Ari Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 A friend of mine built me a really nice PC a year or two ago, and it's been first class. Only snag is it's got a really noisy fan (or fans). Anyway, I've mentioned this to him and he's going to re case it for me plus add some additional USB ports at the same time. So what is the best case to get and where from? Any ideas or suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorburn Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Antec Sonata is good, about £60 and includes a decent quality, very quiet PSU in it. Also has 2 front USB ports, firewire port and audio ports. Aria, EBuyer, KustomPC, etc all do it I believe. Built a system using one the other week and not had any complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Have a look here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 i personally like the coolermaster ones. case helps but really , its the components in it. psu, fans, graphics cards and more importantly how much heat the chip makes, and how much heat you have to get rid of. a cooler running chip makes it easier for a quieter running system, as less heat to get rid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 to be pedantic Ari, it's not the case that is noisy but the fans in it. You could keep the same case and replace the fans - silenX, panaflo and pabst are all quiet [pabst are bloody expensive though!] as well as a quieter psu. then when you get into this case you could throw sound-dampening foam into your case, replase the fan on your cpu cooler......quiet pcs are an expensive [but rewarding!] game to get into. now having a quietish pc that you can oveclock nicely.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I use Antec Sonata II's also. Very quiet and great build quality, and none failed yet, running 24/7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omi Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 www.quietpc.com (could be co.uk) read the forum there too... an awful lot of information and totally SILENT PCs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritey Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 By an apple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 id agree if your going to want to try and get a quiet pc, then make sure you have the budget to chase those noises. ive got quiet running fans on 7v not 12volt. sound deadening zalman chip coolers zalman heatseks on graphics cards instead of fans selected hard drives for silent ones selected psu for silence and investigated what motherboards had an extra onboard fan and which didnt round cables for better airflow, ie fans can run slower. switchable fans etc the list is endless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omi Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Sound deadening for the case, rubber-mount all drives... Best one I ever saw was a PC which was totally watercooled, CPU, chipset, GPU, the lot. - Water pipes went out the back of the PC, into the next room where the pump and radiator were. Good PSUs can be virtually silent, so the only noise it made was the quiet drive ticking every now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 All good advice chaps thanks. We're on the, err, case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 Sure it's the case fan(s) and not the CPU fan? These, if not specified at the building stage, are usually the cheap variety that get louder over time and aren't expensive to swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_B Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 If you go with a Sonata, make sure it's a new Sonata II. If you really want to push the boat out (so to speak!) with style, plenty of space and quiet operation, an Antec P180 case is the dog's private bits, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted November 12, 2005 Report Share Posted November 12, 2005 Nah! This case gives you plenty of space and looks great! You can get 13 drives in there and the supplied fans are quiet too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 I've ordered a Antec SLK3700-BQE Case, 350W PSU and Acoustic Material - £75.00 (£88.13 inc VAT) Near the bottom of the page HERE [ QUOTE ] The Antec SLK3700-BQE (Black Quiet Edition) is a case that has been designed to help users build a very quiet PC for a great price! This case is supplied with a quiet 350W Antec PSU (click here for technical information), one 120mm quiet Antec fan and a 17 piece acoustic material kit from the manufactures of the excellent AcoustiPack - Acousti Products. The acoustic material kit is a pre-cut set of acoustic materials especially designed for the Antec SLK3700-BQE tower case. The pre-cut AcoustiPack™ for the BQE adds to the quiet features built in to this case to help create a case that will run almost silently along with other quiet components. The kit consists of 5 acoustic foam blocks, and 11 shaped pieces of acoustic composite. The kit also contains an additional washable dust filter - which improves the air filtration on the existing air filter in the front of the case. Some of the foam blocks are optional depending on how many internal components are installed. The acoustic foam pieces are designed to occupy unused void space inside the case, and serve to reduce internal case volume and absorb internal operational noise. For example, fitting of one of the large blocks supplied into the void area under the HDD cage (which is rotated 90° to 'normal' drive cage orientation) serves to 'duct' airflow from the front of the case through the HDD cage, therefore aiding HDD cooling by increasing air flow velocity. Antec SLK3700-BQE - Features 1. Supplied with a Antec 350W quiet PSU and one 120mm Antec case fan 2. Accommodates two 120mm case fans (one supplied), one front, one rear 3. Anti-vibration rubber mountings for HDDs 4. Accessible front USB 2.0 ports 5. Supplied with a 17 piece sound-proofing kit 6. Sound-proofing kit includes a washable air filter! Specifications Model Antec SLK3700-BQE Manufacturer Antec & Acousti Products 120mm Case fan spec 1200 RPM, 38.94 CFM, 24.86 db(A) Weight 13.00 kg Outer case dimensions 210 mm wide, 470 mm high, 465 mm deep Supported motherboards Full-size ATX, AT and MicroATX 3½ inch drive bays 2 accessible plus 4 internal 5¼ inch drive bays 4 accessible [/ QUOTE ] Not the prettiest of cases, but where my PC lives it can't really be seen, and it seems good value for what it offers. Should have it by the end of the week all being well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadW Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Lian Li do good cases too but noise issues are really down to the fans you are using, btw my Seagate Barracuda is the quietest Hard Drive I've ever had! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 The one I ordered comes supplied with a Antec 350W quiet PSU and one 120mm Antec case fan. Plus all the accoustic foam gubbins. Hopefuly that'll help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Should be fine Ari. 120mm fans are quieter as the can spin slowly but still shift a lot of air in and out of the case. Some are still a little rattly just see what its like, replacement fans are easy to find and fit in most cases. About the quietes PC you can get is the new GTX cases. They only have 2 fans, one on the power supply and one in the front of the case. The one in the front of the case blows air back through the case, through a heat sink cooling the processor, over the graphics card and straight out of a mesh at the back of the case. I've got this config in my Dell 5000 and it is virtually silent, when I first showed it to my Dad he wouldn't believe that it was switched on. He has one of his own now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Hey, thats good service, it's here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munki Posted November 18, 2005 Report Share Posted November 18, 2005 is it quiet then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2005 Dunno, waiting for my IT geek type friend to come round and swap it over for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Well it's certainly quiet. Completely silent in fact!!! Mainly because as soon as the power was connected the PSU exploded!! A new PSU was used but it's an ordinary one, not a super quiet one, so despite the new case and soundproofing etc it's not much quieter than before (but blimmin heavy!!!) Have emailed the manufacturer to ask them to change it for a non exploding type so we'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorburn Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Mainly because as soon as the power was connected the PSU exploded!! [/ QUOTE ] Was it set to 110v and not 240v? Some of them have a little switch on the back of the PSU, we keep reminding all the Americans at trade shows about this and we still end up with 1 or 2 systems needing a new PSU where they've forgotten to flip it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Nope, first thing he checked. Is not switchable and is marked 240v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted December 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Ok so it's got the proper PSU in there now (top service quietpc.com, thanks!) And Wow! It was quieter with the new case but dodgy old standard type PSU, but with the right PSU it's superb! Put it this way, you can hear it, but it's about the same volume that the old one was if you stood outside the room and shut the door! Seriously, it's that good, I'm well chuffed. £90 well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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