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Quiet Gaming Cases, Part 3: Lian Li, Nanoxia, And SilverStone
By ,
1. Nearing The Quiet Gaming Goal?

As unlikely as it may sound, CPU overclocking was the impetus behind our quest. Although they're quieter and more effective, axial-fan graphics coolers spill heat into the case, complicating the already messy CPU-cooling situation. Blower-style graphics coolers reduce internal case heat tremendously, but instead give off large volumes of…volume. While we all like to think of ourselves as tolerant, health organizations have established measurable limits for noise tolerance.

Today we conclude our round-up with big expectations of noise dampening and no price ceiling.

In the event that you missed either Part 1 or 2 of our search for the perfect quiet cooling case, check out the links below; they're our analysis of the first six enclosures in our nine-product exploration:

Quiet Gaming Cases, Part 1: Antec, Azza, And Cooler Master
Quiet Gaming Cases, Part 2: Corsair, Fractal, And Gigabyte

  Lian-Li
PC-B12
Nanoxia
Deep Silence 1
SilverStone
FT02S-USB3.0
Dimensions
Height18.7"20.3"19.6"
Width8.3"8.7"8.3"
Depth19.7"20.8"24.3"
Space Above
Motherboard
0.5"1.4"0.7"^^
Card Length10.0-14.7"^12.1-17.1"**12.2"
Weight13.5 Pounds25.5 Pounds34.2 Pounds
Cooling
Front Fans
(alternatives)
2 x 140 mm
(None)
2 x 120 mm
(None)
3 x 180 mm
On Bottom
Rear Fans
(alternatives)
1 x 120 mm
(None)
1 x 140 mm
(1 x 140/120 mm)
1 x 120 mm
On Top
Top Fans
(alternatives)
None
(None)
None
(2 x 140/120 mm)
None
(None)
Left Side
(alternatives)
None
(None)
None
(1 x 140/120 mm)
None
(None)
Right Side
(alternatives)
None
(None)
None
(None)
None
(None)
Drive Bays
5.25" ExternalTwoThreeFour
3.5" ExternalNone1x AdapterNone
3.5" InternalThreeEightFive
2.5" InternalOneEight* Five*
Card SlotsEightEightSeven
Noise Dampening
SidesFoamCloth/MatFoam
TopFoamNoneNone
FrontFoamFoamNone
Price$170 $120 $260
*Shared on 3.5" tray
**w/o Center Cage
***By Adapter on 3.5" External Backplane
^Slots 1-6
^^Behind top edge


The biggest problem with internally-vented graphics cards is the heat that rises into the CPU cooler. But one of today’s cases is designed to circumvent this issue. SilverStone’s Fortress 2 rotates the motherboard so that all expansion slots (and the power supply exhaust) face the top panel rather than the back of the case, thus expelling all heat in a natural upwards direction. While this non-traditional layout could make the Fortress 2 a perfect solution for axial-fan GPU testing, fairness demands consistency, and so every case is tested using the exact same hardware configuration. Just something to keep in mind as we're comparing enclosures.

First up today is Lian Li's PC-B12. Let’s take a look.

2. Lian Li PC-B12

Although we're calling it the PC-B12, online vendors will most likely list our specific case as the PC-B12B because Lian Li adds a color designator to the end of its model names: B for Black and A for Aluminum. Availability of the otherwise-identical, naturally-colored aluminum model is yet to be determined.

Although many companies sell cases that incorporate aluminum for weight savings, Lian Li uses this material much more extensively. Even the edges of the face plate are constructed of this gorgeous black-anodized metal. Plastic seems to be reserved only for small parts, such as fans, mounting pegs, and buttons.

The PC-B12 even includes aluminum cover panels for its two external 5.25” bays. The front-panel USB 3.0 ports and headphone/mic jacks are also hidden behind an aluminum flip cover. And those front-panel ports are actually located on the top panel, making the PC-B12 a floor-standing design.

Eight expansion cut-outs translate to room for a double-slot graphics card in a motherboard’s bottom slot, while two grommets make room for external liquid-cooling lines. A single 120 mm exhaust fan removes heat from the CPU area.

Some of the PC-B12’s external features are most easily discussed with the covers removed. For example, the front intake fans draw in air through a slot at the bottom, which is filtered to reduce internal dust. The power supply intake is similarly covered with a removable dust filter.

