Cooling NMEDIA HTPC8000 case - I want it quiet... is modding the case on top overkill? (help with quiet cooling)

Note that I sort of have a home theatre setup, but this is my primary PC, and I'm looking to get a low noise level (hopefully none) so that when I record audio, I have no fan crap in the background and don't have to swallow the mic to get the gain where I want it without it picking up pfffffffffffffffffffffffff.
Now.
This case:
http://www.nmediapc.com/htpc8000.htm
This CPU cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608019&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-019-_-Product
These case fans -
In the back:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608017&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-017-_-Product
In the front x2 (each "speaker" panel):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608005&cm_re=noctua-_-35-608-005-_-Product

This passive GPU cooler:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186016
(I don't play a lot games lately last GPU intensive one was deadspace, and I don't OC my Vcard)



I want quiet, as I said. These things have some pretty rave reviews, and water cooling sounds like it still makes a pretty good ammount of noise, and has a lot of hassle for set up. I own the case now, and I thought it would be a little cooler - I have an AM2+ phenom, and a biostar ta770 a2+, an asus Dark knight 4870 Vid card, 4gb of ram, etc.

This case idles damn hot compared to my older one (although much classier, and no stupid LEDs, those things were cool for like, 3 years), even with the top off, the stock 140mm installed, and another sitting on top of that one blowing air out the top... speedfan reports 52c under very little load (browser, several tabs, media player, AIM) for my proc, high load is around 60, which isn't bad, but my freaking NB was idling at 85+ before I slapped a 20mm fan on it, which is loud. I'm looking to keep my system cool under any load I put on it (my daw gets a little freaked out with like 8 armed mics, lol, I need more ramz for music) and stable.

I want to know if this would be cool and quiet, and if adding an additional 140mm to the top of the case and modding the top of the case to support it would be a bad idea, or serious overkill. Would it be better to have all 3 side fans pulling in air, and the top fan pushing out air? or just cold in the front, hot out the back, skip the top?

Or at this point, is this just too much money to spend on quiet? I intend to rebuild the system soon, summer - but I'd like to have cooling all worked out way before that.


So... input?

EDIT:
OR maybe one of these up top:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=327&products_id=24345

 

I always figured a wooden case would have heat problems...I just didn't realize it was that bad (then again, I would have made a very different wooden case). I would add an extra 120mm fan next to the 140mm fan, above the cardslots (if there is room). Put it as close to the top of the case as possible to maximize it's heat removal. If this does not do enough, you can still do the top fan later...but if it is enough, then you did not cut a big hole in the top of your fancy wooden case for nothing.

 

well the top has no exhaust or heatspout of any sort - just the front, and the back. So you're suggesting a get a top mounted fan over my slots to move air near the NB/vid card? These temps are from stock cooling+1 cheap extra fan, and the top off, which is admittantly a little sad, but I also can't get a ton of air flow removing the top and setting a fan near the other one.

Reviews on newegg repeatedly cite that the system's roomy design allows for easy cooling, but yeah, I can't believe it idled so hot at stock cooling, either. I just purchased fancy ceramique thermal paste, and for the first time in my life correctly applied thermal paste, too!

Are you saying flat over the cardslots, or what?

EDIT
Oh, and the extra stupid NB temps might be wrong, too... I took a temp of it with a fancy thermometer (for meat, no lazer one around, but this only needs like, just the tip to work)
and it reported almost 20c cooler (it was laid into the bottom of it pretty well, too) so my temp thing on there might be bunk, even when it was super hot I had no stability issues at all.
And it broke a while back, and I used thermal adhesive to affix it back in place, which was applied correctly, but then snapped off, and was re-applied after the first coat sealed, so hopefully that isn't a terribly shameful thing. (the first coat actually had too little adhesive)

 

Come to think of it, if the system is overheating when the top is off, then I think the giant fan on top idea might be a good one...adding a fan where I recomended originaly would only simulate the effect of removing the top. Why don't you use your meat thermometer to check out the temps elsewhere? You might just have a crummy mainboard giving you false readings on everything.

 

The readings on other stuff seem to be pretty accurate, or at least closer - but still off by as much as 5-10c.
Either way, I reversed my 140mm fan in the back to intake rather than exhaust, and now my temps are 40c idle on the proc rather than 50, (in speedfan which is a little off for me as we've established) and just about everything is much cooler. I have two 92mm noctua case fans coming for mounting in the front as exhaust, and those should help me really get the air moving, when I pick up a noctua 140 for the back, and a cpu cooler, I should be in silent business.

If that doesn't work... mineral oil, lols. Not really. Maybe for the next build!

If that doesn't work - what would be ideal for 2 front fans, 1 rear, and one top fan for this case? fronts/rear as intake, top as exhaust, or will that not circulate the air too well and just sort of scoop all of it out before it gets to swirl through all the parts? if you're having trouble getting a picture of how it'd work, take a look at the pix of the case on newegg/nmedia's site, and note that the HDD/DVD block thing sits above all the components, so the top fan would be forced to pull air around it - I don't know if this would reduce it's effectiveness.

I am pleased to find that the larger a fan is, the quieter it is, in general.

 

I would go with the top fan as an exhaust fan...if it made more static pressure, I might say to use it as an intake to help cool the board...but the CFM rating is about the same as a fast 120MM fan...at 9 times the surface area.

Mineral oil is kewl in theory, but there are a lot of serious issues with it, even if you have a case that is designed for it. You could always use a combination of heat pipes and peltier junctions to make a silent system, but that might be a bit expensive.