Somehow I was faced with the question of buying a game TV-box for my children, but after some thought I decided to assemble a gaming computer the size of just the same set-top boxes - i.e. miniITX format. Firstly, games for a PC are cheaper, and secondly, on a PC you can play games for a game console that are not intended and which will never be released on consoles. In addition, I wanted the machine to combine the functions of a media server. Well, that is children and play toys, and watch cartoons / movies.
Accordingly, I need a platform with a separate modern processor such as Core i3 / i5 and a modern discrete graphics card. The rest (hard drive, Wi-Fi adapter, remotes, joysticks, optical drive) to taste. No sooner said than done.
But, as it turned out, not everything is so simple. The last time I climbed into the system unit with a screwdriver was seven years ago and somehow I am not very familiar with modern "iron" formats and technologies. As it turned out, assembling a miniITX computer turned out to be a non-trivial task with its pitfalls. Looking ahead, I will say that I had to buy / change previously purchased components, work with a hacksaw and a file, and in the end I assembled two mini-systems - a play machine for children and a workstation for myself.
It is generally accepted that the lot of miniITX systems is HTPC and workstations that are undemanding to the graphics subsystem. Indeed, the assembly of a gaming machine causes some difficulties associated with the placement of a video card in the case and an optimal cooling system.
Every fool knows to start with a nutshell. Astrid Lindgren
Choosing a case
There are several types of cases for miniITX boards:- Barebone (these are square ones)
- Slim (thin cases with a thickness of 9-10 cm with the possibility of installing a low-profile video card)
- UltraSlim (thin cases up to 7 cm thick without the possibility of installing expansion cards)
Barebone
Width 20-30 cm, length 32-36 cm, height 12-20 cm.
Perhaps the perfect case for our task. As a rule, a full-fledged ATX power supply is installed in such cases with all that it implies - active PFC, high efficiency, it can be replaced, since there are enough offers on the market. In such cases, you can install a full-size video card and, as a result, a more powerful one in relation to low-profile ones. In such cases, there are enough ventilation holes and it is possible to install a large low-speed fan inside, which has a beneficial effect on cooling during quiet operation. It is also possible to install more than one hard drive.
The only negative is the size, or rather the thickness. Such a case can only be installed in one position and cannot be placed behind a monitor / TV or hung on a VESA mount. But on the other hand, you can put a cup of coffee and a saucer of cookies on it.
Let's take a look inside
Photo case Codegen SuperPower MX31-A1
Actually, everything that I wrote about above is present in it.
Choosing a video card
Pay attention to the space for the video card. A video card should not just be single-slot, but occupy exactly one slot. Although most cards are single-slot, in reality, due to the heatsink and the fan, they take up more space. You can find either the appropriate case, for example, the more expensive Cooler Master Elite 120, or the appropriate video card, for example, one of the following:
ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 900Mhz PCI-E 3.0 2048Mb 1066Mhz 128 bit, XFX Radeon HD 7750 800Mhz PCI-E 3.0 1024Mb 4500Mhz 128 bit, InnoVISION GeForce GT 630 810Mhz PCI-E 2.0 1024Mb 3200Mhz 128 bit, respectively.
The developers of these video cards require the installation of a power supply unit of at least 400 watts, which is quite feasible in the Barebone form factor.
Slim-Desktop Enclosures
Width 20-30 cm, length 32-36 cm, height 9-12 cm.
Same size as Barebone, only slightly thinner. This format already imposes some restrictions on us. It is possible to install only low-profile video cards. Power supplies here are usually 8cmX8cmX15cm TFX format or 8cmX6cmX15cm Flex format with lower power than ATX (usually no more than 300 watts). The advantages include the smaller size than the Barebone and the ability to install both horizontally and vertically (usually the set includes legs for horizontal installation). If installed horizontally, you will no longer be able to put a cup of coffee, as the ventilation holes will be blocked.
What's inside
Photo of case IN WIN BP659
Cooling problems are immediately visible. The PSU fan is blowing into the case, and the vent on the opposite side is blocked by a video card. The case fan only cools the hard drive. Vertical installation is possible only on the legs, otherwise the ventilation hole for the video card will be blocked. Be prepared for the case to warm up under stress.
There are also cases where the power supply is located not from above, but from below, and the video card is located directly above it. For example Foxconn RS-224.
Also, some inconvenience can be caused by using the drive when installing the case vertically. In some cases, it is possible to install a slim-disk drive (Winsis Wi-08) 
Choosing a video card
We also have a narrowing range of suitable video cards. The video card must be low-profile and occupy one slot. Compared to full-size, such video cards are less powerful.
Point of View GeForce GT 630 810Mhz PCI-E 2.0 1024Mb 1066Mhz 128 bit, MSI Radeon HD 6570 650Mhz PCI-E 2.1 1024Mb 1800Mhz 128 bit, ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 810Mhz PCI-E 2.0 1024Mb 1066Mhz 64 bit, respectively.
Manufacturers of these video cards require a 300-watt power supply, which can already cause some difficulties, since a 300-watt power supply is the exception rather than the rule for this case format. In fact, even if the power supply unit operates at 70% efficiency (~ 200 watts), this power will be enough for the normal operation of the machine:
- Intel Sandy Bridge processors consume 65 watts
- Intel Ivy Bridge processors consume 55 watts, and with frequencies below 2900 MHz - 35 watts
- Video cards on the first two presented chips consume 65 watts, less powerful on the GeForce GT 610 chip - 35 watts
- Memory, fans and hard drive together ~ 20 watts
Ultra-Slim Cases
Width 20-30 cm, length 20-34 cm, height 6-8 cm.
The enclosures of this type are smaller and lower than the previous ones. Primarily due to the fact that their main purpose is HTPC based on integrated CPU and GPU and workstations / thin clients. It is these cases that can be hung on a VESA mount on the monitor. These housings are not designed for the use of expansion cards (video cards) and picoPSU with a power of up to 90 watts act as a power supply unit. But there are instances with ATX-units with a capacity of 150-250 watts. As a rule, such power supplies have their own format and in case of failure it will have to completely change the case. Due to the small size of the power supplies (~ 7cmX7cmX10cm), there is no need to talk about any voltage stabilization and high efficiency.
What's inside
Photo case LinkWorld LC-920-03B
Considering the small size of the case, the cooling system looks very bad. Air flows from the power supply do not pass through the chassis, but are blown downward. Due to the upper and lower holes when installing fans in them, the case will be very well ventilated. There is only a small problem with cooling the hard drive. The processor requires a low-profile cooling system.
