Why do people like cases with mesh side?
Posted by mkdew@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 26 comments
I see people praising Lancool 217 or Fractal North with mesh side. It's nice a cool, but every little noise comes out of the mesh.
Like you want to play games with low fan speed? You hear your gpu coil whine since the case basically open. Yes you can undervolt the gpu, but you cant fully eliminate coil whine.
Errorr404@reddit
I don't have my PC on a desk so I don't hear it.
whomad1215@reddit
but if you don't put your pc next to your head how can you get blinded by all your rgb lights?!
Errorr404@reddit
I love when a Windows update turns your PC on in the middle of the night and you have to defuse the fucking RGB demon core before your retinas burn clean off.
SilentlyAsTheGrave@reddit
I just turn the power bar off at night too, there’s surge protection but I’m overly cautious anyways.
Kathdath@reddit
This is the way
Cerebral_Zero@reddit
No glass to break, and you only need a GPU with quiet fans. If you have a high powered CPU with an AIO the an noise will probably be a result of the static pressure going through the radiator and case exhaust anyway.
RGB illuminating the inside of a mesh case can look really cool too.
mkdew@reddit (OP)
Which ones are quiet? How quiet are we speaking? A12x25 G2 quiet?
Cerebral_Zero@reddit
Some GPUs the minimum 30% fan speed spins at 1500 RPM, minimum. And then ramp more from there where 50% on such a GPU is loud as a good one on full blast. The good one will never need to go full blast.
The coolers on GPUs are usually noisier for the air to blow through then a bare CPU heatsink, cause there's a shroud around most of the GPU heatsink and a PCB on the other side of the fan.
Just check TechPowerUp to see which ones are quieter. Asus TUF has been good in my experience, not silent but the noise level when pushed is within reason. Asus Prime 5060 Ti was dead silent, never heard it. The same cooler 2.5 slot competes with 3 slot coolers for cooling performance and does it quieter then many others. Asus did something very right when it comes to fans and heatsinks.
mkdew@reddit (OP)
Ah yeah, mainly Zotac.
The fans yeah, but ass soon a game load, doesnt matter how much FPS, the card starts to whine like crazy. I can hear it in the whole room.
The fans are hit or miss. On mine they make noise like theres no lube. Hwcooling had a bad experience too, cuz one fan was louder than the others.
PAPO1990@reddit
better air flow = quieter fans = less noise
sure more coil whine may get out but that depends on how much coil whine your system has.
Now obviously more open case means you can run the fans slower, but fans that are less choked are also quieter at the same RPM.
mkdew@reddit (OP)
Yeas, fans may run slower, but if your gpu fans(looking at Gainward/Palit) are noisy or your gpu, psu or even motherboard has any coild whine, you will hear it. you could run a Thermaltake Core P3 at that point no? Gamernexus says open testbench is the best 'case'
PAPO1990@reddit
1) if noise matters check reviews that cover the cooling and noise of the gfx card, and select what model you buy accordingly. Or watercool your gfx card like I did.
2) Coil whine is hit or miss, if it bothers you that much limiting frame rate can actually be the best solution if you find it to be a problem with your specific hardware.
It's also not just about fans running slower, even at the same speed putting a fan right up against a restrictive panel makes it louder, more open case = less restrictive for the fans. As someone who used to have a closed case and added acoustic treatment to the inside of the panels to make it quieter, I've found that helps less than just having good cooling and airflow. I also don't have my PC ON my desk, it lives under it. Every time you double the distance from a sound source you reduce the volume by 6dB
mkdew@reddit (OP)
What if it whines even at 30fps? Should I play at 10fps?
PAPO1990@reddit
Coil whine isn't normally an issue at normal frame rates. I don't get ANY noticeable coil whine bellow 100fps, but even then it's not that bad until over 200fps. There are other solutions, but realistically coil whine isn't usually the issue people make it out to be outside of VERY extreme cases. Again do research, read reviews, find parts that don't have major coil whine.
Coil whine is also generally a high frequency sound, and high frequency sounds are MUCH easier to block/ attenuate than lower ones. I use open backed headphones and once I put them on, it blocks out all the coil whine I have, which only really shows up in loading screens anyway.
Ok-Conference4199@reddit
Ive never had coil whine and I prioritize part life and performance over acoustics.
t90fan@reddit
Mesh and glass both suck for RF noise too
I'm a ham and had to get a case with proper solid steel sides in order to reduce RFI, thing was a bloody radio jammer otherwise lol, I'm surprised any OEM gaming chassis pass emissions testing
venom21685@reddit
The 217 doesn't have mesh on the whole side, just on the bottom PSU/drive cage compartment. Even with a 360mm AIO it's not loud at all by itself in the room. My friend had an HP Omen desktop system and that thing under load sounded like it was going to take off.
Personally I've almost always got a fan running that's what louder than my PC anyway.
montrealjoker@reddit
Air flow and temps. Bought great quality fans and a GPU with no coil whine and keeping my system cool.
syktunc@reddit
do you play your games on mute or what?
zbloodelfz@reddit
I want to hear my beast working !
Impossible-Move-2096@reddit
Mesh sides = airflow king, but yeah coil whine becomes part of the soundtrack.
CtrlAltDesolate@reddit
They're generally (when done right) a little better for airflow, and for headphone users the noise is a non-issue.
I prefer temperatured glass for aesthetics, but there's also some case where the mesh looks nicer - especially on non-RGB builds / ones where people are aren't colour matching components anyway.
specn0de@reddit
I like mesh
lolwatokay@reddit
Better airflow mostly. I suppose in a world where most cases have glass side panels, this is a way of not having one as well if that’s your thing. Also, I recognize I am one of the lucky ones, but I either cannot hear or have never experienced coil wine in any of my GPUs.
sunkenwhalebones@reddit
Better cooling, aesthetics. Headphones.
dabocx@reddit
Most people wear headphones and can’t hear anything anyway