Quiet/Silent Case With Airflow

[ddan49]

Hello,

I'm looking for a quiet/silent case with really nice airflow. I'm on a budget, so something < $100 would be nice. I'm going to get either the GTX560 TI or Radeon 7850, so it needs to be pretty large. Any recommendations? Newegg has a LOT of cases, so I'm not sure what to pick. I HAD HAF 912 (I think. It was the smaller one), but it seemed fairly loud, and there are cases with more airflow out there. Anything you would suggest?

Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to say that looks aren't a problem, but I would definitely prefer something without LEDs

 

[amuffin]

Fractal Design Define R3, though the HAF 912 when paired up with the right fans provide much better airflow than any "silent" case.

 

[Rugger]

+1 for the Define R3.

 

[shanky887614]

the antect 300 case ive got would fit the graphics cards at the expense of hard drive slots


it has 120mm at back. 140mm on top. another about 120mm on side

and 2 120mm fans on the front


(ive kept the fans that came with it on the lowest setting and never had to turn them higher as they keep the case very cool)

im going to add two intake fans anyway but if i put my hand on the front i can feel the 2 fans on the top and back sucking air in.



one thing ive found is. psu's can be a lot louder than the fans



i know for a fact the powersupply on its own in old pc is 10x louder than complete new pc

 

[samuelspark]

NZXT Hush. Definitely the most quiet you can get.

 

[ddan49]

Hmm.... I'm starting to think about just a nice case with good airflow, but putting foam on the inside. Is that a relatively easy mod to do? I also know that it would increase temperature. Most of the "silent" cases would probably stifle my Overclocked GPU and CPU... I'm also looking for USB 3.0 (but not necessity). Should I just soundproof?

 

[joedastudd]

Bare in mind the foam is fairly thick, the high end stuff is pretty damn heavy, it will be a massive dust magnet and can come lose.
IMO sound proofing foam for a case is more hassle then its worth.

 

[Rugger]

Hmm.... I'm starting to think about just a nice case with good airflow, but putting foam on the inside. Is that a relatively easy mod to do? I also know that it would increase temperature. Most of the "silent" cases would probably stifle my Overclocked GPU and CPU... I'm also looking for USB 3.0 (but not necessity). Should I just soundproof?

Some of the 'quiet' cases already have sound-dampening material installed...the Define R3 is one of them.

 

[amuffin]

Hmm.... I'm starting to think about just a nice case with good airflow, but putting foam on the inside. Is that a relatively easy mod to do? I also know that it would increase temperature. Most of the "silent" cases would probably stifle my Overclocked GPU and CPU... I'm also looking for USB 3.0 (but not necessity). Should I just soundproof?

IMHO just replace all fans in your HAF 912 and heatsink etc. etc. with silent fans, such as the cougar vortex 120mm fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553002 or silverstone fm 121 fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344 They perform nearly the same, but imo the silverstones probably are better for total airflow, but the cougars are much silent coming in at 18db maxed out!

 

[ddan49]

IMHO just replace all fans in your HAF 912 and heatsink etc. etc. with silent fans, such as the cougar vortex 120mm fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553002 or silverstone fm 121 fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344 They perform nearly the same, but imo the silverstones probably are better for total airflow, but the cougars are much silent coming in at 18db maxed out!

I would, but that gets expensive. Also, I know that the fans in the case themselves don't produce all of the noise... I was looking more along the lines of the case dampening some of the GPU and PSU sound.

I do know that some cases come with foam. They do cost quite a bit more, and, as someone pointed out, they are a hassle.

Does anyone know how loud the HAF actually is? Also, would you recommend any plain gaming cases with nice airflow?

 

[Rugger]

I would, but that gets expensive. Also, I know that the fans in the case themselves don't produce all of the noise... I was looking more along the lines of the case dampening some of the GPU and PSU sound.

I do know that some cases come with foam. They do cost quite a bit more, and, as someone pointed out, they are a hassle.

