The Fractal's 90 degree HD bay presents a major air intake restriction over the P183.

I had the same problem with the SOLO. Had to turn down the exhaust fan <800 RPM.
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I believe you should try out two different setups based on your hardware, and see which one works best for you. I would first try with two fans, one in the rear, and one in the middle chamber (the spot about even with your graphics card. Then also try with both fans as exhaust on the back and top. ...

I've heard many great things about the Antec Solo, I recently read a thread where a guy had to spend a few hours with a dremel to get his GTX 460 to fit into the Solo, and I believe that such a modification could have some amount of negative effects on acoustic and thermal performance. I disagree. ...

Well go with a 300 and mod it for silence, as others have done in the general gallery. Thats my next project :lol:, adding sound dampening and modifying the hdd trays for suspension, cutting a separate psu hole, etc. In the end it would probably still be cheaper than $110. And shipping for cases is ...

Antec Solo, watch your graphics card size though. The Sonata isn't that good for airflow or noise IMO. Antec 300 will work great with some modding (panel dampening, HD suspension, etc). Also consider Antec NSK 4xxx and 6xxx series for budget cases. Stay away from those thin airy cases from CoolerMas...

The drives should be mounted horizontally or vertically (steadily), but not on any angle.

Two slow turning fans would be quieter and cooler for your system, and saves your PSU from ramping up to cool the hole system.

Read this sticky,
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Doesn't the composite side cover fall apart once you've cut it?

Suspend that hard drive horizontally, you can use regular clothing elastics (never rubber bands) as I've done here . Cable management has a big effect on airflow in your case, make sure they are kept cleanly out of the way so they won't get caught in fans or capture dust. Adding a rear case fan to r...

I've got an OC'd Phenom II X2 (and if I feel like, B55 X4 :lol:) and a passive 4850 running off a VX450 and the max I've ever measured is ~230W. PSU does ramp up under load, but in my Solo I had to duct my PSU to stop it from ramping @ idle. The VX450 is still the loudest thing in my PC @ idle thoug...

The CM 590 is perfect for hard drive suspension if you remove the 3.5" hard drive bays. Suspend the hard drive(s) near the bottom of the case with some elastic. Keep the fans to a minimum, and all at 120mm, soft mounted. For your case, remove all 80mm fans, put one 120mm in front for fresh air intak...

To see how much I can quiet down an old computer, I tried out a few basic mods on an ancient PC picked up from the trash. Before : The computer as is, very crowded, loud, dusty, beige generic case with poor airflow. http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8927/img0058m.jpg http://img101.imageshack.us/img...

What matx case do you have that it cools the HD? I'd be interested in seeing a pic and some more stats on temps/ power usage etc, if you don't mind.

My Gigabyte 785G board also runs hot, temps idle well in the 50's... Maybe reseating the NB/SB heatsink with new TIM would help?

If you are concerned, just put a slow spinning fan on it. 80mm @500rpm will do. Because that fan will be 10 times quieter than an open (i.e. not in some kind of enclosure) hard disk I just don't feel like another fan will do justice to quieter computing though... it just seems like I'll have too ma...

I'm looking for an Antec 300 in good condition.

How about if you get a case with all 5.25" bays (like CM Centurion or Antec 900) and suspend them all the way down? With some slow turning fans in front, they can run cool and quiet(er).

Forget about the Sonata, you'd be really pushing the Solo with an i7. For a hot system like that in a smallish box, go with the microATX Antec P180 Mini . Lots of space for long graphics card and expandability, available 5.25" bays on the bottom for HD suspension, separate PSU chamber, and a top fan...

frenchie wrote:Velcro

m0002a wrote:Some silicone caulk and nylon bolts/nuts work just fine.

I would be interested in how these would work for fan soft mounting, and how effective it would be.

At least with rubber band/ clothing elastic, its dirt cheap .

Mine usually run 40-45 FWIW. Thats assuring, thanks. Mine are running around 41*C. Is the hard drive actually blazing hot to the touch? Maybe the sensor is just reporting the temperature too hot. If the drive really is hot, I'd guess a lot of the intake air must be coming from the back of the case ...

How do I soft mount my fans? Where do I get those 'rubber thingies' from? These are common questions we see all the time. Here is how I soft mounted a case fan on the cheap by simply using two rubber bands, no need to go out and buy grommets or rubber screws! It is assumed that the fan's corners ar...

Another small update, I ducted the PSU in my Solo to take care of the hot hard drive temps (45*C) I was getting. It also helps keep the PSU from ramping up at idle to cool the CPU if I run its fan too slow using my own simple fan controller . Side View : The duct goes right up to the CPU cooler. ht...

I recently modded an Antec NSK4000-II to house my brother's ancient P4 system with 2 x bottom 120mm intake fans, with reasonably good results. More details on this please, with pics (in another thread?) if possible, Thanks JamieG . And yes I agree that the OP could do a bit better in terms of airfl...

Nice and neat, I like it!

Now all you need is to paint the interior black .

Chop the old one off, strip the wires and attach a new one. They are only a few cents, or you could scavenge LEDs from another computer or appliance. Or just swap it with your HDD LED if you dont need it

Interesting, though I think you could use some cable management (for airflow and for better looks 8)), and a more "secure" way of soft mounting your hard drive (say, in the 5.25" bay from both sides?). You could take a piece of mesh (similar to the screen used on windows) and stretch it across the 5...

The CM 330 might work fine, though the front is really open and would let all the sound out. If its in a cabinet though, you wouldn't notice it. The CM 335 just looks alot cooler 8). I guess the Antec equivalent would be the NSK 4 or 6 series, which would be alot quieter. I did a build in this case ...

It occurred to me that most OEMs use decent cases for their PCs This is a HUGE misconception. Show me any potential OEM case and there will be big airflow issues with it. I don't think most OEM cases can hold more than 2 HDD's anyways... Poor case design is one of the main reasons you see so many p...

Depending on the case, you may need a front fan to give airflow to the passive video card.

I have the same Gigabyte motherboard and its "Smart fan" controller sucks, spinning the fans way to fast, and I couldn't get it to work with SpeedFan. So plan on something elseto control your fans.

Terrible case for quiet computing if you ask me, The front is too open, allowing the HD and fan noises to escape directly to the user. The fan grills are to restrictive, and more importantly the HD cage's 90 degree orientation blocks all airflow from the front bottom fan. That wall of fans in the mi...

Seriously, knowing Intel, any new series of chip will require a chipset/ motherboard upgrade....
Ya can't beat AMD for their upgradability