new computer case?

I urgently need a new computer. I cannot build it myself (too bad eyes; I cannot even drive a car), so it is going to be either a pre-configured one or a customer build one. I don't do overclocking. I don't play games.
I have been in contact with a shop that make customer build ones.

Let's start with the case. It must be solid, very silent, good cooling, and very, very dust protecting. The shop advised me a Fractal Design R4 Black Pearl (that's a manufacturer from Finland):
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r4-black-pearl
That case got high reviews! Maybe a few remarks:
- it has only one LED (for power). Wouldn't it be better to have two LEDs, one for power and one for disk activity?
- USB and audio connectors are at the top of the case. Don't they collect too much dust?
What do you think?

Wow, Fractal Design makes also more smaller cases:
DEFINE Mini http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-mini
NODE 605 http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-605

 

there are SO MANY cases out there imo fractal are nice but overpriced a lot. check out newegg for some ideas they have tons of cases and you can see some other stuff besides fractal. for me to make some recc's i need to know more about what you want i.e. size, motherboard type (matx, atx etc) home theater types or desktop etc. more info and ill be happy to recc some more to you.

 

If silence is a very important factor, consider Nanoxia's Deep Silence series of cases.

Like zfactor has said, knowing a budget and preferred size would help narrow recommendations for you.

 

Might get more bang for your buck if you bought a laptop.

You don't game & if you don't edit video a basic laptop will do.

Around here you can get a new laptop everyday from $300-$225 USD.

Then you plug in your old monitor or a big screen. Cause of your eyes.

A wired/wireless keyboard & mouse. And Bob's your uncle.

Course if there's factors I missed or weren't mentioned then this might not be best.

 

whoever advise you Fractal did well
either the R4
or the Arc Midi R2 which has HDD LED

the R2 doesn't have sound dampening panels
but the dust filters are thick so they protect from noise

quality is above average and the price is right

 

As you don't games, and don't need a fast/hot GPU or overclock then most cases will provide sufficient cooling.
Most motherboards now temperate-speed control cpu and case fans which will help minimise noise and accurately control temperature.

IMHO your priority should be in picking a case that has a good dust filtering system (a combination of how well dust is filtered and airflow) , fractal designs are good, but could well be overkill for your needs.

One thing to note is more fans are not always better, through flow important and you can actually make flow worse and/or just make more noise by adding fans in the wrong locations.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/ is a good website and does good reviews of cases.

 

That case is way overkill for you.

I really like Antec cases. They tend to be built solid and "true" (exactly 90.0° bends). Antec case fans are among quietest out there. A "blowhole" (top mounted) fan provides outstanding extraction of heat.

Also, Antec cases tend to have a conservative design which I really like. Note I want my cases to sit quietly and discreetly off to the side and NOT draw attention to themselves. After all, I want to focus on my monitors and not flashing lights or a fancy case façade (that WILL go out of style).

The Antec Three Hundred Two is an excellent case at a good price. Note it also has large, easy to remove, washable filters - something no case of mine will do without.

****

One LED instead of two is no big deal.

FTR, I think a good case, along with a good 80-Plus certified PSU form the solid foundation for your computer. But sadly, too many folks try to trim down the budget by buying a budget PSU. Don't do it! "Invest" in a good, 80 PLUS certified. I prefer Corsair and Antec PSUs.

That said, while selecting a good PSU is paramount to stable performance, selecting the PSU should be your last HW purchasing decision so you can size the PSU based on the requirements of the rest of your components.

 

If you're going to have someone build it for you then you might consider the following:

The total power consumption of my system is about 70 watts for the PC (+ more for the monitor and wireless mouse charger). It 'hums' but only because of the fans and the water pump, so quietly that it's unobtrusive.

Power Supply: SeaSonic X-400 (smallest wattage one that I could buy at the quality that I wanted)
80PLUS® Gold Certified Super High Efficiency,
Active Power Factor Correction [99% PF Typical]
fanless (no fan = no noise & reduced dust build up)
5 Years Warranty
and much more...

Case: Obsidian Series 650D mid-tower
Easily accessible dust filters
Dual 200mm fans one blowing IN, the other OUT
strong, stamped steel parts for increased rigidity
and much much more...

