looking for a quiet case

[amol]

i was thinking of getting the thermaltake VA3000BWA, the black tsunami case with a window, and the antec neopower 480w

anyone have both or one of them? are they loud or quiet?

if they are loud, what are some alternatives?

i'd like a case that has a window . . .

 

[Operandi]

Oh man, Thermaltake and quiet don't mix. Their fan specs are complete BS.

Are you looking for a case that's going to be quiet stock or are you willing to repalce the fans yourself?

As for the PSU Antec's are decent but I don't think I'd call them quiet. Check out Tagan and Sesonic for quiet PSU's.

 

[amol]

if its only the fans that make noise, i dont mind replacing them with quieter ones

EDIT: i'm building a pci express machine; would i need special connectors or psus for that?

mind my idiocy if that was a stupid question

 

[Operandi]

Not a dumb question at all. I think the only thing that is PCIE specific is a special power connector on high end PCIE video cards but I'm not sure if those have hit market yet, either way you can get an adapter.

You can make just about any case quiet/silent but some are better suited then others. What case do you have now?

 

[amol]

i am building a computer from scratch

currently, i have an HP laptop (i got HP, so that when i need tech support, i can talk to my fellow indian homies )

 

[Operandi]

HAHA, ok .

Couple of questions?

What kind of budget do you have, just how quiet are you try to go?

Personally I think Thermaltake makes some of the ugliest cases in existence but that?s subjective I suppose.

 

[klah]

Power supplies: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page3.html

 

[amol]

case : upto $200 (i dont mind paying a little extra if its a GREAT CASE; i can just go without a sound card for a while)

psu : upto $130

(the reason i can spend so much is because my friend gave me a REALLY good hard drive and a 512MB memory stick)

 

[amol]

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/fsp550.html

is that one good? anyone know?

 

[Operandi]

Wow, that?s a nice budget.

You can really go wrong Lian Li, Coolermaster and Silverstone. Ill link a few... All of those cases would make a great start, particularly the Lian-Li 1000 series.
CoolerMaster WaveMaster

Cooler Master Praetorian

SILVERSTONE SST-TJ03

Lian-Li PC-V1000B

Lian Li PC-6070

As for the PSU there isn't really any reason to spend over $100. Zalman and Tagan make some of the best low noise PSU's you can buy.

ZALMAN Noise-free 400W

Tagan 380 Watt

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Amol
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/fsp550.html

is that one good? anyone know?

Its a good PSU no doubt but a complete waste of money at that price.

 

[amol]

wow, i really like the PC-6070 (i'd rather have the black one though)

well, lemme just show you my setup, to see if 400W will cut it

AMD A64 3500+ Winchester
A8V-SLI nForce4 from ASUS
1GB PC3200 RAM
Maxtor SATAII 250GB
Western Digi 40GB HD
NEC 16 DVD+R
nVidia 6800 PCI-E (dunno which card yet)

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Amol
wow, i really like the PC-6070

well, lemme just show you my setup, to see if 400W will cut it

AMD A64 3500+ Winchester
A8V-SLI nForce4 from ASUS
1GB PC3200 RAM
Maxtor SATAII 250GB
Western Digi 40GB HD
NEC 16 DVD+R
nVidia 6800 PCI-E (dunno which card yet)

400 watts will be more than enough. I have the Lian-Li 6070 its an awesome case, I've made lots of modifications to my system though, I kinda went to the extreme. All case fans are panaflow L1A's running at reduced speeds and decupled with fan isolators. I also have the Tagan PSU, it's extremely quiet and well built.

A couple of things to consider with those components, WD HD's tend to be rather loud if they are using ball bearing motors. The fan on the 6800 will most likely be unacceptable, maybe try for a 6600GT and cool it passive with a Zalman cooler?

 

[amol]

im actually using the western digi in an external enclosure with usb 2.0, so it wont be on all the time

how loud are maxtors?

also . . . i dont really want to get a 6600GT . . . i mean, you do lose some performace . . . 4 less pipelines, etc

are there any regular 6800s that are quiet?

and also, how quiet are fortron psus?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Quiet case = 120mm fans.

When I do my build I think I'll go for the Evercase 4252 ($30) + 120mm Globes X 2 ($16) + Seasonic SS-460 with a probable fan swap ($100) = $146

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Amol
im actually using the western digi in an external enclosure with usb 2.0, so it wont be on all the time

how loud are maxtors?

also . . . i dont really want to get a 6600GT . . . i mean, you do lose some performace . . . 4 less pipelines, etc

are there any regular 6800s that are quiet?

and also, how quiet are fortron psus?

