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Suggestions for a low noise PC case?

Chris GB
in The Technology Shed

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Hi to all.

I am returning a Shuttle XPC case which, when fitted with a AMD6000+ CPU is just too noisy.

I am looking for suggestions on quiet cases. Anyone tried the Arctic Cooling Silentium series? Any other suggestions for something quiet with this processor?

Chris

An Antec 300 kitted out with a couple of quiet fans or the ones that come with it turned right down is pretty damn quiet. Not silent, but very quiet.

That was using a standard heatsink and fan, so using a quiet one would probably be even better.

Have you thought of water cooling your shuttle as an option to make it quieter ? Zalman do a silent water cooling kit ;)

  • Author
An Antec 300 kitted out with a couple of quiet fans or the ones that come with it turned right down is pretty damn quiet. Not silent, but very quiet.

That was using a standard heatsink and fan, so using a quiet one would probably be even better.

Have you thought of water cooling your shuttle as an option to make it quieter ? Zalman do a silent water cooling kit ;)

Hi

The Shuttle is going back. I am seriously looking at an Asus barebones system at the moment. This little job should work OK:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

and if the PSU is a bit noisy, I can just swap in a low noise one I have here.

Chris

The last two PC's I've built for people went in an antec P182 and an antec 300. Both were good on price and I fitted them with a high efficiency (85%+) hiper PSU. I've personally got a monster tower (there is a pic somewhere on here) and even that is damn quiet with the right fans.

I really can't recommend them enough for low noise and ultra quiet if you swap out the q fans for quieter ones. They are already quiet on low setting, just on high they are not so quiet.

I know somebody who had an asus Barebones and the PSU was actually a non standard type, so you might not find it easy to swap out.

I do like their mobo's though :)

Edited by cheezemonkhai

  • Author
The last two PC's I've built for people went in an antec P182 and an antec 300. Both were good on price and I fitted them with a high efficiency (85%+) hiper PSU. I've personally got a monster tower (there is a pic somewhere on here) and even that is damn quiet with the right fans.

I really can't recommend them enough for low noise and ultra quiet if you swap out the q fans for quieter ones. They are already quiet on low setting, just on high they are not so quiet.

I know somebody who had an asus Barebones and the PSU was actually a non standard type, so you might not find it easy to swap out.

I do like their mobo's though :)

I am a big fan of Asus gear. I have over 500 Asus motherboards installed around the area in homes and businesses and never had a warranty claim on one.

I will look at the Antec cases. I really wanted to keep it simple, but if I need to go large to keep it quiet, I will.

Chris

  • Author
I'll keep an eye on this thread actually, as I might make a non-Shuttle purchase as well.

That Asus above looks decent Chris and only about 5cm taller. Seems great value, just checked it out at £75 on Scan.

Scan Computers UK: Asus V3-M2A690G AM2, AMD 690G, DDR2 800, PCI-E(x16), Onboard ATI X1250 VGA

Steve

Looks to be about the going rate. Dabs charging similar, but the OEM Vista is cheaper there.

Mind, the Asus comes with Linux drivers:cool:

Chris

Yup, Asus boards are the only ones I build with.

Keep us up-to-date with progress anyway. Have you been on the Quiet PC website? A good Quiet PC section, as well HTPC bit as well. One of their recommended HTPC cases could be way to go, if you can't do full-size.

Steve

  • Author
Yup, Asus boards are the only ones I build with.

Keep us up-to-date with progress anyway. Have you been on the Quiet PC website? A good Quiet PC section, as well HTPC bit as well. One of their recommended HTPC cases could be way to go, if you can't do full-size.

Steve

Mostly cost an issue with the Quiet PC products, but will look into it. Am trawling tomorrow. Possibilities are:

The bareboes Asus system. Simple, probably averagely quiet PSU, room for CPU cooler upgrade and a vent in the case side that may e ideal for a case trunk.

Antec or similar case with quiet PSU and CPU cooler upgrade. Good choice of Mobos.

Are you ruling out an Intel chip solution?

Steve

  • Author
Are you ruling out an Intel chip solution?

Steve

I am only returning the Shuttle case. The rest I will keep. I cannot see why the power dissipation should cause a noise issue. I have built PCs around much higher dissipations without problems.

I think a reasonable case with some big slow fans, a low noise PSU and a simple Asus mobo could be the solution.

The pnp nature of the Asus barebones system is tempting also.

Back in the day, it used to be pretty simple to sort a PC. Now we have multiple power connectors, different conventions for ancillary cooling, fan control protocols, case than most times the connectors dont match the mobo headers properly. I really dont have time to spend researching for weeks.

Chris

Hiper Efficient range seems to come with every connector I could ever want and then a few more :)

If you want quiet, go spend a decent chunk on a big heatpipe cooler for the CPU and look for a case that has either a nice quiet 80mm fan or better still a 120mm fan. :)

  • Author
Hiper Efficient range seems to come with every connector I could ever want and then a few more :)

If you want quiet, go spend a decent chunk on a big heatpipe cooler for the CPU and look for a case that has either a nice quiet 80mm fan or better still a 120mm fan. :)

Right. I have found a quiet enough CPU cooler, quiet enough case with 2 x 120mm case fans if needed. Now what I need is a quiet power supply.

or:

The Arctic cooling stuff looks a bit odd, but does provide a very quiet PSU.

