Hi Im checking out new computers at the moment and wanted to know what case you think is the best to get. Here is a link to the cases I can select from - PC Cases I'll be customising a gaming pc so need one that is big enough for 2 graphics cards, sound card, 2 hard drives and whatever else I need. I really want something that will be quiet but still have a lot of fans to keep everything cool. let me know your sugestions. thanks J
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=images#1446 http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=images#1372 Either one should do. http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/index.php?page=images#1312 Thats a great case to.
PCSpecialist use coolermaster PSUs. I wouldn't bother making the PC quiet, you won't succeed. Why not self-build?
While case design can contribute to an increase or reduction in noise, it is not a primary factor. Noisy fans are the main culprit of noisy PCs. Sharkoon makes some super-quiet fans that move a good amount of air. There are others in the quiet-yet-powerful fan game, but sharkoon has a patent on the best blade design. Vibrations are also a common problem, older cases often develop rattles that will sound terrible...but even new cases vibrate quite a bit. This can be reduced by using plastic or rubber case feet and rubber o-rings on drive and fan screws. Hard drives and optical drives are also frequently to blame. Other than securing them tightly with rubber o-rings, there is not much you can do about a noisy drive other than replacing it. Last, there are several different kinds of noise deadening material being used in custom cases. They all have advantages and disadvantages, and some work better than others. Personaly, I don't much mind the noise my system makes because of it's location. However, my old system was located much closer to me, and I had to use some of the egg-carton-type insulation to quiet it down. This helped a lot, even though I had a 120MM fan in the front, one in the side, one in the back, and another on the top. ...and as Sammoris said, coolermaster power supplies are not exactly silent. Corsair seems to make a relativly quiet power supply. My coolmax 1200 is very quiet (it came with sharkoon fans installed), but the price of this unit has sky-rocketed since I got mine, and I can no longer recomend it. If you already have a nice (but noisy) power supply, you can always swap out the fans with something better. [edit] Be careful if you open up a power supply to do a fan swap. They hold power even after they are unplugged. Consider yourself warned.
Case design compounds fan noise. If you've got really quiet components, it almost doesn't matter what case you have, but if you have noisy ones, a good or bad case design can be a major help or hinderance. Sharkoon are one of many brands that produce half-decent fans. I wouldn't necessarily say they're the best, but they're the best cheap manufacturer certainly. Scythe and Nexus fans are my favourites, because the latter are very cheap and near silent, and the former are extremely well made and versatile. Vibration is one of the main things case manufacturers fall down on, but if you avoid Samsung and Seagate drives you can lessen this problem as WDs typically do not vibrate as badly. 5400rpm drives almost eliminate the vibrations entirely. As for PSU fan replacement, the sort of person building their own PC probably isn't going to go fiddling inside a live high voltage device.
Like I said, sharkoon is not the only player, but they do have an international patent on the super-quiet "golf ball dimple" blade design.
in the same way Noctua I think patented their blade system, and I'm pretty sure Enermax patented their bearing system. Just because a fan has a patented design needn't mean it's any better than the rest. Dj: Watercooling is not designed as a noise reduction system.
wow are you serious? I would have to disagree my friend. a watercooling system is much quieter than an aircooled system. using a liquid system, you no longer need a CPU and GPU fan, and you don't even really need a system fan for the case, because good water cooling systems have blocks that can attach to hard drives as well as the CPU and graphics card. my whole point is that a water cooling system eliminates several fans from inside the computer case and from my experience is much much quieter.
No, a watercooling system is quieter than a bad air cooling system, but is no match for a good air cooling system, trust me. Air cooling is the way to go for the lowest noise, and also the lowest cost.
That all depends on design. With a large enough radiator (so fans are not needed) and properly designed water block (so a pump is not needed), one could use water cooling for truly silent operation.
A watercooling system without a pump? I've never seen any components suitable for that. No pump and a WC system will shut down in about 30 seconds.
