Help please full tower decision

[Rutkus]

Hello and thanks for the help.

I am putting together an Intel x6800 w/ Zalman 9500, Asus P5W DH, eVGA 7950GT, RAID 0 WD Raptor 150s, Seagate PerP 320, 2 Gig Corsair 800 4-4-4-12, Creative X-Fi Platinum.

Got the parts now need a nice case in which to put them. I want to OC to at least 3.4 GigHz.

Requirements:

Full Tower/Server
Black
No door
At least six 5.25 slots
Filtered air flow
Reset button
Dual power supply capability (spacewise), not too concerned about this.

I pretty much narrowed down the search to:

Lian Li PC-71
Lian Li PC-G70B
Cooler Master CM Stacker STC-T-01-UWK


Ohhh... and I want quiet too.

The Lian Li PC-71 is the most appealing to me because of the USB port location, but it has those 80 MM fans. The other 2 cases feature 120 MM fans. I know the 80 MM fans are on a 3 way speed switch, but will this case be much louder than the other two? I don't want a noisy vacuum cleaner case.

Does anyone prefer the 80 MM fans over the 120 MM fan cases?


Thanks,

Jim

 

[Rugger]

Lian-Li typically uses good quality, quiet 80mm fans in their cases. I wouldn't let the fear of 80mm fans be a deciding factor in your case. Another issue to consider is that if they are too loud for your tastes, then you can replace them with some good Panaflo/Sunon fans. The noise culprit is more likely to be the vid card or the PSU - or both. What PSU are you using? What are you doing to quiet the vid card?

 

[Rutkus]

Hi,

I'm using an Antec Truepower 550 Watt power supply.

I haven't thought about quieting the video card. It is still in the box.

I could perhaps spray the outer shell of the video card's fan assembly with some automobile black rubber sound deadening spray to lower the resonant frequency.... just kidding. I dunno, I was thinking the solid aluminum panels will hide most of the video card noise.

On the PC-71 both side panels are solid. The noise will be mostly out the back. I usually push my tower stack (2) PCs back into the corner of my office.

I was curious how higher pitched sounding the 80mm fans would be compared to the slower rpm 120mms fans.

I was looking at the 80mm to 120mm plastic converters but I don't think 2 of them side by side will work...

Have to check help later this morning. Need some sleep. Thanks to all helping me out.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Rugger]

The case will not deaden all of the sound from a vid card and high-end vid cards typically come with rather noisy cooling solutions. There are aftermarket cooling solutions for video cards. A great site for quiet computing solutions/reviews is Silent PC Review. You can learn more about case fans, vid card cooling solutions, CPU cooling, etc. Great site!

 

[Siba]

I have a Lian Li PC75, and I am annoyed by not having 120mm fans. 120s just move much more air at a similar noise level. There's also a whole lot less dead zone in a single 120mm than there is in 2x80mm, and the 80mms are probably putting out a higher pitched (ie more noticeable) noise.

 

[Rugger]

It is true the 120mm fans can move more air at similar/lower noise ratings than 80mm fans. One thing you're not taking into account is quality of fans. I would take a high quality, quiet 80mm fan over a generic 120mm any day of the week.

Why are you not happy with the 80mm fans in your case? Is you system loud? If yes, then what component is causing the noise? Sticking in 120mm case fans into a rig wil have no impact on noise levels if the case fans are not the source of your noise.

There's also a whole lot less dead zone in a single 120mm than there is in 2x80mm,

By dead zone do you mean areas in the case with less/no airflow? If yes, that is more likely to be a factor of poor case design/layout.

and the 80mms are probably putting out a higher pitched (ie more noticeable) noise.

Is this complete supposition or do you have data or a link that compares specific fans of equal quality operating under similar parameters?

I agree that 120mm fans can provide greater airflow at similar noise levels as 80mm fans of comparable quality. You need to be careful and detailed when providing help to people and provide help based on knowledge/links instead of supposition.

 

[Guest]

My vote:

SilverStone TJ-07

 

[Siba]

It is true the 120mm fans can move more air at similar/lower noise ratings than 80mm fans. One thing you're not taking into account is quality of fans. I would take a high quality, quiet 80mm fan over a generic 120mm any day of the week.

Lian Li cases like the one the OP was looking at come with decent quality Adda fans. They have pretty rugged construction and are fairly quiet also.

