Cooling Advice What Case

Sqaull20

I want to get a case with the cooling, size/shape of dell's xps 710/20 cases.

They are the best I have used, even with the average cpu cooler they ship with.The cooling and noise level from them is brillant.



This a dell xps710 with x6800 @ stock




This an Antec Sonata Case with E6850 @ stock



Dell case has no extra fans, no watercooling, nothing fancy.

Antec Sonata has a €25 Akasa AK-965 cpu cooler and two Zalman case fans.And Dell has to cool two heavily overclocked 8800gtx's, Antec case has 1 512mb 8800gts and its way hoter and louder.Both use a 680i chipset.

I want to get similar cooling to the dell what do I buy?

€120 budget

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articlelist.jsp?agid=375

I am thinking

Coolermaster Stacker

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=19754&agid=632

Thermaltake Armor

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=5459&agid=632

Antec P180B

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=20463&agid=631

Lian Li Midi Tower Aluminium

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=19349&agid=631

Noise is just important as cooling too, the Dell barely makes a whisper ( besides the crackling sound off the psu ), the Antec on the other hand can be heard from the next room.

uberpixie

Antec P182 + replace all the fans with scythe flex fans = win

I have two scythe flex 1200 RPM fans in an antec p180. (one on the cpu heatsink and one as an exhaust fan inline with the fan on the cpu heatsink)

Loudest parts in the case are the raptor and the gfx card. I don't even bother to slow down the flexs, practically silent at full tilt.

Just got x2 1600 RPM scythe flex fans in the post, will test them out in the next few days.

Def get the antec p182 over the p180. The p182 is just that little bit better laid out especially with the cable routing options, much neater than the p180.

Sqaull20

Sounds like the job, every review is positive.

Its a bit over budget, but feck it.

What are the case fans that come with it like?

There is room for 2 more fans, Scythe ones are a bit expensive, but look good.Would it be too loud with 5 fans?

Also can you/anyone recommend a cpu cooler that is quite yet, gives good cooling?

Akasa AK-965 give slightly better than stock fan cooling and its loud.

Thermaltake Big 120 has caught my eye, 16dB!!

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/1VgcsuVIGRsfoD/articledetail.jsp?aid=5705&agid=288

Anti

scythe ziapang is getting amazing reviews beating both the tuniq and ultra 120. And thats with a 900rpm 140mm fan. slap on a better fan and yoru laughing. Great quality too, the base is perfectly smooth and flat.

Sqaull20

Put a fan directly on top of it, like you do with the shroud on the graphics cards?




What fan/size?

uberpixie

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Sounds like the job, every review is positive.

Its a bit over budget, but feck it.

What are the case fans that come with it like?

There is room for 2 more fans, Scythe ones are a bit expensive, but look good.Would it be too loud with 5 fans?

The case fans that come with the antec are alright. They are very quiet on low and get a bit noisey when on medium/high.
When on high they make a lot of noise but don't really push enough air for all that noise.

There are 4 fan mounting points in the case.

1) bottom of chamber of the case in between the harddrive mounts and the psu. (comes with fan fitted)

2) Front intake (no fan)

3) Rear exhaust (fan fitted)

4) top of case above CPU (fan fitted) This mount is a pain in the ass, if you are going to replace this fan, do so before building in the case. Very messy to get out otherwise.

I would def replace all the fans bar the one in the bottom chamber as that on low is enough and you will not hear it at all outside of the case.
The scythe fans are well worth the money.
The 1200 RPMs would be the best balance of noise and performance.

I just fitted x2 1600 Rpms, they move a lot more air but make a bit more noise. They do throttle very well however and are pretty quiet when you dial them down.

Atm I have x1 1600rpm as an intake, x1 1200rpm of the cpu and x1 1600rpm as an exhaust on the back of the case inline with the cpu cooler all hooked up to a fan controler.

I went through a good few fans when I first built, most were crap when you dial them down, clicked when when you dialed them down or made whistling noises when on full or pushed very little air for the amount of racket they made.

True the scythe fans are expensive, but they are the best fans I have found so far:a lot less noise even on full and a lot more air moved than most fans on the market. They dial up and down smoothly on a fan controler: no clicking or weird whistling.

Nothing else I have used can touch them.
(Zalman, Antec, Akasa, Acoustifan)

True they are 20 quid a pop but you only buy once.....

Sqaull20

Only €10 each on Hardwareversand.

How much louder/ better cooling do the 1600rpm give over 1200rpm?

Both same price.

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/3V_GkchYWYy8Hd/articledetail.jsp?aid=7982&agid=42

Going to for that case and cpu cooler Anti linked me too.

How many fans will I get?

uberpixie

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Only €10 each on Hardwareversand.

How much louder/ better cooling do the 1600rpm give over 1200rpm?

Both same price.

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/3V_GkchYWYy8Hd/articledetail.jsp?aid=7982&agid=42

Going to for that case and cpu cooler Anti linked me too.

How many fans will I get?

The 1200RPMs at full tilt are quiet.
The 1600RPMs at full tilt are louder, but not exactly excessive in comparison to some fans. They push a lot more air.

I would get atlest 2 fans: one for an intake and one for an exhaust.
If you intend to use the fan on the top of the case get another fan either an 800RPM or a 1200RPM fan.
You may also want another fan for a cpu cooler if you are getting one that does not come with a fan.

All I really can advise is buy a mix of 1200RPM and 1600RPM and see what works out for you.

I think for me the 1200RPMs worked out better, but then again I have yet to test the cooling pushing my pc at full tilt.