Customized computer?

[Raven]

This is starting to become more trouble than it's worth - it's really difficult to find a CPU heatsink that will fit, without crushing capacitors either with the heatsink itself or the backplate.

I'm starting to think about throwing in the towel and grabbing an H80 instead.

[Buffalobiian]

This is starting to become more trouble than it's worth - it's really difficult to find a CPU heatsink that will fit, without crushing capacitors either with the heatsink itself or the backplate.

I'm starting to think about throwing in the towel and grabbing an H80 instead.

I'm using an old 1156 i5 at the moment, but I have wondered at how the newer boards with all their heat dissipators and micro-fan modules would fit in with them. Is it really that hard to find a CPU cooler with enough clearance? Or is it the board that's particularly chunky?


edit: Just actually looked up your board.. didn't occur to me at first that you're building a mATX system. Guess that explains why.

[Raven]

Yep. Less surface area. Stuff is generally more cramped. It's the price you pay unfortunately.

I have to choose between sticking with this board and moving to water cooling, or getting an alternative Asus board and having a wider range of large heatsinks. The downside to the latter is that the Asus board is about $100 more expensive.

[Kraco]

The downside to the latter is that the Asus board is about $100 more expensive.

I don't think you'd be paying for air, though. But then again, like I said earlier, I think closed-circle water cooling is splendid, so don't make it sound like it's only a tragic conclusion you'd be facing.

[Raven]

Oh you're absolutely right Kraco, it's a great alternative, but it'll cost me and possibly send me over the limit of my budget.

[Raven]

I think I've settled on a build – quite a lot has changed since I last posted. I've been researching a hell of a lot.

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-I-Deluxe
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600 low profile 1.35v
GPU: Asus Geforce GTX670 DirectCU II
PSU: Seasonic X-660 80Plus Gold 660W
HDD1: Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD
HDD2: Samsung 830 Series 256GB SSD
Cooling (CPU): Noctua NH-C12P SE14
Cooling (case): BitFenix Spectre Pro 230mm, Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM x 2
Case: BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX (white)
Fan Controller: BitFenix Recon

What do you think? Apart from some sleeved extensions and some cable management I'm just about ready to put through an order.

[Kraco]

I have no experience with Seasonic PSU's, but since they seem no cheaper than OCZ or Corsair, I reckon they must be quality.

Scythe GT 1850rpm probably isn't the most silent thing ever, but I guess you are going to undervoltage it. Although even so it ought to be remembered that the high quality fans are almost without an expection optimized for their nominal rpm and thus they may produce more noise per moved air volume when rotating slower than a fan originally designed for the lower rpm. My only Scythe is the 1450rpm one driving the CPU cooler's radiator, and I like it very much. The new machine won't have even that, though. I wish Scythe made more 140mm models.

You should go forward unless you already have. I have been waiting for my parts (the case is the only thing I have so far) for a week now, and only today sorted out some mistake they had made with the memory - or at least I hope so. I think I picked the most airheaded clerk of the bunch to handle my order...

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, that looks like a pretty neat build.

[Raven]

Yes, from everything I've read the Seasonic X-series are pure quality and I'm yet to read anything bad about them. It's expensive, just under double what I was originally going to pay, but I have been advised not to cheap out on two things: power and cooling. That's the reason I've gone for the Noctua CPU heatsink; again, about double what I was originally going to pay for a cheaper brand.

I do plan to undervoltage all my fans according to noise and performance. My fan controller should automatically turn them up at pre-set temperature limits, and if it gets too noisy I can manually adjust it down. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes. Like you said earlier Kraco: you can slow a faster fan if it's noisy but you can't speed up a slower fan. And oh yeah, I agree about Scythe making more 140mm models.

Here's a copy of my potential airflow setup, it's quite important to get this right in a case this size:

350x700px-LL-3b69323b_RP3xj.jpeg

• 230mm front intake
• 120mm rear intake
• 120mm top-rear outtake

The red box is where I envision the CPU heatsink to sit, pulling hot air up.

Although this might intake some of the PSU's ventilated heat at the rear of the case where it drifts up.

I could make the rear the outtake and the top-rear another intake. Hmmm. It will be an easier decision once I have the case and the fans all in front of me.

[Animeniax]

You should read up on airflow patterns in PC cases before deciding on a plan. I don't think it's recommended that you have two intakes opposing each other. From what I've read when I used to build PCs, you want a constant stream of airflow in one direction.

I think it was said earlier in the thread that you want more intake fans than outtake, which is also contrary to what I recall. Supposedly it's better to have more outtake fans to remove hot air from the case. Pulling in air doesn't do as much to cool the internals as removing the hot air does.

[Raven]

But if you're trying to suck more air out than is being pushed in, it will attempt to suck air in through every little orifice and it effectively becomes a dust magnet, a problem that exists in my current PC. It's trying to pull air that isn't there.

