Suggest me a no-frills (silent) ATX case

[krusha03]

I have never paid much attention or spent lots of money on a PC case but recently I decided I want to change my very old case. I'm looking for a case that would keep the components cool with minimum noise and prevent dust build-up. I like the idea of "silent" cases however I am reading online that high airflow cases can end up quieter with fan tuning. I don't really care about RGB, glass windows and looks, in general, to be honest.

My requirements for a case are:

• Fits ATX MB
• 5.25" external bay
• Dust filters
• Min of 2 USB ports on the front
• Room for 2x2.5" and 2x3.5" drives
• Silent (fan / hdd noise dampening)
• Budget €100

I looked online and I like the Antec P101 on the high end (100) of the budget and Corsair 100R Silent on the low end (60). By just searching for silent / quiet cases I found also the CM Silencio S600 and be quiet! Silent Base 600 but I think the Antec would be the better choice in the same price range.

Do you think any of these cases is a good choice or do you have better suggestions?

 

[SL2]

There's a lot of mix up between silent and quiet. No moving parts is usually what's needed for (almost) true silence, usually easy to get when all the fans and HDDs are stopped when you're not doing heavy work/gaming. One more pragmatic solution is to put the computer in an adjacent room, but all I see is people who want it as close to them as possible, flashing in RGB continuously.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Fractal Design Define C

Define C

www.fractal-design.com

 

[Bo$$]

Fractal Design R5 is dead silent. No RGB or window and it is very understated, I've seen the R6 is excellent as well/

 

[krusha03]

Fractal Design Define C

Define C

www.fractal-design.com

It does not have an 5.25" external bay

 

[Caring1]

The Corsair 100R would be a good choice depending on the components you install.
If it's going to run hot, then the fans will be running flat out trying to cool the system, which negates the reason you want a quiet case.
I personally have the Corsair 450D "high airflow" sitting on the desk beside me and I can't hear anything other than whisper quiet white noise.
A cool system allows the fans to run at a much lower speed and therefore sound level.

 

[neatfeatguy]

I like my Cooler Master HAF XB Evo cases. I only use the top exhaust fan (cooler master mega flow 200 - this fan fits. Not all 200mm fans will mount to the top of this case). There are two different tops for this case, one that mounts a fan and one that doesn't..... though the only ones I've seen for sale has the mesh top that mounts a fan

The side panels of the case, they will let in dust, so to keep dust out you can always add some mesh filter material over them if it really becomes a concern.

The only other fans in the case are for my H100i rad and the GPU. Overall it's really quiet compared to other cases I've used. The 200mm fan pulls out hot air well and I have no need for other intake or exhaust fans.

Plenty of room for hard drives, 2 - 5.25" bays. Just let it be noted, once you install the MB, the only way to access the HDD cages and PSU is to remove the MB. However, there are two hot swap drive bays on the front if you need to add any more storage space without pulling out the MB.

The last thing I really like is the fact the MB is parallel to the ground so the GPU sits on the MB and doesn't hang, especially if it's a big heavy card like my 980Ti AMP! Omega.

The case is around $100 here in the States and the 200mm fan is around $25. Not sure how they're priced for you, but it might be a bit more than you're looking to spend if you go this route.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Budget €100

That's going to be tough. My first thought was the Define R6, but that's about 50% above your budget.

CM Force 500. 120 MM AIO. These just add up to lots of noise. Maybe try replacing the AIO with a Fuma.

 

[phanbuey]

Rosewill Rise.

It's really a great case for the money - just read the reviews/ check out the pics:

Amazon.com: Rosewill ATX Full Tower Gaming PC Computer Case with Blue LED Fans, Supports EATX Motherboards, Supports Dual PSU, Optional 360mm Water Cooling Radiator, Supports up to 7 Fans - Rise Glow: Computers & Accessories

Buy Rosewill ATX Full Tower Gaming PC Computer Case with Blue LED Fans, Supports EATX Motherboards, Supports Dual PSU, Optional 360mm Water Cooling Radiator, Supports up to 7 Fans - Rise Glow: Everything Else - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Also has a fan controller on the front too so if you need to pump the airflow you can, otherwise run those fans at 800 rpm and you'll never have thermal issues and it will be quiet. Also awesome water cooling options in the future.

 

[krusha03]

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Fractal Design R5 is dead silent. No RGB or window and it is very understated, I've seen the R6 is excellent as well/

This one looks very nice and I can find it for around €100-110 so just within the budget. The R6 is about €30 extra so need to look into if this is worthwhile

The Corsair 100R would be a good choice depending on the components you install.
If it's going to run hot, then the fans will be running flat out trying to cool the system, which negates the reason you want a quiet case.
I personally have the Corsair 450D "high airflow" sitting on the desk beside me and I can't hear anything other than whisper quiet white noise.
A cool system allows the fans to run at a much lower speed and therefore sound level.

