Best silent/performing case? - SilverStone FT01 / Antec P182 / CM690

N

NFX

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Messages
81
SilverStone FT01 / Antec P182 / CM690

If you were to pick one of these cases - judging on silence, performance, appearance and value - what would you pick?
I'm trying to find out what the best balanced mid-tower is and I'm considering either one of these three cases.

Here are some specs.

SilverStone FT01
● Window version comes with black interior
● Positive air pressure design optimizes cooling performance
● Uni-body frame construction from the TJ07, all aluminum
● Dual 180mm silent fans included for cooling and quietness

Antec P182
● Gun metal black finish
● Dual chamber design isolates heat-generating components
● Three-layer side panels and front door dampen noise
● Support for 5x 120mm fans: 3 fans included

CM 690
● Seven 120 mm fans for high-efficiency ventilation
● Ventilation grills for improved air-flow
● Includes metal mesh with some plastic parts

f_casesm_6d2c17e.jpg
 
1) Forget the CM690, silence is not part of this case design (comapred to others).
2) FT01 - Use max 1-2 HDD bays, and remove the plastic from others to have usable airflow for graphics card
3) P180/P182 - most silent from these 3, of course i talk about the case when you replaced fans in all 3 cases. Problems - long videocards means no HDD in upper part, limited (but no bad) airflow.

From these 3, i would personally buy P182, even if it is a bit uglier than FT01 and it have the power button behind the door (i start to not hate cases for this, as i own Lian Li PC-V1110A).
 
FT-01

It might not be as silent as the Antec line, however it is much better looking, has better cooling and you won't have to switch out all of your fans.

I haven't built in the Cm690, but I don't recall there being anything in there that suggests it can do much for cutting the noise.

also Lian Li has a couple of quiet cases such as their blue ring...might be worth looking at those too
 
Absolutely no competition in here, CM690 is as quiet as car's engine with hood open and FT01 has horribly dense packed HDD cage directly behind big noise leaking hole.
 
CM690 is not what you want if you want quiet. Mine sounds like a Jet engine. Everything runs cool, but its loud.
 
As someone that has used both a P180 and FT01, I'd definitely say the FT01 is quieter. On the P180 the fans even on low do not beat the FT01.
 
heh and here in the back of my mind I sometimes wondered if it would have been worth it to save 100 and go with the cheaper 182, but then add in the need to replace the fans and the difference isn't as great. Plus I just love the way my FT01B-W looks.
 
Adakos said:
Another one to look into is the sonata line, appreciable air flow, slightly limited, but as quiet as quiet can be, im not completely sure on the clearance for long video cards, though
Click to expand...
Sonata's thin side panels need damping (PSU is in hottest palce) and it's quite cramped inside.
And as general no case without E-ATX support is guaranteed to be able to take long graphic cards. (at least without blocking something else)

kencheeto said:
As someone that has used both a P180 and FT01, I'd definitely say the FT01 is quieter. On the P180 the fans even on low do not beat the FT01.
Click to expand...
Put same components into both and FT01 will be surely noisier.
(agree about Tricools being not the best fans)
 
So to reflect on what has been posted here:

Even though the CM 690 has a great price/performance ratio, it can not cut the corners when it comes to silence, because of it's build quality.

It comes down to either of the following cases: FT01 and the P182:

Airflow: there seems to be a general agreement that the FT01 has a superior airflow over the P182. The P182 fans can take the blame for that. These will have to be replaced to improve the case's airflow. The new P183 case that will be out in March(?) should have some design issues fixed and perhaps even better airflow.

What worried me about the FT01 is the HDD cage blocking air from the front fan, but it seems that can be removed to improve GPU cooling. Proper GPU cooling is good to have, especially when planning to go in SLI or CrossFire.

Silence: hard to say because exactly the same hardware parts will have to be installed in both cases. Are there any benchmarks for this?

