Quiet Gaming Cases, Part 1: Antec, Azza, And Cooler Master

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

The pursuit of performance often dictates that we simply live with a loud PC. Enthusiasts sometimes feel forced to choose between reasonable acoustics and the ventilation needed to overclock. Today, we evaluate three cases that promise to deliver both.

More P280 Features

If you want to use more than a pair of 2.5" drives, you'll find mounting holes in the center of each 3.5" hard drive cage for devices like SSDs. Silicon grommets dampen the vibrations emanating from 3.5” drives, since most contain moving parts.

Antec tells us that the P280 is specifically designed to reduce the noise of gaming systems, which is why we question the placement of fans on the top panel. Many users will place a case this large next to their desk, though putting it underneath could be a good way to use the furniture to block fan noise.

Dirty floors can be a problem for PC cooling fans, which tend to pick up a lot of dust and hair. Fortunately, Antec protects the power supply’s intake fan with a removable filter.

The finger tab on this filter adds around 0.2” to the width used in our Page 1 dimensions chart.

A polycarbonate sheet adds weight and stiffness to the P280’s side panel, reducing any vibrations that could transfer internal noise outside the case.

We wanted one technical feature from each of the cases submitted for our round-up: an internal USB 3.0 header, which we believe our readers deserve from a modern case. The P280's is found, along with USB 2.0 and HD Audio, inside the P280. Antec doesn’t include a USB 3.0-to-USB 2.0 adapter for builders using outdated motherboards. The case similarly does not include AC'97 audio connectivity. Color us happy.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
44 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jrayx
    I like the Silencio 650 features, but the airflow is restricted in the front and bottom. And no one sells that case in my country.
    Reply
  • James296
    sweet, been looking for a quiet gaming case =)
    Reply
  • dthesleepless
    I'd like to see how the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 compares in your testing.

    In my testing I found it to be the most efficient silent case I've ever had on my workbench.
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    Things I love about silence optimized case: Simple, elegant look. Nothing tacky and doesn't looks like it was made for some 12 years old

    Things I hate about silence optimized case: Usually doesn't cool well (poor airflow) and isn't really that much quieter compared to non silence optimized case

    It 's really hard to find the right balance but I'm loving the Antec P280. Exterior and interior looks good and seems spacious enough. Price isn't so bad either.

    Any chance you could review the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1? Heard a lot of good things about it .
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    I'd like to see the Fractal Design Define R4 (and/or XL if it's not out of stock, which it currently is) reviewed and compared at some point. It's suppose to be a quiet case. Gaming, not sure about that one.
    Reply
  • There is also the Corsair 550D to look at for the quite gaming experience.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    As usual, Cooler Master is mediocre at best. What pathetic company, the only thing they seem to do good is marketing to budget-conscious consumers.
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    9540164 said:
    As usual, Cooler Master is mediocre at best. What pathetic company, the only thing they seem to do good is marketing to budget-conscious consumers.

    I disagree. A lot of their chassis are good (HAF, Elite). I like their storm stryker/trooper. Most of their peripherals have great quality and reasonable price compared to something like Razer. Their coolers are also great as well (Hyper 212/212+/212 EVO). I just find their power supply unit to be the 2nd grade components, almost all of them I wouldn't use or recommend to other people
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    ^ except for the high-end cooler master PSU's. They are quite decent, probably because Seasonic actually makes them.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    dthesleeplessI'd like to see how the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 compares in your testing.In my testing I found it to be the most efficient silent case I've ever had on my workbench.JOSHSKORNI'd like to see the Fractal Design Define R4 (and/or XL if it's not out of stock, which it currently is) reviewed and compared at some point. It's suppose to be a quiet case. Gaming, not sure about that one.Perhaps you will...has anybody ever noticed the resemblance between those two?
    Reply