Case and Cooler Suggestions?

garyc

garyc

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I am looking for recommendations on cases and CPU coolers for an air-cooled rig. This machine will be doing mathematical analysis and all the cores on an i7 will be running at 100% for several days at a time. There will not be too much heat from the graphics card (in comparison to a gaming setup at least). The hard drives will be working hard. How the case looks is not important.

Also, any suggestions on motherboards that can take this abuse will be welcome (it seems like there are some out there that cannot take it)
 
Any case will work if you leave the side panel open, probably the cheapest solution.
 
Budget.

Edit:

Also, you seem to be creating the premise that the PC will specifically need a high-airflow case due to its intended tasks. Not so, any modern case with 2/3 fans will do. Further this means you could end up going for something aesthetically pleasing, or spending a lot less on something you previously deemed unsuitable.
 
Last edited:
froot said:
Open side panel -> Rarely makes a decent difference in CPU-temps.
Click to expand...

In a R1000+ case perhaps. I'd wager stock cooler you'd still see a drop
In a cheapy R300 case, watch those temps drop
 
Archer said:
In a R1000+ case perhaps. I'd wager stock cooler you'd still see a drop
In a cheapy R300 case, watch those temps drop
Click to expand...

Got to agree with this, especially considering taller air coolers which would benefit from a greater abundance of cooler air available. Stock/LP coolers to a lesser degree.
 
I think froot is right. I read somewhere that it has to do with the flow of air and that they are designed to be closed so the airflow can be channeled to the correct places. When the side panel is off the airflow is all out of whack and not great for cooling

Who knows
 
Reaper84 said:
I think froot is right. I read somewhere that it has to do with the flow of air and that they are designed to be closed so the airflow can be channeled to the correct places. When the side panel is off the airflow is all out of whack and not great for cooling

Who knows
Click to expand...

I think it's parts such as RAM, NB and SB that are more prone to getting hotter with an open side panel. I can feel my TR MUX120 pulling in air from beyond where the side panel would be if it was attached. Perhaps it pulls warmer "stagnant" air from around the mobo etc. through the lower fins of the cooler. My temps are definitely better with side panel off though.
 
Is noise an issue? What about the environment? Clean, or is dust a concern?
 
I'd say go for the Antec 100 (One Hundred) with 1x or 2x 120mm fan's for the hard drives.
Then for the CPU, just get a cheap Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo.

I'm cooling my i7 860 with an Coolermaster Hyper 212+, which is in a cheap Coolermaster Elite 310 case and the temperatures are pretty decent under load.

Overclocking the CPU makes a massive difference in terms of the temperature - even in my gaming chassis.
 
Why do you guys even bother recommending cases above R500?!

This is an office PC and not a gaming PC that is running multiple high-end graphics cards.
If it is a non-overclocked Sandy Bridge Core i7 CPU, then he'll need even less cooling.

Also, most office PC's sit in air-conditioned rooms, unlike most of us who have our gaming PC's running in rooms where it can get like 30-35'C on occasion.
 
Pada said:
Why do you guys even bother recommending cases above R500?!

This is an office PC and not a gaming PC that is running multiple high-end graphics cards.
If it is a non-overclocked Sandy Bridge Core i7 CPU, then he'll need even less cooling.

Also, most office PC's sit in air-conditioned rooms, unlike most of us who have our gaming PC's running in rooms where it can get like 30-35'C on occasion.
Click to expand...

Because this is all we were told:
garyc said:
I am looking for recommendations on cases and CPU coolers for an air-cooled rig. This machine will be doing mathematical analysis and all the cores on an i7 will be running at 100% for several days at a time. There will not be too much heat from the graphics card (in comparison to a gaming setup at least). The hard drives will be working hard. How the case looks is not important.

Also, any suggestions on motherboards that can take this abuse will be welcome (it seems like there are some out there that cannot take it)
Click to expand...

My assumption it is a university machine that will sit in some room, with no aircon, windows most likely only open during the day and most likely dusty.

I also wouldn't rule out an OC on an i7 it's very easy to get them to 4GHz on a decent air cooler. This would significantly speed up the mathematical analysis OP speaks of..
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, it looks like the forum members have some good experience in this.

The budget is not too important, a bit extra on the case in order to get the right stability will be worth it if required. The room it is sitting in is not dusty and does not (usually) go over 30 C.
 
Archer said:
In a R1000+ case perhaps. I'd wager stock cooler you'd still see a drop
In a cheapy R300 case, watch those temps drop
Click to expand...

Remove both side panels & put a cheap box fan next to it and you get even better results :D
 
The corsair 500R and coolermaster cm 690 2 advanced is great cases for the price and also offer pretty decent cooling if you do find your budget a bit tight..As for a cpu cooler my recommendation is this

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?products_id=69832

Got very good review from bit-tech and isn't expensive.I can't get in the web-site to copy the link to bit-tech review:wtf: stupid internet at work.
 
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