Choosing a video card
Since there is no way to install a video card on a regular basis, we will have to resort to the services of a hacksaw and a file, and we will also need additional devices. With proper dexterity, the video card can be placed parallel to the motherboard through a flexible or angled riser.
To implement such an idea, you will need to choose a motherboard with an upper processor socket.
Unfortunately, with this approach, the video card blocks the radiator of the south bridge, which complicates its cooling. When using a hard corner riser, the video card can be positioned lower under the motherboard by first moving the power supply to the right. If it succeeds and the power of the power supply allows it, then you can plug in a more powerful video card that takes up more than one slot. In the presented layout, only the compact card ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 810Mhz PCI-E 2.0 1024Mb 1066Mhz 64 bit will fit (photo above).
Is it possible to do without a discrete video card at all?
If you really want to, then you canThe graphics subsystem of modern Intel and AMD processors can handle most modern games at low and medium settings in 720p resolution. You can also pay attention to motherboards with an integrated discrete graphics card. At the moment, she is the only one - ZOTAC Z68ITX-B-E with a discrete integrated graphics processor NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 for the LGA1155 processor. Intel Ivy Bridge support is available via BIOS flashing. 
Instead of a conclusion
Performance and picture quality in modern games are rather subjective characteristics. Someone feels comfortable with the minimum settings and screen resolution, someone only accepts the maximum quality and performance. Of course, the solutions presented here are very much inferior to powerful gaming machines, but each of them is quite workable for its own conditions.P.S. Used photos from Yandex.Market
Task: build a small-sized home server with four 3.5-inch HDDs, as quiet as possible. It will serve as a NAS, backup server and torrent download.
Solution :
First, it was necessary to choose a motherboard. The standard options are mATX and Mini-ITX, both of which I've tried before.
The mATX form factor was rejected right away, and you can't make it compact with little effort. Existing cases for mATX boards are not designed for 4 disks; they usually contain bad and noisy power supplies. It is difficult and expensive to make a compact and quiet power supply for such a system, since the power consumption will be more than 150 watts.
The Mini-ITX form factor gives you a lot of freedom of choice, here are the slow-speed Atom, Celeron processors, the vigorous "mid-range" Athlon and the powerful Core 2 Duo / Quad. The price varies greatly, but Atom is enough for my tasks. Such motherboards consume little power, take up little space and are usually not much inferior to mATX motherboards in terms of the number of functions. There are also disadvantages here: high prices, slightly fewer connectors, a small selection.
Unfortunately, the choice of Mini-ITX boards on the Russian market is less than abroad, but this should not be surprising, given their low popularity. A good assortment is presented on Yandex-Market and in some companies specializing in small form factors. It is worth noting here Anteks and Onyx (aka dont.ru). On foreign sites (linitx.com, mini-itx.com, idotpc.com) the choice is much wider.
I didn't find a suitable low-power motherboard with 4 SATA connectors, but I didn't want to buy a sata controller with two and separately, a single PCI slot might still come in handy for something more useful, for example a Wi-Fi adapter.
I also wanted to make a home router out of a computer, so I was looking for a board with two ethernet connectors.
The choice was, albeit not large, but after googling, I found an excellent board with a dual-core Atom processor, PCI slot, two ethernet connectors and, lo and behold, four SATA connectors. A great option: a low-power, but not entirely weak processor, a full set of necessary connectors and only one fan.
Now it was necessary to choose a case. For 4 hard drives, there was only one case, Chenbro ES34069, which looks as great as the found board, but quite expensive. After reading the forums, it turned out that he was not very quiet.
Ok, let's move on, you can buy another case and make room for 4 disks in it. At that time, I could only imagine how to place the disks, but this did not frighten me. After a thorough search, two small cases suitable for roominess were found: AOpen S180 and CFI GROUP CBI-A8989TG. Both were reminiscent of the case of the first bareborn systems. According to the calculations, both were suitable, but I decided to take the case from Aopen, which was a little higher, so that there was room in reserve. Subsequently, this decision turned out to be the only correct one, since everything would not have been packed so well in the second building. But first things first.
The power supply unit in the purchased case turned out to be extremely noisy and I decided to look for an alternative. Power supplies for Mini-ITX systems usually consist of two components - an AC adapter, like in laptops, and a converter board. The board converts the voltage supplied by the unit, usually 12 Volts, into the required 3.3, 5, 12, -12 Volts. According to calculations, the system should have consumed up to 100 watts at its peak. The range of such fanless power supplies turned out to be very small. It turned out to be impossible to find a board and an adapter with an output power of more than 80 watts in Moscow. Adapters 220 - 12 Volts with a capacity of 100 watts in Moscow are piece goods, trips to the markets and searches on the network yielded almost nothing. Only one company offered to bring a 120-watt power supply, but at an unclear time. There was also a single 120-watt board, also made to order and at an unclear time. I had to search on foreign Internet. German and American stores offered such kits, there was even a good selection, but at a price of about $ 200 with delivery. Then I drew attention to car converters, essentially the same boards, only designed for floating 12-24 Volts, and not stable 12. It is much easier to find a power supply for such boards, because any laptop with a capacity of 100-120 W will work. I had a power supply and found a similarly priced one on eBay. Great, we just had to wait for him in the mail.
The hard drives were chosen from the Barracuda LP series, they are cheaper and less hot than the older 7002.11 and the like. However, during the tests, it turned out that under loads they still get very hot and forced cooling would not interfere with them. Between the discs, it was necessary to make gaps for free air passage.
The case I bought had an iron carriage for attaching one 5 "and two 3.5" devices. It was not possible to fix 4 disks well on it. But this task was perfectly handled by a metal carriage designed to install four drives in three 5-inch bays, which was given to me by a friend. There was a place on it for attaching a fan; when installing the disks, there were enough slots between them for blowing.
In Leroy Merlin, there were iron corners and screws suitable for fixing the carriage in the case. The adapter board was fixed on specially soldered metal stands. The power supply that came with the case was removed, on the back of the case, in the place where the fan of the power supply and the 220V connector was blown out, an impressive empty space was formed, which had to be closed somehow. Using metal scissors, I carefully cut out a patch from a sheet of aluminum and attached it to the body. Now we had to make a tricky MOLEX-4 SATA power cable, since the power supply had only one molex connector. 20-pin power cable connecting mat. I soldered the board and the power converter from the loop from the old power supply.
