Hi guys, new user here! (Been reading here for a while, just never been a big forum posting type )

I'm upgrading from my old Gigabyte Poseidon case to a new case and I was wondering if it was better for me to buy a case that's said to be quiet/silent. Or buy a cheaper case and separate quiet fans? Budget is around £90.
Please note I live in Ireland so I won't be able to order from places like NewEgg (Oh NewEgg... You and your amazing pricing and rebates you. )
But I can order from places like [url]Amazon.co.uk[/url], [url]Overclockers.co.uk[/url] or [url]Scan.co.uk[/url].

I was thinking of buying something like http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Z9-Plus-Midi-Tower/dp/B004FPQL0E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361993467&sr=8-1
with 4-5 of these fans http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-104-TR for the front, back, CPU heatsink etc. but am not sure if it would be better than a case branded as quiet/silent

It's a mainly a PC that's used for gaming and Internet surfing.

Here are the specs for a rough estimate at the amount of cooling that would be required:

Intel 2500k OC to 4.5Ghz with Hyper 212+
Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme
8GB Corsair 1600Mhz Ram
Corsair TX650 V2 - 650W PSU
2 HDD's.

Thanks a million for your help fellas!

Typically, you start with quiet components and then you might get away with a case that doesn't have much in the way of silencing. With your listed components, you probably ought to aim for a case that does have decent sound deadening. Take a look at the Fractal Define r4 or the Define Mini or Antec P183 v3 or Corsair 550D or NZXT H2 for starters

Thanks for the reply! I was just wondering one thing. Which of the components I listed make a lot of noise? I would be replacing the Hyper 212+ heatsink fan to a quiet one and I'll be replacing the GPU in about a years time (maybe even less) (For Witcher 3 hehe )

So I'm guessing that leaves the PSU and the Hard Drives, right?
I'll have to see how loud the PSU is by itself and I'll post what I find but the HDD's are usually pretty quiet (At least to me). And the case I have right now doesn't even have any HDD mounts so that's bound to increase the noise right?

Don't know what you have for HDDs, so it's hard to guess. For the rest, my guess is the CPU fan and GPU are the loudest bits. Then, it's a tradeoff between the case fans and the PSU. You could always keep the case and try to retrofit for noise as you replace components. It should be pretty easy to isolate the noise components - just work your way down from noisiest to quietest.

- You can remove the gpu and run off of the iGP to remove the gpu noise from the equation.
- HDD noise is pretty easy to hear. Especially if they park in idle and then spin up when needed. See if it's seek noise or just rotational vibration.
- you can unplug the case fans to see their impact.
- you can use your mobo's fan utility or Speedfan to set up fan profiles for your case and cpu fans and monitor fan rpms.
- you can run Prime95 to isolate cpu fan noise.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do some testing when I have a bit of spare time.

Also one thing I'm wondering about... How would cases like the R4 perform with cooling? From what I gather it's a bit more restricted in airflow to achieve that sound dampening. I'm not the sort of person that minds some noise. For example one of my friends has a HP business PC, I believe its the HP 600B MT, and I consider that pretty quiet. (Not much to go on I know )

So I was wondering how would the separate case + fans option compare to the R4? Both would be quiet enough (correct me if I'm wrong), the R4 more so of course, but how would temperatures compare?

And I'm so sorry for all the questions . I'm just trying to get a better understanding of all of this.

Any of the cases I mentioned above take into account your system components for temps and noise.

As for the rest - I don't know. There are too many variables. Any existing system can be made quiet - how quiet depends on how much effort you want to put into replacing noisy components and modding the case for both noise and airflow.

I think I'll go with the R4.
One last thing I was wondering is if I should still get a couple of those thermalright fans to replace the heatsink fan and add an extra case fan.
Any best position for the case fan? As a Top, bottom or maybe another intake fan?

Thanks for all the help! Really, really, really appreciate it!

EDIT: Hmmm... Seems the R3 is £15 cheaper than the R4 on Scan. Is the R4 worth the extra £15?

The Fractal Design case already comes with fans. I would suggest you make the best use of them when you get the case rather than buying something that you might end up not needing.

Oh yes of course. I was already planning to use the fans it comes with. I meant as in a fan for the heatsink and maybe an extra fan for top/bottom/front where it lets you add more fans. Sorry about that, should of made the post a bit clearer.

Well until you get the new case, you simply don't know whether you'll need them or not. Therefore you should wait. Too many purchases are made on the off chance that someone might need something and its a big waste of money.

The R4 has a slightly wider case, 140mm fans over the 120mm in the R3, removable drive cage for starters. I like those feature improvements, so I'd spend the extra.

CPU fan: see if your mobo supports PWM for the cpu fan. If so, you could replace the existing one with the Scythe Slipstream PWM or the new Glidestream(1300rpm) PWM. If it doesn't support PWM, then the 800 or 1000rpm max voltage controlled versions would work.

It's been a few years since I created an account, but after a recent build I can probably add a few thoughts.

I've picked up the R4 for a build with a reasonably similar component list. In line with previous comments, I'd suggest buying the bare minimum of extras to begin with and seeing how you get on with your case and component temps wtc. The 140mm fans included with the R4 definitely move noticeably more air than the 120mm fans in some other cases I've used, and they're surprisingly quiet when you drop them to 5v with the built-in fan controller.

Your link to the Thermalright fans use 120mm mounting holes, but the R4 will take stock 140mm fans happily. It's easily worth the extra over the R3 - I got mine from Scan too. I wouldn't bother with extra fans, performance out of the box is excellent.

I've got the i5 3570K running at stock, and I've had no need to consider overclocking. You're likely to see a bottleneck from your 5850 before gaining the full benefit from the higher CPU speeds (sorry, that's a bit off-topic but perhaps relevant to your CPU fan choice). Overall, I have the two stock 140mm fans (7v for gaming, 5v for desktop use), a Scythe Slipstream 800rpm on the Cooler (Noctua tower) and a be quiet dark power pro 550w PSU. For a gaming machine, it's much quieter than I expected and runs much cooler than my old Antec solo.

I have the Define Mini - using the standard 120mm fans in the front positions running off the motherboard. The rear fan hole is empty, and there's plenty of air exhausting from there. I have the second HDD frame removed, as I only use a single SSD in the machine.