2009/11/7 Adam Bower adam@thebowery.co.uk:
Well, you don't have to have all the fans connected.... even so Antec make great cases and tend to use reasonable fans. If they are too noisy just replace them with some quieter models. Even so, large fans are quieter than small fans (generally) as they spin more slowly to move the same amount of air which reduces noise levels.
I've used Antec cased and coolers many times and have always found the cases to come into the"pay a little more get much better quality" bracket. The fans being quieter than average, you would need to spend a lot more money to get a significant reduction in noise. And as Adam said you don't need all the fans connected. If your machine has good airflow around it and runs within the processor/memory manufacturer temperature tolerances you may well not need any case fans and are just able to rely on the power supply and processor coolers.
Cheers, BJ