The motherboard supported PWM fan speed control, and to purge the hard drives, you had to buy a quiet fan, go shopping and buy one PWM fan and one quiet one with a special resistor to slow down its slow rotation even more. I removed the standard fan on the motherboard heatsink, deciding that there would be enough fan on the case. It turned out that one cooler blows on the disks, the second drives this air out of the case, simultaneously cooling the processor and the chipset. During the tests, the processor overheated and I thought of building a semblance of an air duct from a sheet of plastic. The drawing took several days to finish, was mocked up from paper and, as a result, with the help of scissors and glue, it was turned into a plastic casing for a radiator on a mat. board.
The easiest task was to buy memory. :) For the system partition, I bought an 8 GB flash drive and soldered an adapter to it to connect to the internal connector on the mat. board. The OS was installed on a USB flash drive, the computer was assembled. As a result, I assembled a quiet computer, where everything turned out to be quite compact, there was really little free space inside.
It is currently running Ubuntu 9.10 and backups are done using snapback2 + rsync.
Final estimate
Small test
Here are the unixbench results and, for comparison, the benchmark results for a desktop computer (Athlon X2, 2 cores, 2.5 GHz, 2 GB RAM) and a server based on the Xeon 5500 (8 cores, 2.5 GHz, 48 GB RAM).
Outcomes
I found the cheapest NAS with 4 disks on Yandex-Market for 14,000 rubles (without disks). My computer came out a thousand rubles cheaper and certainly more powerful and functional. Of the minuses - a lot of time was spent, it was not easy to find the details in my case, and let's add here the risks of buying goods from abroad by mail.Thank you for your attention!
Helping to define high-end experiences
While many of our readers are dreaming of a high-performance system through the pages of high-end hardware reviews, some of them, having assembled one or two overly noisy computers, are now willing to pay a little extra for excellent cooling and vastly improved noise cancellation.
Not all cases in today's comparison are specifically aimed at buyers looking for silent models, although every company sent in the quietest gaming samples they could find. It would be unfair to contrast gaming enclosures with acoustic foam, but we also know that design is just as important to noise cancellation as material. Before we get to any conclusions, let's take a closer look at the hardware supported by these systems, as well as their ease of installation.
| Antec sonata iv | Bitfenix colossus | Fractal Design Define XL | Lian Li PC-B25S | NZXT H2 Classic | SilverStone Raven RV02-E | |
| Height, cm | 43.9 | 57.4 | 56.3 | 54.3 | 46.7 | 50.2 |
| Width, cm | 20.5 | 24.3 | 23.3 | 21 | 21.3 | 21 |
| Depth cm | 48 | 58.9 | 57.1 | 49.7 | 52.3 | |
| Space above the motherboard, mm | 17 | 63 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 20 |
| Board length, cm | 28.4 | 33.5 | 33.5 | 29.4 | 30.9 | 30.9 |
| Weight, kg | 9.1 | 15.6 | 12.5 | 7.7 | 9.3 | 9 |
| Intake fans (alternative) | no no) | 1 x 230mm (no) | 1 x 140 mm (2 x 140 mm + 1 x 120 mm) | 2 x 120mm (no) | 2 x 120mm (no) | 3 x 180mm (no) |
| Rear fans (alternative) | 1 x 120mm (no) | no (1 x 140 mm, 1 x 120 mm) | 1 x 140 mm (1 x 120 mm) | 1 x 120mm (no) | 1 x 120mm (no) | no no) |
| Overhead fans (alternative) | no no) | 1 x 230 mm (1 x 140 mm, 2 x 120 mm) | 1 x 180mm (no) | 1 x 140mm (no) | no (1 x 140 mm) | 1 x 120mm (no) |
| Side fans (alternative) | no no) | no no) | no (1 x 140 mm, 1 x 120 mm) | no no) | no no) | no no) |
| 5.25 "outer | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| 3.5 "external | No | 1 x adapter | 1 x adapter | 1 x adapter | No | 1 x adapter |
| 3.5 "internal | 4 | 7 | 10*** | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| 2.5 "inner | 1 | 7** | 10*** | No | 8*** | 1 |
| Card slots | 7 | 8 | 7+1 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Price | $165** | $169 | $150 | $212 | $100 | $173 |
* - body only; ** - with power supply unit; *** - divided into 3.5 "compartments
Assembling Antec Sonata IV
The assembled Sonata IV looks pretty good for a steel and plastic model, even though we didn't glue the square logo to its proper place on its door.
It was quite easy to assemble with a set of parts that mainly consist of screws. The Antec kit also includes a 3.5 "bay adapter, power cord, cable ties and door panel keys.
Optical drive rails are located behind each bay cover to prevent loss. The rails make the drives easier to install, but they require four screws.
Notice that each rail has several holes in the center and a slot in the back. This allows the front bezel of the optical drive and the bezel to be flush.
Kit includes four M3-0.50 nuts to secure the 2.5 "drive directly to the wall of the 3.5" drive bay. While it was quite easy to screw it on, it was not possible to attach cables to the drive, as the curved edge of the drive bay prevented it. During our tests, we left the 2.5 "SSD for the view and did not connect any cables.
In the photo above, you can see that the rails of the 3.5 "drive bay are already screwed into place. Removing the thumb screw allows them to be removed and screwed onto the drive with screws that are also pre-installed and have silicone pads to absorb vibration.
The hard drive is inserted into the entire bay until the release "clicks". Next, we just followed the guide given in the article.
One thing that was not covered in our guide is the installation of the USB 3.0 adapter cable that attaches to the motherboard's I / O panel. We are confident that anyone who has decided to assemble a computer himself knows how to connect a USB cable.
Also note that we have replaced the Antec-installed power supply. Today's temperature and noise tests require us to use the same PSU in every system.
Build BitFenix Colossus
The double panels give BitFenix not only sound absorption, but also room for LED lighting. Light control allows the user to select soft red or soft blue, slow pulsation or steady light, and of course, turn off the backlight completely.
Screwless installation solutions mean fewer bolts included. The kit also includes two retaining strips for additional cards.
Some readers will have to adjust the brightness and contrast of the monitor to see how the BitFenix optical drive clamps work. Pressing down firmly on the release button and sliding it to one side will secure the actuator. At the same time, the upper holes for the fastening screws remain free.
The Colossus includes seven pull-out drive shelves with retaining pins. Extending the slide rails allows a 3.5 "drive to be inserted while our test SSD is secured with screws.
No matter how hard we tried, we were unable to adapt the clamps for mounting video cards, since other components (such as the CPU cooler and video card power connectors) prevented this. However, we weren't very upset that we didn't use them at all.
