Worst case would be short device not mounting firmly in any way (even if you stripped that plastic crap away) because of lack of full complement of screw holes.
And then there's this Chieftec's system... splendid sabotaging!
Must be that modern urbanized human has butterfinger in the middle of...
While for same fan static pressure scales in direct relation to speed blade design/geometry has as much to do with it.
S12's huge hole area betweewn blades and gap from blade tip to frame makes it leak air back with least back pressure or pressure difference between sides of fan. (that's also...
You live in cargo ship's engine room or what? Time to get your hearing checked.
1800rpm fan is as quiet as highway in front yeard. (unless it's 80mm/smaller with very little airflow per rpm)
Any impedance (restriction) in front of blades lowers fan's airflow and causes more turbulence noise.
And AP181 has such restriction built into fan meaning at same RPM it has lower airflow than exactly same blade geometry FN181. That factor is probably what shows in their account in their...
It's mid-tower and those have never been really spacious.
PC-A70/71 E-ATX full tower is for space:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112243
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112244
Long graphics cards look almost short in them...
Too bad that half of the time innovations come from marketing wanting bulletpoint-engineering.
Like that HDD mounting system of PC-B70 is already halfway there: That unnecessary HDD caddy/tray only increases size of airflow obstacle compared to plain HDD with rubber grommet screws.
It's almost...
You should be more worried about buzzword design cases done just for the sake of weird design and empty marketing buzzwords.
Going from the PC-B70 to the Raven, I GAINED(!!!) about 7 to 10* Celcius on my CPU temps
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034567466&postcount=1
Any design needs...
Besides that easier access compared to standard front-back mounting it's superior in space utilization efficiency by leaving more space for long cards with same external case depth.
But if not done properly it leaves more "room" for designers to trash airflow.
There are couple different sized versions from Chieftec's same "basic theme".
Replacing B/C serie models again have some clear differences to old D-serie at least in maxi tower.
Actual I/O port module is replaceable...
Bigger mid towers can fit most graphics cards but they definitely don't have much loose space inside because case has sufficient height only for PSU and mobo.
E-ATX full towers PC-A70/71 have space for up to triple radiator if you mod top or get "pre-modded" top panel.
Coolermaster ATCS 840...
Yeah, both overpriced as special designs mostly are...
E-ATX full towers PC-A70 and PC-A71 are in same price class as FT02, whose hefty external measures don't translate into equal inside space.
Sleeve bearing fans don't like running in horizontal position and can wear out and fail in months.
From Scythe fans S-Flex and Gentle Typhoon are fitting for horizontal use.
That's most closely achieved by soft HDD mounting for lowering amount of vibration spreading to case structures (with possible bitumen mass damping) and also blocking direct noise escape path.
Lian Li A71 (all A,B+F versions) would have soft mounting for ten HDDs and those five 5.25" bays to...
How much components you're going to put in there?
Two years ago I had it originally on top of my list because of biggest "advertising number" of 5.25" bays in silencing friendly cases but after starting to study innards and verify advertising claims I discarded it quickly:
5.25" bays are only...
If you have multimeter remove PSU's cord from wall and measure resistance between plug's safety ground contact/pin and metal part of case near PSU.
If resistance is about zero fault is in building's wiring if there's high/"infinite" resistance then fault is in between these measuring spots.
Negative pressure means there's more exhaust fan power than intake fan power meaning pressure inside case dropping lower than outside.
In positive pressure there's more fan power pushing air in than drawing out leading to higher pressure inside case.
In both situations pressure difference...
PSU sitting on top of 0% of components' heat production vs. PSU sitting on top of 100% of components' heat production.
Guess which one is better for acoustics/PSU's cooling&reliability...
If it doesn't have dust filters then it's really hard to keep dust out except by cleaning your room...
Combination for creating ordered, laminar airflow through whole case.
Also both "negative" and "positive" pressure options are possible but controlling airflow becomes lot harder and all impedance is on shoulders of either exhaust or intake fans.
Otherwise design is sound but that Akasa/Lian Li/Spire etc. ad nauseam light as air foam in side panels and somewhere else is essentially fraud and any generic bitumen felt/mat/what ever they call it in general stores would be lot better:
far too light, way too thin and has too low a density...
And waste of expansion slots.
This is lot more better approach by being able to draw heat from between all cards:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0130_210_750_758&products_id=22329...
When used in RAID power saving options turning drive off after set idle time aren't probably supported.
AMCC/3ware doesn't support that (except for drives not part of array) and same for RAIDed drives in Intel ICH's controller.
But that always running might be actually saving thing when drives...
Don't worry about that in Lian Lis, you can change I/O port panel:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product04.php?cl_index=2&sc_index=10&ss_index=131
There just aren't yet any motherboards with internal connectors for USB3 (if there's even standardized header for it) so might be better...
Here are good pics of A70/71FB's insides look.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15810698&postcount=1
Also now rarer original A77A/B (Not A77F) takes nine HDDs directly and six free 5.25" bays should be enough for that one extra drive.
In most cases fitting 10 drives would...
Is small footprint primary requirement because A71FB would give lot more device bays for lot smaller price?
(and lot more flexible instead of those free space eating chambers)
Cosmos S: Noise leaking and really nothing to do with original Cosmos which is quiet design but just too complex.
Raven RV01: OC&C - Over Complex and Cramped... and lots of plastic everywhere including HDD mounting.
Corsair: Big but lot of empty non utilized space with very little HDD bays for...
Lian Li A05N is small ATX case with very unconventional layout.
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=289&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=63&g=spec
Unless used in really thin "sheets" wood is actually quite vibration resisting and wouldn't benefit from mass damping using bitumen mat.
Also it's acoustically lot more opaque than thin metal sheets so it keeps sounds inside better but that works only when there aren't direct noise escape paths...
Small Chieftec.
80mm fans, PSU in hottest place, hard HDD mounting (Don't try Seagates on that) and plastic as baffle material isn't so great. (although that plastic door already helps some to noise of optical drives)
Would be easiest to just get case which actually has quiet design because...
Basing to pics it's definitely very thin and it's also light highly compressible foam, isn't it?
Those are essentially acoustically useless BS by being able to absorbt only little of highest frequencies and having zero mass to resist vibrations.
Generic bitumen mat would be light years better...
Cooling per fan speed of course suffers some but cooling per noise differences are questionable...
And probably even other way in A71A/B because in addition to holes in door's side there's also ~4mm gap between front panel and door making additional impedance probably very small. (as facepalm...
If you had there one of those "burning hot even at idle" Prescott or dual core Pentium 4s very few current CPUs can compete against them in heat production.
But otherwise its small fans just aren't up to job anymore... Although that case would fit well for installing big quad radiator to top...
That's natual when case doesn't have real damping and there's loose in somewhere.
You can try tightening attachment of side panels or just strip away that fraud foam and install bitumen mat which inreases vibration resistance.
As rule look reviews for pictures for "stripping case to parts" and seeing how it is really made and consider text as optional filler most of the time taken from lines of marketing department.
Only real way to do case comparison basing to reviews is this:
1. Think what kind of case and what...