What case for silent case

[carlmart]

Soon I will be assembling a new system, based around Intel Core 2 Duo E6700, and I am worried about two things that conflict each other:

1) Cooling the different parts: CPU, HDs, mobo chip. GPU shouldn't be a problem as I won't be demanding too much for video editing.

2) Silent running. Silence should be important, as I will be editing audio with it.

So what case to pick is a concern. It should be large, to hold all things I will put now into it and probably others in the future, particularly HDDs.

Any suggestions?

 

[BillParrish]

I will not touch a case that does not accomodate 120mm fans front and back. I do it for airflow in hot non-AC business/shop enviroments. I think it would serve as a good critera for your needs as (IMO) only 120mm fans can be turned down to reduce noise and still deliver a decent airflow.

 

[~GoaT~]

antec p180 or antec solo

 

[swatbat]

How many watts of heat does the E6700 put out?

If you really want silent then the zalman tnn500 is the way to go but it is hella expensive. Thinking you could make the heatsink work(wasn't designed for core duo but should work)

Overall I would recomend zalman for a cpu heatsink at least. They make some quite ones. Also up for water cooling. You can make a pretty quite system that would cool fine. Also look at antec for the 500 watt silent powersupply.

I'd prob look at like a Lian-Li Silent Series case or somethign.

 

[Erasmus354]

Antec P180, no contest. It is the only commercial case that can claim to have been designed with suggestions and collaboration with people from silentpcreview.com

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Yea the antec P-180 is the way to go. I have one now, and i am about to mod it with a window. That stuff will be here monday, So anyway, yea it dropped my cpu temp 6C* from my old case, which was an x-cruizer. SO I WOULD GET THE P-180.

 

[eth00]

I am not a heavy modder or anything but I ended up getting a p-180b and LOVE IT. I just picked up some yate loon fans and with the fans and a zalman heatsink on low...you cannot hear it My external hard drive (it does not have a fan)literally makes more noise then the entire computer when it is idling.

 

[khanable]

p180

 

[Zero82z]

P180, and a Scythe Ninja with a SilenX fan would be perfect for CPU cooling.

 

[carlmart]

How many watts of heat does the E6700 put out?

Still couldn't get a reliable info on that. Not many around yet, probably for $$$ reasons.

But I won't be overclocking, so heat should be low. Demands only when rendering video.

If you really want silent then the zalman tnn500 is the way to go but it is hella expensive. Thinking you could make the heatsink work(wasn't designed for core duo but should work)

Quite a bit over my budget. Not an option.

Overall I would recomend zalman for a cpu heatsink at least. They make some quite ones. Also up for water cooling. You can make a pretty quite system that would cool fine.

Water cooling might be an option, as long as it's really silent and not too bulky. Price is a concern, though.

I think these new Core 2 Duo units run cooler than former Pentiums. Any particular regular Zalman you would recommend?

Also look at antec for the 500 watt silent powersupply.

Yes, the Antel Phantom 500 looks good.

I'd prob look at like a Lian-Li Silent Series case or somethign.

They look very good, and are aluminum types which should be great for me (I live by the sea), but also pricey.

For the case, perhaps an Antel P180 with a Phantom 500 might be the best choice.

 

[carlmart]

P180, and a Scythe Ninja with a SilenX fan would be perfect for CPU cooling.

You mean using a SilenX on the Scythe (for active cooling) or for the case?

 

[venomous35]

LIAN LI PC-6070Bplus II

 

[carlmart]

The suggestions I am getting are very good and I am learning a lot on case design. No intention on building or modding my own though.

Air flow is fundamental, so at least a 120mm fan on the back is mandatory. This I already modified on my present case, using an Akasa Silent.

A fan blowing on the HDDs from the front is also a must, and a 120mm type should be great if it fits, as then it could cool several drives.

One thing I see on many is a fan blowing from the side, but not on the side plate. In my present case I put a silent 80mm fan on the case floor, velcroed, blowing on the GPU and chipset (which have no fan), and it proved more effective than a fan on the side plate.

The problem with my present case is it's not designed for silence, so it "leaks" everywhere, which I suppose those others do not.

What type of deadening stuff do they use? Foam should not be too effective, except if it's dense rubber foam. What about cork or felt or even pure rubber? If I try any of them now I may learn what really works and see who is using what.

As I won't be overclocking, I don't think memory banks will need cooling, will them?

