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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 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. 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
For this test we want to negate as many of the other fans as possible. We disable all fans on the Corsair H80 coolers when the system is idle. The Lian Li X2000FN is configured to its default state, which includes 3 x 140mm front intake fans, and 1x 120mm and 1x 140mm exhaust fans at the rear. The Seasonic power supply was set to ‘Hybrid' mode for this specific test.
The chassis is very quiet when the fans are at their lowest setting. When turned to their highest point they are clearly audible although not intrusive. We would use this case with the fans in their lowest position as the airflow is still substantial and noise levels are reduced considerably.
Holy batpants batman. I almost creamed myself.
System price must be close to £5,000? crap, i feel poor now 🙁
They do make beautiful cases, but I can never afford the ones I like as they all seem to cost £300 or more.
The case seems lperfect for workstations but gamers can do better. Does LianLi have a shorter version with two front intake fans and less drive bays?
Would a side fine obstruct the airflow of this case?
Hi Luay. You mean the same case but basically just shorter in height? I dont understand your second question – whats a ‘side fine’?
Oops! That’s me typing from my iPad. Thanks for taking your time to help out!
I meant a shorter case with one less intake and less drive bays, and perhaps a side fan would make a proper gaming case. But I agree with you saying it can serve both gaming and workstation in one build. Three front intakes would probably cool even dual video cards but not optimally as a side fan would.
I can see the carefully planned airflow of this case, but would a side fan obstruct this type of air flow? I really like the build quality of this case but I also have the specific requirement I mentioned.
Thanks for the detailed review Zardon.
I was wondering… Is the drive bay on the top (Zone 1) removeable?
Hello Yume. The drive bay at the top/rear for 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch units?
the 2.5 inch bay at the top is removable as shown on this page http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=627&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61&g=f but only the one at the front, not at the rear. The reason is that particular bay is the main position for hard drives so its in place with soldered bolts, rather than screws. the lower one in Zone 3 is also removable.