Cooling: Corsair H80
sealed closed loop 'water' cooling with
two 120mm fans blowing IN.

Discs: all SSDs

You didn't indicate your budget, these components aren't 'cheap'. But they should meet your criteria.

 

Just remember the use of a 3rd party cooler on either Intel or AMD CPUs that come packaged with a supplied cooler, voids the CPU warranty.

And frankly, using an alternative cooler when you are not gaming or doing extreme overclocking is simply a waste of money anyway. OEM coolers are more than capable of providing more than adequate cooling even with mild to moderate overclocking.

Remember too, it is the case's responsibility to keep the innards cooler. The CPU cooler need only toss the CPU's heat in to the flow of cool air moving through the case.

 

Third-party coolers can also be quieter though.

 

"Can" be but may not be either. Both Intel and AMD produce much quieter fans they did 5 - 10 years ago but more importantly, a good case will suppress that noise and good case cooling will allow the CPU fan to run at reduced and quieter speeds.

That said, graphics card fans tend to be noisier, plus they, and case and PSU fans are located near or at exterior vents so those fans are often heard over CPU fans, which are deep inside the case.

I don't believe a quieter fan is reason to void the warranty, unless "silent running" is essential - such as might be in a home theater PC. And in those situations, it might be better to buy an OEM CPU as they don't come OEM coolers and you have to supply your own.

 

and after you clean the thermal paste and send the chip to RMA
how can anyone tell which bloody cooler was in there ?

 

silence is reason enough for a third party cooler

 

I don't understand why OP is spending so much with minimal computing requirements.

 

AFAIK, someone only advised him that case. He hasn't bought it yet. We're still waiting for FanJ to respond to our posts.

 

My graphics card is silent, i.e. no fan.

My cpu is OEM and I simply 'wanted' the cooler, cost no object. Those fans are protected by a great filter which is easy to clean and the cooler avoids letting any dust collect on/around the cpu, unlike a 'standard' cooler and fan.

I'm not worried about the warranty, the only cpu that failed was back in the mHz days.

The highest temperature that any component runs is only 20F above ambient room temp with the exception of the graphics card which is 60F above ambient. So I'm not worried about heat either.

I just like quiet!

 

Oh! So your "true colors" are to deceive by covering up, not telling the truth, or not being forthcoming with the truth should warranty support be needed. That's sad.

The fact is, if you are truthful and upfront with Intel or AMD, and don't have a history of suspicious warranty return requests, they typically honor the warranty anyway. But deceit for personal gain is fraud, a serious criminal offense. The fact you can get away with this fraud does not make it right.

LOL No! The desire for silence is reason to get a good case that provides lots of large (120mm and larger) fan support, and noise and vibration suppression, not just from "all" fans, but drive motors too. Then the CPU stays cool, and the OEM fan toggles down in speed and stays virtually silent - definitely quieter than the GPU or PSU fans, which port the noise directly outside the case.

Plus you suggest just about any 3rd party cooler would be quieter than OEM fans. That, of course is not any where near the truth. In fact the loudest fans are 3rd party fans.

If you need total silence, you get a passive (no fan) cooler and case designed for passive cooling.

It is a mistake to believe OEM coolers are inferior to 3rd party coolers. No 3rd party cooler warranties the CPU. Many aftermarket coolers are warrantied for just 1 or 2 years, some for less than 1 year. OEM coolers are warrantied for 3 years. There are some excellent 3rd party coolers, but there are many that are junk, pretending to be good - even by well known makers.

It is also a mistake to believe cooler temps are always better. That is, it is a mistake to believe a CPU running at 40°C is more stable, offers better performance, or lives longer than a CPU running at 50°C. 50°C is still well within the CPU's "normal operating temperature range". All you get with that 40°C is bragging rights.

I take heat in electronics (and therefore cooling in electronics) seriously, as you may tell by my sig, and the link in it. It is a topic I have more than a passing understanding of.

The best advice I can give is to use the OEM cooler. If not overclocking and your temps are high (pushing 60°C or more) consistently, your case is not providing a sufficient flow of cool air moving front-to-back through the case and you need add more fans, replace the current fans with larger and/or higher CFM fans, or you need a new case.

