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Cases are NOT dead quiet. PFFT.
Lots of cheap cases will be made out of overly stiff material which vibrates more than, say, aluminum, and as such it will generate more noise (especially when it's on a desk that vibrates easily, as well). This can be cut down by throwing a little bit of foam in/under the case to absorb the vibrations, but the case will still be vibrating somewhat and generating a little excess noise, in addition to sometimes making CD-Rs skip, and generally fucking with your system. This isn't a huge problem, but it IS something to watch out for.
For fans, a 120 mm fan is quieter because it can push the same amount of air at a lower RPM. Of course, in my opinion the best solution is a temperature controlled fan (or two or three)... that is, it changes RPM based on the temperature inside the case, meaning it's only as loud as it has to be. You need to make sure you have a motherboard that can do that, though.
That's all I can think of now.
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