Need advice for new mid-range system with an emphasis on small, cool, quiet

[Axon]

Let me recommend the Fractal Arc Mini: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352008

One of the best micro atx cases I've seen. It can even handle the H100 cooler if you're kinky like that.

 

[antef]

Just out of curiosity did you check ebay? If they make it still someone undoubtedly got one somewhere. Also, Office Depot is selling them supposedly.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/987612/Cooler-Master-Elite-341-Chassis/?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Google-_-Computer_Parts_and_Upgrades-_-987612-{copy:IQ_PE}&mr:trackingCode=B57A0179-71F3-DF11-887D-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

Edit: hmmm linky not working correctly for some reason. Oh, well just go to OD and do it the long way.

Yeah I saw that too but it says insufficient stock if you try to add it to your cart. And I searched eBay and didn't come up with much. This thing is GONE.

A little, but I doubt it will be significant. A 120mm front and 80mm rear also sets up a positive pressure differential which will help keep dust and such out of the case.

Thanks. This is my current other alternative to the Silverstone. I will either splurge and get that or just get the Rosewill and hope that cooling will be fine.

Let me recommend the Fractal Arc Mini: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352008

One of the best micro atx cases I've seen. It can even handle the H100 cooler if you're kinky like that.

Not bad looking, but too big. At 19" it is no shorter than my current Thermaltake ATX.

It looks like I have it narrowed down, thanks to everyone's help. I'm still on the lookout for a more affordable case with the features of the Elite 341, but I'm sure either the Silverstone or one of the Rosewills can do nicely.

 

[Axon]

Not bad looking, but too big. At 19" it is no shorter than my current Thermaltake ATX.

It looks like I have it narrowed down, thanks to everyone's help. I'm still on the lookout for a more affordable case with the features of the Elite 341, but I'm sure either the Silverstone or one of the Rosewills can do nicely.

The Arc Mini is 15.9" tall...I have one. But yes, at 19" deep (that's what she said trollolololol) it's a fairly long case. By the by, with what you're trying to do, I doubt you'd have any heating issues with any of these cases. We tend to get a little neurotic on these forums about that stuff, to our detriment.

 

[Skott]

Yeah I saw that too but it says insufficient stock if you try to add it to your cart. And I searched eBay and didn't come up with much. This thing is GONE.

Damn, sorry about that. I didnt bother to check cart.

 

[antef]

The Arc Mini is 15.9" tall...I have one. But yes, at 19" deep (that's what she said trollolololol) it's a fairly long case. By the by, with what you're trying to do, I doubt you'd have any heating issues with any of these cases. We tend to get a little neurotic on these forums about that stuff, to our detriment.

Thanks. Yes you're right, I'm not an extreme enthusiast and I don't want to get carried away or unnecessarily over-worry. The output of an 80mm fan might be fine, but I always liked the idea of getting more airflow with less volume with larger fans.

What do you guys think of the Silverstone SST-PS07? It appears to be new and very similar to the TJ08B-E and a little cheaper. Only real differences I can see are it includes 2 front 120mm fans instead of the single 180mm and the front panel has a different layout. Maybe a good cheaper alternative? I wonder which front fan configuration is better and quieter. Also it doesn't include a rear fan...is that just them cheaping out or do they actually feel the front fans are sufficient and a rear one isn't necessary?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

What do you guys think of the Silverstone SST-PS07?

:wub:
I want one. I thought the Temjin was the one but this is even sweeter. You antef are my hero. I've been watching for just this sort of configuration. My PC sits to my right on my desk. With traditional layout that meant the noisy stuff is facing me. This case flips that, adds 120mm fan support (an improvement over the 92mm I'm currently using) AND can handle long GPU's. It's smaller and nicer looking than my current case too.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/SilverStone-Precision-PS07-Case-Review/1438/7

:thumbsup:

 

[antef]

Yeah, it looks pretty nice. The thing is though, the Temjin is $99 on Amazon with free shipping, while the Precision PS07 I can only find on Newegg and a couple other places, which with shipping comes out to the same price. So I wouldn't really be saving any money. I'm sure it'll show up on Amazon eventually but I want to do this build over Christmas. If I'm going to pay a hundred bucks either way, which is the better case? Maybe still the PS07 since the two 120mm fans will be quieter? Or maybe the Temjin since it's positioned as a higher quality case.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

if price is going to be same I'd go Temjin

 

[mfenn]

What do you guys think of the Silverstone SST-PS07?

