Advice on a New Case and Cooling system

Aresrin · 03-13-2006, 05:46 AM

I am looking to upgrade my case. I have gone through a lot of sites trying to find the best case/fan(s) combination. Allow me to explain my situation in detail:

Location: My computer is located on the floor of my bedroom about five feet from my bed, I would like to keep my computer running during the night so a low noise level and minimal light are a fairly high priority.
System: a slightly upgraded hp a220n, the specs for which can be found here:http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph08440.pdf
the upgrades I have made are:
a leadtek 6800gt AGP8x
1 gig of Kingston Value Ram
a Creaive Soundblaster Live! PCi card

Main issues: My current case has only one 80mm exhaust fan, and only has one open slot for a 80mm intake fan. I am finding that my 6800gt is running hotter than I like: 62C idle/69-71C Load with an ambient temp of 50C (taking the side panel off my case lowers these temps to 56C idle/61-63C load with an ambient temp fo 46C) . I don't know my cpu's temps because it does not seem to have a temp sensor (way to go HP), but I'm guessing its not happy either. Plus my case just doesn't look very good next to the pimped-out rigs some of my friends bring to the LAN parties.

My current thoughts: I hope to build a new system soon, but do not have the money at the moment, so I would like to get a new case and fan system that will help out my current PC and can be used for a new system when the time comes.

so far I am considering the fallowing:

Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/cspd3bc563.html
250mm case fan should provide plenty of airflow with low dBAs, however I haven't found any solid reviews on this case so I can't be sure. The only other case I have to compare it to is the AeroCool ExtremEngine 3T, which is just a little too expensive considering it only has a manual fan controller, has no psu, and has no external 3.5” bays.

2X Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm fan
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/a1926.html
heard mixed reviews about this fan, stats seem solid but the reviews at newegg suggest that it is far louder than its stated volume of 21dBA, plus these have LEDs which I would like to avoid.

Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sstfp52b.html
don't want to constantly mess with knobs so an automatic fan controller sounds like a good way to keep the noise to a minimum at night, although I will have to buy some 4-pin to 3-pin adapters to get it to work with the Thunderblades.

and finally some noise dampeners for the 120mm fans, maybe these rubber washers
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/grommet.html

so right now my cart looks like this:
2X 4 Pieces of Grommets (Rubber Washers) 3.50
Silver/Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case CS-PD3B.C563, w/ 500W PSU, 25cm Side Fan, Blue Light Button 57.00
2X Blue Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm LED Fan, 17.98
Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52 33.00
Total Purchases 111.48
Shipping 21.55
Total $133.03

Any thoughts about how to lower costs, lower noise, raise cooling performance, or this setup in general would be greatly appreciated, especially in regards to the 120mm fans. I would like to keep costs below $150.

rahving · 03-13-2006, 06:17 AM

No clue if you would be interested at all, but figured I would throw this out. Check out www.antec.com try to find the Sonata 2 case, it was made to be very quiet, I don't think it emits much light, and already has a very solid psu that comes with it. Price is $100 usd before shipping.

I'm pretty sure it has good airflow as well.

dark_angel · 03-13-2006, 08:03 AM

if you want a small case i like the barebone cases. i never hear a niose from mine apart from when i run up a cd. but not sure how that would go with handling ya current system. just my thoughts

Greggie Boy · 03-14-2006, 02:46 AM

Stay away from the Aspire X Navigator. It is by no means quiet and the lights are very bright. Not for a bedroom at all.

Chris Chan · 03-16-2006, 01:22 PM

About the Sonata: It has 2 VERY bright blue LEDs in the front. And it's $120 before ship.