 

[eth00]

The p180 is already setup a good amount for the sound deadening. It is not cheap thin metal so it does not vibrate, that causes a lot of sound in the cheaper cases. All of the panels are also a plastic, metal, plastic 3 layer which helps deaden the sound as well.

As far as space the p180 fits 4 drives down below that are shock mounted and 2 above, all of which are very adequetly ventilated. Both of the bays have a 120mm fan blowing directly on them, the upper bay fan only has a bracket for one so you will need to buy that.

As far as a powersupply I went with one of the quiet seasonics and have yet to hear it.

As long as you do a good job on the wiring there will be plenty of ventilation in the case for the RAM.

I honestly thought about water cooling as well but since I am not overclocking I found a high quality air setup to work fine - also a lot less maintance!

 

[carlmart]

The p180 is already setup a good amount for the sound deadening. It is not cheap thin metal so it does not vibrate, that causes a lot of sound in the cheaper cases. All of the panels are also a plastic, metal, plastic 3 layer which helps deaden the sound as well.

As far as space the p180 fits 4 drives down below that are shock mounted and 2 above, all of which are very adequetly ventilated. Both of the bays have a 120mm fan blowing directly on them, the upper bay fan only has a bracket for one so you will need to buy that.

Point taken. The P180 seems like the way to go.

As far as a powersupply I went with one of the quiet seasonics and have yet to hear it.

Which Seasonics?

As long as you do a good job on the wiring there will be plenty of ventilation in the case for the RAM.

Yes, round wiring is a must for air to flow well.

I honestly thought about water cooling as well but since I am not overclocking I found a high quality air setup to work fine - also a lot less maintance!

Completely agreed. Which HSF are you using on your CPU?

 

[Zero82z]

You mean using a SilenX on the Scythe (for active cooling) or for the case?

I meant on the Ninja, but if your budget allows it would be a good idea to replace all the case fans with them.

As for the PSU, Seasonics are excellent. Thermaltake also makes a passive PSU, so you may want to take a look at that as well.

Yes, round wiring is a must for air to flow well.

Better to use flat cables folded flat and out of the way. Even round cables create turbulence, and they're much bulkier than flat cables that are properly routed.

 

[eth00]

I ended up going with:

SeaSonic S12-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151024
Plenty of power for most and its SLI capable if you want to later

ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813999251
This is an AM2 heatsink so obviously not for you. With the fans running at the lowest setting on a fan controller I actually usually keep the CPU fan completely off. While it is not that loud it is a lot louder then everything else and as long as I am not doing heavy gaming there is enough airflow to allow for passive cooling with it. As long as you stick with one of the bigger zalman's or sythe you should be fine.


I looked at the completely passive PSU's but if you go that route make sure you have some airflow behind the case so that the heatsink does not get too hot. That seasonic above is very quiet and very efficient which means the fan does not have to kick in all that often.

Don't forget the video card, those can be loud buggers! I ended up going with a middle of the way 7600GS that is passively cooled. The PCI slot covers on the p180 have holes in them that allow which is enough to keep it cool.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125028

Finally of course don't forget the motherboard NB, make sure to get one that is passive and perhaps with a heatpipe so you don't have the noisely little fan going. Of course yuo could replace it later but just saves some trouble if you start off with a passive one.

 

[carlmart]

Your choices look all very good. There are at least two things than can't be passive, me thinks: PSU cooling and back fan.

The idea of putting a fan controller seems like a very good one, particularly if that control has good temp sensors. Then you can monitor everything and switch on certain fans only when necessary.

In my case, rendering video should be the only thing demanding more from the cpu, and when I am rendering I can't do anything else. So who cares if I set fans higher right then to cool things down?

By motherboard NB you mean motherboard chipset? If that's so that is also a major concern of mine. Once I had an Abit board that went through the roof in its chipset, in spite of having a fan, an rebooted the system when going high. You could not play any games, which probably meant no editing either.

The mobo I was planning to buy, Asus P5W DH, has a pipe passive cooling, which I don't know how effective it is.

The GPU you suggest looks very good, though I might have to go for a Quadro, which seems to be the one recommended for video. But I am not sure if I need to.

One thing I did on this board that I might do on the other is putting a low-noise fan on the side to cool down the GPU and chipset, as both have passive HS. It works like a charm with minimum noise.

Heat is a problem that will never get me again if I can help it. I lost a great socket A system to it.

