Antec ISK 300-65 (heavily modded) gaming PC
Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:56 am
Hello.
I've already written about (the beginning of) this project in a very old thread in the "silent hardware -> cases and damping" section.
Since then, I've modified considerably both the case and the hardware used, so I decided to "show it off" here.
So, here it is (some info from the old thread reused, with your permission, in order to bring it all together here).
Basically, the most interesting part is using a microATX board inside this case:
Hardware details:
Antec ISK 300-65
Seasonic TFX 300W
Asrock P43ME
Core 2 Duo e5400, overclocked, of course
Scythe Big Shuriken
4GB DDR2 Kingston HyperX
90GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Palit GTS 450 low profile
The pictures:
What I wanted to do was to modify the case in such a way that I would not damage the mini-ITX mounting option (in order to still be able to install a mini-ITX board in the future, should I want to). For that, I used pieces of another (cheap - 20$) computer case.
On the left side of the picture you can see the four mounting points for the bottom part of the microATX board.
On the right side of the picture there are the two spacers needed for the upper part of the microATX board.
Initially I've used a picoPSU, but since it limited me to 150W and I still needed an external, rather big, Dell DA-1 power adapter, I decided to go with a TFX PSU, mounted on the case. Same total size, more power, easier to move around, without worrying about the brick.
In order to mount it, I used the screws from the psu fan. I drilled two holes in the case for the upper ones, and simply unscrewed the lower ones a bit to "catch", "grip", etc. the side of the case (the image speaks english better than I do ).
The motherboard, processor, heatsink, memory and SSD installed, plus two 60mm 19dba 18cfm Recom "yellow blower" fans, just "hanging around", waiting for the video card . Not every microATX board is compatible, the width must be 210mm maximum.
Low profile Palit GTS 450 video card installed. Original video card cooling removed (way too noisy) and replaced with two 60mm fans. The bottom one pulls air from the left side of the case (actually, that is the bottom, in my situation... you will see why, in other pictures, below) and cools both the video card and the SSD. The second fan draws hot air and pushes it to the right side (top, for me, see why below), then evacuates it through the vents drilled in the side of the case. I've also used a 60mm Mini Kaze to cool the back side of the video card and to push up the hot air from one side of the Big Shuriken...
... while the hot air from the other side of the Big Shuriken is pulled out through the PSU,...
... resulting the airflow pictured above. You can actually feel this, as the lower half of the case is cold, and the upper half is hot during operation.
I had to cut a big part of the left side of the case, for the I/O ports. I do not use a I/O shield, because additional cold air comes in through that big hole in the left (bottom) side of the case. Also, I drilled many holes to ensure ventilation for the video card, on both sides of the case (of course, the ISK 310 already has ventilation in those areas, but it was not available when I started the project). The big hole near the DVI connector is necessary, without it you wouldn't be able to slide the top part and close the case.
The result
- the case mounted on the side of my desk/virtual cockpit or
- the case (sort-of) VESA mounted on the back of my 32" LCD TV.
Now, in all fairness, this build is not silent, but it is quiet, especially if you know how loud the original cooling of the video card can be, and if you consider the gaming power the gts 450 brings to such a small PC.
The Big Shuriken spins its fan at about 1000 RPMs; it is pretty much silent.
The same can be said about the fan of the PSU.
The only noise comes from the three 60mm fans, which must run at full 12V. Anything less would be too slow, since the video card temps under load ramp as high as 90+ C (when running furmark for an hour. In most games, temps are around 80-85).
I've already written about (the beginning of) this project in a very old thread in the "silent hardware -> cases and damping" section.
Since then, I've modified considerably both the case and the hardware used, so I decided to "show it off" here.
So, here it is (some info from the old thread reused, with your permission, in order to bring it all together here).
Basically, the most interesting part is using a microATX board inside this case:
Hardware details:
Antec ISK 300-65
Seasonic TFX 300W
Asrock P43ME
Core 2 Duo e5400, overclocked, of course
Scythe Big Shuriken
4GB DDR2 Kingston HyperX
90GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Palit GTS 450 low profile
The pictures:
What I wanted to do was to modify the case in such a way that I would not damage the mini-ITX mounting option (in order to still be able to install a mini-ITX board in the future, should I want to). For that, I used pieces of another (cheap - 20$) computer case.
On the left side of the picture you can see the four mounting points for the bottom part of the microATX board.
On the right side of the picture there are the two spacers needed for the upper part of the microATX board.
Initially I've used a picoPSU, but since it limited me to 150W and I still needed an external, rather big, Dell DA-1 power adapter, I decided to go with a TFX PSU, mounted on the case. Same total size, more power, easier to move around, without worrying about the brick.
In order to mount it, I used the screws from the psu fan. I drilled two holes in the case for the upper ones, and simply unscrewed the lower ones a bit to "catch", "grip", etc. the side of the case (the image speaks english better than I do ).
The motherboard, processor, heatsink, memory and SSD installed, plus two 60mm 19dba 18cfm Recom "yellow blower" fans, just "hanging around", waiting for the video card . Not every microATX board is compatible, the width must be 210mm maximum.
Low profile Palit GTS 450 video card installed. Original video card cooling removed (way too noisy) and replaced with two 60mm fans. The bottom one pulls air from the left side of the case (actually, that is the bottom, in my situation... you will see why, in other pictures, below) and cools both the video card and the SSD. The second fan draws hot air and pushes it to the right side (top, for me, see why below), then evacuates it through the vents drilled in the side of the case. I've also used a 60mm Mini Kaze to cool the back side of the video card and to push up the hot air from one side of the Big Shuriken...
... while the hot air from the other side of the Big Shuriken is pulled out through the PSU,...
... resulting the airflow pictured above. You can actually feel this, as the lower half of the case is cold, and the upper half is hot during operation.
I had to cut a big part of the left side of the case, for the I/O ports. I do not use a I/O shield, because additional cold air comes in through that big hole in the left (bottom) side of the case. Also, I drilled many holes to ensure ventilation for the video card, on both sides of the case (of course, the ISK 310 already has ventilation in those areas, but it was not available when I started the project). The big hole near the DVI connector is necessary, without it you wouldn't be able to slide the top part and close the case.
The result
- the case mounted on the side of my desk/virtual cockpit or
- the case (sort-of) VESA mounted on the back of my 32" LCD TV.
Now, in all fairness, this build is not silent, but it is quiet, especially if you know how loud the original cooling of the video card can be, and if you consider the gaming power the gts 450 brings to such a small PC.
The Big Shuriken spins its fan at about 1000 RPMs; it is pretty much silent.
The same can be said about the fan of the PSU.
The only noise comes from the three 60mm fans, which must run at full 12V. Anything less would be too slow, since the video card temps under load ramp as high as 90+ C (when running furmark for an hour. In most games, temps are around 80-85).