This is probably been discussed before, but i tried browsing through this section and didn't find anything recent, and i can see in the past hdds mattering a lot in terms of noise, but we are starting to reach ssd that can handle storage, and while its not mainstream yet, its the route we will see in the future.
What i wanted to see is more info, experiences with fellow forum members, directly into what you feel is better. Many times i have a very quiet fan outside the case, but once inside the grills/covers tend to create more turbulence/noise, with this in mind wouldn't a more open case end up less noisy? less restriction on font/back for air could also create less need for rpms to maintain the same temps, thus also creating a less noisy setup. I guess its a tossup, or two ways of doing it, trying to max air flow so you can slow it down to inaudible lvls or having a case like a tank that don't let the noise out.
I see manufacturers market their cases like Fractal/Antec/Corsair with front doors and front grills/covers that restrict a lot the airflow, for example the Define R4 that imo its a very nice case, with bitumen, moduvents, front door/grill, etc, while you also have Acr Midi 2 that its very similar but with mesh on front and more open top, no moduvents, no bitumen. Disregarding hdd noise, what do you think would end up quieter, between those two cases, aiming at the same temps with the same components inside (expecting fans to be at lower rpms on the Arc Midi due to less restricted).
Open vs Closed
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Re: Open vs Closed
From my experience it mainly boils down to, as you point out, the source of the noise. Coil whine and HDD seek noise probably benefit greatly from the insulated cases you mention, while I'm very much convinced that they do absolutely nothing good for fan noise when taking the corresponding hardware temperatures into account.
I think this is especially evident from the review and recorded temperature/noise of a relative open case like the Antec Twelve Hundred versus the Nanoxia DS1.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article993-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1327-page1.html
I think this is especially evident from the review and recorded temperature/noise of a relative open case like the Antec Twelve Hundred versus the Nanoxia DS1.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article993-page1.html
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1327-page1.html
Re: Open vs Closed
There are very few parts on the market that needs the huge amount of airflow allowed with an open front type of case. All that open space simply isn't very useful, so why bother?
However quite a few fan grills are still unnecessarily restrictive as far as creating turbulence, especially when it comes to exhaust fans. I have little hope with case designers offering removable grills, so if any exhaust position needs a fan blowing more than a little air then it's worth considering cutting a regular grill out. The fronts aren't usually a problem although there are exceptions like the NZXT H2 that manages to be actually restrictive. The front intake of the Define R4 for instance does in fact have a lot of clearance, so much that one could safely block some of it off in any low to medium power build. There's also a bottom intake for more demanding builds, an intake I tend to block off unless it is really going to be put to use.
However quite a few fan grills are still unnecessarily restrictive as far as creating turbulence, especially when it comes to exhaust fans. I have little hope with case designers offering removable grills, so if any exhaust position needs a fan blowing more than a little air then it's worth considering cutting a regular grill out. The fronts aren't usually a problem although there are exceptions like the NZXT H2 that manages to be actually restrictive. The front intake of the Define R4 for instance does in fact have a lot of clearance, so much that one could safely block some of it off in any low to medium power build. There's also a bottom intake for more demanding builds, an intake I tend to block off unless it is really going to be put to use.