Please Recomend me a Quiet Case

[kingofbongo]

Hi there,

Before I say anything. I just wanted to commend the forums here at anandtech. You guys rock, especially when compared to flamers often found on other forums.

I recently purchase an Antec Sonata for a case I was building. The thing was nice, but it scratched easily and was pretty pricey. Also, despite its sound levels being low, I would prefer a quieter case.

So is there anything else which you guys could recomend? It should have good airflow and preferably be aluminum. Or do you guys think I should just settle with a Sonata (since it can be obtained for 80 bucks plus tax) and mod it to be as quiet as posible.

I appreciate any tips.
Thanks!

 

[lchyi]

I think the Sonata is one of the quietest cases, not to mention really stylish. Stick with that, any quieter and you're probably going to need to replace a fan somewhere on there, not the case. Remember, case vibrations suck, but most of the time, it's a fan whirring that you hear and that's probably what's coming from the Sonata because that thing is almost vibration free.

 

[techiecool]

go toSilent PC Review. look at their recommendations and boards. you won't be dissappointed. no offense anandtech...

 

[lchyi]

Good link, and even though it's not that far down... BUMP

 

[Corporate Thug]

sonata

 

[Slammy1]

You can do something similar to me, mine's very quiet. I have the ATC-201C with a Zalman 700CU HSF. For PSU, the Zalman 400W. It should make your HDs the loudest thing in your computer by far.

 

[khayyam]

SPCR is an excellent ref.

check out the Antec SLK-3700AMB. it's very popular because it's got 120mm case fans that you can turn waaaay down, and it's got rubber grommets for the 3.5" drives. it's a lot cheaper than the sonata.

you might also check these cases

and if cost isn't a problem, check the lian li pc-6070.

 

[Icewind]

You can make any case as quiet as you want it. All it takes is some planning for your parts and what you want it to do. Cooling efficently is the key to a quiet case.

 

[Cerb]

SLK-3700AMB, and get quiet fans...then 7v them.
Big heatsink, quiet fan.
Replace the PSU exhaust fan with a quiet one, and disable the PSU intake fan.
On SPCR's listings, the Evercase E4252 can easily be gotten down to the noise level of a Sonata or SLK-3700AMB (and I do believe it is the best case for under $80...I disqualify the cheaper SLK-3700AMB type cases because they are FUGLY), but requires much more work than the SLK-3700AMB does to get it any quieter (You get to deminishing returns quicker).
If you're about to build, rather than modify, your PC, read here for a week or so, and SPCR's forums. If you plan ahead, it'll work great and be $100 or less of a premium for silence, depending on how much quieter you want it than stock.
While I would plug myself shamelessly , MechBgon is on the ball about this stuff more than ony other really active forums member.

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: Icewind
You can make any case as quiet as you want it. All it takes is some planning for your parts and what you want it to do. Cooling efficently is the key to a quiet case.

What he said. Except it's not really cooling efficiently that makes a quiet case. A Tornado is quite efficient at cooling, it's just loud as fsck.