We did further assembly according to the article Build Your Computer: The THG Guide excluding USB 3.0 cable. We had to run it through one of the four liquid cooling outlets of the case before plugging it into the motherboard's I / O panel.
BitFenix is one of the few modern cases that doesn't have a fan on the back, instead adding a pair of silent 140mm fans to the kit. As an alternative configuration, the white fan is mounted as an exhaust on the top panel, while the LED fan acts as an intake on the front panel.
Fractal Design Define XL Assembly
Fractal Design adorns its plastic and aluminum enclosure with a textured finish and an aluminum door.
You can install USB 3.0 in this case as an upgrade for $ 10. Fractal Design is the only company in today's test that uses the universal internal USB 3.0 interface and thanks to this almost automatically takes the lead in design, but unfortunately, this part must be purchased separately. It is not yet available, although Fractal Design says it will appear on Newegg in June.
The enclosed installation kit contains a wide variety of screws, fan controller, cables and a front panel for the 3.5 "drive bay. An adapter for the 3.5" drive itself is installed in one of the 5.25 "bays.
Each drive shelf is equipped with rubber bumpers and comes with a set of screws. These bumpers can be moved to alternate holes, depending on how the drive sled is oriented. For 2.5 "drives, no shock absorbers are used as the option implies silent SSD drives.
Optical drives are screwed directly into 5.25 "bays using the method discussed in the article Build Your Computer: The THG Guide .
Fractal Design considered that their case did not require additional fans to operate, but still provided additional fasteners in the design. The company has sent in 120mm and 140mm fans to be used as inlet fans in an alternative test configuration, in which one will be installed in the 5.25 "drive bay and the other on the side panel.
Assembling Lian Li PC-B25S
Lian Li knows a lot about style. Lian Li knows a lot about aluminum. Combine the two and you have a pretty cool looking PC-B25S.
The installation kit from this company is slightly larger than others, in addition to screws, adapter cables, clamps and gaskets, it includes an air duct for a fan and a mount for a power supply.
The drive gaskets are fitted with wide-headed screws that screw into the 3.5 "drive. The drive is then inserted into one of the six internal bays of the chassis. A slider on the hard drive cages secures the drive and prevents it from falling out.
Note that we also found room for our SSD, even though the PC-B25S specs do not include 2.5 "glazing units. We believe Lian Li removed this option from the specs because the mounting holes are incorrectly positioned and the drive may pop out when connecting cables.
We found the screws for the SSD in the Antec installation kit and carefully attached the cables to the drive.
Lian Li uses a snap-off bracket with locking pins for quick installation of 5.25 "actuators.
Except for connecting USB 3.0 and installing a mount for the power supply, we did the further assembly according to the article Build Your Computer: The THG Guide... The PSU bracket uses the motherboard slot behind the PSU and snaps into place. Well, the plug with a hole for the output of USB 3.0 cables is self-explanatory.
Build NZXT H2 Classic
The NZXT adds a bit of style to the H2 Classic with an aluminum bezel insert. The assembled PC doesn't look expensive, but it's good enough for a $ 100 case.
NZXT has separated the installation kit screws in separate pouches to prevent possible loss or confusion. The kit even includes a # 2 socket for the hex standoffs that secure the motherboard.
Optical drives are held in place by pins on a flexible retainer. Moving the tab to the right unlocks the drive, moving it to the left locks it.
On the NZXT, the 2.5 "drive mounting holes are offset to the side to align its connector with the 3.5" drive connector. It would make sense if the case had a back bar, but it doesn't. The disadvantage is that the 3.5 "drive mounting pins will have to be removed to mount the 2.5" drive in the skid.
To mount a 3.5 "actuator, simply pull the sides of the slide to insert the locking pins into the screw holes in the 3.5" actuator. Both drives are inserted into place through a fan in the front panel of the case, which is previously dismantled.
We install the motherboard, video card and power supply as described in the article Build Your Computer: The THG Guide .
In NZXT, the USB 3.0 cable is already routed through a special hole and the only thing that is needed is to insert it into the socket of the I / O panel of the motherboard.
Building SilverStone Raven 2 Evolution
Designed to appeal to gamers, the Raven 2 Evolution (RV02-E) borrows quite a lot of features from its "high-end" sibling, Fortress 2, which SilverStone chose to introduce for our performance-to-noise comparison. Large, slow, bottom-mounted intake fans are a key design feature that cools the system without the need for a bezel fan.
RV02-E kit includes a Velcro support strap for the PSU, heatsink mounting brackets (which limit the maximum length of the graphics card you can use), screw pack, 3.5 "bezel for 5.25" bays, 3.5 "external drive brackets, fan power adapter, angle bracket power supply, 2.5 "drive mounting plate and five reusable clamps.
Optical drives are simply screwed into their respective bays as described in the article. Build Your Computer: The THG Guide .
The RV02-E uses slide rails exclusively for 3.5 "bays, but adds a separate adapter for the 2.5" drive in a dedicated space. Silicone earbuds reduce vibration from 3.5 "actuators to the case, while special screws prevent crushing.
The adapter for the 2.5 "drive adapter is screwed into the housing next to the 5.25" bays, blocking access to the fasteners of the two bays.
The RV02-E places the motherboard and PSU in a traditional position relative to each other, but still turns the entire unit face down, which sets it apart from most systems. For added support for the PSU, which now virtually hangs from the back, SilverStone adds a Velcro strap and an angled plastic bracket.
Readers with good spatial awareness will quickly recognize the similarities and differences between the RV02-E and more traditional models.
Test configuration
| Test configuration | |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge) 3.40 GHz, 8 MB L3 cache O / C to 4.50 GHz (45 x 100 MHz), 1.35 V |
| Motherboard | Asus P8P67 Deluxe, P67 Express IPCH, BIOS 1502 (03/02/2011) |
| RAM | Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2 / 8GX (8 GB) DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-27 |
| HDD | Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Samsung 470 Series MZ5PA256HMDR, 256 GB SSD |
| Video card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 1.5 GB 700 MHz GPU, GDDR5-3696 |
| Sound card | Integrated HD Audio |
| LAN card | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power Supply | Seasonic X760 SS-760KM ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Cooler CPU | Thermalright MUX-120 w / Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste |
| Software and drivers | |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.2.0.1019 |
| Graphics driver | Nvidia GeForce 270.61 WHQL |
For the operating system and frequently used programs, enthusiasts usually prefer to use an SSD, but an SSD is rarely large enough to hold all the files a consumer wants to have available. We've added a 2TB Seagate Barracuda XT hard drive to the Samsung 470 Series 256GB to meet both performance and capacity needs.
