Small Cool and Silent?

washd123 · May 3, 2012

I've been looking for a case that's small cool and quiet with size and silence taking priority. Is this a dream in vein? Does such a case exist? I currently have a Antec P180-mini which I though would work but it's too big outside for the space inside (should be an ATX case not mATX). It's pretty silent and it's wicked cool (also looks cool). I'm looking for a new one though. Also for size I don't want a case any longer than the P180-mini preferably not as long, the height and width are fine. Also I'd prefer one that's easy to work in or relativally so. This case is a pain.

Jetster · May 3, 2012

Your being very vague. Exactly what size do you need and what parts do you want have to put inside? Also there is a difference between Micro ATX (mATX) and Mini ATX (ITX) Also what do you want it to do with it? Game, HTPC? Actually I have a p 180 also but have the full size one.

There are many quiet small cases. From the Mini Zotacs to Silverstone GD05 which will hold a full size GPU and 3 - 120 fans for cooling and is very quiet. There are also ways to make a case even quieter. Fan controllers, passive cooling, insulation and rubber gaskets for the PSU and hard drives.

Interesting that you mentioned the Antec P180. It has no window and insulated side panels. A must for sound control. I love mine

So you want a case that is the same size as the P180 Mini but not as deep?

de.das.dude · May 3, 2012

stock you will get lots of small cases that support mATX but most of them are hot.
so you have to mod them, like i did to my prev case. now its all silent and cool

Jetster · May 3, 2012

http://www.acousticpc.com/quiet_computer_case_insulation.html

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

The Antec Solo has the latest noise reduction technology dual-layer sound deadening panels and a suspension system that makes hard drive noise a thing of the past.
Antec Solo Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Comput...

washd123 · May 3, 2012

Thanks for the guides and replies.

the size of the P-180 is fine, as long as it's either as deep or less, anything deeper will stick out.

Height wise I don't want higher than 19", I believe depth is 17"

at this size though I want a ATX case, if it's smaller I can settle for mATX (micro) like I have now

Jetster · May 3, 2012

One thing I didnt like about the P180 is the cable management. They didnt put enough space behind the mother board to run wires. I drilled some holes for mine but they fixed the proble whe the P 183 came out. The Antec P280 has the best insulation but its 22" deep where the SOLO is 18 1/2 " deep

Norton · May 3, 2012

Silverstone PS07

SilverStone SST-PS07B Black Steel / Plastic with A...

or TJ08

SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E Black Aluminum f...

Both are great quiet microATX cases

PLAfiller · May 3, 2012

Fractal Design Arc Mini (not Midi) : Fractal Design Arc Mini Black High Performance PC ...

Cooler Master Elite 361: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3074

Silverstone SG04-FH: SilverStone Sugo Series SG04B-FH Black Aluminum / ...

Silverstone SG03B: SilverStone Fortress Series FT03B Black Aluminum /...

I would personally go with Fractal Design Arc Mini: balanced, easy to work with, comes with 3 fans! and a fan controller (you can move the front fan to the door and get a better airflow), and has space for any of the pre-assmebled liquid cooling solutions: Corsair H40/60/80/100, Antec Khuler etc... You can get it as low as 70 euros, which I think it's a steal.

washd123 · May 4, 2012

I'm thinking of the silverstone TJ08

does anyone have experience with it? The reviews look positive, but how hard is it to build in?

my P180-mini is an ass to build and wire.

sneekypeet · May 4, 2012

The TJ08-E was cool to build in. Removable motherboard tray, removable top panel to get to the PSU and ODD wiring, a stand for the CPU cooler to help support it. There is just so much to like in that little case. With the 180mm fan, the silence factor depends on what you put in it. I could hear my GPU and CPU fans over the case, but that can be remedied with the right selection of parts.

I do strongly suggest a PSU that is modular, and if possible to have one with a short cable kit to keep the air flow mostly uninterrupted.

Norton · May 4, 2012

sneekypeet said:
The TJ08-E was cool to build in. Removable motherboard tray, removable top panel to get to the PSU and ODD wiring, a stand for the CPU cooler to help support it. There is just so much to like in that little case. With the 180mm fan, the silence factor depends on what you put in it. I could hear my GPU and CPU fans over the case, but that can be remedied with the right selection of parts.

I do strongly suggest a PSU that is modular, and if possible to have one with a short cable kit to keep the air flow mostly uninterrupted.

TJ-08 and the PS-07 are essentially the same case (same internals with a different front panel and fan setup (PS-07 has 2x120mm fans, TJ-08 has 1x180mm fan)

The PS-07 build I did was silent and as sneekypeet said it depends on the components selected.... I used a Xigmatek Gaia and a 6670 with an Arctic Cooling fan/heatsink.

