It's debatable whether you would really need both fans unless you have a lot of kit to stick in the case, in which case the crowding could make things rather warm. For my set up, which now consists of one HD, 2 optical drives, and a 9800pro the case temperature was 24 degrees at idle. Keeping my CPU fan's RPM low enough (2500) for the noise to be at the same levels that are coming out of the case in general - effectively making my CPU cooling silent - the processor temp was 46 degrees. After a session of Call of Duty the case temp remained at 24 degrees while the CPU had risen up to 51. Normally I would turn the fan up for a loud game so I was quite happy with these results. My living room is rather warm as we're not shy of using the central heating round here, so bear that in mind when evaluating these figures.

So the temperatures suffer very little from the inclusion of all the acoustic dampening materials. Getting all of these foam panels into the case in the first place is a mildly tricky proposition, but as long as you test the placement first before removing the backing and applying the very sticky panels should take no more then fifteen minutes. Every flat surface on the sides of the case gets a piece of foam. The material itself is about a centimetre deep, and is very soft and would make a nice place to rest your forehead on. There are also a bunch of foam blocks to stuff into every empty drive bay, but these are optional and I decided to leave most of them out. Even so, once the case was all sealed up again the difference made to the amount of sound coming from my machine was startling. Even with the 9800pro whining away inside from the outside only the barest of murmurs could be heard. My CD drives still announced their activity with a squeal like a bayou pig with it's head under a sack and someone... but apart from that my PC was almost inaudible against the background hum of my living room. When I put the room into sleep mode the noise of the PC was defiantly audible, but in no way approaching the aggravating levels of old. Dairy products and the white cliffs of Dover came to mind. The two 120mm Acousti Products fans certainly helped to lower the overall noise level inside the machine. These are great fans, quieter then the sounds of the cogs going round in Bush's head, but they are expensive at twenty quid each. I imagine if you were to scrimp and go for a cheaper option the sound absorption of the case itself would make your tightness a hidden trait.

If you want a nice quiet PC without having to pay through the nose for specialist components or water cooling then the Acousti Products AC6607B will make you happy. If you like to tinker with your PC the layout and build quality will soothe your tortured soul. If you like a nice compact and good looking case then you will not be disappointed. In short, the AC6607B is the best case I have yet to encounter, and the extra money to be spent on such a beast is well worth it in terms of the peace of mind such quality delivers.

94%

Thanks to Acousti Products and QuietPC who provided me with these products. If you are in the market for this kind of stuff do yourself a favour and pay their website a visit.

By Sam Gibson

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