S
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Summerbuzz
Guest
I'm building a new m-atx system (hurrah!) and could do with picking a brain or two regarding cases and airflow.
The core system is a Gigabyte b85 m-atx board, i7 4790k, EVGA 500b, 2*8 gb ddr3, and I'll be adding a full length graphics card (960 or 970, depending on finances).
Case wise, at the moment I've got one of these ordered
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aquila/5.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigm ... ila/5.html</a>
It looks like an easy build, and as it's mesh at the top and front, I can see several options for cooling, and the airflow.
[bigimg]http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aquila/images/install1.jpg[/bigimg]
The pic shows a top-down cooler, there is an exhaust fan at the back. Personally I'd stick a cheap AIO on the cpu and the 240mm radiator at the top. Whatever. Easy.
BUT I'm having second thoughts, because it's quite a big case, and I'm less keen on the look and effects of mesh everywhere on noise levels. And it's taking longer to get stock than I thought
So, I looked at one of these (without the nvidia branding)
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/cases/bitfenix-phenom-micro-atx-nvidia-edition-case-review/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/cas ... se-review/</a>
Same price, it's more compact, and the build quality/looks are fantastic. I really love that it doesn't have a 5.25" bay.
[bigimg]http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/images/BitFenix-Phenom-Nvidia-Edition-complete-right.jpg[/bigimg]
Obviously the board fits in sideways. with the GPU towards the top... but the PSU is at the bottom front. I'm ok with fitting all components in, but I can't figure out how I'd do the airflow. It doesn't breath from the front - it has a 240mm mesh at the top, and a big mesh at the bottom.
How would you sort out the airflow? Remember, it doesn't breath from the front. Would you have intake fans at the bottom, tower CPU cooler pointing toward the back like in the picture? If I do that, does having the PSU at the bottom front affect things? Is a half decent 500w warm these days? More importantly how does the graphics card at the top affect things? For the life of me I can't figure it out.
I'd really like this case. Really, really. The CPU is 95w TDP but has a reputation for being quite hot, but I don't want to do a big overclock, if at all. The NVidia GPU's are quite efficient, so I don't think I'll run into big problems, but still, I won't buy it unless I can be happy the airflow is going to work.
Please. Help. Me?
The core system is a Gigabyte b85 m-atx board, i7 4790k, EVGA 500b, 2*8 gb ddr3, and I'll be adding a full length graphics card (960 or 970, depending on finances).
Case wise, at the moment I've got one of these ordered
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aquila/5.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigm ... ila/5.html</a>
It looks like an easy build, and as it's mesh at the top and front, I can see several options for cooling, and the airflow.
[bigimg]http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Xigmatek/Aquila/images/install1.jpg[/bigimg]
The pic shows a top-down cooler, there is an exhaust fan at the back. Personally I'd stick a cheap AIO on the cpu and the 240mm radiator at the top. Whatever. Easy.
BUT I'm having second thoughts, because it's quite a big case, and I'm less keen on the look and effects of mesh everywhere on noise levels. And it's taking longer to get stock than I thought
So, I looked at one of these (without the nvidia branding)
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/cases/bitfenix-phenom-micro-atx-nvidia-edition-case-review/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/cas ... se-review/</a>
Same price, it's more compact, and the build quality/looks are fantastic. I really love that it doesn't have a 5.25" bay.
[bigimg]http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/images/BitFenix-Phenom-Nvidia-Edition-complete-right.jpg[/bigimg]
Obviously the board fits in sideways. with the GPU towards the top... but the PSU is at the bottom front. I'm ok with fitting all components in, but I can't figure out how I'd do the airflow. It doesn't breath from the front - it has a 240mm mesh at the top, and a big mesh at the bottom.
How would you sort out the airflow? Remember, it doesn't breath from the front. Would you have intake fans at the bottom, tower CPU cooler pointing toward the back like in the picture? If I do that, does having the PSU at the bottom front affect things? Is a half decent 500w warm these days? More importantly how does the graphics card at the top affect things? For the life of me I can't figure it out.
I'd really like this case. Really, really. The CPU is 95w TDP but has a reputation for being quite hot, but I don't want to do a big overclock, if at all. The NVidia GPU's are quite efficient, so I don't think I'll run into big problems, but still, I won't buy it unless I can be happy the airflow is going to work.
Please. Help. Me?