Question Looking for a quiet case with good airflow and sound dampening materials out of the box

[Wolverine2349]

I know often silence with good airflow is contradictory and hard.

This is for all air cooling no liquid cooling at all

Will use an Intel Core i9 12900KS with a Noctua NH-D15S dual fan and Asus Tuf RTX 3090 video card

No HDDs and only 2 SATA SSD and 2 NVME M.2s


Does not have to be whisper quiet, but want quiet and low noise and also smooth noise that is more consistent without vibrations and pitches which makes it more bearable.

A case with a good optimized meshify front panel with at least 3 in take 120/140mm fans or at least 2 200mm fans that can provide good airflow at low RPM and thus low noise

And of course at least 1 exhaust 120/140mm or 200mm fan that provides good exhaust with low noise

And rest of case and mounts have good anti vibration and sound dampening material that does not impede airflow where the fans are.
Like side panel and top cover sound dampening material

Also a PSU shroud in cable management back of case so bottom of case can be wide open for best GPU thermals as Gamers Nexus tests seem to indicate cases without bottom mounted PSUs in the main area have top tier GPU thermals. So an open mesh at bottom of case good as well.

I like Be Quiet cases, but unfortunately even their airflow models do not have a separate PSU chamber that is away from main bottom area.

I would like one with included good fans and ready out o the box.

Closest things I have found is Thermaltake View 51, but it has solid front panel and not a mesh.

And Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 as well but no included fans so who knows how well airflow is optimized

Is there any other cases anyone knows of




I have searched and such a case I would like does not seem to exist at least not that I know of based on reviews.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

How is a 140mm Silent Wings 3 blowing onto the card

the shroud is open towards the front and vented elsewhere so air is pulled directly towards the card.

the PSU is quite a bit further towards the back of the chassis and has zero direct affect on this fan's intake and/or it's cool air dispersal.

plus the middle & bottom front fans are also pooring most of their intake straight into the GPU.

are the Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 fans the regular or high speed ones?

they are clearly labeled in my signature as "High Speed PWM".
and these even at 80-90% are lower dB than the majority of comparable models.

The fractal fans used are actually very good fans, especially for the case they are in, right amount of pressure and cfm. Some will change those fans, because Noctua are quieter or Arctic has higher cfm etc, but not realize that better paper specs are not exactly helping them with temps.

the largest problem with the provided Fractal Design fans is the amount of noise produced.
they offer a high amount of airflow but at a very high amount of noise produced.

 

[Wolverine2349]

they are clearly labeled in my signature as "High Speed PWM".
and these even at 80-90% are lower dB than the majority of comparable models.

Sorry just re read signature and saw that. Only 80-90% and still quieter than most fans.

I just ordered he Silent Base 802 and it is coming Saturday via Amazon Prime. Now looking to get 140mm Silent Wings 3 fans. I have read the PWM versions have electrical whine per the reviews. So probably will get the 1000 RPM non PWM versions. Its actually $4 more and probably for that reason.

https://www.amazon.com/quiet-BL067-...locphy=9016839&hvtargid=pla-301926389451&th=1

 

[Wolverine2349]

Sorry just re read signature and saw that. Only 80-90% and still quieter than most fans.

I just ordered he Silent Base 802 and it is coming Saturday via Amazon Prime. Now looking to get 140mm Silent Wings 3 fans. I have read the PWM versions have electrical whine per the reviews. So probably will get the 1000 RPM non PWM versions. Its actually $4 more and probably for that reason.

https://www.amazon.com/quiet-BL067-SILENTWINGS-1000RPM-59-5CFM/dp/B01JMDVEDW/ref=asc_df_B01JMEMAE8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309743296044&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6658801031136215629&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016839&hvtargid=pla-301926389451&th=1

Actually wait.

The Silent Base 802 comes with 3 preinstalled Pure Wings 2 fans. The Pure Wings 2 fans actually have a slightly higher CFM 61 vs 59 at 1000 RPM per Be Quiet website:

Pure Wings 2: https://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/448

Silent Wings 3: https://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/717

Do you find Silent Wings 3 superior to anything or just all other non Be Quiet stuff. And air pressure of the Pure Wings 2 is lower. I have heard lower air pressure is better for airflow case fans and higher air pressure and static pressure is better for CPU heatsinks and radiators.

Also heard higher air pressure better for intake, but want lower air pressure for exhaust??

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

have read the PWM versions have electrical whine per the reviews. So probably will get the 1000 RPM non PWM versions

i've used both 120 & 140mm High Speed PWM versions on multiple builds and have never, nor have my customers, experienced any type of coil whine or electrostatic noise from these fans.

if some bad group of product made it out to customers with these type of issues i would guarantee be quite! would offer proper replacements.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I have heard lower air pressure is better for airflow case

depends on the placement of the fans in question and where they may be drawing air from.

in a direct path higher direct airflow will be more prevalent.

but if drawing from indirect paths;
around corners or through obstructions,
pressure will be more prevalent.

 

[Wolverine2349]

depends on the placement of the fans in question and where they may be drawing air from.

in a direct path higher direct airflow will be more prevalent.

but if drawing from indirect paths;
around corners or through obstructions, pressure will be.