Since the 2.5 "drive mount on the Antec chassis is positioned in such a way that it is impossible to connect cables to the SSD, we had to load all the software onto the slower HDD.
The 8GB Kingston DDR3-1600 CAS 9 kit offers good performance and is well priced among modules of this size.
The Asus P8P67 Deluxe allows the Corei7-2600K processor to work stably at 4.5 GHz, even at far from ideal thermal conditions.
Using an nVidia GeForce GTX 480 offers two "advantages" that case reviews need a lot: heat and noise. Sparkle graphics cards are just what you need.
| Tests | |
| Prime95 v25.8 | 64-bit executable, small FFT, seven threads |
| FurMark 1.6.5 | Windowed mode, 1920x1080, 4xAA, Stability test, maximum temperature |
| RealTemp 3.40 | Average maximum kernel read at full CPU load |
| Galaxy CM-140 SPL Meter | Tests at 1/4 m, adjusted to 1 m (-12 dB), dBA weighting |
Test results: noise and temperature
The main goal of a performance enclosure is to lower temperatures, while the main goal of a silent enclosure is to reduce noise. The enclosures in our review today combine a combination of both attributes, drowning out the noise of very hot components.
Of course, the SilverStone gaming case provides us with the lowest temperatures. But at the end of the day, this enclosure is designed for the enthusiast who often uses other noise cancellation methods. Fractal Design Define XL, more focused on noise reduction, comes second in terms of heat dissipation.
The hottest configuration from the first chart - NZXT H2 Classic Low Fans leads the chart in terms of noise emissions. What happens when we compare noise and temperature?
The average CPU and GPU temperature in our first diagram was 62 ° Celsius above ambient, while the average noise level in our second diagram was 33.1 decibels. By dividing the average temperature of each case by the average temperature of all cases, we get the relative temperatures, with the coldest case at the top. Likewise, we got relative noise results, with the loudest cabinet at the bottom. The following sonic efficiency chart is also relative, as its average results only refer to the configuration of today's tests.
Base-mounted intake fans are a good solution for noise reduction and to our surprise the SilverStone RV02-E wins. Of course, this only happens when its fans are set to their lowest speed. But even with this setting, it ranks second in thermal tests. In other words, we advise RV02-E owners to use the lowest fan speed.
It also surprised us that the noise-optimized Fractal Design came in second after we added a side fan and a second front fan. Of course, the open side vent increased the noise from the case, especially when the GPU was fully loaded, so we'll probably go with the factory configuration instead.
Conclusion
If you ask us what "quiet" case we would buy after today's test, then technically our answer should be "none". But this is only because the case, which won in the tests, is clearly not focused on noiselessness. Originally aimed at gamers, the SilverStone Raven RV02-E has low noise levels thanks to alternative fan placement that accidentally reduces noise levels. SilverStone even comes with some pretty noisy fans to support the gaming focus of the case, and wisely adds a set of fan speed switches to reduce the noise from monotonous hum to pleasant hum. This low-speed configuration makes it to the top of our chart.
Yet as a gaming case, the Raven 2 Evolution may not meet the aesthetic desires of some pros and is not well suited for file storage. That's why we have the second-place case, the Fractal Design Define XL. We were surprised that this chassis, comparable to the size of the server, can accommodate up to ten hard drives and up to four optical drives at the same time, and its price is more than 10% lower than that of the SilverStone chassis.
Antec offers the best-priced option, but only if we subtract the price of the integrated PSU from the Sonata IV's total cost. In other words, Antec's Sonata IV is the best option for buyers who are also looking to purchase a NeoECO 620C PSU. For the rest of the buyers, the NZXT will probably be more suitable for about $ 100.
Lian Li PC-B25S achieves average results in temperature and noise levels, despite the fact that the company applied acoustic foam to the inside of almost every panel. Maybe the foam was too thin or it was not suitable for the task, but we would have liked to see such a beautiful case if it had better results. This particular case is so pleasing to the eye that we could even use it as one of our office PCs, with specially selected low-noise components installed.
BitFenix Colossus is in last place in today's comparison. It turns out that the two gaming cases are in the first and last place, while the cases designed for silent operation are in the middle. We thought the Colossus double-paneled enclosure would reduce noise, and we were confident that the drive door would at least partially help in this regard. Unfortunately, the outer skin just isn't thick enough to reduce the hum from the graphics card and processor fans. The Colossus would probably have come out on top if the cases were comparable in design.
SilverStone has a wide range of cases, and from time to time the company introduces new products. This time we will test the capabilities of the compact Slim HTPC case from the Milo series - SilverStone ML09.
The manufacturer directly says that the main body was the main one when it was created. which we managed to get acquainted with not so long ago and, accordingly, the total volume of the case is still the same 7 liters, but in SilverStone ML09 the internal layout has been redesigned.
Specification
- Model: SST-ML09B (Black);
- Material: acrylic and plastic front panel, 0.8mm steel body;
- Motherboard support: Mini-ITX / Mini-DTX;
- Drive bays: via 1 x multifunctional bracket (1 x 5.25 "slot for 9.5 / 12.7 mm Slim optical drive or 1 x 3.5" HDD or 2 x 2.5 "HDD / SSD or 1 x 120 mm fan);
- Internal: 4 x 2.5 "HDD / SSD;
- Cooling system: Left side - slots for 2 x 80 mm fans;
- Top - 1 x 120mm fan, 1500 rpm, 18 dB
- Expansion slots: 2;
- I / O panel: 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x Headphones, 1 x Microphone;
- Power supply: standard SFX (optional);
- Expansion board size restrictions: 2 slots, length 6.9 "(175.2 mm), width 2.95" (74.93 mm);
- CPU cooler height: 37-70 mm;
- Weight: 2.07 kg;
- Dimensions: 350 mm (Width) x 99/109 mm (Height without / with legs) x 205 mm (Depth), volume 7 liters;
- Features: Kensington Lock support.
Packaging and equipment
The design of the SilverStone ML09 case box and its dimensions are similar in their progenitor - the case ... The only difference is in the image of the case, or, to be more precise, in the stylish front panel and some informational component.
Of the similarities, it is noted that the case has a small volume (7 liters), a 4-in-1 multifunctional bracket, designed to install an SFX power supply, 4 x 2.5 "SSD / HDD drives, mini-ITX (and due to the internal layout and mini-DTX) of the motherboard, 2 x 80 mm and 1 x 120 mm fans, the latter being included in the standard package.