Does anyone know how loud the HAF actually is? Also, would you recommend any plain gaming cases with nice airflow?

You don't have to buy $17 fans to get good, quiet performance. I use a Kaze master fan controller: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998077
and buy (4) Yate Loon D12Sl-12 for $20: http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa.html
Review of the fans: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/yate_loon_d12sl-12_120mm_case_fan_review/3
I run the fans at about 800RPM and they are silent while maintaining good flow thru the case (Antec P183). You could run them at max speed (1350RPM) without a fan controller and they are still quiet.

The issue with the HAF cases is that there are a LOT of uncovered fan mounts that allow noise to easily travel out of the case. This is true of any case design that provides a lot of case fan mounts but leaves them open even if they aren't being used. It's one of the reasons that I like Corsair's approach to a low noise case in its new 550D: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139012&Tpk=corsair%20550d Top and side case fan mounts have noise-insulated covers that can be installed if the fan mounts aren't used, but this case is outside your price range ~$139.

You bring up a good point about the PSU/GPU noise. I use Speedfan to control the fan speed and noise of my GPU (never goes above 50%). I highly recommend Speedfan or another similar program that will allow you to control fan speed while monitoring temps. My PSU is a Seasonic M12II-520W that is silent.

What are your system specs? Please include CPU cooler and PSU make/model, too.

 

[ddan49]

Okay... system specs. So I am overclocking both my CPU and my GPU, but I don't have a hypercooler 212 for my CPU (I don't need to overclock THAT much). Here's my build:

Mobo: ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279

CPU: i5-2500k overclocked

GPU: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

PSU: Still deciding. I'll have something along the lines of 650W... probably like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371059

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced 8GB DDR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191

My HDD is an SSD, so no worries there . I also have a USB connected DVD drive, so that's not a problem either.

 

[ddan49]

How's this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008

I'm starting to look more at the case itself. I don't need complete silence, I just want it to be quiet. The HAF seemed like an airy beast

EDIT: Ooooo... look at this. It's a Cougar case (amuffin), with two fans that people say are sufficient.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811553002

Also, I forgot to mention it'll be on carpet.

 

[amuffin]

The twin frozr is pretty quiet, I have 2 hawks and they aren't that loud. I also own the 912 and honestly the fans aren't that loud, and I have 2 antec 3 speed fans set on low as intake, 2 hyper 212 Evo fans and the stock out take fan.

 

[ddan49]

So... ultimately, you would recommend the HAF anyway? (912)

 

[amuffin]

It's not intended to be a silent case, but it's not that loud. You must be paranoid, because I have 5 120mm fans and they arent loud at all, in fact the stock fans aren't that loud, but you want 2 intakes. it's 50-60 for the case, spend 34 for 2 fans (cougar?) and those will go in the front.

 

[Rugger]

So... ultimately, you would recommend the HAF anyway? (912)

If it's too loud for you, then you can try to quiet down components or make the jump to another case. You can get a simple fan controller for $20-30 and reduce the speed of all your PC fans except the GPU and PSU. Buying an overpowered PSU means that you're not likely to stress it too much...that will lead to less heat and PSU fan noise. Then you can use something like Speedfan to reduce the GPU speed and noise.

My point is that by spending very little money on a fan controller, you can re-evaluate the noise from your HAF 912. If the noise levels are still too high, THEN you can spend the extra money to upgrade the case or try out the $20 Yate Loon fans I linked before. If the noise levels are ok, then you just saved yourself the cost of a new case.

 

[ddan49]

Calm down, guys! I said above I didn't want a SILENT case, since that would constrict airflow (or if it didn't, it would be over $120). I just need a QUIET case. What do you think of the Cougar case? It has the fans included. The fractal is nice, but I feel like it would restrict airflow a bit. Also, is it soundproofing only the case fans, or the entire inside?

 

[Rugger]

Define R3 has soundproofing throughout most of the case, but airflow is not restricted...this case provides both excellent cooling and sound reduction. I'm not sure about the Cougar case.