 

[belmicah]

http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=64&code=020

The Zalman TNN-500A proves to be an effective cooling system. With the entire massive case acting as a [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]heatsink[/font][/font][/color][/color] along with all the heatpipes, this is not much of a surprise. It's a totally different direction than that taken by Hush with their fanless ATX PC. The [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Zalman[/font][/font][/color][/color] tries to be a fanless case/cooling platform to replace a standard case, PSU and heatsink. It allows expansion and customization by the user. The Hush ATX PC, on the other hand, gives you a completely hand-off, finished package akin to a high end audio component; it's not really meant to be opened up by the user at all -- except maybe to add memory.

Zalman's key oversight is the absence of a built-in [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]hard [/font][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]drive[/font][/color][/font][/color][/color] noise damping system. The HDD is the only source of noise in their fanless case. VoodooPC's error is not having pursued a custom solution to compensate for Zalman's oversight, and their choice of hard drive, which is obviously predicated on performance, not acoustics.

 

[pawstar]

If you are looking at the TNN-500A you should consider the later revision TNN-500AF. Other than that, I cast another vote for the Antec P180

 

[carlmart]

The Zalman TNN-500Aproves to be an effective cooling system.

Looks great. But it seems to have the word EXPENSIVE written all over it.

I wasn't thinking of spending more than $300 for the quiet case and supply. And my bill seems covered by the P180 + the Antec/Thermaltake/Seasonic PS.

 

[pawstar]

Looks great. But it seems to have the word EXPENSIVE written all over it.

I wasn't thinking of spending more than $300 for the quiet case and supply. And my bill seems covered by the P180 + the Antec/Thermaltake/Seasonic PS.

Correction it has UBER EXPENSIVE written all over it. It retails at around $1000

 

[pawstar]

Oh yeah, and one more thing, if you want good opinions on silent equipment, its best to head over www.silentpcreview.com as they are focused on reviewing and discussing silent running hardware.

 

[Unknown-One]

http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=64&code=020

The Zalman TNN-500A proves to be an effective cooling system. With the entire massive case acting as a [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]heatsink[/font][/font][/color][/color] along with all the heatpipes, this is not much of a surprise. It's a totally different direction than that taken by Hush with their fanless ATX PC. The [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Zalman[/font][/font][/color][/color] tries to be a fanless case/cooling platform to replace a standard case, PSU and heatsink. It allows expansion and customization by the user. The Hush ATX PC, on the other hand, gives you a completely hand-off, finished package akin to a high end audio component; it's not really meant to be opened up by the user at all -- except maybe to add memory.

Zalman's key oversight is the absence of a built-in [color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]hard [/font][/font][color=green ! important][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]drive[/font][/color][/color][/color] noise damping system. The HDD is the only source of noise in their fanless case. VoodooPC's error is not having pursued a custom solution to compensate for Zalman's oversight, and their choice of hard drive, which is obviously predicated on performance, not acoustics.

uh, not to go off topic here, but what on Earth happened to your post 0_o

 

[carlmart]

if you want good opinions on silent equipment, its best to head over www.silentpcreview.com as they are focused on reviewing and discussing silent running hardware.

Thanks for the tip. It really makes for interesting reading.

Even so some of the suggestions may not be too effective, like using egg-crate foam, which even if widely used in sound studios it works only on certain frequencies and in large areas.

Thicker materials are necessary, and I am doing a research of my own with acoustics specialized friends to see what might work better.

The PS list puts the Seasonics in a very high place. The output cables being non-detachable may be an issue, so as to have a less cluttered inners on the case, which should improve air-flow.

 

[carlmart]

Better to use flat cables folded flat and out of the way. Even round cables create turbulence, and they're much bulkier than flat cables that are properly routed.

Can you elaborate a bit more on that question?

The problems I foresee with flat cables are:

1) They are wide, effectively blocking air-flow
2) There are many of them
3) They are in the middle of the case
4) Their length is limited, which prevents non-obtrusive re-routing
5) Folding flat cables can be electronically bad

Round cables minimize many of those problems, though I don't know if effective testings have been carried out to look into this matter.

 

[Geo Fry]

I think it all depends on where the cables will be... In my case I have a mix of flat and rounded cables. Sometimes flat cables are much easier to fold up and keep tucked away where a rounded cable would just be in the way of airflow. At first I was all about the rounded cables but honestly sometimes they are just too bulky and stiff to really control.

