Silent Case

[AncHorZ]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a good quite case for around £100 max, I've had my rig since about April but at the time did not have the money for a decent case but now do.

I was thinking about getting a fractal design define r3, how good are these and how quite are the stock fans?

Also does anyone have any other suggestions for cases I should look at?

Thank you

 

[S_I_N]

afaik cases dont make noise

but the included fans on the other hand can range from quiet to drive ya crazy loud. So with that said its simples pick a case that suits ur needs and read the reviews on it noting fans if they are loud change them to silent ones. I myself like the sickle flows for quiet good flow fans. But others claim their noisy. I have like 6 of them in my case sitting next to my ear with the panels off and I cant hear them.

 

[ruthless_villain]

the r3 is brilliant, the coolermaster silencio is meant to be pretty decent as well... you could go with the NZXT hush but like most things NZXT its cheap crap

i would throw some noctua / bequiet fans in there as you will have money left from that £100

 

[cinek2]

the r3 is great, the fans are really quiet imo - but if you want more airflow, you'll have to get some noctua fans

 

[Timbaloo]

+1 to the R3. I have it, i am very happy with it. But yes, the fans that come with it are not too good. I'd replace them. But then again, i've never been happy with fans that came with a case.

 

[sheroo]

As a rule of thumb, if you are seeking silence then buy a case which doesn't let the sound escape directly to your ears. The more things that the sound can be dampened by before it enters your ears the quieter it will be. At all costs avoid open mesh side panels & side panel fans, as the noise just leeks out.

Will the PC be on the floor or on the desk? Mechanical drives or SSD's? What CPU cooler have you got? What cooling do you have on your 460? What PSU have you got? The case will help, but if you've got noisy components to start with then It'll take more work.

 

[AncHorZ]

afaik cases dont make noise

but the included fans on the other hand can range from quiet to drive ya crazy loud. So with that said its simples pick a case that suits ur needs and read the reviews on it noting fans if they are loud change them to silent ones. I myself like the sickle flows for quiet good flow fans. But others claim their noisy. I have like 6 of them in my case sitting next to my ear with the panels off and I cant hear them.

I have 3 sickle flows all running at 7v and I find them too loud but that may also be due to my cheap case.

 

[AncHorZ]

As a rule of thumb, if you are seeking silence then buy a case which doesn't let the sound escape directly to your ears. The more things that the sound can be dampened by before it enters your ears the quieter it will be. At all costs avoid open mesh side panels & side panel fans, as the noise just leeks out.

Will the PC be on the floor or on the desk? Mechanical drives or SSD's? What CPU cooler have you got? What cooling do you have on your 460? What PSU have you got? The case will help, but if you've got noisy components to start with then It'll take more work.

On the floor

Green WD drive basicly no noise

CPU cooler is Coolermaster Hyper TX3

My 460 uses stock cooling

My psu is corsair HX650 this is the loadest things in my rig when all case fans are off.

 

[AdrianD2]

My Corsair 400r is COMPLETELY silent when idling, and that is with all 3 fans on 12v, the only noise made when gaming is 100% my 560ti

 

[Philib]

Iv got an R3 and I can hardly hear it. Brilliant case. Easy to work on and has enough space for most people's needs.

 

[fcb]

I'd definitely recommend the Fractal Design R3. Any of the Define series are great cases. It's a great case for those who prefer silence. With the included fans, the case is very silent. Even if you filled up the case with the same fans throughout the case, it's still going to be whisper silent.

 

[Timbaloo]

My Corsair 400r is COMPLETELY silent when idling, and that is with all 3 fans on 12v, the only noise made when gaming is 100% my 560ti

Go get a Thermalright Shaman

I love this thing so much

 

[steve30x]

afaik cases dont make noise

but the included fans on the other hand can range from quiet to drive ya crazy loud. So with that said its simples pick a case that suits ur needs and read the reviews on it noting fans if they are loud change them to silent ones. I myself like the sickle flows for quiet good flow fans. But others claim their noisy. I have like 6 of them in my case sitting next to my ear with the panels off and I cant hear them.

Its not only the fans that make noise. In my 800D I have 4 HDD's in the hot swap bay and even though there is a bit of dapening in that bay I can still hear the HDD noise> I only have two HDD's running 90% of the time because the noise of the other two going as well will drive me nuts. With the side panels off in the case the HDD noise is reduced a little because the side panels are resonating with the HDD's making a lot of noise. For that very reason I want something like the new Antec P280.

Its just a pitty that when case reviews are done they dont include HDD noise and noise coming from other noisey components in the rig.