3. Inside Lian Li’s PC-B12

Naturally-colored aluminum panels brighten the PC-B12’s interior. We like this because unpainted interiors are easier for us to service, even though many readers prefer all surfaces to look the same. In this case, function supersedes form, and that's fine because there aren't any windows on the PC-B12, so the insides are hidden behind painted side panels.

There’s barely enough space behind the PC-B12’s motherboard tray for routing cables, and almost none for hiding excess cable length. Due to the lackluster cable management, it’s probably best that this case isn’t offered with a side-panel window (which would have just made it noisier anyway).

As many companies are known to do, Lian Li's PC-B12 likely shares some of its parts with other models. This would explain the filler panel covering a large portion of the front face that looks as though it was originally cut for fan mounts. The new fan mounts are about an inch behind the face, leaving enough room for the intake duct that draws air through a slot on the bottom.

The extended fan mount is secured by two screws on the front side of the chassis and sliding tabs on the back. The drive cage is held in place the same way, though a third screw connects it to a bracket on the motherboard tray.

Your platform of choice's maximum width is restricted by a bracket on the PC-B12's motherboard tray, meaning this case only supports boards falling exactly within the ATX specification. While that bracket is removable, the drive cage that it connects to would still restrict the installation of oversized motherboards.

4. More PC-B12 Features

Medium-density foam lines the PC-B12’s top, side, and front panels, while two more strips of foam dampen potential noise from the power supply.

Instead of relying on old-fashioned screws, the PC-B12 employs latches that plunge straight into screw holes for the easy installation or removal of expansion cards. While this design works with most cards, you can still use screws on those that don't, since the bracket holding the latches is easy to remove.

Pins attached to an aluminum arm swing into the screw holes of 5.25” external devices for similarly tool-less installation and removal.

Lian Li cleans up the PC-B12’s tight cable situation by ditching the irrelevant AC'97 audio header, and only using a USB 3.0 internal header. Anyone whose board lacks an internal USB 3.0 connector will find a USB 2.0 internal header adapter in the installation kit.

5. Building With The PC-B12

The PC-B12 installation kit includes an exhaust duct with a noise dampening sheet, a USB 3.0-to-2.0 internal header adapter cable, a PC speaker, and several bags of screws.

Lian Li created the PC-B12’s front intake duct by moving its fans back and blocking the front of the case. This forced the company to move the hard drive cage closer to the motherboard tray, which in turn leaves no room for anything larger than a standard ATX motherboard. Unfortunately, many of today’s high-end motherboards are oversized.

Although our test motherboard is 7/8” wider than the ATX specification, we were still able to make it fit by removing the motherboard tray bracket. It was an extremely tight fit though, forcing us to bend the board’s front-panel connector pins downward in order to connect the power and reset switches. We accidently reversed the power and reset switch headers, but used the buttons in reverse rather than fight with the hard drive cage yet again. While this particular problem only affects slightly-oversized motherboards, boards any larger that Asus' P9X79 WS will not fit in the PC-B12 at all.

The PC-B12’s SSD mount uses shoulder screws with noise-dampening grommets, much like the hard drive trays in many high-end cases. Unlike 3.5” drives, the case only supports a single 2.5” SSD. If you plan on rocking more than one solid-state drive, 2.5”-to-3.5” adapter brackets, packaged with some drives and available from multiple vendors, are always an option.

Even without much room to stash cables, our modular power supply allows for a relatively clean installation. Really fussy builders could finish this off using cable ties in less than an hour.

While the PC-B12’s rear exhaust duct is fully-adjustable up to 45 degrees, time limits only allow two tests per case. Rather than make an exception for Lian Li, we tested the PC-B12’s rear duct at the two extremes: completely closed and with the duct removed.

6. Nanoxia Deep Silence 1

While closely resembling the metal work of Fractal Design’s Define R4, Nanoxia employs brand-specific design elements to stand apart from structurally-similar products. For example, the Deep Silence 1 uses a split-door design (which I personally suggested to the aforementioned competitor), allowing me to finally set my coffee in front of my PC without blocking drive access.

