SPCR

Hi everyone, I am in the final decision stage of buying/building a new pc. Obviously, if I am here, is because I would like it to be as silent as possible. I have been reading this website and forums intensely these past few days. These are the 3 cases it seems to narrow down to:

Ahanix Black Knight (comes with 2 X 120mm fans with voltage controller installed)
Evercase 4252
CompuCase LX-6A19 also knows as the D8000

I am sure each one have there own advantage/disadvantage. For exemple, the black knight comes with fans, the evercase seems to have trouble with the front 120mm fan (according to this forum), etc...

I am wondering, which of these 3 cases do you people consider the best? My criterias are mostly silence, silence and silence. I have no problems tinkering with the case if I need to.

Thanks in advance,

Jd

Looks like you're looking for a case that can fit a 120mm front and back.

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=3606

As for those three cases on your list, you could go ahead and pick one and then mod it to suit your needs.

You certainly couldn't go wrong by choosing the 4252 or the D8000. Those are two of the best cases out there.

I have no personal experience with the Ahanix though, although at least one of our frequent contributors here at SPCR seems to like it alot.

For the price, the Black Knight can't be beat. Mine came with two quiet Yate Loon (also sold as Nexus) 120mm fans, plus the neat controller. It does require some modification to run cool and quiet. The front door is incredible...and quiets everything down.

Link to Black Knight/Prescott setup

What I'm about to say is very subjective but here you go:
1. Black Knight has _NO_ airflow because the front air vents are very small.
2. I think I have one of the other two and it is not as solid as Antec 3700 (which I also have) - the side door rattles, etc.

Overall I'd recommend Antec 3700.

I really like my 4252 case. I just replaced my old Enlight a week ago and really notice the difference. It has very good airflow and a quiet design. The black version at Newegg with the USB + Audio connectors is very nice and quite inexpensive.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 053&depa=0

The front and back grilles are very open and can easily accept 120mm fans. A 120x25mm fan fits fine in front of the hard drive cage. There aren't any pre-drilled holed for a 120mm fan in front, but it was easy to attach the fan with two screws through the front grille holes.

I picked this one over the D8000 mainly due to the fact that it is great right out of the box without the neccesity to completely rework all the fan grilles like with the D8000. Plus, I prefer the looks to the D8000. Of course if price is no object you can have Coolcases mod the D8000 all for you, but that runs over $100 pretty quickly with shipping.

If you decide to get the 4252, I'd opt for the extra 3.5 drive cage and rubber grommet kit for quiet HD mounting. You can order both of these from the evercase website for a total of $14 including shipping.

I'm having some success with the Black Knight.

Pros: The fans are sweet and the case is cheap. Thinner steel is easier to mod, built-in fan control, nice drive bay door design which can also inhibit noise. Not many easy paths for sound to take out of the case.

Cons: Thinner steel, front bezel a pain to remove, fan controller "auto" setting has stepping problems (for example, if temp sensor reading is borderline between two settings 44C-45C, fan speed steps up/down continuously). Aside from the 120mm fans, limited options for added airflow (not a problem unless you run a really hot box). No fan filters provided.

I think this case has reasonable airflow. Even without cutting away plastic, it seemed to be moving plenty of air. It is easy enough to widen the front-bottom air intake by cutting away some plastic that you can't see anyway, and there seems to be enough clearance between the fan and the fan controller board for adequate airflow.