Yeah, I can understand not wanting to loose performance. I don't think there are any quiet 6800's stock, you'll have to make some modifications. You might be able to cool it passively with Zalmans dual heat pipe HS, I'm not sure what the heat output of the 6800 is off hand, non-GT?

As far as Enermax goes they can be pretty quiet, my previous PSU was an Enermax. I can say that the Tagan is defiantly a step above in terms of quality and I doubt it could match the Tagan in terms of noise either.

Forton!?!.... I could have swore that it was "Enermax" just a second ago

I'd say they are decent at best in terms of noise, not particulary loud or quiet.

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
Quiet case = 120mm fans.

Not necessarily, 120mm is prolly the best compromise between air flow and noise but it's not the only way to go.

 

[amol]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Forton??.... I could have swore that it was "Enermax" just a second ago

haha, yeah it was

EDIT: you know what? i'll just go ahead and get the zalman 400W. if i need more power in the future, i'll sell the zalman on ebay, and get another one.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Amol

Originally posted by: Operandi
Forton??.... I could have swore that it was "Enermax" just a second ago

haha, yeah it was

EDIT: you know what? i'll just go ahead and get the zalman 400W. if i need more power in the future, i'll sell the zalman on ebay, and get another one.

Sounds good, Tagan also makes a 480watt unit that is roughly the same price if you want even more power you'll never be able to use .

 

[amol]

how much noise does the tagan make in comparison to the zalman?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Amol
how much noise does the tagan make in comparison to the zalman?

Hard to say, it would be pretty close. I've read one review that compared the two and they said the Tagan had a slight edge, don?t? remember where it was reviewed. SPCR tested the Zalman and at 150watt load rated it at 28dBA so that?s the loudest you'd ever hear it. Tagan rates their units at 22-23 dBA under 60% load, I'd say that?s not too far off, pretty much a draw between the two in the end.

 

[amol]

then might as well get the tagan? a little bit more breathing room wouldn't hurt (20% more breathing room!)

EDIT: i just realized that tagans dont have active PFCs, or passive either

does that really matter?

 

[nealh]

I just got a new PSU and was looking for quiet with power

I went with a OCZ Powerstream 520W...22db at 60% load...has all the connectors you need including a dedicated pci-e...I paid $125 plus 2 day shipping for $12=137 from Monarch computers

I feel this psu is very quiet and I can not hear it over my Mad dog( from compusa need some fast)whisper quiet fans 2 x 80mm (27cfm at 22db) which are much better than the sunons 80mm they replaced

The Seasonic Super silencer up to 460w is excellent and very quiet, I am sure the Noisetaker from enermax is very good too

As for the Wavemaster I love this case but I have heard people have some cooling issues with it...

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: nealh
I just got a new PSU and was looking for quiet with power

I went with a OCZ Powerstream 520W...22db at 60% load...has all the connectors you need including a dedicated pci-e...I paid $125 plus 2 day shipping for $12=137 from Monarch computers

I feel this psu is very quiet and I can not hear it over my Mad dog( from compusa need some fast)whisper quiet fans 2 x 80mm (27cfm at 22db) which are much better than the sunons 80mm they replaced

The Seasonic Super silencer up to 460w is excellent and very quiet, I am sure the Noisetaker from enermax is very good too

As for the Wavemaster I love this case but I have heard people have some cooling issues with it...

OCZ and Tagan are manufactured by the same OEM, not sure who. It looks like they share the same cooling technology as well. SPCR review the 470 Powerstream and rated it at 28 dBA at 150 watts, the same as the Zalman, so it is really quiet.

Originally posted by: Amol
then might as well get the tagan? a little bit more breathing room wouldn't hurt (20% more breathing room!)

EDIT: i just realized that tagans don?t have active PFCs, or passive either

does that really matter?

The Tagan's sold in the UK have active PFC because its a requirement there. Its not required here so they don't, I think it is a passive PFC though. Either way it doesn?t make any difference really, it has no affect at all on DC output.

If you want the extra 80 watts get the Tagan, otherwise it's pretty much flip a coin, both are excellent choices.

 

[nealh]

FYI..I was just reporting the specs on OCZ website re: 22db at 60% load

If you note at silentpcrevierw( excellent site IMHO) they show a lower db level with OCZ 520 under heavy loads than some that are rated quieter....

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: nealh
FYI..I was just reporting the specs on OCZ website re: 22db at 60% load

If you note at silentpcrevierw( excellent site IMHO) they show a lower db level with OCZ 520 under heavy loads than some that are rated quieter....

Tagan lists the exact same specs, 22-23dBA under 60%.