Looks pretty classy to me. Actually reminds me of the old IBM ThinkCenter design.

 

[antef]

I am becoming more okay with spending the extra money over and above what the Cooler Master would've cost on one of these two Silverstone cases. If I get four sticks of this stuff do you think it'll fit with the hangover of the HDD right next to it? I'm not sure what kind of height I'll be working with here.

 

[mfenn]

The Ripjaws would probably fit, but you can spend less money and avoid the question altogether by getting two of these $37 Patriot 8GB kits.

 

[antef]

Thanks mfenn...looks good. I wasn't sure how important the heat spreaders were when packing four sticks together so closely.

Going back to my OP from all the way back in June, I will no longer be getting that video card and will instead just wait for the next offerings from AMD. The SSD I'm unsure of...I'm starting to think I can get something good for a lot cheaper than the Intel 510 I linked to.

For the motherboard, I think I will try to stick with Z68. I don't plan to use the Intel graphics or overclock today, but I can't say for sure I won't want to over the next 3-4 years. Some of the Gigabyte boards for some reason only have 3 audio ports which prevents 6 channel analog out + a mic. So I am looking at the ASRock PRO3-M. The 24-pin power connector is also right next to the memory slots at the edge of the board...I hope that fits with the HDD nearby in the Temjin! I want to use this with a PC P&C Silencer 610. I think it has all the appropriate connections.

Edit: An image for reference...it looks like the motherboard power connector is actually behind the drive cage. Seems to fit, but probably pretty tight. Also in Anandtech's review of this case the author suggests maybe just using one HDD and one SDD and taking out the drive cage altogether, suggesting you are able to squeeze both into the little section at the bottom. I will only be using one HDD and one SSD so that sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how tight that section is for both of them.

 

[Zap]

I wasn't sure how important the heat spreaders were when packing four sticks together so closely.

You usually won't have a problem, but if you're worried, just get super low voltage RAM.

As for the PCP&C Silencer 610, as long as you already have it just use it.

 

[antef]

Yeah, that's what I have now. Okay I'm think I'm going to get the ASRock board along with a Crucial M4 128 GB SSD. Probably going to order tonight! Thanks for all the help!

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, that's what I have now. Okay I'm think I'm going to get the ASRock board along with a Crucial M4 128 GB SSD. Probably going to order tonight! Thanks for all the help!

:thumbsup: Sounds good to me. You won't have a heat problem even with 4 sticks of standard 1.5V RAM.

 

[antef]

Thanks mfenn. Sorry to keep this going but one last question I am trying to figure out regarding the Precision PS07 vs. the Temjin TJ08-E. I'm concerned that the large front opening on the Temjin will make it be a little loud, even if I replace the stock 180mm fan with a quieter 140mm. This makes the Precision a little more appealing since it's closed off in the front and comes with 2 120mm fans. However, this PC is going to be on a shelf below and in front of me, with the front of the case facing to the right and the left side facing towards me. The Precision has a large side vent, and maybe this will make it just as loud since it's facing me. Also, I have read that you can reduce the noise of any of these fans by controlling their voltage. I don't intend to use a fan controller, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to control them if I plug them into the motherboard.

So, my options:
1) Get the Temjin and undervolt the 180mm fan or replace it with a quiet 140mm.
2) Get the Precision and use the stock fans, maybe undervolt them.
3) Get the Precision and replace the front fans with these (10.7 dbA).
4) Get the Precision and remove one of the front fans since I'm not sure both are necessary. Do I really need to direct air towards the video card when it will have a massive plastic covering over the whole thing anyway?

Just trying to sort out which option will give me the least noise and still cool well.

Thanks.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

bigger fans are usually quieter

 

[mfenn]

bigger fans are usually quieter

Yeah, but there aren't a lot of options in the more esoteric sizes.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks mfenn. Sorry to keep this going but one last question I am trying to figure out regarding the Precision PS07 vs. the Temjin TJ08-E. I'm concerned that the large front opening on the Temjin will make it be a little loud, even if I replace the stock 180mm fan with a quieter 140mm. This makes the Precision a little more appealing since it's closed off in the front and comes with 2 120mm fans. However, this PC is going to be on a shelf below and in front of me, with the front of the case facing to the right and the left side facing towards me. The Precision has a large side vent, and maybe this will make it just as loud since it's facing me. Also, I have read that you can reduce the noise of any of these fans by controlling their voltage. I don't intend to use a fan controller, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to control them if I plug them into the motherboard.

