[SOLVED] Most quiet PC case

[minthero]

Hello tomshardware,
I'm looking for the most quiet PC case. I care most about browser performance, office and multimedia. I will also play new games with my new PC. Is there one you can recommend? At the moment I own the https://www.techpowerup.com/review/xigmatek-midgard/ It's from 2009 and it's ok but I guess there are more quiet PC cases out there.

This is the hardware I own at the moment(I want to change it )

Spoiler: My PC right now

-M.2 SSD Samsung 980 EVO 500GB
-Intel© Core™ i5-6600 CPU @ 3.30GHz × 4
-MSI Nvidia GeForce GTX 970(28cm long x 12cm wide x5cm high)
-HyperX Fury DDR4 Ram (2x8GB) https://www.kingston.com/datasheets/HX424C15FBK2_16.pdf
-Gigabyte GA B250-HD3P Mainboard
-CPU Cooler by Thermalright Macho Rev. B (x14cm long x11cm wide x13cm high) with one fan and it's made out of aluminium, as far as I can tell.

Thank you in advance,
minthero

 

[Colif]

how silent do you want to go?

can go pure passive but its not cheap - for example https://au.pcmag.com/pc-cases/68906...-case-delivers-passive-cooling-for-gaming-pcs

many cases can be made fairly silent now even with fans as you can get them with sound deadening foam - https://www.bequiet.com/en/case
or you can just run bigger fans at a slower speed in pretty much any case to get close to silent.

often the balance is cooling over silence. Apart from that top case, most need fans to keep them cool.

 

[geofelt]

Noise comes from small fans running at high rpm.
Browsing, office, and multimedia can be well done with a simple processor and integrated graphics.
If you are getting into gaming, that will require a discrete graphics card and that can be noisy.
Your GTX970 for example. One way to keep things quiet is to overprovision so the card can loaf.


I would look for a case with large, slow moving front intake fans.
One of my favorite MATX cases is the silverstone TJ-08E.
https://www.newegg.com/black-silverstone-temjin-series-microatx-mini-tower/p/N82E16811163182

It has a 180mm front intake that is all but inaudible.
Do you need space for a dvd drive?
For a full ATX motherboard, look at the CM H500 with two front 200mm intakes.
https://www.newegg.com/gunmetal-cooler-master-mastercase-h500-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811119350

Your cpu cooler is excellent and should be quiet.

Buy a gold rated psu with more power than you need.
The fan will likely not need to run at all.
Today, a good budget gamer will be the i5-11400
Here is a review:

Intel Core i5-11400F Review: The New Value Champ

The Core i5-11400F coupled with a B560 motherboard make for an interesting build configuration, as it's significantly cheaper than the Core i5-11600K/Z590 and less than the cost...

www.techspot.com

 

[minthero]

Thank you for your answers so far! I'd love to have a smaller PC but isn't a bigger size important for air flow so that there is less noise as a byproduct of a cooler system? Someone on the forums here claimed this as well. I will only use as smaller size if it's not noisier and if all of the thermals are in the optimal range as well.


In this review the H500 the H500 is considered one of the better options for thermals and is way behind the Fractal Define R6 or the Be Quiet Dark Base Pro Rev. 1 when it comes to noise. It's at 12:12:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OABlbp_emE4
Also I've heard that tempered glass is good for canceling low humming noises / fan noises but soundproofed walls are even better for reducing noise.

Maybe I'm missing something or this guy's testing methods are flawed?

The Beast looks very promising but I'm afraid it's too expensive. I will take a look into it though.

I was also thinking about the 11400 but the 5 5600X also seems to be a good idea as it's just 35€ more expensive and it seems to be better performing in terms of power consumption. It's better in some web browser performance tests and then it's worse in others. Same thing with office&productivity if your compare these two CPUs. What do you think?

I don't know a lot about PSUs but I will look out for a gold rated PSU.

I'm not expert so this is why I'm asking silly questions.

 

[HappyTrails]

Would think any of nice new meshy front case would work for you, Lian Li, Phanteks.... How silent is relative to what you consider it but found that even 120mm fans can be made very quiet if you set up some good fan curve. For me I found can make case fans quiet but gpu fans seem to make most noise. Maybe just need more time with fan curves. Feel same way I like quiet pc, one of reason I try a water cool build. Used to have gpu waterblock but card died. New gpu is fan cool right now and temps fine. Turn fans down to lowest on curves and still noisey. 👻

Would maybe say Gamers Nexus is a reliable reviewer they really take to extreme, one of his specials is case airflow review. Like his videos but it really digs into the micro stuff.

PSU can be touchy subjects. You maybe see Seasonic and Corsair psu preferred many times. Here purchase a couple EVGA psu that many would say not good but I found them to be reliable. After reading many reviews of seasonic and corsair it seem maybe mileage may vary because they seem to be having lots of issues too. Maybe stay away from gigabyte for now though.