Chassis Question - Looking for a cheap effective one

AstroTurf said:
The psu fan also helps suck all the latent heat out the box when it is at the top. Heat rises so having it at the bottom makes no sense to me.
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Basic physics is the reason.
Hot air into PSU = hotter PSU = more resistance = more power needed = even hotter = more resistance = etc etc etc

Ok, ok, it will never be quite that bad, but there is a small efficiency drop due to the added heat. Hence most cases now let the PSU be its own zone, with no air from anywhere else going near it.

Oh also, even the worst fan in the world will be able to force the hot air from a PC downwards. Simple hot air rising has very very little force behind it. Whatever fans you have in your case will dictate the direction of airflow, not the "hot air rises" thing.
 
I do like the idea of a PSU in its own "zone" but then it must be completely isolated. Of course this means if your PSU fan dies so does the PSU.
 
HavocXphere said:
What exactly is the thinking behind having the PSU at the bottom? Aside from lower center of gravity I can't see any real benefit?
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Because hot air rises you don't want heat from the rest of the pc heating up the power supply even more than what it already is.
 
HavocXphere said:
What exactly is the thinking behind having the PSU at the bottom? Aside from lower center of gravity I can't see any real benefit?


Or mobo, or CPU or...eh just never compromise on anything.
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It's mainly the lower center of gravity. Also, what Archer said. Mine is completely isolated from the rest of the pc. Its sucks air in at the bottom & blows it out the back.
 
Archer said:
Basic physics is the reason.
Hot air into PSU = hotter PSU = more resistance = more power needed = even hotter = more resistance = etc etc etc

Ok, ok, it will never be quite that bad, but there is a small efficiency drop due to the added heat. Hence most cases now let the PSU be its own zone, with no air from anywhere else going near it.
Click to expand...

That is the idea behind it, yes, but like you say, I do doubt that it'll have that big an effect on the overall temp if it is top mounted if you have sufficient cooling, but it does in my opinion make it a bit better as it sucks cold air from the bottom rather than the air coming off the CPU.

AstroTurf said:
I do like the idea of a PSU in its own "zone" but then it must be completely isolated. Of course this means if your PSU fan dies so does the PSU.
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Here's the chassis I was talking about, the Antec P193 V3

It's also got 3 layers in the front and 2 on the side panels "Three-layer, sound-deadening front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) and 2-layer side panels dampen noise and ensure Quiet Computing™"

And here's how it looks inside, with the PSU enclosure:
P193_open.jpg


BUT it's R1 400...
 
Those Antec cases are awesome silent machines. I have (long ago) stood next to one that had two 6800 Ultra's in SLI, with those hot and noisy Pentium 4's - it was bliss. The noise levels were really low. I think the CRT monitor that was humming was making more noise than the PC itself :)
 
Libertas Computers said:
That is the idea behind it, yes, but like you say, I do doubt that it'll have that big an effect on the overall temp if it is top mounted if you have sufficient cooling, but it does in my opinion make it a bit better as it sucks cold air from the bottom rather than the air coming off the CPU.



Here's the chassis I was talking about, the Antec P193 V3

It's also got 3 layers in the front and 2 on the side panels "Three-layer, sound-deadening front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) and 2-layer side panels dampen noise and ensure Quiet Computing™"

And here's how it looks inside, with the PSU enclosure:
P193_open.jpg


BUT it's R1 400...
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Very nice case but the price is way past what I would pay.

I use relatively cheap cases myself, both my home pc's are in 2n'd hand boxes as It is not something I want to spend money on when it makes no difference to performance. (my one box I recently retired was an old server case, with nothing in it it weighs around 7/8kg's, I have built everything from a P1 166 w/mmx all the way up to a dualcore P4 into that box over the years, very rugged but not to pretty).

I ran a pc for about 2 months at one stage with the motherboard sitting on a piece of polystyrene, never ran anything cooler. I have a 2yo daughter now so such projects are risky with grabby fingers and an inquisitive mind in the mix.

I have considered just taking all the fans off a box, cutting a huge hole in the side and sticking a very big, slow moving fan in the hole to keep everything cool but sounds like a lot of effort for a little noise reduction.

I may be moving my one pc to a more silent case or may make the case as silent as possible myself soon as it stands behind the tv but silent pc's are not a priority to me, aircons, feedback from speakers, babba toys and all the rest drown the sound of the box out.

In my opinion the only real reason for a truly silent pc is if it needs to be used in a sound booth or for another sound sensitive application.
 
AstroTurf said:
In my opinion the only real reason for a truly silent pc is if it needs to be used in a sound booth or for another sound sensitive application.
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Or when you do some nighttime downloading/gaming :)
 
Libertas Computers said:
I know.. I was just pointing out the sound dampeningnessness of the chassis...

I'm still waiting for a really good reason why I shouldn't get the Elite 371..
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Can't think of one, it looks like a good case, except maybe, the cheaper Coolermaster cases' plastic clips for holding the cards are really poor, they are pretty much guaranteed to break, and 2 of them won't hold a heavy, dual slot graphics card (which most are today). It was never really an issue for me since I used screws anyways, but just keep it in mind.
 
The one thing I don't like about the 371 is the side facing drive bays. Otherwise it looks like a decent if cheap-ish model chassis.
 
TJ99 said:
...except maybe, the cheaper Coolermaster cases' plastic clips for holding the cards are really poor, they are pretty much guaranteed to break, and 2 of them won't hold a heavy, dual slot graphics card (which most are today). It was never really an issue for me since I used screws anyways, but just keep it in mind.
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Jip, saw that, but I don't mind that either, I'll also be screwing mine on..

cerebus said:
The one thing I don't like about the 371 is the side facing drive bays. Otherwise it looks like a decent if cheap-ish model chassis.
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That doesn't bother me at all, its not like I'll be hot swapping in any case and it's not that big a cable management issue..
 
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