This information is duplicated in several languages, including Russian, from one of the ends, but the other has the exact name of the SST-ML09B model, serial number and specifications.
The package includes everything you need to assemble a compact system: screws, user manual, dust filter for 120 mm fan, optical drive panel, adhesive dampers, 3 disposable ties and 4 high (10 mm) rubber feet. There are also two plastic legs for vertical orientation of the case.
Appearance and organization
Due to its compact size, black design and a mirror-polished front panel, the SilverStone ML09 case looks very impressive, because it is positioned as the basis for an entertainment center (multimedia, games), which should have an appropriate appearance.
The manufacturer has provided for the possibility of its operation in a vertical position, thereby saving working space.
The front panel does not contain any decorative elements, everything is strict here, only the mirror-polished panel itself, on which there is a plug for a slim 5.25 "optical drive and controls / indicators. Height excluding legs is 99 mm, and width 350 mm.
The two hard drive power and activity indicators, as well as the power and reset buttons, are located at the bottom closer to the left side.
An annoying nuisance that the owner of the case can face is the separation of the plastic part from the metal chassis of the case, but it sticks (which we did), although it may come off again over time.
The rear panel identifies the layout of the SilverStone ML09 and is different from : on the left is the power supply, on the right there are two bays for low-profile expansion cards (2.95 "/ 74.93 mm wide). There is space for a single-slot expansion card (for example, USB / FireWire / COM ports).
Thus, expansion boards (video cards) must be cooled more efficiently, since air intake will occur from the right side wall, where two additional 80 mm fans can be placed. It houses 2 USB 3.0 ports and HD audio connectors (headphones, microphone). The depth of the case is small - 205 mm.
But the left wall is "deaf" (no ventilation) ...
So is the bottom of the case, which has room for rubber feet for horizontal placement.
There are two ventilated areas on the top: one large for air access to the motherboard / CPU cooler / expansion board area, and the other for the PSU fan.
The rigidity of the case is provided by both a decent thickness of the walls of the case (0.8 mm) and additional stiffeners: a central bracket near the power supply area with drives and a 4-in-1 multifunctional bracket.
The functions of the latter are the same as for the SilverStone ML06 case - to provide installation of 2 x 2.5 "drives or 1 x 120 mm fan or 1 x 3.5" drive or 1 x slim-drive 9.5 / 12.7 mm thick.
However, in the SilverStone ML09 case, a 120 mm 15 mm thick fan is mounted on the bracket and operates to blow in cold air. The SilverStone fan is labeled APA1215L, and its speed is 1500 rpm with a noise level of 18 dB. Thus, the manufacturer decided to increase the efficiency of cooling the internal elements.
The working space of the case is one "large" compartment.
In the left part there is a place for installing an SFX power supply unit up to 100 mm deep. He "sits" on two large rubber feet that play the role of a damper.
Nearby, with the help of three screws, a basket for 4 x 2.5 "drives is attached. There is no special airflow for them.
The remaining area on the right is for installing a mini-ITX / mini-DTX motherboard. The limitation on the length of the expansion cards that can be placed is 175.2 mm. By the way, the cables are attached to the chassis from the front panel.
Assembly features
The compact size of the SilverStone ML09 case will require more careful selection of components and adherence to a rigid assembly procedure:
1. Installation begins with the installation of the SFX power supply. We used modular by connecting only the required set of cables (motherboard power and SATA).
2. Install the motherboard "complete" with a cooler and mini-ITX / mini-DTX memory (ASUS H97I-PLUS + Intel Core i5-4670K + Noctua NH-L9x65 + DDR3-1600 2x8GB Kingston HyperX FURY HX316C10FWK2 / 16) and then the same expansion card (video card ASUS Radeon R7 240 2 Gb DDR3).
Let's remind right away about the limitation on the height of the processor cooler - it varies (37-70 mm) depending on what is installed on the multifunctional bracket.
Due to the use of the Noctua NH-L9x65 cooler with a height of 65 mm, we had to abandon the installation of a bracket with a standard 120 mm fan (with it, the height of the cooler should not exceed 50 mm), however, we still conducted one of the tests where we used only the cooler heatsink Noctua and an installed bracket with a 120mm fan operating at its maximum speed of 1500 rpm.
3. The last one is to fix the 2.5 "Kingston HyperX FURY 240Gb (SHFS37A / 240G) SSD in the basket and then mount it into the case. The space between the basket and the SFX power supply is not so large, so it can be difficult to manage the" full "set of cables.
Build result. With this arrangement, the cooling performance of the SilverStone ML09 should be better than the SilverStone ML06, but this is yet to be tested in practice.
Please note that after closing the top cover, the ventilation holes fall on a part of the area for the expansion board and cover most of the CPU cooler, although we would like the row of holes to continue a little to the right.
Test stand and testing methodology
- Intel Core i5-4670K processor;
- Cooling system Noctua NH-L9x65;
- Thermal paste Arctic MX-2;
- Motherboard ASUS H97I-Plus;
- RAM DDR3-1600 2x8GB Kingston HyperX FURY HX316C10FWK2 / 16;
- ASUS Radeon R7 240 2 Gb DDR3 video card;
- SSD Kingston HyperX FURY 240Gb (SHFS37A / 240G);
- SilverStone ML09 case;
- SilverStone SX600-G Power Supply (600W).
The case was tested in terms of component heating in it with the load of the processor and the video card using the LinX v0.6.4 (8192 MB, 3 passes) and FurMark v1.16.0.0 (1920x1080, 4xMSAA anti-aliasing) utilities - execution time ~ 20 minutes (before stabilization temperature of the video card). The sensor readings were read using the CPUID HWMonitor v1.27 utility.
Separate testing of the SSD drive for heating was not carried out, since under the load on the processor and video card, the drive heated up more than with a separate load on it.
The room temperature during testing was 24 ° C.
The case was tested in:
- Upright position with top cover closed.
- Horizontal position with closed top cover.
- Horizontal position with the top cover removed.
- Horizontal position with a Noctua NH-L9x65 radiator and a standard 120 mm case fan.
Test results
Heating component... The results are interesting.
Simple system.
In simple terms, everything is natural - the temperatures of components in a case with horizontal / vertical placement and with a closed top cover without a standard 120 mm fan are higher than compared to an open one, and the difference in temperatures of the Intel Core i5 4670K processor and the R9 240 graphics chip between the horizontal position and vertical was 2 ° C in favor of the latter (hot air goes up).
As soon as we abandoned the 92 mm fan of the Noctua NH-L9x65 cooler and installed a multifunctional bracket with a 120 mm fan in the SilverStone ML09 case, the temperatures turned out to be even lower due to the fact that the fan blows over a large internal area of the case.