More reading tonight.

Chris

  • Author

Just reading up on the Hiper PSUs when the notification came through for this post:cool:

Seems to be a good bet at 20dBA

Just got to find a case and a mobo now. Asus seems to have very limited mobo listing on the site. Last night there were loads of them:confused:

Still, not a problem.

I have built and heard run the 880W one in a p182 chassis and the 630W one in the 300 chassis. Both quiet.

To be honest any case with good cooling and sensibly large fans should be pretty quiet.

On the mobo front I'm mainly intel so can't really help. The AMD i built was a budget one so had an integrated ATI 1200 and a mini atx. Still a nice board though and again asus.

  • Author
I have built and heard run the 880W one in a p182 chassis and the 630W one in the 300 chassis. Both quiet.

To be honest any case with good cooling and sensibly large fans should be pretty quiet.

On the mobo front I'm mainly intel so can't really help. The AMD i built was a budget one so had an integrated ATI 1200 and a mini atx. Still a nice board though and again asus.

Antec Solo is top of the pile at the moment. Some sound absorbing devices, nice airflow layout and the ability to find room below the graphics card for a filler block. Adding a filler block greatly increases the airflow velocity around the parts than need it if properly shaped. This results in the CPU not running in so much warm circulated air.

Mobo wise, there are a variety of Asus ones to choose from.

Chris

Bit fugly IMHO, but nice features on it.

Still it's all personal taste and I've never been a silver fan :)

  • Author
Bit fugly IMHO, but nice features on it.

Still it's all personal taste and I've never been a silver fan :)

The thing sits behind my desk, so I never see it anyway!

Looking through more cases, Antec do another one with big fans and a side duct opposite the CPU. I reckon that with a little lagging and filling that would be even better.

Chris

Very true

Mine sits under it and is also very Fugly :)

  • Author

So looking at this problem, I think the situation is best handled by not making noise as opposed to trying to keep the noise inside the case. So:

http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=08300

Should allow plenty of quiet airflow to keep the internal temps down. Adding some foam blocks to keep the air flowing where I need it will further reduce sound output too.

Power supply could be a Xilence or Hiper unit. Both claim around 20db, but the Xilence one claims 24db max.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

That lot should make very little noise and keep everything reasonably cool.

So much for my simple Shuttle build.

Chris

So looking at this problem, I think the situation is best handled by not making noise as opposed to trying to keep the noise inside the case. So:

http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=08300

Should allow plenty of quiet airflow to keep the internal temps down. Adding some foam blocks to keep the air flowing where I need it will further reduce sound output too.

Power supply could be a Xilence or Hiper unit. Both claim around 20db, but the Xilence one claims 24db max.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

That lot should make very little noise and keep everything reasonably cool.

So much for my simple Shuttle build.

Chris

Built in that and the hiper is a tiny bit of a tight fit, but does go in and the cabling all reaches everywhere just fine :)

I don't think you will be disappointed with the case as even with a stock AMD PSU it isn't noisy. You can always add some deadening when you're done anyway to the sides/top/back etc.

Only thing I'd say is the three speed fans in the case itself are not that quiet on anything but low and I'd be prepared to change them for quieter fans.

  • Author
Built in that and the hiper is a tiny bit of a tight fit, but does go in and the cabling all reaches everywhere just fine :)

I don't think you will be disappointed with the case as even with a stock AMD PSU it isn't noisy. You can always add some deadening when you're done anyway to the sides/top/back etc.

Only thing I'd say is the three speed fans in the case itself are not that quiet on anything but low and I'd be prepared to change them for quieter fans.

I am looking at the Hiper and the Xilence PSUs at the moment. The Xilence ones with a 135mm fan state a 24dB max noise level at full load, 20dB typical, so probably going that route.

Regards the case fans, I reckon they should be just fine on low. I will stuff the case with foam blocks once everything is in place, laying them out to force airflow across the fanless graphics card and the block stuffing reduces volume of air in the case meaning (if correctly laid out) more air changes per minute drawn across the areas it is needed. The PSU draws air out as well.

I am looking forward to getting the Triton 77 cooler mounted. It looks like a work of art. Only thing to decide now is which Asus mobo.

Chris

All sounds good Chris - glad a plan is coming together :thumbup:

Steve

  • Author
All sounds good Chris - glad a plan is coming together :thumbup:

Steve

Hi Steve

Ordered the bits today.

Antec 300 case. This has two fans (a 120mm and a 140mm, both speed controllable), mounts the PSU at the bottom of the case too. With judicious placing of foam blocks, I can get the power supply to draw air over the graphics card cooler.

Power supply is Xilence 600W Gamer edition. Has a 135mm fan for low noise, rated at 20 - 24dBA.

Motherboard is a basic Asus item the M2A-MX. Simple card, no on board fans.

CPU is AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (a 3GHz model)

CPU is cooled by the Asus Triton 77 heatsink. Reckons on 18dBA.

Graphics is taken care of by a 512MB Asus Extreme 8500GT Silent.

Hard drive is a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1. Already run this and it is virtually silent.

A couple of GB of 800MHz DDR RAM

Jobs a goodun. Hopefully.

Many thanks to everyone for the valuable help.

Chris

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