Quiet Cases

A

Autist

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How good are the Antec Sonata cases, or the quiet Lian Li cases?

I had to move my tower closer to my desk because of some cable issues with my new monitor and now I can hear my PC when listening to quieter passages. My PC produces between 54 and 56 dB (C weighted) at the listening position and I monitor at 85 dB (peak, set using pink noise and an SPL meter). I am wondering how much one of these cases will quiet my system down. I had the tower further away before and didn't notice it then, but now the noise is directly in the soundstage and interfering with accuracy during quieter passages.
 
I've got the Sonata. It's been some time since I've used another desktop, but I will say that it is quieter than your average case setup. I must note that I do have 5 HDDs running currently, and it's still quieter than most. Overall, I'd recommend it. If you're really picky about any little sound, I'd purchase the Sonata and then get the prefit accessory sound dampening pieces made by various aftermarket manufacturers for the Sontata. They will increase your temp slightly, but help with noise even more.
 
Thanks

I am trying to find a way to get it further away from the soundstage (it is fairly close to my left monitor right now) while still being able to access it - I don't have a lot of room to work with. I think that doing that, combined with a quieter case, or at least a cooler case that requires less fans (the main source of my noise) will help a bit.
 
Moonrider said:
Sounds like you could buy an extension cable for your monitor and solve the problem. Try http://www.cablestogo.com/
Click to expand...


It's an LCD and I have already been down that path. Anything longer than 6 feet really messes up the display, especially when using an extension cable, so the tower has to be within 6 ft. of the monitor.
 
I have an antec aria case and with a pure copper zalman cpu cooler, the optional extra blower (wich doesnt really add noise), 2 SATA HDDs and a 5 inch case fan, it's fairly quiet....
 
I was reading about the Sonata, but my system may be a little more than it is intended for. I have been considering a case like the Aria as well.
 
an aria IS pretty cramped though....make sure you don't get in trouble with your PCI cards...
and you'll need to buy a micro atx motherboard.

I can't fit a 3rd drive because my big-ass zalman cooler is in the way

plus the HDD sound damping is only for one HDD (beneath the optical drive...you know, dvd writer or something)

So my system drive is actually "hanging" in the case (you can hang 2 drives too), and my audio drive is dampened...


It's a cool case, it's fairly quiet, but it's not roomy!
 
I am considering the AcoustiCase. It may be more than I can afford. I looked at the Sonata last night and it seems to be way too small for my system and may not be cool enough. I am also considering the Thermaltake Soprano and the Tsunami as well as a few othgers that reviews indicate are over 10dB quieter than mine is now, which I could probably be OK with, not sure though. The main thing is I need to reduce the number of fans, so I am definitely opting for something with 2 120mm fans.
 
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