I did quite well with the non-modular PSU is used. There was a lot of room behind the mobo tray to hide extra cables

My $0.02

washd123 · May 4, 2012

I have a gtx560ti HAWK from MSI. It's silent. also I have a cooler master hyper 212. I'm thinking of replacing the stock fans with 800RPM fans from scythe

sneekypeet · May 4, 2012

That's what I was getting at. They seem like good choices. Should keep noises to very minimal levels.

washd123 · May 4, 2012

thanks guys. I will be hopefully doing this in a few months. What about the cooler master silencio 550?

it's a little bigger than I want, but you think it'd be any easier to build with? any quieter? or any cooler?

sneekypeet · May 4, 2012

I don't remember it being as nice as the TJ, but if I recall it does have sound proofing applied to the front and side panels.

washd123 · May 4, 2012

yeah but in my experience the foam does little.

I think I'm going with the TJ08 the ps07 is cheaper but I like the way the tJ looks.

next question is about a cpu cooler, what do you think would be quieter, a coolermaster hyper 212 with 2 900rpm fans? or a corsair h60 with 1 or 2 900rpm fans? I'm thinking the corsair would be easier to build with.

They should both perform about the same, but I'm worried about the sound, any suggestions?

Jetster · May 5, 2012

Dont run two fans is you want it quiet. Also the 212 EVO fan is loud. Not sure how much louder then the 212+

But I would change the stock fan on the 212 if you want it quiet. To like a COUGAR CF-V12HP Vortex Hydro-Dynamic-Bearing Silent Cooling Fan. I just bought one and its pretty quiet

sneekypeet · May 5, 2012

h60 would be rough in the TJ with a 180mm fan hole

washd123 · May 5, 2012

yeah I wouldn't use the stock fans for the hyper 212, it's not too bad I have one right now.

just wondering if the h60 with 1 or 2 low RPM fans would be better. the hyper 212 is rough to install in a tiny case. and sneekypeet the TJ08 has a 120mm fan in the back

Norton · May 5, 2012

washd123 said:
yeah I wouldn't use the stock fans for the hyper 212, it's not too bad I have one right now.

just wondering if the h60 with 1 or 2 low RPM fans would be better. the hyper 212 is rough to install in a tiny case. and sneekypeet the TJ08 has a 120mm fan in the back

Removable mobo trays on those Silverstone's... need to pull the tray to put most tower coolers on. It's easy when the mobo is out of the case but if you want to leave it in there you may have easier time with a water setup

washd123 · May 5, 2012

do you think one would be quieter than the other? I'd use the same fans for both but I know the h60 also has the pump going

Norton · May 5, 2012

washd123 said:
do you think one would be quieter than the other? I'd use the same fans for both but I know the h60 also has the pump going

A large tower with quiet fans would probably be best IMHO. The Xig I used in my setup was set to Cool n Quiet (AMD system w/Phenom II X2 555) and the fan was under 600 rpm and quiet regardless of the load and always ran cool.

washd123 · May 5, 2012

I can't do a large tower due to where I have my computer, it's why I can't do a case that's deep it'd stick out.

Norton · May 5, 2012

washd123 said:
I can't do a large tower due to where I have my computer, it's why I can't do a case that's deep it'd stick out.

Check the width on that TJ-08 then to make sure it will fit where you need it.... it's a wide case and can fit a large cooler.

Just checked, the width on the PS-07 and TJ-08 is 8.27"

washd123 · May 5, 2012

width is fine, it's the depth that matters to me, my p180-min is 8.3" wide and 17.2" deep any deeper and it'd stick out

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Main PC- Gamer- Main Cruncher/Folder and too many crunching/folding rigs
Processor	Ryzen 5900X- Ryzen 5950X- Ryzen 3950X and etc...
Motherboard	Asrock X570 Extreme4- MSI X570S Tomahawk MAX WiFi- MSI B450M Bazooka Max and etc...
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S (dual fan)- EK 360 AIO with push/pull fans- Corsair H115i RGB Pro XT and etc...
Memory	2x16GB GSkill FlareX 3200/c14- 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance 3600/c16- 2x16GB Team 3600/c18 and etc..
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming RX 6800- Asus RTX 3070 TUF OC- MSI Ventus GTX 1660Ti and etc...
Storage	Main PC (1TB WD SN850- 2TB PNY CS 3040- 2TB Seagate Firecuda) and etc...
Display(s)	Main PC (2x24" Dell UltraSharp U2414H)
Case	Phanteks P600s- Seasonic Q704- Fractal Meshify C and etc...
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z625 THX 2.1 speakers
Power Supply	EVGA 750 G3- SeaSonic DGC 750- EVGA P2 850 and etc...
Mouse	G300s
Keyboard	Corsair K65
VR HMD	N/A
Software	Windows 10 Pro or Ubuntu
Benchmark Scores	Why sit on the Bench when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!

System Name	Sandfiller
Processor	I5-10400
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Noctua NH-L9i (92x25mm fan)
Memory	32GB Corsair LPX 2400 Mhz DDR4 CL14
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X
Storage	Intel 670P 512GB
Display(s)	2560x1080 LG 29" + 22" LG
Case	SS RV02
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse	Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard	REDRAGON MITRA
Software	Windows 11 Home x 64

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

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