PC Cases (Open vs Closed)

[Azza ☠]

Hey guys,

I'm interested to know what type of PC Cases you use, wheither it's noise proofed or fully open, simple or specced out with light strips, glowing, and/or water cooling...

Mine is simple but effective, closed off and black with only side and rear vents... Extremely low noise Noctua fans, liquid cooled CPU, also with acoustic foam panels and anti-vibration mounts inside the case. I turn off the Graphic card and other lights. Removable, easy to clean (just wipe), dust filters on the vents. It's extremely quiet, you can barely hear it.

The downside to having a noise proof case is more restricted airflow, however I don't overclock and haven't had issues with heat - approx 40 degrees on the CPU and GPU, thanks to the effective liquid cooling.

If I was to go the other way, I would most likely consider a In-Win D-Frame. Curious to see if open designs like that actually could keep a low noise level and remain dust free?

[Paraborne]

Honestly noise doesn't bother me that much, that said my case is very quiet. I have a Cooler Master Storm Trooper with 2 front fans, a top fan and a back fan. My cpu cooler is the Noctua NH-D14 and as you said, those fans are virtually noiseless. My PSU is a Corsair RM series, which is the ultra quiet series and the fans on that don't kick in untill the PSU gets hot, which mine never does, so no noise from there. I do get moderate dust build up though, nothing a little maintainence can't handle.

[chiefputsa☒lag]

my budget machine has top-mounted psu. (yes, i know :) )
has two 8-cm exhaust fans.
no lights.

i am planning to buy a cheap coolermaster n200or n300 pc case next time i go to the city, probably next month.

[Tash965]

Antec cases are really nice! I use one of their tri-material range, ( the case is 3 layes, steel, aluminium and then plastic) , it looks great and the case is light as hell. It's constantly cold, and it has fan control switches on the back. plus it also has an extra fan ontop, which i'm sure they robber off an aeroplane XD

[Mindman]

i use a corsair vengeance C70 white i think? anyway it has 4 fans in the front, radiator on top for cpu cooler, fan on the bottom and a fan on the back. i leave the case opened... dont really notice sound when im gaming but if im trying to watch a movie or a show i turn it off

[Alex704]

I have a corsair 750D with Blue LED light strips with all corsair quiet edition SP and AF fans. I only wish the front of my case had a little more ariflow. I guess thats the trade off for a more silet build.

[Sir Dookface McFerretballs]

I've done a few media center PC "quiet" builds for people usually using a mini or micro atx case and under clocking everything with PWM fan control to keep temps and power usage down and nice and quiet. Computers will always make noise when they need fans to cool them or have any moving parts, it is just how much noise is tolerable to each individual.

I just built 2 military themed computers out of the "corsair vengeance C70" all steel cases (I love this case, it looks like a military ammo box and if you add some radio or server handles it loos even more military). One black with red stripes/highlights and signage (warning, intake, exhaust, no step, and such), and the other OD green with yellow stripes and signage (done up like US army mortar box). I love these cases because with some rubber or silicone fan mounts/isolators (and the right fans) it is super quiet, and because it is all metal I never have to worry about plastic cracking or getting discolored or brittle, so these cases will last a loooong time. I especially love the wire routing options in the back of this case, great for airflow and cord control and looks very professional. Since the new i5 and i7 chips run so efficiently I built them with aircooling in mind so I don't have to worry about a pump failing or adding noise with watercooling. It also comes with removable and cleanable dust filters on all the intake fan points, even the PSU gets a filter. It even comes with a second set of fans behind the HDD bays allowing for a push pull setup there and increasing the intake airflow even more, and have the video cards set up in a way it gets passive cooling from the case airflow so that it rarely even has to turn its fans on at all. My main 2 front and the CPU push/pull fans and the rear exhaust are all PWM controlled depending on temperature in the case/cpu so it runs amazingly quiet to the point I didn't need any of those pointlessly overpriced brown and beige fans people fanboy on about to justify their bad purchase. I just got some under $9usd Fluid Dynamic Bearing Enermax fans with removable fan blades so I can clean or oil them easily if the need ever arises.

So 4 front 120mm intake fans if you count the push pull with the HDD cages, 1 bottom intake 140mm fan, 1 120mm and 1 140mm side exhaust fans, 2 140mm top exhaust fans, and one 120mm rear exhast fan. And then the 140mm fan included inside the bottom out PSU.

I actually cut 120mm holes for an exhaust fan in the motherboard back side panel as a lot of people don't realize the heat that can be generated back there under the CPU, and it let me install custom fan grills, a radiation symbol for the black and red case and a sniper scope crosshairs for the green and yellow case. Though I went a little crazy with the LED lighting, strangely it has actually helped with screen eyestrain having red or green fans casting a glow.

All in all the C70 case is what I use for my own personal computers, and some of my customers got them as well. I have yet to see any case in the under $90 price point built this well with all metal construction.

[100% Recycled Awesome]

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

Hey guys,

I'm interested to know what type of PC Cases you use, wheither it's noise proofed or fully open, simple or specced out with light strips, glowing, and/or water cooling.

Lights attract bugs in my part of the US. I've banished nearly all lights from the computers in my house. It's nasty to open a case up and see piles of dead bugs and webs of snipers. No bug attracted = no spiders = no piles of dead insect bodies.

I don't noise reduce anything. Lots of open vents and good temperatures.

[Sir Dookface McFerretballs]

Originally posted by 100% Recycled Awesome:

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

Hey guys,

I'm interested to know what type of PC Cases you use, wheither it's noise proofed or fully open, simple or specced out with light strips, glowing, and/or water cooling.

Lights attract bugs in my part of the US. I've banished nearly all lights from the computers in my house. It's nasty to open a case up and see piles of dead bugs and webs of snipers. No bug attracted = no spiders = no piles of dead insect bodies.

I don't noise reduce anything. Lots of open vents and good temperatures.

You could always keep the lights, just put a bug zapper ontop, redneck style, and entertaining. ^_^

[Azza ☠]

Some interesting yet very different setups so far!

Also, lmao at the "bug zapper glow tubes" for pc, place a couple of strips inside the case and have open sides. Someone should really give that one a go... wonder why it hasn't been done before? I can't say I have a bug problem, only perhaps the occasional annoying mosquities.

[Paraborne]

Originally posted by 100% Recycled Awesome:

Originally posted by Azza ☠:

Hey guys,

I'm interested to know what type of PC Cases you use, wheither it's noise proofed or fully open, simple or specced out with light strips, glowing, and/or water cooling.

Lights attract bugs in my part of the US. I've banished nearly all lights from the computers in my house. It's nasty to open a case up and see piles of dead bugs and webs of snipers. No bug attracted = no spiders = no piles of dead insect bodies.

I don't noise reduce anything. Lots of open vents and good temperatures.

Those snipers will take you out. Gotta be careful.

[˜lokkandload˜™]

I've got a Apevia X-4 Dreamer Mid Tower..1x200mm side case fan, 2x120mm top, 1x120mm front, and 1x120mm back. Hyper212 EVO CPU fan is 120mm, and the GTX 960...quietest system I've ever owned. Typically I keep the case closed and thermal sensor on the front shows an average temp of 40c all day even at load while gaming. New ACS cooling on GPU can be thanked for that. No lighting on the computer as well.