Quiet Cases

[Moondoggy]

Can anyone give me a recommendaton on cases?

I'm going to build a system with an Intel Core I7 920 CPU and I'm looking for a nice case that is very quiet if not nearly silent. My only other criteria is that case must have exposed drive bays so the optical drives are readily accessible without having to open a door to get to the drives.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[H4x3r]

What it really boils down to is fan noise, you can make just about any case silent with the right fans.

Here are just a few of the pre-made silent cases:

Antec Super Lan Boy
Antec Sonata
Antec p180 series (one of my favorites)
Zalman TNN-500AF

 

[Thilly]

I've also used the Sonata series, and I liked it well enough. The P180's look very nice as well.

As mentioned, silent fans are the major factor of silent cases. But you can also cut down some db by using rubber grommets for your hdd's and 3.5" drives. You won't notice the difference really unless you already have quiet fans, but if your fans are quiet you will definitely hear an improvement with rubber groms.