Volume is one thing, but the frequency and subjective annoying-ness matter too. One variable that we aren’t equipped to measure is the type of noise. The RL06 is one of the best-ventilated and noisiest cases we’ve tested in the past couple of years, while the SB601 is silence-focused with restricted airflow. The candidates chosen as a case study were the Silverstone Redline 06 and the be quiet! Silent Base 601. Our thesis for this benchmark paper proposes that fans can be turned down sufficiently to equate noise levels of a silence-focused case, but while still achieving superior thermal performance. Instead, most users would likely turn down the fans to an acceptable noise level-maybe even the same level as intentionally quiet cases like the Silent Base 601. The baseline torture tests are good for consistency, showcasing maximum performance, and for highlighting the performance differences between cases, but they don’t represent how most users run their PCs for 24/7 usage. Our testing tends to reinforce that idea of a choice: our baseline results are measured with the case fans at maximum speed and therefore maximum noise, making cases like the SilverStone RL06 sound like jet engines. The reality is that it doesn’t have to be a choice, and that an airflow-oriented case can, with minor work, achieve equivalent noise levels to a silence-focused case (while offering better thermals). We tend to prefer high airflow to silence when given a choice, and it usually is presented that way: as a choice. These often include specially designed fans, thick pads of noise-damping foam, sealed front panels, and elaborately baffled vents.
PURE WINGS VS SILENT WINGS PC
Respected manufacturers of silence-focused PC cases like be quiet! and Fractal Design use a number of tricks to keep noise levels down.