Appearance: personal preference, but - I like curves - FT01 wins it for me on this one.
 
the silverstone is hands down both better constructed and quieter than the antec. i'm not familiar with the cm so i can't comment on it. also, there's no need to remove the plastic in the silverstone's hdd cages. remove the top cage if you want to in order to increase the airflow from the front fan. it only the removal of 4, maybe 6, screws in order to make the top cage disappear.
 
I removed my top cage since I am not really a storage freak and 2TB should last me a while. It took all of 30 seconds to do so. My 260 @ stock speeds hits about 65 in L4D and idles at 50. My q9550 idles at 30 load 40, but the FT01's never had problems with the cpu area. I think the gpu cooling is fine considering the fan speeds/case size. To compare, my bro's 260 in his full tower A70 lian li is only 1-2C cooler at idle.
 
The P18x case is quieter, hands down. Not sure how it stacks up thermally, but it's definitely quieter.
 
P182 is the clear winner, designed by Mike from SPCR himself. The Antec Solo is a close second.

I wouldn't even list the CM690 as a contender.
 
kencheeto said:
As someone that has used both a P180 and FT01, I'd definitely say the FT01 is quieter. On the P180 the fans even on low do not beat the FT01.
Click to expand...

Well that's a little assinine considering a quiet computing enthusiast will surely replace any OEM fans.

No case is going to be quieter in terms of resonance and tonality than the P182 by virtue of the 3-layer side panels, the door, and the heavy steel interior construction.

Then when put into the "Hot Potato" configuration as tested by SPCR, it is hands down the quietest case you can buy without a ton of modification.

Moreover if you are patient, the P182 goes on sale quite often for less than $100 at Fry's and Microcenter. I paid $89 for mine.
 
I'm a P182 owner and even with my Yate Loons going in here, it's still damn quiet.
 
jterp7 said:
I think the gpu cooling is fine considering the fan speeds/case size. To compare, my bro's 260 in his full tower A70 lian li is only 1-2C cooler at idle.
Click to expand...
That's great to know. Do you think it'd suffer with dual SLI though?

Danny Bui said:
Might want to read this user review from silentpcreview.com: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50554
Click to expand...
Thanks! I checked it out, unfortunately there is no mention of any differences or similarities between the two cases when it comes to airflow or silence, just design issues, albeit important ones.

All things aside, the main determinant factors of what case is more silent, are these: three-layer side panels and front door vs. positive airflow with 180mm fans and acoustic foam

I have a feeling that SilverStone in a smart way 'cheated' just a tiny bit in order to design a silent case, with the foam and everything, but theres no question that it works. Whereas with the Antec there's no question 3 layers of material will help reduce the noise significantly. That's just built to be silent. And while that looks solid and well isolated, let's not forget the SilverStone comes with a uni-body frame construction, who knows what that might do.

I still think the FT01 is the more beautiful case out of the two and might just be somewhat more balanced when it comes to silence and performance, which, IMO counts for a lot. Man, if only I could hammer these two cases into one, that would be the perfect case for me. The FT182.
 
Hmm there are number of cases LESS quiet then the P182 that can sound pretty quiet with minor mods. I would keep that in mind. I am not at all convinced that a CM690 HAS to sound like a jet engine.

Alot of the noise of a PC comes from the components you put in it - not just the case. The P182 comes with what you need for a fairly quiet baseline but I did almost as well with a far noiser design in Lancool K7-B.

I swapped the fans for scythe, used an after market cooler, and added some dampening materials. The cooling on the P182 is so so - most people leave the door open as it greatly restricts intake. In addition the high negative pressure alot of Antec cases put out (the mini P180 for example) leads to dust issues.
 
GuyClinch said:
Hmm there are number of cases LESS quiet then the P182 that can sound pretty quiet with minor mods. I would keep that in mind. I am not at all convinced that a CM690 HAS to sound like a jet engine.

Alot of the noise of a PC comes from the components you put in it - not just the case. The P182 comes with what you need for a fairly quiet baseline but I did almost as well with a far noiser design in Lancool K7-B.

I swapped the fans for scythe, used an after market cooler, and added some dampening materials. The cooling on the P182 is so so - most people leave the door open as it greatly restricts intake. In addition the high negative pressure alot of Antec cases put out (the mini P180 for example) leads to dust issues.
Click to expand...

