Looking for help silencing the Chieftec Mesh full tower

infiniteengine · Post by **infiniteengine** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:56 pm

I just typed up a really long post, hit refresh by accident and deleted it, so I'll just stick to the bullet points this time. I've built plenty of extremely quiet systems before, but they've mostly been HTPC's, I have no experience working in enormous cases.

I'm looking at the Chieftec Mesh as a server case for very cool running components. It will have a Core i5 650, one of many possible large heatsinks I have lying around (I could use a suggestion of the quietest PWM fan for this,) five 2TB Samsung F3EGs, one 2TB Seagate LP, and one 1TB Samsung F3 OS drive that I may replace with one of my SSDs if it produces too much noise or heat. I already own all of these parts except the chassis.

The two main things I want to know are:

Does the Bravo's bezel make a significant difference in noise levels over the Mesh? (and if so can that be dealt with through modding)

Is the Chieftec Mesh mesh a solid enough base to be easily made near silent with some work and the right materials? Silent enough to sit next to a couch in my studio's "living room?"

Here are my initial thoughts on quieting things:
-Line the entire case in 1/2"-1" acoustic damping material (space I can afford to lose in a case this size.
-Seal all side vents and internally mount 2-3 low speed 140mm Yate Loons behind the drive bays
-Low speed 120mm Yate Loon's with rubber screws

-This one I'm unsure of. I was experimenting with some modifications on an old Antec Three Hundred I can afford to mess up, and the first thing I did was remove the wall of the drive cage furthest from the motherboard and move it back as far as possible to create space for a suspension mounting system. To set the wall back in place I used a tube of silicone typically used as a caulk for windows and doors. I figure a layer of silicone as a buffer between the drive cage and the case floor could only serve to further isolate and vibrations. Does this make sense?

If so I'm thinking I'll sacrifice one of the 5.25" drive bays to make space, and then use silicone to do pretty much the same thing I did in my Antec.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Pierre · Post by **Pierre** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:28 pm

I have the Chieftec Bravo Full tower case (BA-01B) and I can tell you that the whole front is so full of holes, I don't think it will be better than the mesh...it's also not uniform so that you can effectively cover it and restrict noise...

What strikes me strange with this case is that the lower front bezel houses an area (deep enough to fit a fan there) with a removable filter, although there is actually no fan on the inner-opposite side drawing air into the case...the whole grill-like front seems to allow more air to circulate around the hdds, but air cooling is actually provided by the (up to) three 3x92mm fans on the right side of the case either blowing air in which exits through the long grill on the left, or by blowing air out of the case, thereby drawing some air in from the left grilled side (negative air pressure?)

I guess the front can be covered, although it might be difficult to do so, because there is no easy access or enough room to apply sound dampening material on either side (inner/outer)...maybe the best way to do so is to apply bitumen sheet from the inside first (my big fingers would make the task difficult) and if the space between the plastic bezel and the metallic frame allows it - and I think it does, but you have to make more careful calculations - apply some against the metallic frame from the outer side too...

The tricky part, however, is that by doing so, you will have limited noise only by (very) little...the case will only quiet down if you cover the left panel grill (particularly if you keep the case to your right, as I do)...the problem is that:
1) the temperature of hdds will very quickly rise...I did cover the grill, but the rising temps worried me so I removed the sound dampening material.
2) the space between the hdds and the left panel is so narrow, that even without covering the left panel and grill with some kind of material, the sata power cables press against the panel...the shorter type sata power plug will not touch the panel but the cables themselves will do so forcefully, even moving/drawing the sata power plug to the right or left, depending on which direction the cable is bent...the longer type sata power plug will most definitely push against the panel, so if you apply some kind of sound dampening material there, you may run into trouble...

Concerning the temperature of the hdds, I don't know whether fastening some fans on the left of the hdd cage will improve the situation...I did not try it...with my 7-8 hdds that does not seem a safe enough option, although I did not experiment with it...

[grouchy mode] [exasperation at own predicament]
I have become tired of looking for the right server-grade case...that is because such a sturdy full tower case with large hdd capacity and possibility of becoming as silent as possible, simply does not exist!! appropriate towers can be found in midi size, but not in full size....available solutions are either too expensive and aluminum (e.g. Lian Li V2010) or difficult to work with (NZXT Whisper) or/and bear fan grills in places where you don't want them (many fit the bill, I will just mention Nexus Edge)...

