Fractal R5.. Loving it.
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Fractal R5.. Loving it.
I have had the same case for many years and decided time for something new and a little more quiet. So I picked up a white Fractal R5 with a window. I know the solid side panel would have been more quiet but I have to see the beautiful guts it has. I picked up 3 Noctua Redux 140mm fans for case cooling.. 2 in front and 1 in rear. These are ran on the CPU PWM fan header since my actual Phanktek fans are not PWM I put those on a regular fan header. This gave me the best way to throttle all fans. I upgraded to a GTX 980 (GTX970 to much coil whine). The fans on the video card stop at idle.. the fans on my CPU stop when under 40C for the socket temp. Case fans spin at ~400rpm. This setup is the most quiet I have ever had. When gaming the fans kick on and case fans increase in speed but its still very quiet. I am debating on adding one more fan to the bottom of the case blowing upward towards the video card. I am picking up a 6tb WD Red for storage and that will be the only mechanical drive in the case. I also plan to silence that as well. For now I am enjoying this thing!
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MikeC
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Re: Fractal R5.. Loving it.
It looks good! 
We have a white sample, too.
We prefer white cases in the lab; so much easier to see when working inside them -- when a black screw falls inside a black case, that's when the cussing starts.
You know the stock fans are probably quieter than the Noctuas. Haven't done a close side-by-side, but the fans in our R5 are among the quietest ever. Try one as intake on the bottom -- there won't be any increase in noise if it's at the same RPM as the other case fans.
We have a white sample, too. We prefer white cases in the lab; so much easier to see when working inside them -- when a black screw falls inside a black case, that's when the cussing starts.
You know the stock fans are probably quieter than the Noctuas. Haven't done a close side-by-side, but the fans in our R5 are among the quietest ever. Try one as intake on the bottom -- there won't be any increase in noise if it's at the same RPM as the other case fans.
Re: Fractal R5.. Loving it.
Just noticed someone replied to this lol.. The Noctua's full tilt are very loud but I am about to throttle them down to a hair over 300rpm. I let them throttle up some during games but what I like most is the tone they have. Very happy with them although I have been tempted to try the Be Quiet! PWM fans and Dark Rock Pro 3 heatsink. There may be zero difference in what I use now *shrug*. This case has been great so far.