I had a h440 and I changed it this week. The main reason I switched was because the h440's air intake is so crippled that the fans have to spin faster, making this ''quiet'' case not so quiet even with good cougar and Noctua 140mm fans.
I switched to a Corsair Air 540, which is a airflow case, meaning it is not made with the words Quiet and Silence in mind, but the airflow is so good and the vents are so non-restrictive that it is actually A LOT LESS loud than the H440. I am glad I made the switch even though I really love the h440's look. My hardware gets less warm (5-7 degrees) and less loud in my new case.
What are your experiences with this case? Have you switched or do you really want to keep it? Share your thoughts.
I don't have the H440, since I have yet to build a new rig in that form factor since it came out. But you may want to check the fans to are using and make sure they are pressure oriented fans, and not CFM. If they are CFM and are running at a high RPM, they are going to chop a bunch of air and do nothing else. The vents on the H440 are fairly restrictive, so a pressure setup is necessary.
I have one, the side is off, I can hear the fans but they are not loud. With the side on, not silent but once I have my headphones on there may as well be no PC in the room at all i cannot hear it.
One thing troubles me though about your post. you say the fans spin faster due to the restricted air flow. Did you hook the fans up to the in case fan hub? that does not have speed control, it cannot spin up the fans any faster, it is a set speed.
EDIT: The one thing I will say about it though is if you want silence, as in any case replace the stock fans. It annoyed me being a "silent" case and not coming with rubber bushed fans to stop vibration.