We observe almost the same thing under load with one "BUT!" - the processor temperature turned out to be close to critical, reaching 98 ° C, which indicates insufficient air flow (pressure) of the standard 120 mm fan, although it still has a positive effect on reducing the temperatures of the GPU and SSD compared to its absence.
As for the temperatures of the cores of the Intel Core i5 4670K (TDP 84 W) processor in different modes, it is worth mentioning separately - under the maximum load of LinX, they turned out to be quite high, which means that you need to initially take care of choosing a suitable processor and a cooling system for it that can fit in the case.
Noise level... The SilverStone ML09B case has one standard 120mm SilverStone APA1215L fan operating at 1500 rpm. Measuring the noise level directly from it from a distance of 1 meter, a value of 36.8 dB was recorded, that is, when operating in the assembled system, its work will be noticeable only in a down state - a small noise that does not annoy (subjectively). Under load, the noise level increases a little more due to the operation of the video card cooling system, but still remains moderate.
If you refuse to use a fan, then the noise level will be determined by the installed cooling systems for the processor and video card. In our configuration, we got very quiet operation (almost silent) in idle mode and moderately high under load due to the operation of the Noctua NH-L9x65 processor cooler at maximum speed (2500 rpm).
Conclusion
Changing the appearance of the front panel and changing the internal layout, SilverStone offered users a new Slim HTPC case SilverStone ML09, which retains the features of SilverStone ML06 (multifunctional bracket, basket for installation of up to 4 x 2.5 "drives, space for 2 x 80 mm fans), but appeared the ability to install dual-slot low-profile video cards, the cooling efficiency of the components has improved both by changing their placement and by the presence of a quiet standard 120 mm fan.
We did not notice any obvious shortcomings, only the quality of fixing the front panel (with glue) caused some annoyance, which in our sample partly moved away from the chassis chassis.
Overall, the SilverStone ML09 turns out to be an excellent compact case for creating a multimedia / gaming system at a decent price of about $ 60.
pros:
- Solid appearance with mirror polished front panel;
- Compact dimensions (7 liters);
- Thick walls (0.8 mm);
- Reasonable design (high efficiency of cooling of internal components);
- Possibility of placing the case in a horizontal or vertical position;
- The presence of a multifunctional bracket "4-in-1" (installation of a slim BD / DVD drive or 2 x 2.5 "or 1 x 3.5" drives or 120 mm fan);
- A quiet 120 mm fan is preinstalled (allows to achieve high efficiency of cooling the components inside the case);
- Possibility to install 2 x 80 mm fans;
- Possibility to install a low-profile dual-slot video card up to 175.2 mm long;
- Possibility of installing coolers up to 70 mm high;
- Supports up to 4 x 2.5 "drives;
- Simple assembly procedure;
- Supplied with a dust filter for 120 mm fan;
- Affordable price.
Minuses:
- Difficulty laying "extra" cables from the power supply;
- Partial separation of the front panel from the metal chassis of the case (in our copy).
Peculiarities:
- Only SFX power supply is supported.
Those users who spend a long time at the computer end up getting tired of its hum - noise fans, gibberish hard disk, noise vibrations on the body, hum video card cooling systems. And the idea comes to mind to provide yourself with a practically or completely silent computer. The search begins for options for how such a desired silent computer can be realized.
In search of a silent computer, you can go to the store and buy there "SOMETHING" that you want to sell to the seller, or you can assemble a quiet / silent computer yourself. The latter is preferable. Only by assembling a silent computer yourself or to order, you can to achieve the optimal combination of performance / price / quiet operation.
Our service center has been assembling computers to order for more than 10 years and, of course, we have an accurate idea of what components and consumables are used to make a quiet or completely silent computer. To create a quiet computer, you need to correctly select the components and just as competently assemble them together in a suitable case.
At the current point in time - fall 2014 - advances in technology have made it easier to create quiet / silent computers. Components have gone ahead and for many manufacturers of video cards, hard drives, cooling systems, the quietness of the work has become as important an indicator of the quality of the product as its overall performance. Progress in noise reduction has taken place on virtually all computer components.
Below we will simply list what has changed in various computer components in terms of noise reduction.
1. Processor.
If we consider the improvement of processors from the point of view of reducing the level of noise from them, then it will not be possible to do it head-on, since the processor does not make noise by itself. But still there is a characteristic of the processor that affects the final noise level of the entire system unit - this is its thermal package, thermal power dissipation (TDP)... The more powerful the processor, the more heat it dissipates under load. The more power dissipated, the correspondingly higher the requirements for the cooling system.
And the cooling system, all other things being equal, works more efficiently at a higher number of fan revolutions, which leads to an increase in the noise from the processor cooling system. Therefore, it turns out that the more the processor heats up, the more noise its cooling system will be.
Improvement of modern processors is, among other things, along the path of reducing their heat release. This reduction is achieved by reducing the technical process. The leader in this area is traditionally Intel, whose processors in 2014 were produced using the 22 nm process technology. Actually, both Intel and AMD are engaged in reducing heat generation and power consumption with varying degrees of success. And both companies have achieved lower heat dissipation in their desktop processors. Typical heat dissipation of modern processors does not exceed 100 W, even for the most powerful samples. For instance:
- Thermal package of the Intel Core i7-4790 processor is 84 W.
- Thermal package of the Intel Core i5-4690K processor is 88 W.
And this despite the fact that the Intel HD Graphics 4600 video card is also integrated into the one and the other processor.
In general, we mean that a modern properly selected processor itself does not get very hot and does not require significant powerful noisy cooling.
Although, of course, there are still processors with high TDP (heat dissipation). But these processors are not widely used, are expensive and are used to solve a narrow range of professional tasks.
For instance,
the heat dissipation of the Intel Core i7-5930K processor with 15MB L3 cache is 140W.
But using such a processor in a simple home computer is excessive and not justified. It is suitable for design, modeling and animation systems. And even such a "hot" processor can be cooled down with the lowest noise level.
2. CPU cooling system.
As far as cooling systems for conventional desktops are concerned, progress has come in the form of heat pipes from cooling systems for laptops. Heat pipes allow you to quickly remove heat at the point of contact of the cooling system with the processor and distribute it over the entire area of the cooling radiator. You can buy a processor cooling system based on heat pipes at a price of 700 rubles. The upper limit of the price is about 4000 rubles.
After the heat pipes have distributed heat throughout the heatsink, it is enough to apply a fan with a small number of revolutions per minute in order to cool it down.