As far as folding them and messing the signal up electronically, I've had mine folded for a while and not had any problems. I think it's when you actually bend and kink the wires is when problems occur

Good luck on choosing your case and supply

Edit: another option for the supply is this Silverstone . I have one of the Strider series ones and it is pretty quiet and this one is supposed to be even quieter then those. Its a $25 cheaper option from the Seasonic

 

[carlmart]

Edit: another option for the supply is this Silverstone . I have one of the Strider series ones and it is pretty quiet and this one is supposed to be even quieter then those. Its a $25 cheaper option from the Seasonic

Thanks for the suggestion. One thing I realize now is that the only noisy part on a PS is the fan. So you can really replace the fan for a silent one on a good supply and you get going.

My present supply is a Thermaltake 430, which is very good. The fan system is interesting, because it has one that flows back from the front onto the internal heatsinks, and another one that exhausts the hot air outside. Pretty silent too: you have to see if the fans are rotating to know it's working.

I wonder if those having just one large fan, blowing from below, will exhaust the hot air so effectively.

So the main issue seems to be the voltage regulating quality and whether the PS attends the current demands.

The question is how we can evaluate such a thing before buying, because a reliability problem may happen after some working time.

One thing I find useful for that, even if perhaps rather likely misguiding, are the Customer Reviews on Newegg. But I tend to put more attention to them when the reviews universe is large enough. When you just have a few you never know.

 

[eth00]

Thanks for the suggestion. One thing I realize now is that the only noisy part on a PS is the fan. So you can really replace the fan for a silent one on a good supply and you get going.

Not completely also consider the efficiency of the power supply. A cheaper power supply will be in the 60% efficiency ballbark, the higher end ones will get into the 80's meaning that a lot less airflow is required.

I don't know about the silverstone but the seasonic also has a very good heatsink design with more surface area then normal to facilitate cooling with less airflow. There are more things then just the fan to look at I would just make sure to get one of higher efficiency for this project or take a look at silentpcreview (they are where I found the seasonic) for what power supply to get.

If you search aroudn you should be able to find some reviews where they load test them and see how the voltages hold up.


Regarding the extra cables, there is a place underneath the power supply in the p180 that can be used to store all of the extra cables and will not impede the majority of the airflow. I would have also liked if they were detachable but it works fine.

 

[carlmart]

Not completely also consider the efficiency of the power supply. A cheaper power supply will be in the 60% efficiency ballbark, the higher end ones will get into the 80's meaning that a lot less airflow is required.

Indeed. A good design is good all over, even in the slightest details.

Interesting I didn't pay attention to the efficiency % listed at Newegg, which is 65% on my Thermaltake, goes to 80% on the Enermax Liberty and is not even mentioned (?) on an OCZ.

I don't know about the silverstone but the seasonic also has a very good heatsink design with more surface area then normal to facilitate cooling with less airflow. There are more things then just the fan to look at I would just make sure to get one of higher efficiency for this project or take a look at silentpcreview (they are where I found the seasonic) for what power supply to get.

Certainly. Silentpcreview seems to be a great source of information for all this things and others I hadn't thought of.

Loading the PS is fundamental if you want to test it properly. Will it hold? Will it get noisier? Will it get hotter? Will it cool properly with the available fans?

Another thing seems to be the minimum load some PSs seem to need to fire up, and they need to be pre-loaded to do so or they can cause a disaster.

Regarding the extra cables, there is a place underneath the power supply in the p180 that can be used to store all of the extra cables and will not impede the majority of the airflow. I would have also liked if they were detachable but it works fine.

Yes, it does look as if the P180 is the one for me.

 

[Unknown-One]

I was reading the reviews of the p180 on newegg and they don't look good at all. The front denting in due to thermal variation, the plastic tabs that hold the case door closed braking off, etc, etc.

Can we get an insiders opinion on this case?

 

[carlmart]

Well, tylerdustin2008 and eth00 seem to have P180s. So they might comment on your questions.

Many issues raised in Newegg, which as I said I pay much attention to, seem related to misuse or things like that.

Actually assembling the case and see how it sounds (or doesn't) is what really matters.

For instance: it's important to me how I can install and desinstall HDDs easily, because I am always doing that and I need a system to do it well and quickly. External HDDs are out of the question.

 

[ThirtySixBelow]

Well, tylerdustin2008 and eth00 seem to have P180s. So they might comment on your questions.

Many issues raised in Newegg, which as I said I pay much attention to, seem related to misuse or things like that.

Actually assembling the case and see how it sounds (or doesn't) is what really matters.

