I am trying to silence my PC.  I'm happy with system performance but the case is made for gaming.  I currently cannot put the PC in another room so I'm looking at getting a new case.  I'm looking at the Corsair Carbide Series 330R Ultra-Silent Mid-Tower Case.  Anyone use these?  Any suggestions welcome?  My MB is a m-atx.
 
Thanks,
Ken

Here are a few suggestions that are work arounds that might enable you to avoid a new case. I have my case under my desk. The location of it makes it less loud...so maybe changing location would help. Putting sound absorption foam close to it without blocking cooling vents can help. Some of those gaming cases have more fans than is really necessary. You could try looking at your cpu temps with one or two disconnected. You can buy fans specifically made to be less noisy. Unless it was specified otherwise,he fans installed are all basic cooling fans...so you might benefit by only changing fans.
Even a sensitive condenser mic set to cardoid pattern will be hard pressed to pick up very much noise if you have the case to the rear of it and are at least 6' away especially if you happen to be higher than the case. Usually if I'm picking up noise my gain staging is too high at the front end.
Those quiet cases are mostly quieter fans with a small amount of sound insulation in the case. Some try to port the noise away...but it isn't anything you probably couldn't do yourself .

kzmaier
I am trying to silence my PC.  ...  I'm looking at the Corsair Carbide Series 330R Ultra-Silent Mid-Tower Case....

My homebuilt PC is dead quiet.  Your biggest source of noise is going to be the fans.  I have two low-rpm case fans (one intake, one outtake) and a Noctua cpu fan.  That's it.  My video card (Radeon HD5450) is fanless and easily does the job.  The computer case is nothing special, a Cooler Master Centurion.
 
That being said, I ordered a case for a new build yesterday: the Corsair Carbide 200R.  I considered the Ultra-silent model, then saw two reviews (@ Newegg) that complained of poor air flow due to the insulation.  So I went with the 200R which looks to be identical, just without the extra padding.

More holes = more noise.  Good luck trying to defeat that.

I have a padded case, and I also have a couple of SSD's for primary and for one of my data drives, and that helps.  I too keep my case underneath and that helps block a lot of whatever noise is left - and I also have a radiator cooling system, so there is no CPU fan.
 
The foam on the inside of some cases can really make a difference, but as also posted by others, too many fans can add a bunch of needless noise, though it is always a balance with temperatures.  There ARE fans that are quite a bit less noisy than most that come with a stock chassis, and there are additionally rubber mounts for fans, and those keep a lot of noise and vibrations out of being a problem.  Those are actually quite cheap - I think they ran about 45 cents apiece, or maybe even cheaper.
 
Hope any of the above helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 

Foam inside a case helps damp out case vibration and resonance, but because the case can't be sealed it won't reduce fan and drive noise much, if at all.

The route to quiet PCs is large fans operating on reduced voltages, big cpu coolers, quiet or ideally fanless graphics cards, psu built to keep noise down etc.

The PC in my sig has two Noctua 140mm fans, one at the back as an extractor, one on a big Noctua cpu cooler. Graphics and psu are fanless. With the fans running at 7 volts it puts out around 26-28dB at one metre. With the fans running on 5 volts it's so quiet my decibel metre can't measure it.

www.silentpcreview.com is a very useful site for all sorts of information about making PCs quiet. It can be done, but a case change alone won't achieve much.

It seems that Fractal Design is quite popular. I have been choosing between Fractal Design Define R5 and AeroCool DS 200. Tomorrow my R5 should arrive!

Starise
Unless it was specified otherwise, the fans installed are all basic cooling fans...so you might benefit by only changing fans.

Starise's entire post is a good one, and a fan replacement alone may do wonders. Fans collect debris over time that unbalanced them, then degrades the bearings. Aftermarket fans are not expensive, and if rigidly mounted (not too tight) to the case, they should not make much noise. Another thing to check is your BIOS as most have the ability to dynamically adjust fan RPM based on component temperatures. Unless you are running some hard-core plugs with high track counts, "power saving" mode on the MB will cut down fan speed (and noise) considerably unto itself.
 
A larger case with enough air around it to dissipate heat should not be generating excessive noise from the fans. The fans are also good to clean from time to time to ensure they stay balanced.

Yeah, noisy fans have to be changed. Also it worth checking if PSU's fan produce any noise, and if it does, it is possible to change fan in the PSU (you just need to be careful, and warranty for PSU will be voided). But if you have HDDs (as me) they will be most noisy thing in the PC after fixing fans. And I think this is what silent cases are for. I hope my new case will help to decrease this noise.

Thanks for the tips.  This forum is such a great resource!!  I have ordered acoustic panels and will check the case fans.  The psu fan is the one I was worried about as its not so easy to replace.  I'm holding off on the case purchase for now.
 
Thanks to all!!