cool, silent, and sexy

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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quastar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:24 am

cool, silent, and sexy

Post by quastar » Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:28 am

Hello,

I’m looking to buy an affordable mid-full tower case. The cheaper the better, but I'm willing to stretch a little on the budget if it'll be worth it. I used to be all about having maximum cooling performance, but my case sounded like a jet taking off. This time around I’m striving for a clean, silent build without comprising on good cooling. I know that having quite components plays a large role in determining the noise level of a build, but a case built for silence doesn’t hurt either. :) Aesthetically, I want it to be minimal and a clear side panel is a plus. I’d much prefer the hard drive bays to be modular and space or option for water cooling is also a plus. Here’s my list of what I’m currently looking at.

NZXT Source 530
NZXT Phantom 530
Fractal Design Define XL R2
Fractal Design Define R4
Nanoxia Deep Silence 1
Nanoxia Deep Silence 5

The two NZXT cases are not necessarily built for silence, but I’ve heard they’re noise level is competitive, particular the phantom 530 considering its performance. Meanwhile the source 530 is an awesome value for its price. Between the built-for-silence cases, I’m leaning towards the Fractal Design Define XL R2 (mainly because it’ll provide better cooling by default of its size) and either two of the Nanoxias. Anyone have any experience with any of these? Which one should I get? Thanks.

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: cool, silent, and sexy

Post by Abula » Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:07 am

Welcome to SPCR.

Out of your list i like more Fractal Design Define R4, but if you want XL mobo support and want more 5.25 bays go with the XL R2. Fractal cases are very well design, very easy to work with, have an option for clear side window, cable managment is super easy on them, the hdd cages are removable, has support for rad on top or on front, so overall very versatile case.

quastar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:24 am

Re: cool, silent, and sexy

Post by quastar » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:40 pm

Thank you.

Yeah, I definitely like the clean look of those fractal cases. I don't necessarily need a full tower, but I think the extra interior space will allow things to breath more, especially considering silent cases could always use whatever extra cooling they can get. Plus, I also like a case that's roomy enough so I won't have to worry about space if I decide to expand to other coolings down the road.

What are your thoughts about the Nanoxia DS lines and how they compare to the fractal cases?

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: cool, silent, and sexy

Post by Abula » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:24 pm

quastar wrote:What are your thoughts about the Nanoxia DS lines and how they compare to the fractal cases?
I dont have any direct experience with nanoxia, so i cant say much, they look very similar to Fractal cases with some changes, in some cases they have bigger clearance of gpus, etc. But i personally dont have much use for opticals, and in here they have 3, in most cases they use 120mm on the front while R4 uses 140s, this can be seen as a plus o minus depening on the choice of fans, the hdd cages have different disposition might be good or not for certain users, etc.... overall i do recommend them in certain scenarios when fractal are not an option or cheaper due to the location of the user, etc. But personally for the US, and newegg monthly $80 case, seems very good for what it offers.

Check SPCR review of the nanoxia for more info, Nanoxia Deep Silence 1

quastar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:24 am

Re: cool, silent, and sexy

Post by quastar » Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:44 am

After a lot of time spent reading whatever i can online about these cases, and often getting side track into reading about other cases, I had to make a decision otherwise I'd be reading forever :lol:. For better or worse, I decided to go for the Fractal Design Define XL R2 because it seemed to be the more versatile.

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