For the Silent Base 802, which fan would you say is the better choice for 3 140mm front fans and 1 rear 140mm exhaust fan.

Already using included Noctua NH-A15 fans for the D-15S cooler.

And are the Silent Wings 3 meant as case fans being the best there is? I mean why wouldn't Be Quiet just stick them on the Silent Base 802 if they are good and most optimized for it. To save money? I mean the Dark Base 900 comes with them and it is an older case. So does Dark Base 700.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

why wouldn't Be Quiet just stick them on the Silent Base 802 if they are good and most optimized for it. To save money? I mean the Dark Base 900 comes with them and it is an older case. So does Dark Base 700

either as you say, to save money, or just to produce the lowest possible noise.
which would also be achieved by just lowering the RPM % of the higher rated versions of their fans.

so i would guess it's that they don't plan on enthusiasts going out of their way to customize this type setup and they may save some money using their lower quality options.
it's always been kind of hard to figure German's ideas of things though.

try what comes as stock and if they seem to be inadequate just replace them with something better.

 

[Wolverine2349]

either as you say, to save money, or just to produce the lowest possible noise.
which would also be achieved by just lowering the RPM % of the higher rated versions of their fans.

so i would guess it's that they don't plan on enthusiasts going out of their way to customize this type setup and they may save some money using their lower quality options.
it's always been kind of hard to figure German's ideas of things though.

try what comes as stock and if they seem to be inadequate just replace them with something better.

I mean would they really produce less noise? The airflow is almost the same and the dba of the Pure wings 2 fans have a higher dba

 

[Karadjgne]

the largest problem with the provided Fractal Design fans is the amount of noise produced.
they offer a high amount of airflow but at a very high amount of noise produced.

I run the factory 140mm in my Fractal R5 at around 450-900rpm, and they are very quiet. Quieter than the NZXT fans on my kraken X61 and/or Cryorig R1 Ultimate at the same pwm %.

Most fans will almost double in db(a) in the last 5%-10% of rpm, and get almost zero gains for the difference.

Op: I'm not sure where you are getting this 'I've heard....' info, but most of it is either wrong, taken out of context, or doesn't apply to you. Ignore paper stats, they are meaningless.

CFM is a standardized measurement. Doesn't really matter how it's measured, the results are the same, but only apply at 100% rpm. Any number under that is totally different as CFM does not scale in a straight line, it has a specific curve dictated by fan blade count, design, pitch etc.

Static pressure is not standardized, and is highly subject to testing methodology. It's different for every manufacturer. Testing how much water is moved how far in a glass tube at sea level pressure is considerably different results from the same fan pressure tested at 5000ft above sea level in an acrylic tube.

For a very long time, the absolute best 2 rad fans for an AIO were the Noctua NF-F12 and Scythe Gentle Typhoon. Both had seriously mediocre speeds, 1000-1300rpm max, mediocre 40-50cfm and mediocre SP on under 2.0Hg/mm. Nothing special or spectacular about either of them. Both of them solidly blah. Yet kings of radiators by a long way because of the balance of cfm to SP and resistances of rads. They were about perfect. High enough cfm to be useful, high enough SP to make the cfm useful. Too much cfm meets too high a resistance in the rad, becomes useless, too much pressure blows what little cfm the fan has too fast and hard through the rad, so doesn't help with heat dissipation.

That affect applies to everything, especially cases.

Fans work by the blade moving through air and the blade leaves a low pressure area behind it. The byproduct being the higher pressure exhaust out the back. More blades at higher speed mean stronger low pressure area in front of the fan.

Nature abhors a vacuum. As you create a stronger low pressure area by an exhaust, air inside the case will physically move to fill that void, creating lower pressure inside the case, which gets replaced by outside air coming through anywhere it can. That's a negative pressure system. A positive pressure works the same way except intake fans supply a higher pressure input than outside air supplies.

CFM is the volume of air moved, static pressure is the force behind the movement. If you look at Noctua, the S series has high cfm, low sp. The P series is balanced, the F series has high pressure, low cfm. So you would use S as exhaust, moves the most air, creates the strongest low pressure area. At intake you'd use P or F depending on obstacles or need for gpu. F is narrow band, blows its air mostly in 1 direction, is best for pushing air to the back of the case where gpus need it. P is wide band, blows its air in every direction at a lower pressure. S suck at intake fans because even though they move a ton of air, it doesn't go anywhere requiring stronger low pressure at exhaust to make that volume move.

What you want is a consistent, easy flow. Air in, air out. Filling a case with fans can be a detriment as fans sp conflicts, so a fan at bottom pushing air upwards hits a intake fan pushing air sideways and you get a cyclic rotation, case air moves in a circle, going nowhere, but the bottom fan pushes air away from gpus before it gets there. Good for cpu air towers, lousy for gpus.

