• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Looking for a case for quiet cooling

L

lopoetve

Extremely [H]
2FA
Joined
Oct 11, 2001
Messages
34,250
I need something with more airflow, but I want it quiet. Price range: Prefer <$150.

I need a LOT of space, preferably, and if possible a removable mobo tray.

Been looking at a few of the Lian Li cases, as well as the Thermaltake Tsunami and Shark cases.

Reviews are pretty positive on all of them, but I'm looking for personal experiences. Alternates are also appreciated.

Weight is not an issue. Needs a side window/grill/whatever, and a side fan. And no, I won't add a side window later, I don't have the space to get out the dremel right now :(

So, recs?
 
I own a Tsunami, and it is a great case. The stock fans are quite loud though, much louder than the 21db TT states. If you remove the rear fan retention cage, you could install a 150mm fan (just barely fits. no cuting required, just screw it in). The front fan is a slim 120mm, I just hooked up a Zalman fanmate to it. Pic:
P1010113.jpg
 
i like my chenming 601... chenming 602 is worth mention at least... lack of 120 mm fans is verry verry easy to fix...
 
saturnine2 said:
I own a Tsunami, and it is a great case. The stock fans are quite loud though, much louder than the 21db TT states. If you remove the rear fan retention cage, you could install a 150mm fan (just barely fits. no cuting required, just screw it in). The front fan is a slim 120mm, I just hooked up a Zalman fanmate to it. Pic:
P1010113.jpg
Click to expand...

How much space is in there?
 
ryuji said:
i like my chenming 601... chenming 602 is worth mention at least... lack of 120 mm fans is verry verry easy to fix...
Click to expand...

If it involves cutting/modding much beyond screwing something in, it's out.

EDIT: Those are those antec look-a-likes. Thanks, I'll pass ;) Everyone has one of those.
 
damn it. That's what I'm trying to avoid. :(

Maybe I should just go with the big Antecs, at least they have the space to spare.
 
lopoetve said:
damn it. That's what I'm trying to avoid. :(

Maybe I should just go with the big Antecs, at least they have the space to spare.
Click to expand...
as far as i know antecs arnt made by antec.. chenming makes them antec cusomises them
 
Yeah. I hate the look of them though :p

I need big, stylish, cheap, and quiet.

Just about everything, eh?
 
lopoetve said:
Yeah. I hate the look of them though :p

I need big, stylish, cheap, and quiet.

Just about everything, eh?
Click to expand...
a long time ago i found a wicked sick mac look-alike(but they made it look cool ) that was designed to be like the most quiet case.. it had like double thick steel with air gap and sealed cdrom bays(flap closes that seals it off) and stuff like that.. was about $150 i belive.. out of my original price range..
 
The new Antec Super Lanboy is nice.. front 120, rear 120, bit window, etc.. Best thing is they use rubber snaps to hold the fans in. This GREATLY reduces the noise.
 
Antec P160SW.

Comes with side window. Comes with two 120mm fans which are quiet, though if you want super-quiet you could switch them out for Vantec Stealths. Comes with rubber mountings for the hard disks to cut down on noise. Front USB, Firewire, audio, and temperature readouts. Available for around $120 with free shipping from Newegg.

I couldn't be happier with mine. There's a lot of good cases out there but this one does the job for me.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-129-144&DEPA=1
 
LoneWolf said:
Antec P160SW.

Comes with side window. Comes with two 120mm fans which are quiet, though if you want super-quiet you could switch them out for Vantec Stealths. Comes with rubber mountings for the hard disks to cut down on noise. Front USB, Firewire, audio, and temperature readouts. Available for around $120 with free shipping from Newegg.

I couldn't be happier with mine. There's a lot of good cases out there but this one does the job for me.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-129-144&DEPA=1
Click to expand...

How's the room inside? My current mobo barely fits my case; same with the 6800GT I've got?

Not a big fan of silver, but I'll go there if it's a good case :)
 
room, cooling, quiet....?

Lian Li PC-V2000 here. Love it. I did add 2x120mm radiator blowhole for water cooling, but even as is this made for a well cooled and organized tower...air or water cooling. The 1200 is also a great option, but the 1000 seems a little tight.

CM stacker.


...those Mountainmod.com cube cases offer a great option with plenty of 120mm fans that can be dialed down to barely audible levels.
 
undertheradar said:
room, cooling, quiet....?

Lian Li PC-V2000 here. Love it. I did add 2x120mm radiator blowhole for water cooling, but even as is this made for a well cooled and organized tower...air or water cooling. The 1200 is also a great option, but the 1000 seems a little tight.

CM stacker.


...those Mountainmod.com cube cases offer a great option with plenty of 120mm fans that can be dialed down to barely audible levels.
Click to expand...


You just overshot my budget by $110+ on the Lian Li. :p
 
Coolermaster Stacker gets my vote. 2x120mm fans stock + tons of space. It might be just a few dollars over $150 ($157), but it matches all of your other requirements. Cheers!

MrDearthian
 
"Those are those antec look-a-likes. Thanks, I'll pass ;) Everyone has one of those."