Along with my caffeine conundrum, placing any case up on top of a desk usually makes top-panel ports more difficult to reach. Nanoxia helps somewhat with fold-up, forward-pointing ports on the Deep Silence 1's top panel. Featuring headset/mic jacks, plus a pair of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, the panel folds down to reduce dust accumulation when it isn't in use.

The upper door hides two variable-speed fan controllers (each capable of controlling three fans), the reset switch, and three 5.25” bays. Foam lines the inside of the upper door, dampening any noise that might leak through the vented bay covers.

The bottom door hides two 120 mm intake fans attached to their own independently-opening doors, complete with slide-out dust filters. Nanoxia’s configuration makes routine cleaning incredibly easy.

Two pairs of water-cooling grommets sandwich the 140 mm rear exhaust fan. Those inclined to opt for more fans over liquid cooling will be happy to find two 140 mm fan mounts underneath the top panel.

Eight expansion slots allow users to add a double-sized graphics card to the bottom slot of an ATX motherboard.

7. Inside Nanoxia’s Deep Silence 1

The Deep Silence 1 has eight internal 3.5” drive bays and can support motherboards up to 12.1” wide. There’s nothing wrong with our review unit, we just snapped the photo (below) before figuring out that some of the drive cages had shifted.

A closer inspection reveales that two of the case’s three internal cages are independently-removable. The trays inside the drive cages support both 3.5” and 2.5” drives.

In spite of its name, the space behind Deep Silence 1's motherboard tray is barely deep enough to hold a new machine's main power lead. Six grommet-covered cable access holes wrap around the bottom and forward edges of an ATX-sized platform. And there's a seventh grommet-covered hole for microATX board where an ATX motherboard's bottom edge would be.

Another cable access hole and wide slot above the motherboard are especially useful for auxiliary 12 V leads and fan wires. These two are difficult to see in our straight-on images because of the painted interior and lack of grommets, but they are clearly visible through the top-panel mesh in the top-down image on the next page.

8. More Deep Silence 1 Features

Although most of the Deep Silence 1’s design features reduce noise, the top panel can be popped up, allowing noise to escape. This might appear counter-intuitive until we look at the empty fan mounts beneath the top-panel. Drilled for both 140 mm and 120 mm fans, a second set of 120 mm mounting holes are about an inch closer to the left side panel. This second set of mounts provides added motherboard clearance for top-mounted liquid-cooling systems.

We’re giving the Deep Silence 1’s top panel a pass because it’s designed to handle a radiator for liquid cooling, which can be used in conjunction with nice big fans to create a low-noise gaming PC. The covered-up side panel vent appears to be nothing more than a remnant from the panel’s non-silent origins.

The asphalt mat surrounding the vestigial side panel vent further deadens noise, while effectively eliminating panel vibration. A cloth cover protecting the asphalt makes sure that a builder’s hands remain clean.

Removable from the rear of the case, the Deep Silence 1’s power supply filter is long enough to cover an additional bottom fan mount. Our review case was delivered with a removable bracket blocking that mount.

The purpose of that bracket becomes apparent only after removing the case’s two center drive cages and detaching them from each other. Moving the center drive cage to this bottom mount expands card space by an extra five inches, while only sacrificing the two-drive cage.

9. Building With The Deep Silence 1

The Deep Silence 1 was delivered with a 3.5” adapter tray in its bottom 5.25” bay and a corresponding face plate in the installation kit. Since this is a relatively tall case, Nanoxia also includes an eight-pin power extender along with the expected screws, standoffs, and zip ties.

Grommets and shoulder screws dampen the vibrations of 3.5” mechanical drives, while 2.5” drives mount directly to the drive trays. This actually makes sense because most 2.5” drives used in desktop systems are vibration-free SSDs.

Even though HD Audio has been the header standard for every motherboard we’ve seen in the past decade, the Deep Silence 1 still retains the AC'97 adapter (unnecessarily, we'd argue).

Aside from a few loose AC'97 wires, the Deep Silence 1 organizes our cables quite nicely, though we’re sure that fussy builders could make better use of the included cable ties.

Apart from the slightly-warped aluminum skin on our review unit’s upper door, the finished Deep Silence 1 build provides an exceptionally clean look. Since there are no fans mounted beneath it, we left the top vent shut during our testing. Instead, we gave the case two chances to win our competition by selecting its maximum and minimum fan speeds.

