Shin2k35

Firstly, the Zalman GS1000

Link to a picture

Apparently Zalman are known for quiet cases. Which is exactly what I'm after. The bummer is that they're now expected the second week in August (it was July only a few days ago) and I don't know if I can wait that long. The case looks very nice. Front loading "hot swap" bay for drivers. I don't plan on using RAID so hot swap won't be any use to me. The PSU is stored in a drawer of its own with two fans on top of that compartment.

Overall, it looks like a nice case. However, it's not out yet and thus there are no proper reviews of it. Which makes me want to not bother with it.

Second case I've seen is the Antec P182.

Antec's site

This case is out and has gotten great reviews (I think) there's plenty of room for cable management, it's supposedly cool and I have the extra fans to fit in there. The only downsides is apparently the door hinge is crap and you have to open the front door every time you want to turn the PC on. However, it's marketed as a really quiet PC case. Which is what I'm after as my Antec 900 is just too damn loud for my room. I still live with my parents (gogo cheap rent!) and they don't like the sound of it with all the case fans on low. So, I need a quiet PC case.

Anyone got some more suggestions? The Zalman is $200 (£127) and the Antec is more like $150 (£90) The Antec is avaliable now, the Zalman is not.

Do you know of a quiet PC case that isn't too gimmicky?

EsaT

With HDD cooling forgotten because airflow is badly designed.

Zalman hasn't been among top contenders in quiet CPU coolers for years and neither there's competition between these two cases.

Dar_T

That Zalman case looks very nice. However, if you can't wait I would get the P182. Also what makes a PC silent is what you put in it and not really the case albeit sound damping foam.

Penicilyn

I prefer the P182, beautiful case.

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onlycodered

Most of the Zalman cases I've seen aren't anything to rave about. However, I could rave all day about the P182. Antec makes amazing cases. You'll love the P182.

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Syrillian

Nice choices.

The Zalman has some nice design features, and it looks like it has some venting options on the top-side of the case; so does the P182, and both are aligned nicely for vertical CPU air-cooler exhaust orientation. The hot-swappable drive bays on the Zalman are a nice touch, but may hinder any airflow mods that feed from the front-side of the case to the GPU area. Unless you specifically need hot-swappable HDD's (imho) I would eliminate that as a deciding factor.

I owned a P180 that is similar to the P182, and removing the center HDD cage really helped airflow and cooling to the GPU (when on air).

Another element to consider is the PSU size (depth). The P182 has a 120x38mm fan that can block or make fitment of longer PSU's a PITA. This can be worked around by flipping the fan to the other side; the Zalman does not seem to have this issue, which is both good and bad. "Good" in that longer PSU's will fit, "bad" as there is no direct air-feed to the PSU itself.

Hmm... yeah... tough choice.

Personally I would give the Antec a whack.

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Arjy

I had a P182. It was a very good case.

Shin2k35

I'm not entirely sure how long my PSU cable is, to be honest! Which way would I be fitting the PSU? Fan facing up or down? If it was down, I'd have plenty of room, I think.

I have some of that Akasa sound dampening foam. I've got three tri-cool fans from my Antec 900
I'll be using. Do you think the combination of the case and the foam would make it fairly silent?


This si why I had a real dilemma on my hands. The Zalman looks lovely, but the P182 was raved about. What's the airflow and cooling like for it? I'd be filling all optional fan sockets.

Syrillian

If the SU-mounting in the P182 is the same as the P180, then the PSU can be oriented either way as (if I recall correctly) the framework that the PSU sits on is "open" so that a fan can inhale.

Also, now that you mention it, I recall that I did need a 6-pin ATX extender to cleanly route that power cable to the mobo's top-side.

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Shin2k35

Yeah, after making this post I went back to save an ATX and 8 pin pair of extension cables. Just in case. I could do with them now, to be honest, lol.

The way I have my PSU now is so that the large fan faces inwards towards my GPU.