Whisper quiet case for current machine

tadcan

I have a PC that works fine, except the fan a bit loud. I would like it to be whisper quiet if possible.

The current case is a Gigabyte Triton 180 Black.

Not sure if the spec's matter, as it is a standard ATX motherboard (Gigabyte GAR35-DS3P P35).

What recommendations do you folks have?

deconduo

Fractal Design Define R3

Serephucus

Your case will only be quiet if you put quiet components in it. Can you list your full specs?

daz801

could be cheaper option to replace the fans with quieter ones.

tadcan

full specs are

Gigabyte Triton 180 Black
Fortron/Source Epsilon 700w Blue Fan PFC
Gigabyte GAR35-DS3P P35
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700
OCZ nVidia SLI DDR PC6400
XFX GeForce 8800GTX
Barracuda 7200
DVD burner
Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Gamer

I do have some more harddrives which aren't plugged in at the moment, 1.5 and 2TB, so the case sounds like a good idea.

Tea_Bag

with a stock fan on the CPU and that 8800 the case isn't going to work miracles..

conorhickey

Way to make it silent would to make it a water cooled system instead

tadcan

Would a new case and new cpu fan not be enough. Watercooled is above my price range, would have to save up for that. I could stretch €120 at the moment. Maybe I should think of it like an investment for when I eventually upgrade. Having extra drives bays would enable me to get an SSD drive later for the OS.

Would a newer graphics card make much of a difference or would the new quiter models only be for newer MoBo's?

bernardamaac.

tadcan wrote: »

Would a new case and new cpu fan not be enough. Watercooled is above my price range, would have to save up for that. I could stretch €120 at the moment. Maybe I should think of it like an investment for when I eventually upgrade. Having extra drives bays would enable me to get an SSD drive later for the OS.

Would a newer graphics card make much of a difference or would the new quiter models only be for newer MoBo's?

u could always get like a h100 or on similiar lines within the €120 price range?

tadcan

The h100 looks very interesting, but from the video I watched I don't have the surface area on the box to to mount it.

deconduo

Watercooling is overrated, unless you get a custom loop. The H100 is outperformed by the HR-02 Macho, which costs €35 and runs at almost 20dB quieter. Getting a decent case will make a big difference in noise, especially one like the Define R3, as they have soundproofing inside the case as well as low rpm fans. Changing just the case and the stock CPU fan will make a decent improvement.

tadcan

So this and the R3 will get me a significantly quieter machine. Sounds like good value.
EDIT: Looks like I would need to get some thermal paste for that as well.

uncle_sam_ie

And, quiet case fans. http://www.quietpc.com/products/120mmfans.

Tea_Bag

recommending h100 for a quiet build does not compute. next to those old Delta fans from the DELL btx days, they're the loudest fans known to man.

tadcan

So how much of a difference in the noise would there be with a case fan and cpu fan v's a cpu fan and a R3 case. Basically is the price worth the difference. Getting very close to making a decision, thanks for all the help so far.

Edit: Quietpc doesn't have the Hr-02, it has these instead. Since they also have the R3, would it be worth buying them as a package.
http://www.quietpc.com/products/misc/tr-hr-01

uncle_sam_ie

The case fans that come with the R3 are surprisingly quiet. If you want better then go with Noctua. I've got the Noctua DH-N14 it's a super quiet heatsink. QuietPC.ie is a great place to buy from BTW. Their service is excellent. That's were I got my R3 from.

tadcan

That is huge, but it should fit. EDIT, actually the case side has a cone on the side cover that goes over the CPU fan. It is plastic, so I could do some actual hacking. It does go way above my budget. I'll keep it in mind for another up time. Pixmainia has both parts recommended here, so I'm leaning towards that at the moment.

I'll wait a few days to see if anything else is recommended.

duffman85

Have a look at this video from QuietPC(http://www.quietpc.com/media) about identifying the noisiest component of your PC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDAbgy6Bbok&feature=plcp

You could, as I did, buy quiet case fans and find your graphics card's fan makes more noise(smaller diameter fan spins faster).