[Buffalobiian]

Although this might intake some of the PSU's ventilated heat at the rear of the case where it drifts up.

That should be minimal. Good quality, efficient PSUs these days barely have to spin during normal use, and the air blown out during load isn't anywhere close to hot (from memory).

I could make the rear the outtake and the top-rear another intake. Hmmm. It will be an easier decision once I have the case and the fans all in front of me.

Having a top-intake might drawn in more dust, but that's just myself thinking. It might not actually draw in any more than a rear exhaust would. At the same time, a top-intake might also extend the fan's life if it's a sleeve-bearing type. Mounting sleeve-bearings into top-blowing position stresses the fans since the blades plus gravity combine together into a downward vector, pulling the fan from the rest of the mount.

^ That's the theory anyway. All I've actually confirmed myself is that there's a clicking noise to be heard when I mount mine horizontally like that.

Regarding the airflow Raven, you can actually try that config without turning on one of the rear intake fans (with your fan controller) to see if the extra fan even has an effect, or even a counter-productive effect. Sometimes just having the vent open for air is enough to deal with any intake-bottlenecks without the potential to stall airflow like Ani was worried about.

[Kraco]

To be honest I find your planned configuration strange, just like Ani. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, because potentially it could be imagined the hot air will be pressed between the fans and then flow out upwards, but I reckon it will still kill off a portion of the airflow by having opposite directions. Besides, does the rear vent have a filter? From what I've seen of cases, the filters are in the front and bottom fan slots, rear and top being open for exhaust. If you draw air in with a fan without a filter, that's the real dust magnet.

Your front fan is humongous 230mm, so it should draw in lots of air in any case.

In my current setup I have two filtered front fans (in), one rear and top fan (out), plus the video card pushing out. I have virtually no dust getting in, even though I've I have had a habit of cleaning the machine with compressed air a few times a year just to be sure. Though my cooling is a bit overefficient at the moment, but I thought better that than an oven. Time will tell how the new machine will turn out since I will try it initially with two filtered front fans in and only one rear fan out.

[Buffalobiian]

Though my cooling is a bit overefficient at the moment, but I thought better that than an oven.

My oven is doing fine thank you very much.

[KrayZ33]

shouldn't a normal airflow look like this

f -----------------
r ////////^-->-->b
o ///////^/////// a
n ///////^/////// c
t --->--^/////// k
--------------------

everything else should only create weird circulations and hinder warm air from getting out

[Buffalobiian]

The traditional model is best for overall case cooling, but if you're looking at increasing cooling of something at the expense of something else (xpu cooling at the expense of ram, let's say), I would say "it doesn't hurt to try". That's particularly the case when chassis dynamics aren't reflected in the theoretical models (unseen blockages etc).

Arctic Cooling's website has a few diagrams that illustrate those concepts, from memory.

[Buffalobiian]

The traditional model is best for overall case cooling, but if you're looking at increasing cooling of something at the expense of something else (xpu cooling at the expense of ram, let's say), I would say "it doesn't hurt to try". That's particularly the case when chassis dynamics aren't reflected in the theoretical models (unseen blockages etc).

Arctic Cooling's website has a few diagrams that illustrate those concepts, from memory.

Said diagrams. Note that the VGA components are hybrid water-cooled blocks with radiators





Talking about cases, 2 cases have caught my attention of late. The first is one that Kraco got recently, the Fractal R4, and the second is the NA-DS1

Both would be ideal if I was to build a computer right now. I wouldn't be able to use the chimney in the DS1 though since that's where I put my DAC and headphone amp. I'll need different furniture sets to do that.

[Kraco]

When I had a top fan in my previous case (in addition to the rear fan obviously), the temperatures were a solid few degrees lower when I put the top fan not in the middle like in those pics but near the back. Although since those pictures use some ancient case with the PSU not at the bottom but up there, I guess it's not relevant.

Talking about cases, 2 cases have caught my attention of late. The first is one that Kraco got recently, the Fractal R4, and the second is the NA-DS1

I also noticed the Nanoxia Deep Silence case the other day (although after I bought mine). It looks really interesting, and it costs only a little more than R4. If I had noticed it earlier, it could have been really tough for me to decide between the two.

[shinta|hikari]

I am looking for a good mechanical keyboard. It would be great if it is fairly cheap. Do you guys have any suggestions?

[Buffalobiian]

I am looking for a good mechanical keyboard. It would be great if it is fairly cheap. Do you guys have any suggestions?

I'm guessing you mean the older, "deep" ones?

I don't have any branded ones to recommend.. only that the older beige coloured ones were almost always nice to use.
The only thing I can say is to consider whether you'll find media keys and backlighting/wireless handy as features you're looking for.