Well, with 2 slip stream 1200 @ ~740 rpm as exhaust i feel no need to leave the door open on my p182, ( 5,25 covers are removed and a 12cm dustfilter moded in ) if i run the exhaustfans any faster the system wont be quiet anyway.

With a little work you can easilly get a midrange sytstem to be really quiet ( mainly due to the front door ) in a p182, but for those that plan on running an i7 @ 4 ghz and multiple videocards there are probably better cases out there.
 
As a CM690 and P182 owner....

Forget the 690, its a jet engine. P182 is the way to go for sure.
 
GuyClinch said:
I am not at all convinced that a CM690 HAS to sound like a jet engine.

Alot of the noise of a PC comes from the components you put in it
Click to expand...
CM690 sounds exactly like that jet engine you put inside it because acoustically it's nothing.
Of course no case can make noisy components quiet and while strictly speaking case itself doesn't create any noise that changes when we put components inside it.
All cooling fans create noise and HDDs also lot of vibration which makes case act like diaphragm of loudspeaker so ability of case to resist and dampen them is inextricable part of quiet PC.

So when we forget other variables including quality and speed differences of stock fans it all comes to four parts of this SPCR article:
- Minimal airflow restrictions directly in front of fan blades (or ability to mod case for that) because these obstructions create most noise and decrease airflow most.
- Ability to contain and dampen sound before it escapes meaning lack of leaky holes and indirect noise escape paths especially in directions where sound could get easily in to listener's ear.
- Utilizing airflow in most effective manner for minimizing number and speed of fans meaning need to control airflow.
- Resistance against vibration, both through mechanically decoupling vibration sources from case and having heavier/more rigid panels. (fully decoupling elastic mounting isn't very safe mounting and with hard mounting vibration can be felt in well bitumen damped 20kg weighting case)


NFX said:
I have a feeling that SilverStone in a smart way 'cheated' just a tiny bit in order to design a silent case, with the foam and everything
Whereas with the Antec there's no question 3 layers of material will help reduce the noise significantly. That's just built to be silent.
Click to expand...
Actually you got closer than you probably thought with that cheating.
Vibration proofness of normal case can be easily improved lot with simple mass loading of panels and that's exactly where Silverstone cheated: that light foam used in FT01 and practically all cases claiming sound proofing can do only very little to vibrations... Commonly used very thin foam can't even do much for absorpting airborne sound but at least Silverstone did right in selecting little thicker foam

Of course lot depends on what is defined as quiet, if it's can't hear over cacophony of neighbours, traffic etc. then half baked solution or even that "nothing" can be well enough but if goal is actually quiet PC then all you can do is to follow every step starting from component choises and avoid shortcuts.
For example you can add damping mats to side panels but if front leaks all noise directly out damping makes only little difference.
(I have experience from that in CM Stacker)
 
Thanks all for the feedback.
I decided to go with the FT01 mostly because I prefer it's look and should offer a nice balance between silence and performance.

Should be arriving within a week or so, I'll be sure to get some pics up. In the mean time, does anyone have any tips on what modding this case will need? I will be running i7 + gtx260 SLI, aircooling with the CM v8 or Noctua, leaning towards v8 because of its looks. The i7 temps should be fine with either of those coolers especially with the big 180mm fan blowing right on top of it, so I plan on hitting 3.5-4.0ghz.

However, I'm mostly worried about the SLI'd gpus, these babies run hot and I will be removing one of the HDD cages but I'm still not sure if the front 180mm fan is capable of properly cooling 2 of these cards. Is there anything I can do to improve gpu temps with this case? I was considering maybe installing a Kama Bay, any tips on this? I've also heard most of the noise would come from the hard drives, is there any way I could reduce that noise? Also, would it be a good idea to get a fan controller for the 3 fans, something like the SilverStone FP33, and maybe replace that 120mm fan for a Slipstream. Will these things make any difference?

