Planning a silent computer

One problem with the Solo is that it doesn't have a front usb3 port. The usb3 kit below has a connection to the internal header.

http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=p ... ail&p=3536

Is it possible to have the ports dangling out at (or near) the front of the Solo ? Is there an opening large enough for the cable ?

Would this be more suitable?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3877/asro ... ce-scaling

Not sure if Asrock sells them on their own. An alternative is the Silverstone FP36, although it routes the cables out the back of the case to the motherboard's I/O area.

The Silverstone FP36 doesn't connect to the internal header, as you pointed out. I prefer the other kit. About your link to Anandtech, I must be missing something. It's a motherboard review.

There are products available that will convert a USB 3 cable that goes from the front of a case to an internal USB 3 motherboard header (cables are usually designed to hook into the rear USB 3 ports on mb to provide front case USB 3). There are links to such products in a recent Antec P183 V3 thread.

Regarding the Solo, it is not the best case for a silent build (unless you already have one laying around), although at one time it was considered fairly decent case. One of the main problems with the Solo is the top mounted PSU, which is no longer considered optimal. Quiet, maybe, but probably not silent.

Oops, wrong link:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3877/asro ... -scaling/2

That's a nice option. I don't like the USB front panel placements on P183, which are hard to reach without bending over, and I can never remember which way is "up" since the USB outlets are in vertical mode. Only problem with the one in the link is that one must open the P183 front panel door to reach the ones that go into a drive bay.

Solo is bit outdate now days for any build why not the Fractal Design Define R3 better case all around.

just saw this: http://www.techpowerup.com/146287/BitFe ... ories.html

would be awesome to see them widely available.


btw, if you are thinking about buying a brand new antec solo, being an owner myself, I have to say I'm not exactly happy with it when looking at what I could buy with a little more money.

The general opinion appears to be that the Solo isn't the best choice, and you have convinced me.

I've reread the reviews about the Define R3, and I like it. I like even more the Define Mini, which will soon be available. The smell problem, which made me disregard the series at first, seems corrected. The 120 mm fans of the Mini are rated for 1200 rpm, versus 1350 rpm for the R3. It's still higher then the 1000 rpm of the R2, but the fan controller might be able to lower the noise to 14 dB. I am referring to Laurence Lee's review of the R3 : http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1192-page3.html
I got the 1200 rpm figure from the product sheet:
http://www.fractal-design.com/downloads ... _sheet.pdf
There's a top front USB 3 port (why not 2, and why do they keep the USB 2 ports, I wonder - isn't 3.0 compatible with 2.0 ?), but the eSata port is gone. There's no word about the accessories. I hope they'll include cables to the internal headers.

All in all, the Mini is much better than the Solo. But before making my final decision, I would like to know if the Lian Li A04 can be silenced. Aesthetically, I find it superb. But there's a top opening with a fan right under it, and the casing is aluminum. I hope I can have some feedback on that. (Is the Mini aluminum too ?)

Please note that I won't stuff the case: one SSD and one Caviar Black, which I would happily change to a Green if it helps, 4 memory sticks and a heatsink. No video card. The system will be based on the i7-2600K and the P8Z68-V Pro.

Hi sinLog. Wondering if you've made your decision already? If you're still considering the PC-A04 I just completed a quiet build with that case. While it's definitely possible to make the case quiet with good component selection, I think that silent may be out of the question. The aluminum just picks up vibrations and resonates too easily, and unless you have no moving parts some sound will still emerge from the front and top vents. That being said, I'm pretty happy with quiet, and for me the aesthetics of the case won me over. I actually did consider the Mini when I first saw it, but I prefer not to have a door for convenience. Also, I prefer to buy from my home country of Taiwan when possible.

I'm running a 7200 rpm HD in the case (Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB) and I've read that Lian Li's rubber grommets are sufficient to silence a 5400 rpm drive, but not a 7200 rpm. I do hear some muted seek noise with the F3. So if silence is key, then you probably want to go Green.

I actually ordered a Solo before the Lian Li, but it arrived with a bent thumbscrew in the back, such that I could not remove the side panel. Went right back to Amazon for a refund. It was also too big (and heavy!) to fit comfortably on my desktop. My favorite feature of the case which I wish was available on the Lian Li was the elastic hard drive suspension system.

Hi Kendalf,

I've just read your post above, and also your thread "Lian Li PC-A04, Quiet low voltage build for transcoding", which will be useful for me soon. After considering the Define Mini, I had opted for the Solo 2 a few days ago, but I ordered the A04 on an impulse. After the build, I'll post my impressions here:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=63943

Please excuse the delay

Hi Kendalf, you might want to consider covering the inside of your case's panels with bitumen self-adhesive mats. They give weight and rigidity to the panels and absorb much of the vibrations. They're also quite cheap if you know where to look try car-audio shops.