If only there was a roomy sturdy steel case without side/top vents, with 1-2 front 120/140mm fans and no other front grills and 1-2 rear 120/140mm fans (the second rear fan could be like in the Nexus Edge, half upper half lower case compartment), so that sound dampening could be applied easily all around the case (right/left, top/bottom, front/rear where possible), with large 8-12 hdd capacity, which wouldn't cost more than 200â‚¬...it's not that difficult people! just make a steel lian li v2010B case - but a little wider - with a lower compartment airflow exit on the rear (the lian li has none) and effective rubber hdd and psu decoupling and sell it somewhere around 150-160â‚¬...
The Chieftec BA-01B costed me 100â‚¬ when I bought it...with a change in internal arrangement and rubber standoffs for the hdds it could be the king of silent home server cases! Why is it so difficult for the computer-case industry to put it together? I don't get it...They make up all that bullshit extravagant cases and simplicity-function suffers...
[/grouchy mode] [/exasperation at own predicament]

infiniteengine · Post by **infiniteengine** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 4:47 pm

Thanks for the reply; so I guess I would go for Mesh after all, except the issues you listed worry me. I heard about SATA cable issue, and was thinking about maybe detaching the entire hard drive cage and rotating it so that the connectors face the rear.

I've been really frustrated trying to figure out pretty much the exact same thing as you. Here are something of the potential rackmount cases I came up with in another thread, they're not great but I can't find anything better:

ARK IPC-4U600 Black Steel 4U Rackmount Server Case This is my number one choice at present, even though it'll max out at 14 HDDs without modding. It looks solid, has positive reviews, and a size I can work with. I can also already think of some easy mods to quiet and cool the hard drive cage.

Athena Power RM-4U4045BH82 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case This is actually pretty much tied up with the above. It doesn't look as solid, and is smaller than most similar cases, but again, I know nothing about Athena Power and there are no reviews. The price would ultimately be about the same as the others at $180 shipped with the 8 built in hot swap bays.

ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case
Only 8x3.5" with room for a 4x3.5" hot swap, but it has great reviews, and at this price I could afford to upgrade a year from now if necessary without a huge lost. The size also works in either of my potential locations.

NORCO RPC-450B 4U Rackmount Server Case 11x3.5" and 3x5.25" is almost perfect, 15-16x3.5" after hot swap. A little extra room to work in may allow for some silencing mods.

Pierre · Post by **Pierre** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:50 pm

that's a nice idea, the server rackmounts...I like the norco one best...

Drawback is the necessity for large available horizontal area to place it...no such available space in my room...

infiniteengine · Post by **infiniteengine** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:43 pm

Yeah, I do have the space, but I've never built a proper server so I don't know what to expect in terms of quality from any of the companies. Any input on any of those specific cases would also be appreciated.

bozar · Post by **bozar** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:12 am

Chieftec has a lot of high quality cases, although not quiet at stock, they can be made by sealing of side-ventilation. The Biggest problem for you will be HDD noise which is a weak spot of all chieftec cases. I suggest opening up front and mounting drives suspended behind a quiet fan.

viewtopic.php?t=54211&highlight=chieftec
viewtopic.php?t=53666&highlight=chieftec

How I solved the problem with two solutions.

If you are qualified with tools I suggest the other solution, fits as many drives is you make room for. I suggest you also make use of as much of the 5.25 cage as possible.

infiniteengine · Post by **infiniteengine** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:58 am

Thanks for the suggestions; it definitely seems as you say that the cases seem solid but the interior needs some work. The Chieftec is still in the running, with a possible suspension drive mount replacement, but I'm also considering the Cooler Master Cosmos 1000, Cosmos S, and Stack 830. It seems like the 1000 will be the quietest but I still have some research to do. After reading the reviews on the Fractal Design 2, its also got my interest, and then there is the good old P183.

If only either of those cases were given the dimensions of the Bravo...

bozar · Post by **bozar** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:30 am

Stacker is probably your best bet with many drives. Just suspend then with elastic chord and use quiet fans. Cosmos 1000 is probably ok to but the standard mounting of HDDs are bad, size allows many drives though.

Pierre · Post by **Pierre** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:11 am

I've also tried the Cosmos 1000 for a while...it is quieter (small improvement over the Chieftec Bravo, yet noticeable) but there is less space in there both for hard drives and optical drives...
It will also run hotter (the hdds mostly, even if you install the fan above them) and draw in dust easily...
There are other minuses like having to open both side to work in the case, definitely for the hard drives, but their "weight" is relative to your priorities...

For me it was an improvement, but not one worth the 170â‚¬ I had paid then to get that case...the particular drawbacks of the case (less hdd space and higher temps mostly) made me return to my Chieftec Bravo and sell the Cosmos...

But that may not be you...

Actually I had more noisy hdds back then...had I the ones I presently have, maybe the difference would have been big enough for me to keep the Cosmos...