Quiet Full ATX Case

[MikkoHalonen]

I'm looking for a quiet full tower case. Quiet because I'm annoyed by coil whine, not by fans. On the other hand, I'm also an overclocking gamer, so I'd want something that can handle such things by revving up the fans. Is such a thing possible, or will all 'quiet' cases diminish my ability to get the best OC out of my CPU and GPU with air? Will such cases be able to control the fans themselves based on temps or will I have to do it manually?

 

What are my alternatives, other than be Quiet!'s Dark Base 900? Requirements not already mentioned:

- Black or almost black with little flair and no window (at least on the left side)

- At least five 3.5" slots

- Room for a large tower cooler (I kinda assume all full towers will have room)

 

If the Dark Base 900 is my only option, which version should I get? The base version seems otherwise most suitable for me, but will I be missing the higher RPM fans in the Rev. 2?

[TVwazhere]

3 minutes ago, MikkoHalonen said:

- Black or almost black with little flair and no window (at least on the left side)

- At least five 3.5" slots

- Room for a large tower cooler (I kinda assume all full towers will have room)

The Fractal Design Define R6 sounds like the case for you. Fits 6 3.5" drives natively (expandable to 11), sound dampening foam all around that's best suited for coil whine while having better airflow the Dark base Pro 900, and can fit up to 180mm tall CPU tower coolers. Available with or without USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C as well

[Dedayog]

Case porn...

 

 

[MikkoHalonen]

21 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

The Fractal Design Define R6 sounds like the case for you. Fits 6 3.5" drives natively (expandable to 11), sound dampening foam all around that's best suited for coil whine while having better airflow the Dark base Pro 900, and can fit up to 180mm tall CPU tower coolers. Available with or without USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C as well

Seems like that would be a sweet case, if only it were a full tower. Based on the GN reviews, I'm more confident in the Dark Base 900 being able to cool both the GPU and the CPU under load. And it has slots for more fans if needed. It's a bit pricey, but it's not like you buy a new case every decade.

[Dedayog]

5 minutes ago, MikkoHalonen said:

Seems like that would be a sweet case, if only it were a full tower. Based on the GN reviews, I'm more confident in the Dark Base 900 being able to cool both the GPU and the CPU under load. And it has slots for more fans if needed. It's a bit pricey, but it's not like you buy a new case every decade.

I've got an overclocked 8700K to 5GHz on an AIO, 1080Ti overclocked to 2050Mhz.  I added another fan to complement the 3 already in there plus the AIO's 3.  7 fans and no thermal issues ever.  I hear a fan ramp up once in a while, you can't get away from that when OCing high.   If a fan has access to outside air to draw in, it has access to your ears thru those same vents.  Never heard a peep of coil whine ever tho.

 

When you need confidence when cooling under load, you're talking your own human brain issues.  The case cools fine, but if you need to get the feels that a full tower will do better, by all means buy the Dark Base 900.

 

Just don't think the R6 can't cool ANY GPU and CPU under load.  It does.  Well. 

 

 

 

[TVwazhere]

30 minutes ago, MikkoHalonen said:

if only it were a full tower. 

Just because it's not marked as a "Full Tower" doesnt mean anything about it's actual size, much less cooling capacity. 

 

Take for example, the Silent base 801. Even though it's classified as a "mid tower", volume wise it's bigger than the Dark Base Pro 900!

[MikkoHalonen]

2 hours ago, jstudrawa said:

Just don't think the R6 can't cool ANY GPU and CPU under load.  It does.  Well. 

If I was getting an AIO, I would probably get the R6! But I'm worried about the expense, it breaking and the extra noise. Thought I realize the first and last point might be moot.

 

1 hour ago, TVwazhere said:

Just because it's not marked as a "Full Tower" doesnt mean anything about it's actual size, much less cooling capacity. 

 

Take for example, the Silent base 801. Even though it's classified as a "mid tower", volume wise it's bigger than the Dark Base Pro 900!

 

I actually checked the height (over 10 cm less).

[TVwazhere]

19 minutes ago, MikkoHalonen said:

I actually checked the height (over 10 cm less).

Volume, not height.

 

82L

Spoiler

 

83.7L

Spoiler

 

[Tristerin]

The sound dampening foam in cases really doesn't do much at all (from the videos Ive watched on YT) - however I always recommend the CoolerMaster HAF series - I have an XM (they still sell the full tower) and its my most favorite, airflow filled, silent with huge OC PC I own.

 

I just recently purchased a Cougar MX330-X which is nice but not a full tower for you, and doesn't support the largest air coolers - I like it though because great airflow so my Ryzen Rig 1 in sig is silent now as well.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

3 hours ago, MikkoHalonen said:

Seems like that would be a sweet case, if only it were a full tower.

Fractal does sell a full tower with decent noise dampening, but it's slightly older.  The Define XL R2.

232 x 559 x 560 mm

 

https://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-xl-r2-black-pearl

[MikkoHalonen]

I did notice the XL R2, but I'm just not looking for four 5.25" bays. Plus since it's so old, there doesn't seem to be any comparisons to modern cases.