03-13-2006, 05:46 AM	#1 (permalink)
Aresrin New Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1	Advice on a New Case and Cooling system I am looking to upgrade my case. I have gone through a lot of sites trying to find the best case/fan(s) combination. Allow me to explain my situation in detail: Location: My computer is located on the floor of my bedroom about five feet from my bed, I would like to keep my computer running during the night so a low noise level and minimal light are a fairly high priority. System: a slightly upgraded hp a220n, the specs for which can be found here:http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph08440.pdf the upgrades I have made are: a leadtek 6800gt AGP8x 1 gig of Kingston Value Ram a Creaive Soundblaster Live! PCi card Main issues: My current case has only one 80mm exhaust fan, and only has one open slot for a 80mm intake fan. I am finding that my 6800gt is running hotter than I like: 62C idle/69-71C Load with an ambient temp of 50C (taking the side panel off my case lowers these temps to 56C idle/61-63C load with an ambient temp fo 46C) . I don't know my cpu's temps because it does not seem to have a temp sensor (way to go HP), but I'm guessing its not happy either. Plus my case just doesn't look very good next to the pimped-out rigs some of my friends bring to the LAN parties. My current thoughts: I hope to build a new system soon, but do not have the money at the moment, so I would like to get a new case and fan system that will help out my current PC and can be used for a new system when the time comes. so far I am considering the fallowing: Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case http://store.yahoo.com/directron/cspd3bc563.html 250mm case fan should provide plenty of airflow with low dBAs, however I haven't found any solid reviews on this case so I can't be sure. The only other case I have to compare it to is the AeroCool ExtremEngine 3T, which is just a little too expensive considering it only has a manual fan controller, has no psu, and has no external 3.5” bays. 2X Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm fan http://store.yahoo.com/directron/a1926.html heard mixed reviews about this fan, stats seem solid but the reviews at newegg suggest that it is far louder than its stated volume of 21dBA, plus these have LEDs which I would like to avoid. Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52 http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sstfp52b.html don't want to constantly mess with knobs so an automatic fan controller sounds like a good way to keep the noise to a minimum at night, although I will have to buy some 4-pin to 3-pin adapters to get it to work with the Thunderblades. and finally some noise dampeners for the 120mm fans, maybe these rubber washers http://store.yahoo.com/directron/grommet.html so right now my cart looks like this: 2X 4 Pieces of Grommets (Rubber Washers) 3.50 Silver/Black Dynapower Prestige Mid-Tower Computer Case CS-PD3B.C563, w/ 500W PSU, 25cm Side Fan, Blue Light Button 57.00 2X Blue Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm LED Fan, 17.98 Black SilverStone Eudemon SSTFP52 33.00 Total Purchases 111.48 Shipping 21.55 Total $133.03 Any thoughts about how to lower costs, lower noise, raise cooling performance, or this setup in general would be greatly appreciated, especially in regards to the 120mm fans. I would like to keep costs below $150.

03-13-2006, 06:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
rahving Silver Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 195	No clue if you would be interested at all, but figured I would throw this out. Check out www.antec.com try to find the Sonata 2 case, it was made to be very quiet, I don't think it emits much light, and already has a very solid psu that comes with it. Price is $100 usd before shipping. I'm pretty sure it has good airflow as well. __________________ My system. cpu - AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans mobo - AM2 Foxconn memory - 1 GB PQI ddr2 533 hard drive - WD 80GB Serial Ata floppy - NEC black cd/dvd - Lite-On 16X DVD video card - Geforce 7600GT case - Antec SLK1650B

03-13-2006, 08:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
dark_angel Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: australia Age: 20 Posts: 208	if you want a small case i like the barebone cases. i never hear a niose from mine apart from when i run up a cd. but not sure how that would go with handling ya current system. just my thoughts __________________ Case/Processor: SB61G2 X-PC Barebones AMD Athlon (tm) 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz Hard Drive/Memory:Seagate 120GB SATA-150/1GB RAM Video Card/Sound Card:NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 (Microsoft Corporation)/NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Monitor: 17" CMV CT-712A LCD Speakers/Headphones: Logitech R20 2.1 Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Logitech MX518 Operating System: Windows XP Professional

03-16-2006, 01:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
Chris Chan Platinum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Michigan, USA Age: 16 Posts: 509	About the Sonata: It has 2 VERY bright blue LEDs in the front. And it's $120 before ship. __________________ desktop: Celeron 1.7/512MB/80GB/integrated/Ubuntu 7.10 server: P4 2.8/768MB/40GB/integrated/Debian Etch laptop: G3 500MHz/256MB/10GB/RageMobility/Debian Etch laptop soon: Sempron 2800+/512MB/40GB/integrated/Ubuntu 7.10 laptop soon: PII 300MHz/192MB/40GB/?/Debian Etch

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03-14-2006, 02:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
Greggie Boy Silver Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 155	Stay away from the Aspire X Navigator. It is by no means quiet and the lights are very bright. Not for a bedroom at all.