10. SilverStone Fortress 2 USB 3.0

This most recent version of the familiar SilverStone Fortress 2 replaces the old ports with USB 3.0, adds 2.5” drive support to its internal 3.5” drive trays, and substitutes an earlier version of the firm’s 180 mm fan for its latest Air Penetrator model.

Our silver “S” version is also available in black (FT02B-USB3.0).

The structure of this latest incarnation is all the same; only the ports are changed. A sliding silver cover up top hides the front-panel ports.

The Fortress 2 flips traditional case design on its face, placing intake fans at the bottom and rear-panel ports on top. Since part of it is also visible from the sides, the Fortess 2’s easily-removable top panel is more of a cap, really. This cap hides the motherboard's rear I/O plate and connections behind a mesh grille, giving cables a healthy 2.8” of clearance between the mesh top and back panel. Cables are routed through a hole towards the upper rear of the case, allowing them all to exit in one clean bundle.

For all of its forward-thinking design, the Fortress 2's power supply hangs from the rear of the top panel somewhat like early towers. Therefore, the rear vent serves as the power supply intake, with a snap-off cover providing dust filtration.

11. Inside The Fortress 2 USB 3.0

The FT02S-USB3.0 orients motherboards with the rear-panel pointing up, so the foam acoustic pad we might have expected to see on its top panel is instead found on the rear.

The Fortress 2’s aluminum face panel is actually one U-shaped piece of aluminum that wraps around the base and up the rear. Three 180 mm fans draw in air from a gap between the base of the exterior U-shaped panel and the bottom interior panel.

The FT02S-USB3.0’s five hard drive trays are oriented vertically in a single cage. Three-and-a-half-inch drives mount via shoulder screws and grommets, while 2.5” drives mount using screws alone. Handy flip-panels latch or unlatch the drives in four of the case’s five external 5.25” drive bays, with the uppermost bay requiring screws.

The Fortress 2 doesn’t have very much space behind the motherboard tray for cable management. Instead the builder must rely on his or her own creativity to make cables look organized in this peculiarly-arranged chassis.

Designed to house five drive backplanes, the FT02S-USB3.0 ships with just one of its CP05 hard drive connectors. Additional connectors are available online, including a new SAS hot-swap version.

We can’t fault anyone for thinking that the FT02S-USB3.0 looks more like a workstation than a PC chassis. SilverStone clearly had workstation support in mind because the Fortress 2's motherboard tray includes mounts for SSI-CEB form factor server boards.

Accommodating expansion cards any longer than 12.2” requires the removal of at least the middle intake fan.

12. More Fortress 2 USB 3.0 Features

A trio of two-way fan speed controllers serve the Fortress 2’s three intakes, leaving exhaust fan management entirely to the motherboard. While we’d rather have our motherboard manage all fans, we first recommend making sure your motherboard is rated for at least 450 mA per header.

It appears that at some point after the initial tooling process, SilverStone decided to drop the Fortress 2’s eighth slot to make room for longer 5.25” drives. A cover panel fills the void where an eighth slot would have been.

Dust filters slide out from beneath each of the three bottom-mounted intake fans. Unfortunately, removing these filters requires the removal of the Fortress 2’s right side panel.

The FT02S-USB3.0’s cable kit focuses exclusively on current motherboard standards, but the installation kit does include a USB 3.0-to-2.0 internal header adapter.

13. Building With The Fortress 2 USB 3.0

To show off its ultimate FT02S-USB3.0 configuration, SilverStone sent us four cloth-covered SATA cables, four hot-swap SAS-compliant backplane connectors, and a four-in-one SATA power connector, all separately boxed. While this is probably how we’d want our Fortress 2 equipped as well, we’re not sure we’d spend the extra $100 for the parts.

While the extras sure are nice, we tested the case in its stock trim, with only the single original SATA connector installed.

The FT02S-USB3.0 adds a USB 3.0-to-2.0 adapter to the original Fortress 2’s kit. The original kit’s 3.5” tray to 2.5” drive adapter is also included, though no longer needed since the updated drive trays all have 2.5” mounting holes.

