaning fan filters on other cases, and they do restrict airflow.

I'd say if you're water-cooling, you don't need so much airflow or you want provision for 120/140mm fans. I also keep wondering about my choice: 200mm fans seem a bit extreme. But -- they work . . .

 

[KentState]

The R means revision. There are various models on different revisions.

Define series: designed for silence, with damping material, quiet fans, and front doors:
Define R4 - mid-tower
Define XL R2 - full tower
Define Mini - mATX mini tower

Arc series: quiet but not designed specifically for silence (e.g. no damping)
Midi R2 - mid tower
Mini R2 - mATX mini tower

Core series: basic, inexpensive cases...
Core 3000
Core 1000

Older revisions (e.g. Define R3 or Midi R1) are still available at some retailers (usually at discount prices), but these have been replaced by the revisions above.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[smitbret]

I currently have an older Cooler Master Cosmos 1000. The case has been very quiet, but it seems that heat is becoming a problem. Pulling the side off the case has lowered the temps on my 780Ti from 83C to 72C while gaming. Is there anything on the market < $200 that is quiet and go at air flow?

FD Define R4 vote, here, too.

The Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 or 2 would probably be excellent choices as well, if you can get one.

 

[Tweakin]

...I'd say if you're water-cooling, you don't need so much airflow or you want provision for 120/140mm fans...

Correct assumption. I don't even have a case fan, just the rad fans and both rads pull fresh air into the case. 3 140mm @ 500~700rpm and 2 120mm @ 600~800rpm.

 

[phillyboy]

I've got a Corsair 550D for sale that runs nice and quiet... . It has a bottom-intake fan and two fronts which should help with video card temps.

As an Alternative an Antec P183 or Solo II might be worth a look if you are sticking to single-card. Stick a front intake fan into the Solo II to help with temps like you would in a normal case. The P183 is an older case, but it still has measures for cable management (though not as generous as a new case), dust filters, removable hard drive cages and USB 3.0 in the front.

The Solo II has the same features minus the removable HD cage, along with thick steel side panels + sound dampening. It got panned on Anandtech for temps but SPCR gave it a favorable review after putting in a front intake fan, which I don't see as too big of a deal. I usually end up replacing the stock fans anyways.

I just finished a build in a P183 and it runs nice and quiet with a 780 Ti and 4930k. I took out the top HD cage and put a front intake fan in its place, and sealed up the top fan cover with a metal plate + some acoustipack foam on it.

As for your card temps - have you tried playing with the intake fan speeds to see if that helps? I also put the skyn3t BIOS on my 780 Ti to lock it in at 1080 MHz GPU, but I don't overclock it any further. GPU Boost would always take my card up to 80 °C if it was something demanding (like folding).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Correct assumption. I don't even have a case fan, just the rad fans and both rads pull fresh air into the case. 3 140mm @ 500~700rpm and 2 120mm @ 600~800rpm.

Is that the range you control them, or just the variation in speed as you run them full bore?

 

[Charlie98]

I think there were folks I knew who thought the HAF mid-towers looked like a hollowed beer-can when I first bought one three years ago. And-- they complained that they were ugly. . . . And -- it was built using "too much plastic." This came from someone who also had purchased the CM Stacker mid-tower with the hinged plastic fan-cage. Nothing so fancy in the HAFs .

I thought the HAF looked fine... I didn't have any problems with appearances, and it was easy to work in... just what I needed for my first build. What I did find was I got better thermal performance with the smaller, closed Define Mini running less fans at less RPM. And this was after I taped the HAF up as much as I could trying to get positive case pressure. ...but it sure sounded like those big 200mm's were moving a lot of air!