My current system would just migrate there. How is the 450D in terms of dust buildup? I see it's also about €110

I like my Cooler Master HAF XB Evo cases.

Thanks for the suggestion. This one is a bit more expensive than the R5 / P101 and since I keep my pc under my desk i think a tower is better suited

That's going to be tough. My first thought was the Define R6, but that's about 50% above your budget.

CM Force 500. 120 MM AIO. These just add up to lots of noise. Maybe try replacing the AIO with a Fuma.

As mentioned above the R5 is 100 and the R6 is 130. Are those 30e extra worth it? I'm actually quite happy with me 120MM AIO. The fans are quite quiet at idle. With my current fan curve i'm at or just under 30dB when working and it goes up to 40dB when all fans are on 100% (eg. folding overnight). I use my phone on the case as a dB meter so not sure how accurate this is. At desk level this goes down to like 22-30dB range

Rosewill Rise.

Looks like a nice case but I don't see these available in europe

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

It does not have an 5.25" external bay

Define R5 or R6 then

 

[Flanker]

Can't go wrong with the Define R series

 

[Vayra86]

Fractal Design Define C

Define C

www.fractal-design.com

Fractal Design R5 is dead silent. No RGB or window and it is very understated, I've seen the R6 is excellent as well/

Define C is right next to me. DO NOT take a TG version (tempered glass) because it happily destroys the silent part. On top of that, the Define C is not really a silent case, it just has the marketing for it, because the front panel is not soundproofed like it is on the Define R4/R5. You only need one side to lack sound barriers and the whole idea falls apart of course. Its still not a loud case by any measure though, definitely more quiet than your average hunk of steel.

But yeah. Since you mentioned 5.25 bay. Define R. There is no question about it really. Great build quality, no nonsense, modular drive bay and tons of cooling options. But even at bare necessity-case fan setups the case still performs quite well, as in, it doesn't trap a whole lot of heat inside given some airflow. This is many a silent case's downfall, they tend to run hotter.

FYI my 1,5 yo daughter can actually sit on this case, no damage This was tested the other day...

 

[krusha03]

Thanks for the help everyone. I will go then for the R5 or R6. Need to look into if the extra cost of R6 is worth it or not.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I don't know if you can find one, but the Antec P100 is worth a look at.

 

[P4-630]

I don't know if you can find one, but the Antec P100 is worth a look at.

No longer available in The Netherlands.

Zoekresultaten antec p100 - Pricewatch - Tweakers

tweakers.net

 

[Toothless]

If you can find one and don't mind paying a bit more, the Nanoxia cases are quiet as hell. I don't hear my desktop turn on or off and I've got fans galore in there. The sound foam helps a ton.

 

[TheLostSwede]

A somewhat cheaper option that ticks all your boxes and saves you some money.

110Q Mid-Tower Quiet ATX Case

The CORSAIR 110Q is a minimalist mid-tower ATX case with four high-density sound dampening panels and storage support for up to four drives, plus a 5.25in ODD drive bay.

www.corsair.com

As for the 450D, as I used to have one, the build quality was a bit meh. The front mesh is also nigh on impossible to clean. It also had some very odd design quirks, like not being able to mount a 280mm radiator up top, due to funny hole alignment. Only 240mm radiators fit, even though two 140mm fans fit just fine up top. If you install a front raditor you lose the 3.5" drive bays. The 2.5" drive caddies are quite crappy and allow for a lot of jiggle room for the drives. It's also quite tricky to get the EPS 12V cable to the board connector with this case, especially if you have a shorter cable.

Even my current 275Q is better quality and much easier to clean, even though it's supposed to be a more basic case. It's far from perfect, but it does the job. Just note that Corsair seems to have a problem with their magnetic dust filter, as the magnets tend to drop out of the fan filter, so you have to glue them back in.
The 110Q seems to be derived from the 275Q, at least internally. It doesn't seem to have a front mounted dust filter though, just some mesh on the front side vents.

 

[Lucas918814]

Rosewill / MONTECH
they have good products and it's cheaper

 

[krusha03]

Found the R6 on sale for 115 euros so got that one in the end. Happy with the case so thanks for the suggestions everyone. One thing i found out is no matter how good is the case i still suck at cable management

 

[Bo$$]

they really do make excellent cases. did you buy the window one? or opt for the sound deadened door?