Each of the five 3.5” drive trays have 2.5” mounting holes on the bottom and 3.5” mounts (with noise-dampening grommets) on the side.

Even without an eighth slot, there wasn’t enough room in the FT02S-USB3.0’s top 5.25" bay for connectors on the back of our optical drive. Instead, we had to use the second 5.25” bay. In fact, the space between the back of our optical drive and the motherboard is so tight, that a few of our single-slot cards won’t even fit into the seventh slot.

With cable ends hidden beneath the top panel and exiting the rear together in a tidy bundle, the FT02S-USB3.0 creates one of the cleanest builds we’ve ever seen.

14. Test Settings
Test System Configuration
CPUIntel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E), 6C/12T @ 4.25 GHz (34 x 125 MHz, 1.40 V Core)
CPU CoolerCoolink Corator DS 120 mm Tower
MotherboardAsus P9X79 WS: LGA 2011, Intel X79 Express, Firmware 0603 (11-11-2011)
O/C @ 125 MHz BCLK
RAMG.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-2200
Benchmarked at DDR3-1600 CAS 9 defaults
GraphicsNvidia GeForce GTX 580: 772 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-4008
Maximum Fan for Thermal Tests, SLI
Hard DrivesSamsung 470 Series MZ5PA256HMDR, 256 GB SSD 
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerSeasonic X760 SS-760KM
ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
GraphicsNvidia GeForce 296.10 WHQL
ChipsetIntel INF 9.2.3.1020


We reused the test platform from our earlier gaming case series, complete with the same overclock settings, adjusting our thermal expectations rather than the platform’s voltage levels. A sacrificial C0-stepping Core i7-3960X on Asus’ P9X79 WS heats the CPU area.

We normally choose a heat sink for its low noise and cooling performance, but Coolink’s Corator DS delivers the moderately low temperatures and moderately high noise results needed to properly evaluate the airflow and noise-dampening capabilities of these cases.

Blowers are the biggest cause for noise complaints in gaming PCs, so we tossed in Nvidia’s reference GeForce GTX 580 with its fan at 100% duty cycle for our load test. We let the fan rotate down to its minimum angular velocity for idle noise measurements.

Benchmark Configuration
Prime95 v25.864-bit executable, Small FFTs, 11 threads
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Extreme Preset: Graphics Test 1, Looped
Real Temp 3.40Average of maximum core readings at full CPU load
Galaxy CM-140 SPL MeterTested at 1/2 m, corrected to 1 m (-6 dB), dBA weighting
15. Heat, Noise, And Heat Versus Noise

SilverStone’s Fortress 2 USB 3.0 tops our thermal performance chart as the coolest-running solution, due entirely to its excellent graphics cooling. On the other hand, it also exhibits fairly high CPU temperatures. Since heat pipes are designed to operate in a normally-oriented tower, SilverStone causes the heat pipes of most CPU coolers to behave differently by rotating the motherboard and CPU cooler 90°, while at the same time improving just about every other thermal condition.

The warmest cases in the above chart are revealed to be some of the quietest in the chart below. SilverStone’s cool-running FT02S-USB3.0 barely stays within our 42 dB(A) quiet case cutoff. We blame the orientation of the motherboard on this one. The top-venting GPU exhaust is much closer to our meter than the rear-vented exhaust of normally-oriented cases.

The first step in comparing temperature to noise is to turn a lower temperature result into a higher score. To begin, we average the temperature reading of all cases, and divide that number by each case’s average temperature to produce an inverse percentage-based thermal performance scale. Each case’s average noise level is then divided by the average for all cases, creating a direct percentage-based acoustic performance scale.

The term Relative in the Acoustic Efficiency chart refers to how each case relates, percentage-wise, to the class average of 100% efficiency. Since efficiencies greater than 100% are impossible, we simply move the baseline class average to 0% by subtracting the number 1 from each result.

Although it barely ducks in under our quiet case limits, the FT02S-USB3.0’s temperatures are low enough to put it on top of our heat-to-noise comparison.

16. Quality And Value: Part 3 Cases, Analyzed

While price-to-performance is often a top priority in our reviews, the quest for quiet gaming compels us to rebel against our value-seeking norms. Before we discuss build quality, here’s how today’s three cases stack up when it comes to relative efficiency over relative price.

