Antec Dark Fleet DF 85 Full Tower Case Review

1. Introduction2. Antec Dark Fleet DF 85 Exterior3. Antec Dark Fleet DF 85 Internal and Installation4. Testing Methodology and Performance Results5. Acoustics Testing6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

We take the issue of noise very seriously at KitGuru and this is why we have built a special home brew system as a reference point when we test noise levels of various components. Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.

Today to test the Antec chassis we have taken it into our acoustics room environment and have set our Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 one meter away from the case. We have turned off the Noctua 120mm fan we installed in the side panel as we want to measure noise from the chassis, just as people will buy it ‘out of the box’. The room rates as 21dBa before powering on the system (air conditioning unit in the far corner of the room causes this).

As this can be a little confusing for people, here are various dBa ratings in with real world situations to help describe the various levels.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

We have removed the GTX460 and replaced it with a Sapphire HD5670 Ultimate edition. The only fans now running are the 140mm Noctua fan on the CPU cooler and the seven case fans supplied by Antec.

With all the fans on the lowest possible settings (top and rear banks on low and front three turned down to minimum), the dBa rating was 35.9 which is audible, but relatively quiet. With all the fans cranked, the noise becomes apparent and it ends up rather unpleasant. Thankfully as we saw on the last page, there is absolutely no need to have these fans set to maximum.

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