Quiet performance builds

mwedwards

So I've built a number of PCs over the years and am looking to build a reasonably capable _but quiet_ I7 system, optimized for virtualization and gaming. Ideally components that don't require liquid cooling to achieve low decibel levels. Reading up on this, multiple sources recommend the Fractal Design Define series ATX cases (and PSUs), and reviews seem overall positive. Microcenter carries Fractal products but doesn't currently seem to carry these products. Is Microcenter willing to special order parts? Does anyone here have any experience with these or other quiet-by-design cases that Microcenter does carry?

Ian

Greetings,

We don't special order items like this. Were you looking for just an ATX sized case? What is your intended budget for the case?

mwedwards

I've searched Microcenter for the cases described in these articles (sorry you'll have to Google these as I am not yet authorized to post links to this forum):

• Top 7 Quietest PC Cases for Extremely Silent PC Builds in 2022 - LeagueFeed
• Best Quiet PC Case In 2022 - PC Guide

Of course Microcenter offers a large selection of cases, but no quiet-by-design ATX cases are jumping out per se. I would just order my parts from another vendor but I would prefer to order all parts through Microcenter, and have Microcenter handle the actual build if that's an option.

My case budget depends on the quality of the case. The FD Define S case retails for $130 at Amazon and Newegg, but if someone can find a case that beats this one on quality and noise reduction for $250, I'd consider it.

magarity

How sensitive are you to the sound of the fans? So a lot of fans spinning slowly can still move a lot of air but some people are still annoyed by that kind of noise.

mwedwards

So I have both an iMac and MacBook in my home office at the moment, and both are completely silent until I begin doing something CPU intensive. So I'm looking for a 3rd machine that is also silent when doing light workloads like coding, understanding _some_ noise will be apparent when doing CPU intensive tasks.