The extensive use of steel and plastic allows Nanoxia to produce a relatively high-performance noise-dampening case for only $120. The lower cost of steel doesn’t necessarily imply a lower-quality case, and this is especially true for the Deep Silence 1. This case employs extra-thick steel to dampen noise, and the application of asphalt mat to many of its internal surfaces furthers that effort. However, that combination of heavy construction and heavy dampening materials weigh equally on the Deep Silence 1’s portability, with a finished product tipping the scales at 25.5 pounds!

Nearly half as hefty, the $170 Lian Li PC-B12 uses even thicker aluminum panels to provide lightweight rigidity. Medium-density acoustic foam provides similarly lightweight noise dampening. Aside from its lower weight, the main benefit of anodized aluminum is that most people think it looks better. It’s also chip-proof and scratch resistant. But we’re just not sure if many of our readers would willingly pay an extra $50 for a lighter-weight, better-looking case.

SilverStone’s FT02S-USB3.0 tops our performance chart, even if most of our graphics card's exhaust noise reaches our ears. But remember that we test our cases from 45° from the front panel, and that this case is designed to sit on the floor. The expense of a wraparound aluminum design combines with the weight of a thick steel body, resulting in a $260 product that everybody wants, but many cannot afford. Ironically, the folks who do have the money for this case often have even more demanding performance expectations, and it's possible that they simply won't accept the amount of noise that escapes from its top panel.

Nanoxia’s Deep Silence 1 looks like the value, performance, and quality pick in today’s comparison. On the next page we'll compare it to the other six cases in this series.

17. Quiet Gaming Case Quest, Series Conclusion

We looked back at all three parts of our series and charted each case’s top-performing configuration to see if any stand out as a clear overall leader. The entries from Corsair and Gigabyte couldn't quite meet our maximum noise criteria, leaving just seven of the original nine contenders in the running.

The SilverStone Fortress 2 USB 3.0’s GPU cooling performance keeps it on top of our overall cooling chart, even with its fairly warm CPU temperature. With a reversal of lower CPU and higher GPU temperatures, Antec’s P280 takes second place.

The Azza Silentium 920’s well-dampened, low-cost enclosure tops our noise-reduction chart, in spite of our quality concerns. The higher-quality Lian Li PC-B12 takes second place for low noise.

The three noisiest cases in our round-up perform well enough to top our cooling-to-noise charts. The ideal combination of cooling performance and noise suppression appears to be elusive. Perhaps it’s time to take another look at value.

Azza’s Silentium 920 tops our price-per-performance chart, but, again, comes up a little short in quality. We might be tempted to buy it for $80, only if we couldn’t come up with the $110 for the number two value, Fractal Design’s Define R4.

At nearly the same price, Antec’s P280 and Nanoxia’s Deep Silence 1 are equally-attractive alternatives to the Define R4. Although, between these two I’d probably pick the Deep Silence 1 for its spit-door design.

Topping our performance chart, SilverStone’s USB 3.0-enhanced Fortress 2 falls to the bottom of the value chart. Though a high price is part of that calculation, its correspondingly high quality is undercut in today’s comparison by upward-facing expansion slots that blow graphics card noise towards the user. The goal of this series was to find a case that could stifle noisy blower-style graphics cards, so that the FT02S-USB3.0's improved airflow is better targeted towards users of the quieter axial-style graphics cards. Heat from axial-style coolers would not rise into the CPU cooler due to this case’s rotated motherboard tray. The Fortress 2’s otherwise good acoustic design appears to be best marketed towards silencing noisy hard drives. To say the least, the unique design of this high-end chassis practically begs us to perform expanded testing in a workstation-style build.

The bottom half of multiple charts is not a great place to see your product appear in a review, so we’ll spare Cooler Master the at-length value discussion of its modest-performing, yet well-appointed Silencio 650.

Lian Li finds itself in a similar position with the PC-B12, but with higher-quality materials and matching good looks. Lacking any price concerns, I might just be attracted enough to those materials to use this case for one of my own systems.

Having already won our Tom's Hardware Approved award yesterday in its own three-way comparison, Fractal Design’s value-oriented Define R4 graduates to a Tom's Hardware Recommended Buy award, officially concluding 2012’s nine-way quiet gaming case showdown.