Fans and curves need to be setup to maximize potential. Have to look at what a fan does, where it is doing it, how it affects airflow in general. Having air stolen by other fans, pushed away by other fans, moved in circles creating hot zones etc kills good airflow, which hurts overall temps. And that's totally determined by case. For instance the nzxt H500 series does best overall in a totally negative pressure, two exhaust at top and rear, no intake fans at all. You add intakes, it changes the airflow and cpu/gpu temps go up. My case has no case fans at all for airflow, 4 fans on 2 rads, totally negative pressure. If there was space for a case fan, it'd disrupt where the air the air was going, and the rad fans would see less air.

 

[Wolverine2349]

I run the factory 140mm in my Fractal R5 at around 450-900rpm, and they are very quiet. Quieter than the NZXT fans on my kraken X61 and/or Cryorig R1 Ultimate at the same pwm %.

Most fans will almost double in db(a) in the last 5%-10% of rpm, and get almost zero gains for the difference.

Op: I'm not sure where you are getting this 'I've heard....' info, but most of it is either wrong, taken out of context, or doesn't apply to you. Ignore paper stats, they are meaningless.

CFM is a standardized measurement. Doesn't really matter how it's measured, the results are the same, but only apply at 100% rpm. Any number under that is totally different as CFM does not scale in a straight line, it has a specific curve dictated by fan blade count, design, pitch etc.

Static pressure is not standardized, and is highly subject to testing methodology. It's different for every manufacturer. Testing how much water is moved how far in a glass tube at sea level pressure is considerably different results from the same fan pressure tested at 5000ft above sea level in an acrylic tube.

For a very long time, the absolute best 2 rad fans for an AIO were the Noctua NF-F12 and Scythe Gentle Typhoon. Both had seriously mediocre speeds, 1000-1300rpm max, mediocre 40-50cfm and mediocre SP on under 2.0Hg/mm. Nothing special or spectacular about either of them. Both of them solidly blah. Yet kings of radiators by a long way because of the balance of cfm to SP and resistances of rads. They were about perfect. High enough cfm to be useful, high enough SP to make the cfm useful. Too much cfm meets too high a resistance in the rad, becomes useless, too much pressure blows what little cfm the fan has too fast and hard through the rad, so doesn't help with heat dissipation.

That affect applies to everything, especially cases.

Fans work by the blade moving through air and the blade leaves a low pressure area behind it. The byproduct being the higher pressure exhaust out the back. More blades at higher speed mean stronger low pressure area in front of the fan.

Nature abhors a vacuum. As you create a stronger low pressure area by an exhaust, air inside the case will physically move to fill that void, creating lower pressure inside the case, which gets replaced by outside air coming through anywhere it can. That's a negative pressure system. A positive pressure works the same way except intake fans supply a higher pressure input than outside air supplies.

CFM is the volume of air moved, static pressure is the force behind the movement. If you look at Noctua, the S series has high cfm, low sp. The P series is balanced, the F series has high pressure, low cfm. So you would use S as exhaust, moves the most air, creates the strongest low pressure area. At intake you'd use P or F depending on obstacles or need for gpu. F is narrow band, blows its air mostly in 1 direction, is best for pushing air to the back of the case where gpus need it. P is wide band, blows its air in every direction at a lower pressure. S suck at intake fans because even though they move a ton of air, it doesn't go anywhere requiring stronger low pressure at exhaust to make that volume move.

What you want is a consistent, easy flow. Air in, air out. Filling a case with fans can be a detriment as fans sp conflicts, so a fan at bottom pushing air upwards hits a intake fan pushing air sideways and you get a cyclic rotation, case air moves in a circle, going nowhere, but the bottom fan pushes air away from gpus before it gets there. Good for cpu air towers, lousy for gpus.

Fans and curves need to be setup to maximize potential. Have to look at what a fan does, where it is doing it, how it affects airflow in general. Having air stolen by other fans, pushed away by other fans, moved in circles creating hot zones etc kills good airflow, which hurts overall temps. And that's totally determined by case. For instance the nzxt H500 series does best overall in a totally negative pressure, two exhaust at top and rear, no intake fans at all. You add intakes, it changes the airflow and cpu/gpu temps go up. My case has no case fans at all for airflow, 4 fans on 2 rads, totally negative pressure. If there was space for a case fan, it'd disrupt where the air the air was going, and the rad fans would see less air.

Thanks for the advice. After all this, I am very close to getting the torrent as I just cancelled Silent Base 802 order as upon further thinking restricting airflow is not the best idea for quietness even if dampening may help a bit with vibrations and any potential coil whine.

I generally run my fans at static speeds all the time with low enough noise and set a curve to blast to max if temps get way way too high like 80C or above on AMD and 85C or above on Intel. If am am running a stress test that I know can push CPU temps to limit (Prime95 Small FFT especially AVX or Blend with AVX on or maybe Linpack XTREME) just to make sure CPU is stable, I will just set fan to 100% for the duration to play it safe and babysit so I can stop it if temps get too hot.

 

[ReveurGAM]

Frozen CPU is going out of business and they have a bunch of Silverstone cases, some of which have sound dampening material in them. I won't say that they're great for airflow, but some of them look like they might be acceptable if you have AC. I can't speak about the other brands that aren't already sold out but maybe there's something worthwhile.

Oh, the 50% off discount doesn't apply to the Silverstone cases.