So, my options:
1) Get the Temjin and undervolt the 180mm fan or replace it with a quiet 140mm.
2) Get the Precision and use the stock fans, maybe undervolt them.
3) Get the Precision and replace the front fans with these (10.7 dbA).
4) Get the Precision and remove one of the front fans since I'm not sure both are necessary. Do I really need to direct air towards the video card when it will have a massive plastic covering over the whole thing anyway?

Just trying to sort out which option will give me the least noise and still cool well.

Thanks.

I'll wager that the PS07 is going to be slightly quieter, but that both cases will be close. Even with the stock case fans, the 6870 is likely to be the loudest thing in the system. You won't really know how it sounds in your environment until you test it out (the tenor of the sound matters a lot more than a couple dB either way), so I wouldn't go crazy with the fans until you have a chance to experiment.

 

[antef]

I'll wager that the PS07 is going to be slightly quieter, but that both cases will be close. Even with the stock case fans, the 6870 is likely to be the loudest thing in the system. You won't really know how it sounds in your environment until you test it out (the tenor of the sound matters a lot more than a couple dB either way), so I wouldn't go crazy with the fans until you have a chance to experiment.

Good point, thanks. I have no idea what my targets are regarding dBA or CFM. The Thermaltake M9 I have currently claims its fans are 17 dBA, and I feel like I would appreciate something quieter. But I don't know if the 40 CFM of the 10.7 dBA Scythe Slipstream fan is adequate or not. I'll just use what the case comes with and go from there.

 

[mfenn]

You can't trust manufacturer's dB measurements, there are just too many ways for them to misrepresent the numbers. To put it in perspective, a quiet room in a house in town has a noise floor of probably ~20-25 dB. So, I would bet that your current PC is running nowhere near 17 dB if you can hear it.

 

[antef]

I received the parts and built it over the weekend, ended up going with the PS07 case. I really like it. It was a little awkward to build in, cable management took awhile, and I'm still not sure if I prefer this layout over a traditional orientation, but the case is definitely high quality and the user manual was very thorough. I'm using the 2 front 120mm fans that came with the case and I got the Scythe Slipstream for the rear. It's not too loud, but not ultra quiet either. I'm not sure how much I would gain by replacing the front fans with the same one I got for the rear. The SSD flies! Now all I need is a new Radeon card which I'm prepared to wait a couple months for.

Regarding the memory, I ended up going with the 16 GB G.SKILL kit. Windows says "15.7 GB usable," and indeed Task Manager shows 16104 MB instead of 16384. This is obviously not a big deal, but I have a laptop with 12 GB that I don't think says this so I'm curious what the reason is. This particular kit, motherboard or setup option, Windows?

As always, thanks to everyone here on the forums for helping me get this build together. I am very pleased with its performance, size, and looks.

 

[Zap]

Using integrated graphics?

 

[illram]

Have you tried lowering fan speeds?

 

[antef]

Using integrated graphics?

For now yes.

Have you tried lowering fan speeds?

Just tried it now. I set both front fans and the CPU fan to Automatic mode in the motherboard's setup utility, with a target CPU temp of 45 C (the lowest setting offered) and a target fan level of 1. It dropped both front fans from 900-1000 RPM to 300-350 RPM, and the CPU fan from ~2000 RPM to about 1400. It got a little quieter, but there is a higher-pitched sound that I still hear. Dustin Sklavos just posted his review of this case today and also mentioned the front fans having a higher-pitched sound than the 180mm in the Temjin, but I'm not entirely sure it's those that are causing it and not the CPU fan. Trying to determine that now.

Edit: Okay, I unplugged both front fans and the rear and it almost sounds exactly as it did before, including the higher-pitched sound, so that leads me to believe most of what I'm hearing is the stock Intel cooler fan. I've only ever used stock coolers since I don't OC. I'm open to another one, but not something crazy huge and it must be quieter than what I have now. Any immediate suggestions come to mind?