Yep, yep, I wonder why ?

Full tower or server antec or chenning with 120mm fan mounting front and rear is hard to beat unless you throw more cash at it. You can get a window mod put in if you cant find one with it pre-installed.

I got a alum skyhawk mini server but its tight for watercooling and silver. It does have a mobo tray and you can get them in colors now with windows. I love the thing, the Skyhawks are good alternatives for a Lian Li for us cash challenged folks. Unfortunatly I no longer find the model I have available. www.electroseller.com has some and a few other cases not on egghead. some are really junk but dont let that stop you from looking at the Skyhawk, the mini server style is wider than a standard case, even wider than a standard full tower. Makes it nice to work in and it is possible to shove a watercooling system in there.
 
lopoetve said:
How's the room inside? My current mobo barely fits my case; same with the 6800GT I've got?

Not a big fan of silver, but I'll go there if it's a good case :)
Click to expand...

Tons of room. My Radeon 9700 fits great, and I have a VGA silencer on it. There are racks for four hard disks. Pics are in my forum thread if you want more information, you can PM me if you have more questions.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=834825
 
LoneWolf said:
Tons of room. My Radeon 9700 fits great, and I have a VGA silencer on it. There are racks for four hard disks. Pics are in my forum thread if you want more information, you can PM me if you have more questions.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=834825
Click to expand...

I like it!

My only concern would be with cooling the 6800GT. I was hoping for a side, window mounted fan... But I could probably get one in somehow.
 
lopoetve said:
I like it!

My only concern would be with cooling the 6800GT. I was hoping for a side, window mounted fan... But I could probably get one in somehow.
Click to expand...

Use an Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5. It will mount on your graphics card and suck the hot air out the back through the adjacent PCI slot to your AGP card. It's also quieter than adding another fan, and it will cool the memory on your card too.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=40

http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/vid-43.html
 
LoneWolf said:
Use an Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5. It will mount on your graphics card and suck the hot air out the back through the adjacent PCI slot to your AGP card. It's also quieter than adding another fan, and it will cool the memory on your card too.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=40

http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/vid-43.html
Click to expand...

I really, really don't like the idea of doing that to my card though :(

I'm mucho scared of breaking it, since I can't afford to replace that right now, and I won't RMA something I broke.

How hard is it to install something like that?
 
lopoetve said:
I really, really don't like the idea of doing that to my card though :(

I'm mucho scared of breaking it, since I can't afford to replace that right now, and I won't RMA something I broke.

How hard is it to install something like that?
Click to expand...
can you install a cpu heat sink? how about use a screw driver? other then that.. you dont need much for skill
 
ryuji said:
can you install a cpu heat sink? how about use a screw driver? other then that.. you dont need much for skill
Click to expand...

What about all the issues getting the ram/core to make good contact with the thing?

And is it really worth $30?
 
It was worth enough to me that I paid $30 for the original Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer for my Radeon 9700 within two weeks of its release, and I don't regret it. I'll also plan on adding a Silencer to any good vid card I put in my system in the future.

Removing the stock heatsink/fan isn't all that difficult; it just requires a little patience.
 
LoneWolf said:
It was worth enough to me that I paid $30 for the original Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer for my Radeon 9700 within two weeks of its release, and I don't regret it. I'll also plan on adding a Silencer to any good vid card I put in my system in the future.

Removing the stock heatsink/fan isn't all that difficult; it just requires a little patience.
Click to expand...
exactly... just visualy inspect it afterwards and if you dont see the stuff lining up flatly fix it.. but you should have no problems lopoetve
 
Antec SLK3700-BQE, Chenbro Gaming Bomb, and Antec Sonata are real good/quiet cases...
 
Ok. So go with the Antec Case that was pointed out (The silver one). Then a NV Silencer 5.

What about CPU fan...
 
lopoetve said:
Ok. So go with the Antec Case that was pointed out (The silver one). Then a NV Silencer 5.

What about CPU fan...
Click to expand...

The Antec case is the P160 Performance. It's harder to do a search for the side window mod version, so just go to Newegg and search by Antec's brand. They're almost certain to be the best deal, as shipping is free.

I don't know what CPU you plan on using. But, I'd look at Thermalright's heatsinks, and choose one that can mount a 120mm fan. I'd use a Vantec Stealth 120mm, they're super quiet and move plenty of air. The fan is available from FrozenCPU or Plycon; for more information on the heatsinks, check here:

http://www.thermalright.com

Thermalright makes the best heatsinks I've owned and their designs are especially good for quiet cooling. I'm currently using an older SLK-800 with a Vantec Stealth 80mm fan.
 
The TR Xp-120 doesn't fit on the mobo's I like, IIRC, so I'm going with the CoolerMaster Hyper48. SilentPcReview liked it, and it's quiet. :)

Not to mention that the TR are expensive as hell, especially after you add a nice fan to them ($70 eek).

Oh, and it's a POS 90nm Athlon64 939. Bastard thing has been anything but decent or usable, but that's another thread and another story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top