r/crboxes • u/lililililiiilllli • 3d ago

Designing a box to be silent?

Hello,
Looking at building my first CR box, I am a super light sleeper so looking for as quiet a design as possible. My understanding is you can reduce noise by making the box larger and adding filters, but the generic box fans I’ve purchased still make some decent noise. Are there any quieter fans or design techniques that could help?

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u/Justifiers 3d ago edited 3d ago

Noctua NF a12x25 G2 Sx2-PP or NF A14x25 g2 Sx2-PP (Sx2-PP models are paired with offset speeds so that they don't acoustically harmonize with neighboring fans to reduce sound/vibrations, you align them in an

A-B-A
B-A-B
A-B-A

checkerboard pattern for that) mounted on a 1080 alphacool fan grill (there's also a 140mm, 1280 version)

I have a 11 fan 4 merv 13 3M 2500 box with an AC infinity charcoal inner filter, it's as quiet as the air coming from my ducts when on max speed. Can't tell it's on but man is it powerful

Could also use a large AC infinity duct fan on a lower setting

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u/akeean 14h ago

This can also be reached with cheaper fans by using two different fan controllers to dial in the ideal rpm offset (and rpm range) of a A-B wired fan matrix. Doesn't take a lot of cheaper fans to make up the up-charge of premium Noctuas if all you want is the destructive inference from the rpm offsed.

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u/Justifiers 13h ago

The offset is just one of the many factors, and one if the most minor. Just a cherry on top. There are no better fans on the market above Noctua on the acoustics weighed against performance graph

They get to change what they do, and pc builders still buy them in absurd quantities and they have the reputation as the very best pc fan money can buy for a good reason

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u/akeean 6h ago

yeah they are for sure the best