It is critical to remember the CPU and GPU are not the only heat sensitive devices inside our cases that need adequate cooling supplied by the case. If your CPU is running too warm due to poor case cooling, it is likely your chipset, drives, motherboard voltage regulators, RAM and other devices are running too warm too. A 3rd party cooler does nothing for them.

[QUOTEJW Clemonts]I just like quiet![/QUOTE]So do I. Especially with multiple computers in the same room. I am just saying a good case will go further to suppress fan noise than simply replacing the CPU fan - considering most computers typically have 2, 3 or more fans in addition to the CPU fan - not to mention drive motor vibrations that tend to "reverberate" though cheap cases.

And I agree with WSFuser. The OP is just asking questions right now. A wise course of action.

 

Sorry for the late reply!

I had been thinking also about a Cooler Master in their Silent Series:
http://eu.coolermaster.com/nl/product/Lines/mid-tower-silent-series.html

I really do appreciate all the replies, suggestions and links you gave.
You guys gave me definitely some food for thought. I surely need to re-think about this all.

Yes, good dust coverage is important here!!
Yes, I know I should go with a gold or platinum PSU.

The Fractal one seems to have bitumen noise damping material; I'm not so sure whether I would be happy with that.

Oh my, I have to re-think about this all, what I want, what I can afford, what is wise and what not...

Thank you all!

 

Assuming this may be an option to you - laptops are insanely affordable now
http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/...1/07/laptops-are-insanely-affordable-now.aspx

 

Just to add to what Bill has said, stress to electricical components is caused by change in temperature (as long as in normal ranges), the main thing to reduce is the temperate peaks and dips.

http://www.overclockers.com/overclockings-impact-on-cpu-life/ covers the temperature topic really well.

I mentioned about having too many fans, I remembered a useful article with some tests: http://icrontic.com/article/pc_airflow_heat_cooling_guide - using all fans (front rear top) was worse than non !

 

I agree with NGRhodes. More fans does not automatically mean better cooling. You want a good, smooth "flow" of air "through" the case. I have seen too many times where more fans disrupts that flow with turbulence. Side panel fans are great (that is, bad) for that and I avoid them, unless they connect to a tube/pipe that directs the side fan directly on top of the CPU or GPU.

I don't worry about all this "overpressure" / "underpressure" stuff. All fans have arrows printed or molded on their housings to indicate rotation direction and flow direction. It is not hard to point the flow direction front-to-back. And for bottom and top ("blow-hole") mounted fans, it is easy to understand that according to the Laws of Physics (thermodynamics, in this case) heat naturally rises, so bottom and top mounted fans need to push heated air "up".

Yes, there are many cheap notebooks out there. But contrary to what notebook marketing weenies would like us to believe, notebooks do NOT make good desktop replacements (or game machines). The makers can pack the horsepower in those tiny cases, but not the necessary cooling, upgrade options, or user servicing (cleaning) options.

Coolermaster is a reputable case maker.

 

Having used CM 690 series cases, they offer serious value for money, are robust and offer efficient cable management. Really a joy to work with.

tip; Do not try to save money on the PSU.
Given the fact, you don't play games (and haven't mentioned serious GPU power needs), rather buy a really good 300/400W PSU than some run-of-the-mill brand that offers 500/600W.
When you buy a brand like Seasonic, you can't go wrong. Either buy from their own product line or rebranded/custom-build Seasonic, like Corsair offers.
Top quality, highest efficiency-levels available and, not unimportant, quiet.

 

100% agree with Baserk

I've seen people spend $2000 USD on hardware. Then cheap out with a cases included PSU or a sparkly low quality "high W" PSU. Then comes the worst problems, intermittent ones that can't be tracked down. And that pos PSU can cause intermittent problems on hardware that will remain even when a quality PSU replacement is used. So people ruin MB, RAM, HD, CPU, GPU etc worth hundreds to thousands all to save an additional $50 expenditure on a good PSU.

 

Once again thanks for your input! Keep it coming. Really appreciated!

About a PSU: a Seasonic was indeed advised. And some time ago a Corsair by another shop.

I have to think about it all.

Thanks!

 

As I noted several days ago,