For instance: it's important to me how I can install and desinstall HDDs easily, because I am always doing that and I need a system to do it well and quickly. External HDDs are out of the question.

I don't really see how the P180's HDD system is any more efficient than anything else.
My roommate has the p180 and with all 120mm fans in and on full, it's not totally silent, so keep that in mind also. The biggest pain with the p180 is wiring.
Also, keep in mind that this thing is heavy as crap, so if you plan on moving it around a lot, you might want to look into something else.

 

[eth00]

I have only had my case for ~1 month at this point so I have not see how the case holds up in the long run.

The door hinge is not made of steel so you cannot treat it roughly but it is a decently strong plastic. As long as you treat it nicely and reasonably it should hold up fine.

The sides of the case each have 3 tabs on the top and 3 on the bottom for each door. Again they seem perfectly strong if you treat it nicely and if you don't I doubt you will break all 6 at once.

Swapping hard drives is pretty easy as they can just pull out on the top 2 racks. You do have to pull out all the drives at once so just make sure to leave some extra length of cable to easily pull them out. It is not some sort of a server hotswap case but it is reasonably easy. If you have to swap hard drives very frequently perhaps look at a hotswap bay.

I don't think that under normal usage it will have any problems in regards to the pieces breaking.

 

[Zero82z]

Most if not all of the P180's problems have been solved in later revisions of the case, including the notorious warped-door issue. As for the flat cables issue, take a look at this pic:

This is my PC from a while back. It's a bit hard to tell from this pic, but the cables are all folded along the back of the case and do not obstruct airflow at all.

 

[_Korruption_]

P180, and a Scythe Ninja with a SilenX fan would be perfect for CPU cooling.

SilenX is crap. Blatantly false noise ratings and inflated prices. Stick with Yate Loon/Nexus if you want good 120mm case fans.

 

[carlmart]

I haven't yet bought any case, so the time to say things about the P180 or suggest some other is exactly now.

The P180 seems to allow pulling the HDDs to the side, instead of to the back like most do. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I usually need to move one or two HDDs, so I could put those on the top racks, as eth00 suggests, in order to swap them.

I am not sure I can accomodate the flat cables as suggested.

 

[Frank4d]

Well when you get all the parts and put them all together and it is still too noisy, we can help. But quiet is a relative term that depends on your definition of what is quiet. I have an Antec Sonata case that was supposed to be quiet but is not, an Antec Phantom 350 PSU (no fan), Arctic Freezer 64 Pro CPU cooler, Zalman VF700 GPU cooler, 120mm case fan mounted with rubber grommets, NXP-305 fan controller with fan speed set slow so my CPU runs 45C... and was still was not quiet enough for a PC that runs 24/7 next to my bed. Solution was to suspend my hard drive with rubber bands >> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1100235. (I am going to re-do with bungie cords this week after receiving advice that rubber bands might not last).

 

[kydsid]

As you can see from my sig below I am another P180 user. Yes most of the problems were fixed in revisions of the case. Just be sure if you are worried to get the revision. I bought a 180 at a local store 2 months ago for a friend in his build. Turned out to be the original. That in mind, mine is the original I haven't had any problems or defects. Replaced all fans with Yate Loons (only ones I recomend) and living in a cold climate I can run my X2 at 30c in 2d. Haven't replaced the proc cooling from stock so that gives the whole thing even at idle what I would say to be a 10-15db sound, which is low enough to not hear it unless no other sounds are present.

I highly recomend the P180, quiet simple exterior design and does whay it intends too, good airflow and low noise.

I also recommend the Epower Tagan 480 which I use, very efficient and quiet PSU.

 

[ThirtySixBelow]

Well when you get all the parts and put them all together and it is still too noisy, we can help. But quiet is a relative term that depends on your definition of what is quiet. I have an Antec Sonata case that was supposed to be quiet but is not, an Antec Phantom 350 PSU (no fan), Arctic Freezer 64 Pro CPU cooler, Zalman VF700 GPU cooler, 120mm case fan mounted with rubber grommets, NXP-305 fan controller with fan speed set slow so my CPU runs 45C... and was still was not quiet enough for a PC that runs 24/7 next to my bed. Solution was to suspend my hard drive with rubber bands >> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1100235. (I am going to re-do with bungie cords this week after receiving advice that rubber bands might not last).

Yes, quiet can be subjective, but silent is not. The title said silent case and just wanted to point out that the case is not silent with all the fans on full tilt. You can probably make the computer silent with a fan controller minus the hard drive seek.