I apparently have a much lower tolerance for these things
1. I know of no capable cooling fan that is anywhere near being inaudible at rated speed. And Noctua's $27 price makes it a hard choice when it's substantially outperformed by fans that can cost less than half the price. From spcreview link below
The Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS is the clear winner in every respect. It edged out the new Noctuas every step of the way, delivering the best overall results of any fan we've tested thus far. To top it off, it had cleanest, smoothest sound of all the new fans in this roundup. If we had to start from scratch, this might be our new reference model.
And they do that while costing between 40% and 55% of the Nocs. In the OC Club link, Phanteks tops the Nocs temperature performance by 3C (that's huge) while spinning 300 rpm slower . To get the same level of cooling outta the Phanteks, we can run them slower than their 1200 rpm rated speed but even at say 1000 rpm, they are still audible.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html
Again, stated goal was not being able to tell whether a PC is running with ya eyes closed and that requires much more than just being "relatively quiet" and goes well beyond brand selection. To be completely inaudible.
a) Pick a great fan.
b) Use more, larger fans at slower rpms rather then less, smaller fans at higher rpm.
c) Use sophisticated fan control that does not require user intervention.
2. Good cable management requires that you be given the tools to do so. Having a neatly tied cable running across your view might indicate the best you could do with what you got, but is still far from optimal. If you can "see it" then, to my eyes, that's a "points deduction". When I look in a case, if I see a wire, I'm like a teenage girl looking in the mirror after she wakes up and seeing a pimple ..... I'm concerned....... It it it twists, curves or is angled, that's a full fledged raging monster zit !
a) Good cable management won't hide all cables coming outta ya PSU, but a case w/ a PSU shroud will.
b) Good cable management won't hide all cables coming outta ya HDs, but a case window that covers this area will.
c) Good cable management won't hide all the SATA cables coming outta ya MoBo, but a case with a cover that slips over the area will.
d) Good cable management can't do much to overcome inadequate or poorly located grommeted openings.
Thinks I'd like to see:
a) 24 pin socket that overhangs MoBo edge and / or gets plugged in from the back or at least 90 degree like SATA ports
b) PCI-E power sockets on the short side of the card
c) SATA backplates on HD cages.
3. Zip ties can be useful to tie off things in unseen areas but are a poor substitute for the cable management straps that the Phanteks and other cases provide. But in visible areas they downright fugly not to mention their inability to be opened and reclosed once you add that extra fan.
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