I'm looking for a small case that I can have some good airflow in. I like the looks of the Lian Li pc-30 and it is only 365mm tall. My questions are:

Does anyone run this in a quiet config, and if so what?
Can you get good enough airflow through a small case lilke this to run things silently?
Any recommendations on other small cases? I would prefer 3 x 5.25" bays, but if it only has 2 (like the Lian Li) that is fine.

Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I could not help myself to put this line in.

Have you heard of the term "size matters".

hee hee

But seriously, I have found larger cases to be much better for airflow/cooling than a smaller case, thats if you want to keep it quiet. But it really depends on what components are going inside the case. I would not suggest the latest blazing CPU's inside a small case, but if the system you want to power is moderate then I don't see any problems with it.

What CPU do you plan to put in your system?

I know that size matters, maybe I'm trying to compensate.

Seriously though, I want a nice small PC that can easily hide. I would love to put an Intel 3.06 HT in my next machine, I don't need a super powerful video card so that eliminates that heat source, but I know that the reality of the situation is the slower the CPU the less noise, and that's what I'm really after, silence. I doubt that the 3.06 can be a reality in my case (no pun intended) I would be happy with an Athlon 2200+ or equivalent Intel.

If I need to go to a bigger case to get a slightly better CPU I can make that trade off, but I was hoping to hear about people running silent small cases.

I have read the large case, cool temp idea as well.

I think with the proper air flow paths the opposite should be true, except
at start up when the air inside the case is a heat sink.

Just consider what you do to cool off a component. Most people introduce
a fast flow of air. If the case is small and the air flow is coodinated, all
the air in the case is fast flowing, therefore no stagenet air for things to get hot in.

It must be then that little thought/planning has been done in case design
since components have become toastly in the last couple of years.

Hmm I dispute this, but larger cases allows for some distance between heat generating components. It is like having 3 radiators next to each other which increases the overall heat because they are aiding each other. This means more air is needed to move this extra heat away. Also smaller cases block a lot of airflow, you may think designing a good design/path for air to go in and then straight out. But reality is different with small cases, there are so many obstacles in the way. For example, you have a intake fan at the front-bottom. A AGP/PCI card + Hard disk may block a lot of the air needed to reach the HS and then out. Larger cases flow through quite easily not just through the large gap but also over the AGP/PCI cards.

There are other points too.. Like custom mods are much easier to do to make it quiet, components has more breathing room too etc..

the pc-30 has the psu sucking air from the cpus, and it can be mnodded for two blowholes in the top. if u ewant more expansion there is the pc-50, a pc-30 with three 51/4" bays. a 3.06HT shouldn't be a problem with 2 panaflows blowing in in the front and another two blowing out on the top. one or two more could be added in the side to cool off the video card.

All of you "Just get a large case" guys are correct, but honestly, where's the challenge? Small cases are great, plus they add a bit more of a challenge for power, organization, and cooling. All of my systems are MicroATX, all of them are well configured and powerful, and they all run reasonably cool.

My current case of choice is a modded Palo Alto PA-450. However, it's tough (if not impossible) to find, and stock cooling is bad -- you need to mod it to accept a rear panel fan, and power supply selection is critical. My 100% load temps are CPU/48c; Case/43c; Ambient/19c for a TBred 2400+ with a stock HS/F -- I know people with full sized cases who never see temps like that.

I just ordered an In-Win IW-V523 case which shows pretty good cooling promise. It takes an 80mm up front, and 80mm in the rear, and the power supply is at the top of the case (unlike the PA-450). I think it should make the basis for a very good, very quiet, pretty cool MicroATX system, and it's one you might want to look at.

Pete

"It's not the meat, it's the motion". (in case the motion of air )

its neither, its the bulge in your back pocket they want. (money) Anyways, intel processors are easier to cool, i would just get a 2.4 cause a 3ghz processor isnt all that much faster but it will be louder.

Thanks for the info bigg. The PC-50 does look like a nice case, isn't much bigger than the PC-30 and is certainly smaller than the behemoth I've got right now. I am interested in getting a silent and small case, but to be perfectly honest my time is as valuable as anything so I would rather buy something that easily does almost what I want.

Along those lines, the Antec Sonata that was reviewed here certainly looks to be a reasonable case (although larger than what I would like). Anybody have any knowledge on when it will be released. The review said Jan 03. Thanks for all the help.

Who knows you might even win it in the competition..

I wrote antec asking when they would release it, but aparently they arent going to answer me as I wrote that email several days ago.

Have you seen the Cooler Master ATC-500? This is a case I am considering when I build my girlfriend's next computer.

Here's a review of it: http://www.slautech.co.uk/slautech/articles/484