Quiet Case

[Livingston]

I'm looking for a particularly quiet case where I can still OC an i5 3570k at 4.5ghz with air cooling. I'll also be running dual GTX 670s in SLI. and looking at OCing the them as well.

Was looking at the Antec P280, which looks like it will be quiet enough, but I'm not sure if it will give me the air flow I need for the OC.

 

[bloodyredd]

How about Fractal R3 or R4 and Corsair Obsidian 550D. Those are known quiet cases, or if you like a slim one. Try BitFenix Ghost.

 

[steddora]

Rosewill Thor V2. Quietest case and the stock fans are great. It's very "open" for airflow and with the large fans, you can have some excellent airflow with low noise. When I'm not pushing my CPU to the limits, my fans are on LOW (600rpm for CPU) while the case fans are at max and I hear the PSU fan more than the giant 230mms.

 

[completelyrandomname]

Fractal Design R4 hands down.
Reviews:
/fractal_design_define_r4_review]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/[primary-term]/fractal_design_define_r4_review
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Define_R4/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/07/20/fractal-design-define-r4-review/1
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/44517-fractal-design-define-r4/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6102/fractal-design-define-r4-case-review-evolution-not-revolution

 

[mazty]

Fractal Design R4 hands down.
Reviews:
/fractal_design_define_r4_review]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/[primary-term]/fractal_design_define_r4_review
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Define_R4/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/07/20/fractal-design-define-r4-review/1
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/44517-fractal-design-define-r4/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6102/fractal-design-define-r4-case-review-evolution-not-revolution

As much as the R4 is cheaper, I do prefer the Corsair 550D. In my opinion it looks a lot nicer, has 4 5.25 bays instead of just 2, and in the anandtech review, is a quieter case although a little warmer.

 

[completelyrandomname]

To be honest, MOST(not all) people actually don't need more than 2 optical drives. The HDD cages can be removed to install an H100, not sure about P/P.

 

[completelyrandomname]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-obsidian-550d-fractal-design-define-r4-gigabyte-luxo-m10,3356-13.html
Check out their latest review, featuring the 550D. I can also confirm that the stock fans are EXTREMELY quiet. Running them at full speed and can barely hear them.

 

[mazty]

To be honest, MOST(not all) people actually don't need more than 2 optical drives. The HDD cages can be removed to install an H100, not sure about P/P.

Having 4 optical bays allows for two optical drives/ or a card reader/fan controller etc and room for a 5.25 reservoir if anyone ever want to go down that route.
Personally I can see 4 5.25 bays being a lot more useful then 10+ HDD bays considering most people will only have 1 HDD, 1 SSD, or maybe at most 2 HDD's and 1 SSD.

 

[completelyrandomname]

Indeed, a balance is needed here and I don't think anyone has made a compromise of the two you mentioned. We need enough 5.25 bays with a fair amount of HDD bays.

 

[Livingston]

Best answer selected by Livingston.