Why are you not happy with the 80mm fans in your case? Is you system loud? If yes, then what component is causing the noise? Sticking in 120mm case fans into a rig wil have no impact on noise levels if the case fans are not the source of your noise.

My system isn't untolerably loud, it's just fairly noticeable to most people that aren't used to hearing it. The Lian Li I have has 6 80mm fans for the case alone, and I'd much rather have 3 or 4 120mm quality fans moving the same amount or more air. Take a look at some 80mm fans on newegg, and you'll notice they need pretty extreme RPM to get above 40cfm. The average is probably somewhere around 20-30cfm. A 120mm fan on newegg almost always has at least 40cfm at much lower rpm, and 50-60 cfm isn't uncommon.

There's also a whole lot less dead zone in a single 120mm than there is in 2x80mm,

By dead zone do you mean areas in the case with less/no airflow? If yes, that is more likely to be a factor of poor case design/layout.

No. I mean areas directly around the fan that don't get airflow, like right underneath the motor. More fans would equal more deadzones, though in some cases the airflow from each fan might cover the other's dead zone depending on how the airflow disperses.

and the 80mms are probably putting out a higher pitched (ie more noticeable) noise.

Is this complete supposition or do you have data or a link that compares specific fans of equal quality operating under similar parameters?

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19297

From the stickied post:
"Again, I think it's a question of freq balance. When you slow any decent fan down enough, the sound shifts to a lower freq balance. This is true of every size of fan, I can vouch from years of experimentation. Both the whistling caused by blade edges and midband whooshing at high rpm drops dramatically at low speed. So the whole sound moves down in freq to where our hearing is less sensitive. "

 

[Rugger]

Lian Li cases like the one the OP was looking at come with decent quality Adda fans. They have pretty rugged construction and are fairly quiet also.

Agreed.

The Lian Li I have has 6 80mm fans for the case alone, and I'd much rather have 3 or 4 120mm quality fans moving the same amount or more air.

Agreed. Have you thought about turning off some of the 80mm fans or undervolting to minimize noise?

I mean areas directly around the fan that don't get airflow, like right underneath the motor. More fans would equal more deadzones, though in some cases the airflow from each fan might cover the other's dead zone depending on how the airflow disperses.

Even with cases only using 1 or 2 case fans, the air circulation caused by the GPU, CPU and PSU fans typically provides sufficient ventilation to provide circulation in the deadzones you mention. Additionally, the Venturi effect wil help to minimize the impact of dead zone in the area immediately surrounding the fan.

I think we got off on the wrong foot. Sorry if my other post seemed a bit harsh. I've just seen too many people throw out BS, rumors or supposition as fact when answering questions. Then not know their arse from a hole in the ground when you ask the "why" and approach issues from a whole system perspective. I just try to help the people asking questions by giving different perspectives/approaches when I see a post that I'm not sure about or with which I don't agree...and I wasn't sure about your first post.

 

[Siba]

I didn't take any offense.

 

[biohazard420420]

You might take a look at the ThermalTake Armor case it is black has I belive 3 120mm fans and the entire front is 5.25" slots and also has the power reset button that can be moved anywhere on the front of the case. It does has "doors" of sorts but I belive they are easily removable. It might be right up your alley as far as a second PSU I dont think it will fit 2 full sized PSU's but you could get a drive bay PSU if you need just a little extra juice.

 

[Rutkus]

Ahhh...awake again. Nice day outside.

Thanks for the suggestion about the Thermaltake Armor. One thing knocks it out of my list. The device mound on top of the case. I usually put a UPS on top of my PC stack. That way I have filtered power accessable for plugging in whatever. I need a smooth top.

The one little annoying thing about the Lian Li 70 are the USB ports on the top front of the case. Although they are in a convenient spot, I don't believe they include a cover to keep out the grit from dropping in the jacks and ports. I guess I could rig one up if I decide on this case.

I also like the Lian Li V2000 black. But the darn door is on the right side and swings out from the back. The way my office is built it would be inconvenient to use even with the case's wheels. Nice case though. I like the hard drive access.

Regards,

Jim

 

[Guest]

Again :SilverStone TJ07

Dual PSU, 7 5.25

You an always use 1 or no top fan, or they can even cool you UPS 8)
and change the 2 X 92 to be exhaust...

 

[Rutkus]

labbbby,

Thanks, the TJ07 looks really nice. This could work very well. I'm studying it, and looking for prices. I appreciate your tip.


Jim