Desktop Case, choices

[abs1]

I am cramped for space and need a new chassi, I currently have an Antec 600 v2. I want something clean this time around no lights, see through covers and the likes, and it must be quiet. For this reason I'm looking at the Lian Li mini towers and my budget is about R2000, but I need to get all my existing components in there, see my sig.

I was also considering a mini-itx or micro-atx build with maybe just replacing some of my existing hardware like the board and cooler but I didn't find anything that I like and at a decent price, but if you guys come up with suggestions I might reconsider.

I really like this case
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29&products_id=6376



Not in my sig, my cooler is a zalman cnps9900 max its about 151 mm tall.

Performance is key as I slightly overclock both the cpu and gpu so airflow is also important.

Thanx

 

[abs1]

I eventually settled for a Lian Li A05FN, to be frank not a very popular choice amongst enthusiasts and pc builders. The dimensions and simplistic style of the box though suit me perfectly hence the purchase. The reviews for this case are also not very favourable, but i do see some potential.

Lets start off with some pics.




I opted for the black version, finger and smudge marks is a b%$@






The airflow of this case is a bit controversial as it draws air from the rear fan and exhaust to the front. On the top side of the case is a removable plate that houses an opening for a 140mm fan. Along with my case I ordered 1 corsair AF 140mm quite fan.

I also didn't like the way airflow was supposed to work and change it to my liking. I reversed the rear to exhaust and reversed the front as an intake fan along with my corsair AF 140mm to intake as well. So i have 2 intake 1 front and 1 at the top and one exhaust rear.

Another controversial issue was the lack of fresh air the gpu gets specially the longer formats as there is a 265mm length limitation and I have to agree it runs a bit hotter than in my previous case but this is a completely different case so i cant really compare.

some more pics post install







I really had to plan the assembly as space is rather confined, I think if I had a matx board it may have been easier. I first mounted the psu which is only 160mm in length which was a perfect fit, to make things easier I disconnected all the sata and pci express power cables as it was modular. Next was the mobo, no troubles at all. The trouble started when I had to hook my 2 3.5 drives in the HD cage and having a gigabyte gtx 670 oc was tough connecting the 2 pci express connectors, there were literally only 20 mm space.

Everything else was a breeze, chassi connections and both ssd's mounted without any major trouble. One consolation was the 2 Mobo openings on either side at bottom of the MB tray, my only problem was Lian Li could at least fitted some grommets around them and they aren't that big either but certainly helped with some cable management.

After putting my baby back to where she belonged I went for a fairly modest overclock. 4.22 on the cpu and 824.4 on the mem with some loose timings. The gpu I used msi's afterburner and set the core to a 100 and memory to 53 which gives me a total boost of 1159 on the clock and 3058 on the memory.

Temps was not too bad at all my ambient room temp was 24, after running UNIGINE HEAVEN 4.0 for 40 minutes on basic and 3dmark afterwards my cpu idle was 35 idle and 64 max. On the gpu it was 35 idle and 74 max.

Some more screenshots follow

 

[NomNom]

You should exhaust at the top, hot air rises. You want as much air coming and going as possible you don't want to recycle the air in your case.

 

[abs1]

Screenshots as promised

 

[abs1]

And some more



Finally my new baby



There are still some more work to be done. What i would like to achieve is shave some degrees off the gpu temps.

My spares are arriving next so will see how it goes.

Cheers

 

[abs1]

You should exhaust at the top, hot air rises. You want as much air coming and going as possible you don't want to recycle the air in your case.

You are 100 percent correct but remember this cases airflow is completely reversed which makes things a bit challenging finding the balance between intake and exhaust as you can see my cpu temps are quite good as the top intake blows right on top of my cpu cooler. I have a plan and will see if it pays dividends.

 

[abs1]

Ok after taking NomNom's advice (thanks) i switched the top fan to exhaust, this managed to drop my idle gpu temps to 34 from 35 and load temps to 64 from 74, thats a whole 10 degrees. My cpu temps basically remained unchanged at 35 idle and 64 load.

The only thing left to do now is to replace the stock front and rear 120mm fans with a pair of corsair af 120mm performance ones.

Overall i'm super happy with the results thus far taking into consideration both the cpu and gpu being overclocked.

Cheers

 

[abs1]

Update

I manage to shave a further 5 degrees off the load and idle temps. I removed both 3.5" drives from the Hard drive cage so air could move unrestricted from the front intake to the graphics card. I replaced both front and rear fans with corsair sp 120mm quiet fans. I also purchased a slim optical plus 3.5 plus usb 2.0 " to 5.25" converter bay to house one of the 3.5" drives plus a new slim optical drive. I also acquired a 3.5" to 5.25" mounting bracket for the second 3.5" drive. Hard drive temps has also dropped to 25 and 30 from 35 and 40. I also upped the cpu to 4.47 ghz from 4.2. Ran prime 95 and heaven 4.0 for 30 min each.



Now the slim optical drive never shipped with any cables and I assumed it would just be the standard sata data and power cables, boy was I wrong, this drive requires a slim sata micro cable. I have searched online but cant find any locally besides wantitall that wants R380 bucks and this drive only cost me R258. See picture.



A big thanks to wootware for hooking me up with my kit, really good service and decent prices not to mention how quickly they get their stock, in fact all my stuff was acquired within 2 business days.