From inexpensive examples of cooling systems based on heat pipes, you can consider:
- Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO cooler with three heat pipes
- Zalman CNPS10X Optima cooler with four heat pipes
When purchasing a cooling system, it is important to make sure that it is suitable for installation on the purchased motherboard. Those. matches the socket on the motherboard.
Those. in cooling systems an important innovation is the use of heat pipes that distribute heat over the entire area of the radiator, which makes it possible to use a low-speed quiet fan, which nevertheless provides sufficient cooling.
From our fall 2014 builds, we prefer to use the Scythe Mugen 4 (SCMG-4000) - a cool cooling system with 6 heat pipes, a large area radiator and a 120 mm fan.
3. The power supply of the system unit.
This is the node that has undergone less significant changes and improvements. If you want to get a completely silent power supply for a system unit, you will have to purchase a very expensive Seasonic (Seasonic 520FL2-80 + Platinum 520W at a price of 7,500 rubles), which can be found on sale and which produces enough power and does not use a fan in its design. But the price of such a power supply will significantly increase the cost of the entire system unit.
Therefore, to assemble quiet system units, it is not necessary to swagger and purchase expensive Seasonic units. Alternatively, you can use power supplies with a fan, a thermal sensor and an automatic device that will turn on the fan itself when a certain temperature inside the power supply is reached and turn it off when the temperature drops.
In our assemblies of quiet system units, we mainly use power supplies from Corsair. These are reliable proven blocks. Although, taking into account the growth in the cost of imported equipment against the background of a change in the dollar exchange rate in budget assemblies of system units, we are forced to switch to FSP power supplies. These units have a higher failure rate, but this risk is covered by the duration of the warranty.
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4. Motherboard.
Motherboard - a node that does not add noise to the system unit, because it is not equipped with active cooling and there is nothing to make noise in it.
Although there were exceptions in the history of motherboards - at one time, ASUS installed a heatsink with a fan on the hot chip of the north bridge of the motherboard. After several years of use, such a fan either simply stopped and the chipset burned out, or it worked and made howling sounds at the same time. But this story is in the past and active cooling cannot be found on modern motherboards.
5. Hard drive.
Solid-state hard drives - SSDs became a breakthrough in the storage of computer information. They have no moving parts and are completely silent. It is SSDs that we use in our assemblies of quiet, silent computers. In 2014, in assemblies of quiet computers, we personally actively used SDD made by Samsung. Mostly it is a hard disk SSD 256GB, 2.5 ″, SATA III, Samsung 840 PRO Series, MZ-7PD256BW. Cool disk on a modern controller and the latest (for 2014) memory chips.
In the event that the budget or the requirement for disk capacity does not allow us to use an SSD, we will give preference to a compromise option - we use a hybrid hard disk (SSHD) in which a small SSD and a conventional large-capacity hard disk drive are combined. By caching the most necessary information on a small-capacity SSD, the number of calls to the mechanical part of the drive is reduced, etc. the noise level is also reduced.
By purchasing SSHD we give preference to Samsung disks - this is
- 1TB SSHD hard drive, 8GB SSD, Seagate Laptop SSHD, ST1000LM014
- hard disk HDD 2TB, SSD 8GB, Seagate Desktop SSHD, ST2000DX001.
Each of the professional computer assemblers has their own opinion and opinion on these drives, but we personally like them very much. The 36-month warranty on these drives builds trust in them.
6. The case of the system unit.
The case can become either a way to combat noise from components inside it, or it can itself become a source of additional noise in the room. Vibration can be a source of noise in the cabinet. Another source is the noise from the fans installed in it. They should be built on quality bearings, be slow-running and be able to decelerate with decreasing temperature (PWM). But not all (especially) budget cases are equipped with high-quality fans. If it is not possible to immediately buy a case with high-quality fans, then it is better to take it without fans at all, and then buy and install good quality fans on your own.
When choosing a case, it is not necessary to take a case with 47 (just kidding), with 6-7 fans - they sometimes create air currents that interfere with each other. You can take a case with 2 normal correctly installed fans and they will provide quiet good cooling. Thermaltake Overseer RX-I, VN700M1W2N, is an example of a case with few fans but good cooling. If the bodget allows and the customer is not confused by the aggressive appearance of the case, then in our assemblies of quiet computers we often use the Thermaltake Overseer case.
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In general, if we talk about cases, then the innovations in them are:
- installation of the power supply unit in the lower position
- possibility of routing connecting cables under the motherboard and behind the right case cover
Both of these solutions free up space in the chassis from unnecessary wires, which allows you to increase the airflow rate in the chassis of the system unit.
A good solution from the point of view of ergonomics and quietness of work for the case of the system unit is the use of a slide or rubber pads for installing 3.5 "devices. The first option (sled) is implemented in the Thermaltake Overseer RX-I case, and the second option (rubber pads) is used in the Zalman Z9 U3 case. There are, of course, a lot of other cases, which are provided with all of the above means of improving ergonomics and reducing noise. But we may have favorites in the person of Zalman and Thermaltake in particular.
At the beginning of the description of the enclosures, we mentioned vibration. Vibration is the weak point of low-cost, budget thin-walled chassis, in which all the constituent parts are also poorly connected (riveted) to each other. As a result, such cases begin to make noise on their own from the vibration that is transmitted to the case from the fans installed in it. Don't buy a cheap case if you want to build a quiet system unit.
7. Video card.
A powerful graphics card under load is the hottest element of a modern computer. For example, the GeForce GTX 770 graphics card consumes 240 watts of power at peak load. You can imagine what kind of thermal package such a video card has. Therefore, an incorrectly selected video card or their combination (CrossFire or SLI) can significantly increase the noise level of the entire computer.
Reducing the noise level of modern powerful video cards is achieved through the use of heat pipes(like CO for processors), applications large area radiator, 2-3 large diameter low-speed fans. Such solutions are now widely used by manufacturers ASUS and Gigabyte.
Throughout 2014, in our assemblies of productive computers, we gave preference to video cards made by Gigabyte. These guys use the Windforce cooling system, which has shown itself well in tests and in practice. Other manufacturers use similar combinations of technologies for cooling, but they are only called differently.
Cooling system for the GigaByte Windforce video card - all applied technologies are clearly visible
There is nothing special to say about the rest of the components - they are not key links either for performance or for noise level.
So what do you need to build a quiet / silent computer
1. Choose components that are not only productive, but also with the lowest possible power consumption and noise level
2. Combine them in a quality case
