Hi everyone,

I have a beast of a computer, that I also use for Visual design. But my problem is that the case is not quiet. When the graphics card kicks in and the CPU works hard you can really hear the fans going. The box has about 7 fans, and I have them all spinning quite "slow" and at time I disable some of them (the case has a few cool buttons to do so), but I can still hear it. And most definitely when I am making music.

SO I am thinking of doing the good ol' giving my PC to my wife and she gives hers to our eldest daughter and if that happens I would like to get...

*** Drumroll ***

THE QUIETEST COMPUTER CASE IN THE WORLD!!! (please read that with God voice and a shitload of reverb).

Have you guys experienced / bought / seen / heard of a nice quiet computer case? If you have any experience, please let me know. I am not in a hurry, but I'd love to see what you Audiosexuals know.

Cheers!!!

 

@ Demon,

A few suggestions :



The 'Classical' Model



The most 'Esoteric' : The 'Star Trek' Model !!!

____________________________________________________________________​

Now more seriously, do you have tried to make your own "quietest Computer Case" by using some 'Noise Foam' ?



I'm pretty sure that you can drastically absorb/reduce some noises with that process. *yes*
By cons, and as you easily guess it, you'll to transform that 'Noise Foam' by yourself (especially thickness and dimensions) to be able to place it within your usual 'Computer Case', but a little bit of tinkering has never hurt anyone, isn't ?

 

Silentmaxx ;)

 

Hi,

I've just recently built a new rig for my studio and went for the Fractal Design Define R5.
Frankly, it's the best thought-out case I've come across in my entire life. It's completely padded with sound absorbing materials and everything (hdd cages etc.) where resonance could occur is decoupled.
It's just so neat and tidy in there

But the case is just one component for quiet computing. I also threw a fanless psu from Seasonic in and a very silent cpu cooler/fan.
Although, some airflow has to happen and where air can flow, so can noise. If you're completely silent you can still hear something but as soon as I start typing the noise from the keyboard is louder.
As far as I know there are no 100% silent cases, so if you wanted to have a zero-noise-environment, you'd have to put your rig in a seperate room - which is what you find in most larger recording studios.

p.s.: there once was a passively cooled case, the zalman tnn 500af.
behold the behemoth!

 

*yes*

*yes* Or your 'Computer Case' would be completely sealed...

*yes*


Wise and full of common sense Comments that you get here (through the 'Fraifikmushi' Comments) ! *yes*

 

Hi Demon!
When i was a PC user, i've been quite satisfied with Cooler master products
I hope that will help you.
:dancing:

 

Studio 555, holy shit man. You made me laugh hard. Thanks for the suggestion. Someone suggested the foam as well (and I actually have some with me and I put in in the case to test). The sound did go down considerably, but it also got hot very quickly.

Fraifikmushi, that "TNN 500AF" looks really cool. It seems it has been replaced with THIS ONE. Also really cool.

So it seems that liquid cooling is the way to go? What do you think?

 

Water cooling is most commonly chosen for it's cooling performance. It's usually not particularly silent.
In fact, besides the cooling fans you have the pump which emits noise (the market leader for pc water cooling pumps is also the market leader for fish tank water pumps, lol). Also, it's much more delicate to install and maintain and the price tag is hefty.
I'd go for a dampened case and air cooling.
Airflow is not the only source for noise in computing, there is also mechanical movement and electrical components to be put into the equasion.

 

are you kidding me? I just recently built a new rig, too and went with that exact case!
Can really recommend it!

 

@ Demon,

I'm just impressed *yes* ...it looks like the Driver's Cockpit of a 'Formula 1' with all these counters !!!

Jokes aside, it must be a 'Top of the Line' Computer Case.

 

Deamon

I see they incorporated the Zalman Reserator XT cooling into a case. I have this cooling system (the XT) for more than 5 years - it is cooling my multimedia/cinema server in my house. It worked fine and really quiet the first 6-8 months (12 hours/day), than i had to replace the water pump. Until now I am replacing the pump every year or so.. I only use quality liquids to prevent blocks but non the less, the overall permeability of the system has dropped by 50% cos of the accumulated plaque, causing me tho drive it to a 100% power all the time to keep the minimum flow required. Other than this - i've never seen my CPU go above 45 deg. and my VGA - more than 58-59.
If i had to do it again, i would do it with a bigger pump and a car-radiator with some fans and hoses, long enough to keep the monster outside.

 

I'm with demon, but more like looking for an iso box/isobox (not just a case). Interested in hearing if anyone have any experience/guidance when it comes to isoboxes.

 

I built an HiEnd monster last year. It is sitting next to me in my dubbing stage. Total SPL below 35 DB

I used this Antec Performance One Series P280
Excellent cooling (air running vertical) and quality.
Ad a Noctua cooler and you are good to go.

 

Nanoxia DeepSilence 5 Rev.B (the new one). It's a bit more expensive than Fractal Design flagship, but it's German quality. Ful SECC & Full Antiphon kickass case.
Other alternatives are NZXT H630 which is just as great.
For less money, but still great, there's Thermaltake Urban T31 which is like 40% cheaper than the other 2.

Evo

 

An isobox would shut down noise completely, but the heat still has to go somewhere and heat accumulation is the certain death of semiconductors...

I would bet money those cases are built in the same company as Fractal Design's cases. Apart from the design, they seem to be similar in almost every aspect. The hdd cages seem to be identical. Even the screws are the same.
That's a good thing btw

 

Does the bottom panel detatch, would be a bit useless to me otherwise as always have mine ground level, first time I've seen vu meters on one though, nice touch if it suits your workspace.

different types of material for the heatsink will help you cool with less fan useage. best place to look for stuff is just read the info next to a online retailer's list of multiple offerings, they usually catergorize the heatsink/fan units that are most efficient for that kind of use.
I have my case open and a few feet away and it's not really every noisy, it's chewing through 14GHz of cycles between 4 cores and compared to my last CPU 12Ghz over 2 cores its about half as noisy. Someone mentioned there's 72 core chips available the other day to me, be interested what sort of heat they produce, be a few years till I get near one of those though.

 

Sorry, I know it's O.T. but could you explain this? 14 ghz and 4 cores?

 

3.5 GHz per core times the 4 cores equals 14Ghz if all cores are being used to potential. I actually made a mistake on the 12Ghz as I think it was actually 4GHz per 3 cores for my previous. I over-clocked it to run at 4.2 Ghz but the room got a bit too warm in the summer, probably would of melted the thing if I didn't live in a temperate zone.

 

Sorry, that's not how it works.

 

Damn, Actually I just realised that model is also discontinued...