Just trying to think of some ideas to further improve airflow / silence of the case. If it still doesn't perform as well as I'd like it to I'll be replacing it with the P182 or the new P183 if it's out by that time.
 
NFX said:
Also, would it be a good idea to get a fan controller for the 3 fans, something like the SilverStone FP33, and maybe replace that 120mm fan for a Slipstream. Will these things make any difference?
Click to expand...
1200rpm SlipStream moves quite a lot of air at full speed (same as ~1500rpm standard design/blade geometry fans) but airflow noise is again higher so that would be good fan for being adjusted between full speed when gaming and slower speed for normal use.

For additional cooling of expansion/graphics cards this should be rather easy to mod into case:
http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/pro...ex=232&cl_index=2&sc_index=34&ss_index=83&g=f
 
If you have a SLI setup, take out one of the HDD cages, that should improve the GPU cooling a tonn. You can also remove all of the cages, buy one 5-3 converter and slap all your drives there.
 
Thanks all, this will be my airflow plan for the FT01:

- 1x 180mm top fan intake (stock) - 700 RPM
- 1x 180mm front fan intake (stock) - 700 RPM
- Replace rear stock fan with 120mm Slipstream 1200RPM
- Front Kama Bay (3x 5.25" mount) with intake 120mm Slipstream 1200RPM
- Fan Controller Scythe Kaze Master 5.25", control 4 fans
- Take out top HDD cage
- CoolerMaster V8

Question: will it be possible to mount an extra middle fan on the HDD cage?
Question: will it be possible to easily mount the Kama Bay with
the toolless 5.25" click thingies? Looking for a tight fit.

3x intake, 1x exhaust. Let's hope this works. Now if only they can get the FT01 window version back in stock, I'll be the happiest man alive.
 
Heh, not too crazy about windows, uniform brushed metal looks alot classier, and UPS wont be able to F@ck it up for you.
 
Negative pressure would give you better overall cooling. So long as there is a filter on the intake, dust will not be a big problem.

Also, if you are concerned with quiet cooling, why are you bent on adding 2 more fans to a case that already has 2x 18cm fans? The idea with quiet cooling is to use as few fans as possible, using the most efficient airflow path. Moreover, throwing more fans at an enclosure does not always improve overall cooling if the airflow path is not efficient. Intake fans are not very efficient at cooling unless they are positioned close enough to provide turbulent airflow over the component they are meant to cool.
 
Well, I know you already made up your mind, But I Just want to mention something. I got the silverstone raven RV01. I must say it is absolutely silent. I ordered a new CPU Heatsink and a new video card because they were now too loud. I cannot hear the fans in my case at all. And for me at least it is very accommodating.
 
jterp7 said:
with this case pos>neg
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules/NDReviews/images/Silverstone-FT01/Silverstone-FT01-29.jpg
Click to expand...

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/20/silverstone-ft01-review/5

Take note of how it cools the CPU well at the cost of having the highest GPU delta of all cases tested even during the CPU stress test. The default FT01 airflow path is causing hot air around the GPU area to recirculate, this effect is slightly negated by the dual-exhausting coolers in JG's review however not all video cards are configured this way, obviously.
 
Looks are opinionated, even though I think the P182 is the cleanest looking and the others look like ass. I would pick P182, this should've been a poll.
 
Stellar said:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/10/20/silverstone-ft01-review/5

Take note of how it cools the CPU well at the cost of having the highest GPU delta of all cases tested even during the CPU stress test. The default FT01 airflow path is causing hot air around the GPU area to recirculate, this effect is slightly negated by the dual-exhausting coolers in JG's review however not all video cards are configured this way, obviously.
Click to expand...
http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/238068/silverstone-ft01-w.html
Strangely, at this site, the FT01 survives the torture test, which the HAF 932 fails and the gpu while hot at 100C, compares well to the Antec 1200 which manages only 4C better at 96C. And all this WITH the top hard drive cage in place. Most users won't be using more than 3 HDs (usually stick to Full towers for that), so they can remove it, and considering the huge difference in noise, I'll take a 4C difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top