Quiet Case That Can Deal With Heat Problems

[Jaime_Wolf]

Right now, I've got everything inside an Antec 900 and am having some heat issues with the graphics card that, in addition to making me feel slightly uncomfortable, also necessitate running the fans on high, which is pretty noisy (case fans can't be controlled by mobo and can't be reasonably adjusted manually at different times).

My current specs:
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mobo
i7 930 at 2.8 GHz
Thermalright U120 cooler (sticks out rather far, prevented installation of side fan in current case)
6 GB G.SKILL DDR3 (3x2)
Silverstone 750W PSU
Deskstar 1TB SATA
one DVD drive
Gigabye GTX 470

The i7 is fine with heat (typically sits at low 30s, gets up to around 40C under load). The GTX 470 is absolutely ludicrous, idling at around 30C, but very quickly hitting about 93C when playing more or less any modern game (I haven't ever even tried benchmarking for heat). My understanding is that this is within the safe range for the card, but I would love to see it at least a bit cooler if possible, if only to prevent it from turning the room into a sauna

Additionally, I'm not a fan of the look of the 900 at all (got it from a friend when I first put the build together about a year ago). I'd rather find something a little more sleek and sexy without all of the molded plastic, lights, and window. On the other hand, I'm not entirely in love with the large metal brick design either (though it's very preferable to the former). Although it's a bit on the expensive side (understandment) the ThermalTake Level 10 looks somewhat attractive, though I definitely worry about how it would do cooling compared to the 900 that's already not doing so incredibly well.

So, any suggestions for cases (with fan suggestions or any other suggestions regarding noise/cooling would be phenomenal)?

Edit: Not looking to overclock at all (haven't really had any need to do so, so I don't really have any desire to go through the hassle).

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Like I said, the cooling is only a small part of the issue. That part is, admittedly, my own penchant for baseless nervousness. Mostly, I just find the case very ugly and, with the fans on high, it's quite loud. I'd much prefer a case that's a bit more unobtrusive both visually and auditorily while still providing decent cooling.

(I've never really looked at aftermarket GPU coolers, is there any specific worry I should have about finding one that will fit the card? Relatively straightforward to install? I'll probably skip it and deal with the heat, but it would be nice to know.)

 

[13thmonkey]

odd mine idles at 50C and peaks at 90C, although If i use a more aggressive fan profile in afterburner then its closer to 80C. I'm using a P180, they are very quiet and have good airflow (if you help them out a bit and don't mind noise when gaming).

+1 to ferrett, the do run hot, and 93 i'd say is not a problem. it will throttle when it has issues.

 

[ltrazaklt]

SilenX makes good fans that very quiet , have a few of them in my case , and I can definitely tell which fans are making more noise..

as for cases , I LUV my Lian Li , it's an older model ..but good design for airflow, the metal is nice and cool, its a pleasure to build and work with, its a full tower so plenty of room for SLI, and cable management ,, and I personally like the simple look of it, I have the silvery brushed aluminum color , mine is several years old now , and I have not looked at their newer models ..but if I ever go for a new case, they will first on my list to look at..I have built PCs for about 20yrs now ..and have worked with/on ALL kind of cases , and I just cant say enough good things aobut my Lian Li ..
mine is similar to this one ..except I have the full Tower (6 Bays on top) and it has a Fan setting switch just below the indicator lights
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Lian+Li+cases&view=detail&id=F5FD2BA2C2402C25DDD5E2C9395116EE7ED20EC7&first=30&qpvt=Lian+Li+cases&FORM=IDFRIR

I just really like the simple elegant look of it..but this is just my opinion