Question for Antec 900/1200 owners

[Alibaba]

Hi Guys

 

I'm still trying to work out what case I should get for my unraid build. I was initially drawn to the Fractal Designs R3, as its got a lot sound proofing and the server is going to have to sit in the TV room. However I already have 9 hard drives to use (4 already with stuff, another 3 extra empty ones, a cache and parity drive) and so I'd have effectively maxed out that case before getting started. As such I'm thinking about trying to find a case with alot of 5.25 bays and use some 5 in 3 cages, but trying to find the cases listed in the forum posting regarding this is proving difficult in Australia. I can easily find the Antec 900 and 1200, however I just wondering if I'm going to have problems with noise with this case?

 

I realise they are gaming cases and so have lots of venting to help with air flow and I've check some silent PC forum/reviews which say its not the quietest case in the world. But I'm just wondering how people find this case with unraid in real life? Does any one use them in their TV/media rooms? Or do people tend to stick this in another room due to noise?

 

Oh and if any Aussies have any ideas for cases with lots of 5.25 drives easily available in Australia, please let me know as all the sites I've checked out don't seem to carry many and they all seem to be gaming cases.

 

Cheers

Al

[mrow]

I have the Antec 900 with two 5 in 3 Supermicro cages. I think it's a great setup and noise levels are very low and I also keep the server in my TV room. You'll hear some low fan noise sitting right next to it but off the to the side somewhere it's barely audible. In my personal setup, I disabled and sealed off the front fan that comes with the case so all the air is pulled through my cages. I have the 200mm fan on top at the highest setting because it moves a ton of air with very little noise. I have the rear 120mm fan on the low speed setting. I also sealed off that fan port on the side of the case.

 

In my cages I replaced the stock fans, which are loud in my opinion, with Noctua NF-B9s as they are practically inaudible even at the highest setting and have a high static pressure needed for pulling air through the vents on the cages.

[Alibaba]

Thanks for your reply mrow.

 

Can I ask what you used to seal off your vents?

 

Also how do you find the LEDs, I've read that you can't easily turn them off....that you've got to cut them out if you don't like 'em?

[mrow]

Thanks for your reply mrow.

 

Can I ask what you used to seal off your vents?

 

Also how do you find the LEDs, I've read that you can't easily turn them off....that you've got to cut them out if you don't like 'em?

 

For the side vent I cut a piece of plastic to fit the hole. For the front fan I just used a piece of cardboard. It doesn't have to be a perfect air tight seal, just enough so not much air makes it in.

 

As far as the LEDs go I used a pair of needle nose plyers and just pulled the LEDs off.

[mejutty]

I have an antec 1200 with 2 norco 5in3's.  The whole thing is silent it is in my theatre room and you just can't hear it over the other side of the room.  I have both the 200mm and the rear 120mm fans set to low I also have 6 of the slots blocked off to ensure air is being pulled through the norco cages.  I have replaced the fans in the norco for silent ones but given how well built/solid the case is I am pretty sure it would still be silent with the stock fans and I am going to test that out soon as I want more air flow over the drives.  I have not blocked off the side intake yet but i will be. 

 

Great case lots of room will be my unraid case unless I need more than 20 drives currenlty have 8.

[Carl314]

I also have an Antec 1200, with 4 Norco 5 in 3s, all stock fans with no upgrades, and no vents blocked.  I only have 8 disk drives so far, but all 4 cages are hooked up since I don't want to have to open the unit and fiddle with cables as I expand the number of drives.

 

The server was in the family room at first, near the TV, but it was almost unbearably loud - about as loud as a kitchen exhaust fan on low, I'd say.  I hardwired ethernet cable, and moved the server to a basement closet.

 

I've not tried to turn off the LEDs.

 

Cheers, Carl.

[lensman]

I have the Antec 900.

* I removed the bottom drive cage entirely along with the fans that were in the bottom two positions.

* I blocked the side vent and the PCI slots (I had vented slot covers there. Not sure if that came stock).

* I put in 3 Supermicro 5 in 3 cages and have 15 drives currently. I've downvolted the fans on the cages to 5v.

* I run the top and back fan on low

 

To me the noise level is acceptable and I'm moderately picky. This is on the parlor floor of a 4 story condo and there is some road noise from outside. I can definitely hear when a drive spins up, though, so the ambient noise isn't *that* high.