PC Tower Case - Quiet for In-Room Audio?

[lowlights]

I have a pretty nice PC (i7-920 quad-core with 6 GB DDR3) that I'm happily running Win 7 and Pro Tools 10.2 on. I'm just a hobbyist.

But the loudest thing in my room is the PC. I think it's because it's in just a standard case with a standard power supply. It's not terrible, but it's not "whisper quiet" - and on long acoustic guitar sustains - it becomes audible.

Anyone got a suggestion for a better "quiet" case - Something like an "Antec Sonata" case?

[CME]

I have a nzxt h2 that I like. I also have an oversized power supply so that it's fan rarely, if ever, kicks on. Between those two I have a rig that's quiet enough for my needs.

[iain_m]

I had an Antec case - P182 or P183 if I remember correctly - which came with their manually adjustable "tricool" fans.

While the quality of the case itself was good, the fans weren't quiet enough for audio. They made a distinct hum at around 100Hz.

I tried some different Antec fans - ones that automatically adjusted their speed - and that didn't help.

In the end I found that Noctua case fans were the answer. Brilliantly quiet and unobtrusive even when sitting right next to the PC.

I'd recommend getting a nice roomy case, but not paying for one with prefitted fans. Buy the fans separately from Noctua. A roomy case means that you can then tweak the fans to the lowest safe speed while still having good air circulation.

Hope this helps.

[albee1952]

Yeah, Antec P180 or P182 is a good choice. All the panels are a sandwich of aluminum, foam and plastic which makes the case dead sounding and quiet. Plus it has a front door that covers and damps fan noise. I own a pair of these. You can improve things even more if you are a little handy and have a power saw. Build a simple box(3/4" oak plywood with edging to look nice) that is bigger than the tower by 4 inches on the side(2 inches each side) and 2 inches on top. Make the box a foot deeper than the tower. Line the sides and top with 2" foam that extends all the way to the back of the box, and slide the tower in with the front flush or slightly set back. That extra foot of foam "tunnel" will help soak up noise from the back end. I did that and placed it 6 feet away from my desk(with extendo cables for mouse. monitors, etc) and could record vocals and acoustic from my mix chair without noise issues(and that was a standard tower case). I also had a DVD burner in a USB case so it could sit on my desktop where it was nice and handy