I just found this website http://www.clearpc.ca/ and immediately thought about using a Lucite case as a quiet case. I'm pretty new to this quiet stuff being an old overclocker (that's what made me finally decide I wanted silence) but wouldn't a plastic case vibrate less than a metal one. And while I'm not the market they had in mind, it might be interesting to check out. The case costs US$99 which seems pretty cheap, but I think you have to buy drive covers, etc. seperately. They even have clear fans and you can customize the case for fans where you want them.

Does anyone have any ideas or experience with plastic cases and vibration dampening? Ideally I would like a smaller case, but I'm very excited about this idea.

You won't get any shielding from it either -- you could wreck havok on other devices like wireless phones or whatever. There is a good reason to have steel or at least aluminum cases...

Looks kewl, though you will have to be a very neat builder!

If you must have a clear case, you can spray the insides with EMI shielding spray. Like this: http://rpelectronics.com/English/Content/Items/841-340G.asp

[quote="powergyoza
If you must have a clear case, you can spray the insides with EMI shielding spray. Like this: http://rpelectronics.com/English/Content/Items/841-340G.asp[/quote]

that would defeat the purpose of buying a clear case, with a clear case u'd just apply the same principles of quietening a convential metal case, like swapping in fans for quieter ones and encasing the HDD, but you just couldn't put sound reduction foam on the insides of the case...

The product I linked up may not be clear, but there must be some product out there that is "clear". Maybe not completely transparent, but still clear enough that you could see through it. A lot of those windowed cases have EMI shielding on their windows, so a clear EMI shielding spray must be available...

I don't really care if the case is clear or not or whether I can see all of my components. I was curious if the Lucite would make the case more resistant to vibrations than a metal case though.

Obviously the clear case would look cool, but that came second to the fact that it would (hopefully) quiet vibrations and they would basically cut fan holes anywhere in the case you wanted.

I'm not so sure about those windowed cases being EMI shielded. I heard from someone in the biz a while back that in fact they are not, and they are really illegal to sell as consumer cases for home use because of that. It's interesting that none of the case websites I have visited - even high-end ones like lian li - discuss this issue....

Subtle point on EMI shielding (Electro-magnetic interference).
In the "old days", a mere five years ago, the entire PC system (read "enclosure") had to pass FCC regulations for RFI emissions.
The regs have changed. If each component passes, then the system is assumed to be OK. This is what has lead to commercially available, clear panel cases.
There is no "clear" EMI shielding spray.

I'm not really sure if this helps that much, but from what I've heard is that once people cut a window into their case, the case is noticably quieter. Significantly quieter? I don't know. But its just food for thought.